Step 7 – Electrical Wiring and Setup
The mechanics have to be fully electrically setup and adjusted
prior to installation into the fuselage. As the use of a 12S
(44.4V) setup is necessary, we strongly recommend to run the
control equipment on a separate 2S Lipo battery and BEC for
security reasons.
In scale configurations main battery power wires may be
longer than on comparable 3D helicopter equipment. As HV
ESCs do not necessarily have the main battery ground wire
connected to the servo signal ground wire, it may be
necessary to create an additional connection between the
BEC 2S batteries ground wire and the 12S main battery
ground wire. Certain configurations without this ground
interconnection have led to a loss of signal at the ESC from
the receiver due to EMC effects.
The swash plate is a regular 120deg CCPM type, please take
your time to adjust all servo travels, center positions – the
entire 3 axis gyro – servo – radio setup prior to the
installation into the fuselage.
A 450KV motor such as the Align 750MX run at app. 80%
throttle (hover) shows satisfying results. As space is limited,
please make sure you check the dimensions if you intend to
use other brand motors.
In regards to the gyro setup, we recommend to start with
standard values of the 3 axis gyro. Make sure you install the
gyro in a way that provides easy access for connecting your
programming equipment. As the scale fuselage adds
additional inertia to each axis, gyros are normally to be set at
a lower gyro gain. All in all, a rigid gyro response does ruin the
scale look in flight.
Before operating the model check the following points:
-The direction of servo rotation (including the throttle
function) and travels.
-The direction of effect of the gyro, and the transmitter mixer
functions you have programmed.
-Collective pitch travel (linear travel -2/-3° to +9/+10°)
ATTENTION !
When using the a pitch gauge to adjust correct CP travels,
make sure that the gauge lines up with the flat surface of
the rotor blade. Many pitch gauges do not show the correct
angle when snapped onto unsymmetric rotor blades!
The main rotor blades are not symmetrical. Do not try to fly
inverted.
- It is permissible to reduce servo travels, but not below 60%
(in this case adjust the mechanical linkage); travels should be
primarily symmetrical.
- Apply collective pitch min. / collective pitch max. and full roll
and pitch-axis commands simultaneously in
all directions; rotate the rotor head at the same time, and
check that at the extremes of travel no part of the rotor
head is obstructed.
- The auto-rotation switch must be assigned, and within easy
reach!
- When auto-rotation is selected: throttle position to off, all
directions of control and travels as in normal
flight, tail rotor to 0° = fixed value.
-The first few batteries should be flown with the model close
to the ground, i.e. no more than about 1 m
altitude, until you are confident that there are no defects or
errors, and that everything is working faultlessly:
- Use your ears critically (!), listening for unusual sounds and
vibration, and seek out the problem if you are in any doubt at
all!
- Don’t listen to anyone standing close by if they try to hurry
you into flying the model.
- Avoid hovering outside ground effect (hover altitude with a
model: approx. 1m, or half the rotor disc diameter):
- Hovering requires very high power, and you are completely
dependent on the motor: in contrast to most full-size
helicopters, model helicopters have only one (!) power plant.