LITE HELI ADVICE – HINTS AND TIPS

We at Lite Heli have considerable experience in the field of full size home built helicopters and the ONLY difference between a home built man carrying machine and a model helicopter in our opinion is the “man carrying” bit. Any pilot stepping into a real helicopter (or aeroplane) will have walked around the machine whilst thoroughly checking every nut bolts washer and fixing wherever possible because his/her life depends on it. Aeromodellers tend to be rather less vigilant, but be assured that should a single screw loosen on a helicopter, whether it is model or full sized, there is a very real possibility that the machine will plummet earthwards soon afterwards. Helicopters have their own particular problems and are far more critical in this respect than fixed wing machines due to the many out of balance forces and vibrations that will always be there, however well set up the machine is. You can reduce the risk of a malfunction considerably by following these tips and whilst one can never rule out the possibility of mechanical failure, in the main we find that such failures are invariably caused by loose components and poor maintenance. Prolonged use without periodic tightening and checking, or worse still (and more commonplace) screws and fixings that haven’t been thread locked or fully checked from the outset cause most failures, so the resultant damage tends to be avoidable. We love selling you spares and we carry a vast range but unnecessary damage is always disappointing and we hope to help you avoid this.

Check and confirm the following before you attempt to even RUN your helicopter (a lot of damage can occur without the machine leaving terra firma) and double check everything before flying!

ARTF and RTF models should be thoroughly checked – factory assembly is often just that (i.e. assembly and NOT preparation for flight)! With the Honeybee/Jabo type of ARTF model there is usually little to attend to as these machines have been flight prepared. These should have been individually flight tested prior to packaging and transportation by the manufacturer, but things can and do loosen in transit so check all plugs and wiring and in particular, blade and tail rotor fixings

ARK X400 ARTF chassis models.

Our most excellent (we think it’s the very best in its class) X400 from Li Chann ARK is supplied in both ARTF or full kit form. With a kit you would (should…) automatically thread lock every single chassis fixing as you build the model. With the ARTF chassis there is a tendency to believe that all is ready for you to fit your servos and motor/ESC/Gyro and so forth. The ARTF is factory ASSEMBLED and you should go over every screw and fixing in exactly the same way as you would the full kit to ensure that these are fully home thread locked in place and correctly adjusted.

Do NOT over-tighten fixing screws into the plastic components as stripping the orifice out will invoke a replacement – not expensive but frustrating if you are keen to be flying. Plastics are flexible materials and there will be some movement over time, so if you find a loose screw then don’t automatically blame the assembly line – although human error is always possible, the manufacturers will be more likely to under rather than over tighten fixings for the aforementioned reason. Check in particular, blade grips to feathering spindles on main and tail rotors. EVERY swash-plate ball and link should be checked too and Loctite or a similar commercial thread locking agent should be used wherever possible. The latter are invariably intended for metal to metal fixings, but in practice they work well on metal to plastic. Thin Cyano also works well but take care if you use this as it can “wick” into places that you would rather it didn’t such as bearings and ball links.

CRASH DAMAGE

This can be relatively minor but look very major after a knock, but conversely is often major despite looking very minor. Feathering spindles nearly always bend, together with the fly-bar wire, the only true way of checking a feathering spindle is to remove and roll on a mirror where any out of true bend will be magnified by the reflection. The sound of it rolling across the flat glass will also gives the game away. If your blade tracking is way out after a bump then your feathering spindle is probably bent although a fly bar out of line or a bent link can similarly cause this. These are all cheap components so carry a spare or two if you are learning (yes we do a crash kit at a bargain price)!

Main-shafts can and do bend in severe arrivals but not often – check again by rolling on glass or better still, a mirror.

Blade damage – ALWAYS replace damages rotor blades as these spin at 2 – 2.5K RPM and they can throw lethal debris a long way. Most model helicopter hovering is done at eye level - think about it!

Booms – again cheap to replace - will bend if a blade strikes – with the incredibly robust ARK belt drive system to the tail rotor, it is surprising how far the boom will bend before the drive is affected so check after an arrival!

Ball links can pop off but usually pop back on again with no damage. Swash plates however can separate so these should be checked by gentle pulling and pushing on the two halves if suspect.

That should cover most eventualities – if you have any questions or problems then do not hesitate to call us. We will have heard of or experienced pretty well every scenario for sure and the answer will be simple in 99.9% of cases.

Enjoy your flying and above all be safe! Five minutes spent checking your machine before a flight is worth an hour afterwards!