[Skidz]

Thought I might add a build thread for my new heli.

First comment is that there is plenty of video assistance on Helifreak to supplement what appears to be nice big well laid out manual.

Managed to assemble the frame without issue. It will need to be adjusted later so the two halves are by no means permanently assembled. I used the rotor shaft to align the main bearings to ensure everything was perfect.

I took a couple of photos. Couldn't resist putting the tail boom and canopy on the L600 frame to get a first hand impression of size. Nice ! Beside the T500, the Logo is very impressive.


       

[Skidz]

The rotor head was a breeze to put together. Large, strong plastic grips (for weight saving I presume) with high quality CNC machined components made life easy. This head is for flybarless configuration so a lot less links and adjustments to make. The swash was a cinch to assemble although I was puzzled by the elevator arm on the swash. It had no hex hole to fit a tool so I had to insert finger tight then nip tighter with pliers.
   

[brotherblonde]

It certainly does look impressive. Is it larger than the Trex 600?? Or is the photo deceptive?
How different is it to the layout of the Trex family?

[Skidz]

It certainly does look impressive. Is it larger than the Trex 600?? Or is the photo deceptive?
How different is it to the layout of the Trex family?

I think it is more like Trex600. Hard to say. It has the power to swing 690mm blades like the Trex700 but you need to extend the boom a bit. I guess sort of in between. They say the Logo500 SE (stretched version of the Logo 500) is more like the Trex600E.

[Skidz]

More progress.

Tail assembly done. Went together real neat without issue. Once assembled, the long drive belt slipped through the tube with a bit of help from the carbon tail rotor control rod.
       

The front end belt connections fitted nicely. Locking pins and collars in place to remove vertical freeplay. Main drive gear and one-way bearing slid on nicely too. Only frustration was the circlip that secures the gears from sliding off the end of the shaft. I didn't have circlip pliers so I had to improvise - which proved rather difficult. Success in the end.
       
       

Completed the tail rotor assembly. Everything fitted really nicely. Disappointed with the tail rotor blades provided. Considering the "quality" tag that goes with the Logo helis and the $$ you pay, the crappy blades aren't up to the calibre of the rest of the kit parts. They're coming straight off in favour of 95mm carbon tail rotor blades.

The rudder control rod is carbon as standard fitout. Easy to install and super impressed that no length adjustment was necessary. The rod-ends are epoxied in to the carbon rod and the overall length was spot-on to the mm. Fitted my Align DS620 rudder servo. Probably many better choices but I bought it by mistake 18 months ago (thought it was smaller than it was so couldn't use it on a 450). It can stay in place until I feel inspired to update the rudder servo.

       
       

[brotherblonde]

She seems to be progressing well. Not too many labour pains I hope. You can always ask for an epidural if it gets painful!

[smuzz]

For someone who's not into helis, I've got to say that it's actually quite interesting Dave.
Will be good to see it at the field and then I'll be able to relate all the separate bits of the build ... I hope
Great work!

[northerner]

Hope I can be there for the maiden - this is looking awesome!

[secant0give]

Super nicely engineered machine !!

[Skidz]

Shopping day today...

Update 6/4/2011...

Kontronic Jive 80+HV & heatsink (mega powerful) - ** ARRIVED **
623mm FBL CF main blades + 95mm CF tail blades by "Edge" - ** ARRIVED **
Scorpion HKIII-4035-560 motor (holy crap Batman!) - ** ARRIVED **
3 x Futaba BLS451 ultra schmick cyclic servos. - ** ARRIVED ** (but with stuff all servo horn choices)

Receiver, pionion, batteries and connectors to go and I will be airborne. (on their way)

D.

[Skidz]

After a few deliveries of bits, there has been some more progress.

   
New CF tail blades.. and off with crappy kit blades.

   
Main blades now fitted. Heli not so "naked" any more.

   
Linkages to main blades now in place and geometry set.

   
Motor is big. 560g 4200W continuous / 5200W peak (10-12S)

   
ESC is Kontronic Jive 80+HV with heat sink option

MIK4148.JPG Size: 9.94 KB  Downloads: 1,080

Counterbearing ordered today (USA) to give extra support on the end of the drive shaft.

   
   
Starting to look like it might fly soon.

Waiting on: Futaba FASST receiver (genuine of course!), motor drive pinion, counterbearing, and 10S (4500mAh) Nanotech batteries. Estimated maiden flight Easter weekend. First flights are "tune in" flights for the VBar system so just hovering intially. Need to ease in the 10S packs too.

[gbanger]

Looks sweet Dave!

[kizza42]

Looks great, Make me feel real bad that I have a Flybarless 450 build stalled. Must pull the finger out...

[Skidz]

Probably not too many posts remaining. Getting so close to maiden. Limiting factor presently is that, despite stock and my batteries being "reserved", Hobbyking just can't seem to get someone to put them in a box and press the "shipped" button. 4 days later and no action in Honkers.

   
Got the motor in. Still can't believe it is 4.2kW.

   
The long motor shaft sticking down possibly 8mm more than I'd like.

   
The swash plate is now connected to the servos. The geometery is very precise. This kit comes together with such precision.

   
One of the 3 x Futaba BLS451 precision high torque super fast servos. They came with heavy duty horns that are more than up the task.

   
Looking down the centre-line of the heli. The way the servos mount gives optimal positioning to transfer the forces from the swash/blades directly in to the servos.

   
Kontronic Jive 80+HV ESC now mounted and connected to the motor. Used the good ol' "Scope" soldering iron to ensure those wires were soldered good and proper.

   
12 tooth pinion arrived today. Slid in to place with the precision of Swiss clock. Motor mounts adjusted to give the precise meshing required with the main gear. ReadyHeli (Florida, USA) have shipped the counterbearing which will go over the pinion and give a third bearing support and "SUPER" strong mesh with the main gear. No flexing or bearing stresses in the motor on this sucker!

   
Anti-static wiring in place. One of the draw-backs of belt drives in that they can generate high voltages from static from the belt whizzing around at very high speed. A zap to the receiver or FBL controller generally results in an unplanned tail kick that makes you crap your nappies. The bonding of the belt tensioner back to the tail tube and back to the battery -VE stops the soiling of one's pants.

   
Receiver and VBar FBL controller mounted and servos connected. I just loved the way the Futaba S.Bus link required only one small cable to go from the receiver to the FBL controller. That did away with four more cables. Neat! See next pic.

   
Took a snap shot from the set-up software showing how the Futaba S.Bus reciever connect with one wire. That wire transmits all commands to the FBL controller and supplies power from FBL controller back to the S.Bus receiver which effectively is now only a satellite to the Mini VBar controller. Great design!


JUST WAITING FOR MY FREAKIN' BATTERIES MR. HOBBYKING !!!


Dave

[Skidz]

Well guys, no maiden today due to "issues". Let's call it an engine run-up test and declare it extremely successful (just quietly, I was surprised with how much power this machine has. Holy cr*p Batman!).

The forward tilting of the swash without command gave me the heebie jeebies so I aborted the lift-off. Need to know what is happening there before my blades are hurled in to orbit in the event there is contact with the ground.

Some quick test results: not the FBL set-up, not the balance of the blades causing vibration, not the swash levelling at zero pitch. Me thinks the CofG could be out a tad and the FBL system is trying to overcompensate. My theory only. Need to know before next weekend when maiden attempt #2 comes along.

Edit: Close inspection revealed the main gear was rubbing against the frame under power. Despite the fitting of the correct spacer per manual, a second spacer had to fitted to give the needed clearance. This was the source of the "extreme vibration" in the event log of the VBar system.

[robair]

Gday Fellow Rotor Heads

I have 2 things to say about Dave's machine.

1- It is one of the most awesome pieces of model engineering I am likely to ever see. Absolutely magnificent! I though Align was good stuff, this raises the bar from high jump to pole vault.

2- A warning to AndrewR, DO NOT be at the field when this baby is present UNLESS you are prepared to go out and buy one immediately. As a discerning and experienced heli guy I am not sure you are going to be able to resist this absolutely amazing work of rotary wing art.

Personally I am gobsmacked and that's only after seeing it static and a brief run up!
WOW

Cheers
Rob B

[Skidz]

Personally I am gobsmacked and that's only after seeing it static and a brief run up!
WOW

Cheers
Rob B

Rob.. kind words.. but I tend to kinda agree with ya. I listended to the Logo 600 spool up and honestly thought.. sweet Mary mother of Jesus!!!!

A bit more delving into the happening of things, my data input into web-based headspeed calculators gave some cause for concern. Max head-speed recommended is 2100-2200 rpm. On my data input, the calc delivered 2500 rpm (too much zip). I need to back-off my throttle settings from 75% to say 60% demand.

Edit: I have to check the end-points on the throttle range in the servo meaning that my 75% might actually be a lot higher than I think.

   

[Skidz]

Well, some hunting around on the net paid dividends.

Found in a forum that a person with the exact same heli had similar issues with heli lurching on spool up.

Seems his problem turned out to be that he upgraded his software from the standard VBar 5.0 "Express" that ships standard to the VBar 5.1 Pro. This is the software that is used to program the Flybarless Computer controller mounted on the helicopter. He made the change after some settings were already done but finished setting up the heli after upgrading to 5.1 "Pro". He discovers he had to go back through all the settings from scratch with the new 5.1 Pro. Seems some unwanted behaviour can occur on the swash. That is my issue!

Probably sounds like jibberish to anyone reading this post but this is exactly what I did so (upgrading from 5.0 to 5.1 Pro mid set-up, so if I repeat the fix, then I reckon I am going to be one happy camper.

Still need to recheck the throttle end-points.

[kizza42]

Whenever you update the firmware on any device, always reset it to factory defaults and re-enter your setttings.

[Skidz]

The good news: Well, it turns out that the violent wag is coming from the rudder servo and not a set-up issue as such. Athough the servo used is designed for exactly that, a heli rudder servo, it seems this model (Align DS620 - I think Savox makes them) has been criticised heavily for causing "wag" on larger helicopters. My heli texperts tell me that you fix a DS620 problem by replacing it with a Futaba BLS251.

The bad news: I need to get a Futaba BLS251 servo. It is a specialised heli rudder servo. I can't get one until Easter is over so the Logo is grounded . Will fly the Trex500 over easter instead.

[secant0give]

That's a bugger !!

[gbanger]

That sucks Dave

[Flying fisho]

I would say bugger & that sucks too, except the only part I understood was "I can't get one until Easter is over so the Logo is grounded", so I will tone it down to "never mind, it's time will come"

[brotherblonde]

All those words uttered above, from me too.

[Skidz]

24 hours later ... the problem was revealed.

It seems the DS620 servo, whilst not the calibre of a Futaba BLS251 rudder servo, was actually not the offender.

Looking over the mechanics this morning I noticed something odd (and alarming). I noted the space between the inside of the main rotor grip was larger on one side and smaller on the other. .Thinking that should not be, I pulled the blades off and head apart and found I missed installing two very thin shims between the grip bearings and thrust bearings (one per grip). This allowed sufficient movement to cause the main blades to be out of balance as one side was slightly longer than the other even though the blades themselves were perfectly balanced. At rest you couldn't pick it up but after spinning the rotors, it gave way and moved about 3mm to one side.

Once the shims were in, everything was spot on once more. Waited for the rain to go and went down to PRCAC late in the arvo for (fingers crossed) a perfect take off.

Per plan, the heli lifted off super smooth without the slightest hint of wag. Problem found and solved!! The vibes were basically shaking the crapola out of the super sensitve flybarless controller causing the violent rudder oscillations.

Two batteries through the heli .. all perfect . Nice large figure 8s around the field and with some disappointment, heard the timer count down to zero. End of flying - but so glad to get that gremlin behind me. In the end, a rookie error. Can't blame anyone for this oversight except myself.

Easter doesn't suck after all. Hope the rain gives us all another chance to get down and fly.

Dave

[gbanger]

Thats great Dave
I was a little suspicious when you said it was probably the Align Servos fault... I thought yeh right!
Glad the beast is sorted. Hope to be flying tomorrow from 9am waeather permitting
Gazz

[Skidz]

Thats great Dave
I was a little suspicious when you said it was probably the Align Servos fault... I thought yeh right!
Glad the beast is sorted. Hope to be flying tomorrow from 9am waeather permitting
Gazz

Yes, I was thinking that too but the gurus I go to for help basically said it was probably the servo and go get a Futaba BLS251. They had other advice too but the DS620 was a recurring comment from a number of experts.

I had checked over what I could (not realising my error) and thought that must be the cause.

Anyway, I am flying now without issue and I save myself the cost of the BLS251. I'm a happy camper .

Dave

[kizza42]

If you don't mind I'm gonna merge your threads into the build thread so it makes sense when people read it in 5 years time