Loosen up the split gear on a Raptor 50

The Raptor 50 V2 uses a split gear to have a driven tail during autorotations. However, the gear needs to be loosened up before installation. If you do that, you loose less energy when going to throttle hold to enter the autorotation.

The original white gear moves very difficult over the aluminum autorotation hub. It is designed this way to give the white tail gear some support since it is pulled towards the back of the heli by the tail belt. It is supposed to wear in over time, but this takes way too long. The method described below, will wear in the tail gear so that it rotates freely, and is still properly supported by the aluminium autorotation hub.

Just put the main shaft in a drilling machine, and attach the autorotation hub with the grey gear and the white tail gear to the main shaft as shown in the picture below.



Now hold the grey gear as shown, and slowly start the drilling machine. Now increase the speed of the drilling machine, and keep it rotating until the white gear starts to spin freely. Let it cool down for a couple of seconds, and feel if it rotates freely. If not, repeat this a couple of times. This will perfectly match the new white gear to your aluminum autorotation hub so that it rotates as it should, and that it is still properly supported by the autorotation hub.

This fix will only take a couple of minutes and is much easier than grinding or sanding the white gear! Furthermore, this way guarantees a perfect round fit with good support.

Setting up the 401 gyro

Setting up the 401 is fairly simple. First you select a control horn position on the servo such that the arm length on the servo is about 17 to 20 mm. Next set the tail control rod length such that when the servo horn is orthogonal to the control rod, the heck rotor blades have an angle about 10 degrees (pushing to counter the torque when hovering). Next select the proper gyro mode for you servo (e.g. DS on for the 9253 servo). Next put the delay on the gyro to zero (in case you have a fast servo like the 9253).

Put the trim of your rudder channel in the zero position including sub trim etc. Make sure that there is no revo or any other mixing to your rudder channel!. Program you Tx such that you can control the heading hold and rate modes of your gyro (connect a channel that you can switch to the gain channel). Now put your tx in heading hold mode, and turn on your receiver and wait for the gyro to initialize (the led should go on continuously). Now switch your gyro gain channel such that the gyro goes into rate mode (led goes off). Now turn down the limit pot on your gyro. Next put the rudder stick in one of the extremes, and rotate the limit pot until there is a maximum control throw on the blades without binding (check both directions). Choose the limit such that there is no binding on either sides.

Next put the ATV or EPA values of your TX rudder channel on 100% (reasonable piro rate for now). If you ever want a faster piro, you can turn up the ATV or EPA of your rudder channel. Now control your ATV or EPA values of the gain channel in both directions to 50%. Your basic setup of the gyro is done.

Go and fly and check how she feels. You can now turn up the ATV values of the gain channel in both gyro modes for all your idle ups such there is no oscillation in your tail (wagging). You can test this best by diving the helicopter from some height. If it does not oscillate there, then it is ok. Make sure that your gain is e.g. 5% below your maximum setting for the different idle ups (less strain on your servo). After this you can adjust the piro rate to your liking by adjusting the ATV of the rudder channel.

That’s it, you’re done.

What You Ought To Know When Buying Your First R/C Helicopter!

When you walk into the store or browse the Internet, you’ll notice most R/C helicopters come in different packages, RTF, ARF and Kit.

How can you tell which one is right for you? Well, you can talk to the salesperson for hours and try to figure out the words coming out of his mouth or you can read this condensed guide and find out in just a few minutes.

I know you have plenty of questions but the one I will try to answer will be…

Should I start with a RTF, ARF or a Kit?

It’s up to you! When I began with R/C helicopters, I didn’t know what I got myself into. I was in a fog, but as soon as it cleared, I had a kit package on my lap. Surprisingly, buying a kit was the best thing I ever did!

Why do I say this?

Well, the kit enabled me to really understand the inner working parts on my R/C helicopter. Every time I crashed it, I knew exactly on how to replace the broken parts.

But this is just some of the positives of buying a kit package, but that might not be the kind of experience you are looking for.

Some R/C helicopter packages are marked with RTF, ARF and KIT. This is just a fancy way of saying that you might need to get your hands dirty. But on the positive side, some kits all you do is take it out of the box, charge the battery and have fun.

Let’s look at this a little deeper and find out the differences in the kits. More on that after this message…

RTF (Ready To Fly):

The RTF package is short for (ready to fly) which means everything you need is contained within the box when you buy it. Most electric R/C helicopters come in this form. Nitro R/C helicopter RTF packages in the other hand are rare but they are available. RTF’s are perfect for people that have no time to devote to the assembling process.

ARF (Almost Ready-To-Fly):

The ARF is short for (almost ready-to-fly), which means that you have to do some of the dirty work yourself. You might have to separately buy and install the engine, blades or some other parts of the R/C helicopter to make it complete. The ARF is perfect for people with minimal time to devote to the assembly process.

KIT (Fully Disassembled):

Finally we have the fully disassembled KIT. According to the R/C Helicopter Forum, the Kit is the most popular form among nitro or electric beginners and intermediate. It comes in hundreds of unassembled pieces. You have to assemble it piece by piece. It’s mostly geared for people that have the time and those that are mechanically inclined or are willing to be.

My recommendation is get an R/C helicopter that gets you deeply involved in the heli setup process. This will give you a profound understanding of the inner working parts, making it easier when it comes time to replace them.

Well, until next time and stay safe.