Tips for building a T-Rex

[DoubleD]

Anyone have some good tips for building a T-Rex. I just bought one and am looking at all the parts and am taken back by where everything is going to go. Just looking for a good place to get started.

[CLM]

Take a breath, and go step by step, it will fall together quite well... I'm moving my hitec gear and 401 gyro into my rex tonight as my walkera 36 is down with a tweaked feathering shaft and no blades... The cheepo walkera was a good flying bird untill I lubed and smoothed the tail linkage and it gained severe tail gyrations and caused it to fly into a display case at work. I guess at times a sticky tail slider works like a steering damper I guess... :rolleyes:

Man I didn't want to fly my rex yet, I am not ready... Oh well :)

---
Stock T-Rex XL CDE: hs 65 cyclic align brushless setup gy401and Optic 6
Stock Walkera 36: hs55x3, hs50l (optic 6, align brushless, and 401 borrowed from Rex)
Walkera 22a: hs55x3, hs50, H2 chassis, 22E-Z modded head/skids/swash, 22d ball link tail slider, plasti-blades, castle creations pegasus 30p (optic 6 and 401 borrowed from Rex)
Stock Secondhand VNR3D: stock disguised walkera aka hornet clone

[Helifino]

What did you get, the HDE or the CDE?

[DoubleD]

As per suggestions here on the forum I got the CDE basic kit.

[Helifino]

First thing to do is get rid of that R48 adhesive that comes with the kit and get the Blue Loctite!

[DoubleD]

Is it garbage? I already started assembling the head, should I reassemble?

[mb323]

I should probably start a new thread for this, but thought you guys might be interested.

So, here is my T-Rex tip:

How to get the T-Rex to fit in the case that came with the kit. You really have to want to travel with your T-Rex. :D

Note: The heli in this picture was fully assembled and flying, it took about 10 minutes to dissasemble, I expect it to take about 15 minutes to re-assemble.

With a little dissasembly, it all fits, with batteries and tools for reassembly too.


Here is what I had to do:

Remove the tail boom:
Disconnect the tail rotor servo
Remove the boom supports from the lower side frames
Remove both tail fins
Fold the tail blades
Slide the boom supports toward the tail blades

Remove the main blades and landing gear
Disconnect the lower control linkages from the swashplate Remove the
mainshaft. See picture for how I positioned everything in the case.

The toughest part was getting the mainshft with the flybar and paddles into
the case with everything else.

[Helifino]

Is it garbage? I already started assembling the head, should I reassemble?

I made a few mistakes in assembling my Trex. I also used that R48, It is garbage(my opinion). When I went to disassemble,I ended up stripping the head off of some screws.
So make sure you get it right the first time, because in my opinion, the screws are garbage too.
Be careful when you install the flybar control set part # HH4007L. I had both pieces with the same measurement 18.28mm/20.75mm running parallel, instead of one side 18.28mm/20.75mm and the other side flipped around 20.75mm/18.28mm. The instruction sheet I had didn't make that clear. That's one of the screws I stripped off because of using R48.
No, I wouldn't reassemble the head.

[DoubleD]

Any other hints?

[DoubleD]

I just completed the head and I think I completely messed everything up. Is there a picture of what the head's supposed to look like when you turn it. I think all of my alignments are off.

By the way. It wasn't a very fun time getting those little eyeholes into the tie-rods.

Frustrated. :( :( :(

[CLM]

Don't know if you noticed, but all the T-Rex ball links are slightly larger on one side then the other making them pop on the ball much easier one way then the other.

Just a hint.

Chris

[Helifino]

There should be the letter 'A' stamped on one side of the link. That's the side that faces out. Ball link pliers come in handy for putting them on and taking them off. Can you post a pic of your head(on your heli) :D so we can take a look? If not, check out http://www.trextuning.com . That site helped me out alot.

[DoubleD]

http://web.mac.com/dustindiesing

Click on Building my 2nd heli.

[CLM]

um yeah I can see right away the head is wrong.

The blade grips are flipped over, the allen head should go down through the top into the captive locknut under the grip with the ball link trailing the blade. You have your locknut on top of the grip with the ball link leading the blade.

I think you got turned around in building the arms inside the flybar holder. the short rod to the blde grip should attach to the short side of the lever, with the long rod to the swash connecting to the long side of it furthest away from the pivot.

Chris

[DoubleD]

Wow, yeah. That was quite a screw up. I had to go all the way back to the first big step in the manual. Thank you for pointing that out.

[DoubleD]

Where should I put all the electrical stuff (eg. reciever, servos, wires, battery)?

[tdswan]

Just make sure the speed controller and receiver are as far apart as you can get them. Also make sure the gyro is well protected. The top of the tail boom is a baaaad spot for it.

[DoubleD]

Just make sure the speed controller and receiver are as far apart as you can get them. Also make sure the gyro is well protected. The top of the tail boom is a baaaad spot for it.

Do you have a picture of suggestions?

[tdswan]

Motions made a nice mount for his....Oh Motions?¿? Got a pic for us?¿?

[DoubleD]

Well after getting all my remote, servo, battery, receiver the only thing that fits is the receiver.

Ugh.

:mad:

[Helifino]

Where should I put all the electrical stuff (eg. reciever, servos, wires, battery)?

When you figure it out let me know :confused: .
This is the most aggrevating part of the whole process. I have been messing with this for a month now.
I have tried every possible configuration with the electronics that I can think of.
I tried mounting the receiver to the front servo mount. Couldn't get the canopy on.
I purchased a mounting plate to mount the receiver in the front to keep it away from the motor and esc. Canopy goes on but way way to nose heavy.
Moved the receiver to the back. Way to close to the esc.
Then theres the matter of the gyro. Top of the boom or bottom of the boom......I need a drink :D
I have searched through pics on other forums to see how they set up theirs...conveniently
blured....must be a trade secret :( .

[DoubleD]

When you figure it out let me know :confused: .
This is the most aggrevating part of the whole process. I have been messing with this for a month now.
I have tried every possible configuration with the electronics that I can think of.
I tried mounting the receiver to the front servo mount. Couldn't get the canopy on.
I purchased a mounting plate to mount the receiver in the front to keep it away from the motor and esc. Canopy goes on but way way to nose heavy.
Moved the receiver to the back. Way to close to the esc.
Then theres the matter of the gyro. Top of the boom or bottom of the boom......I need a drink :D
I have searched through pics on other forums to see how they set up theirs...conveniently
blured....must be a trade secret :( .

Hel if i know

lolz :p

[Helifino]

Good one! I guess I was asking for that :D

[CLM]

Lol, nice one.

I have almost a perfect balance with my electron 6 velcrod to the front of my ccpm servo cluster right over the battery, granted i may not be helping my balance that much with my somewhat hefty gy401 gyro, jazz 40 esc, and replacing the carbon fiber tail fin with stock white plastic. I can hardly avoid being tail heavy, and heck when the airtronics servo comes back it will be another brick strapped to my tail :)

Maybe I need a heavier battery ;D

Chris

[Helifino]

I have the electron 6 also. I tried double sided tape and tie straps to the front of the servo cluster,but then I had trouble with the canopy fitting. As I said earlier,the mount that I had bought made the front nose heavy. By the time the battery and conopy were installed I would be eating dirt. It is an ideal location though.

I finally moved the receiver to the very back of the frame and installed it vertically using tie straps. Seems to be a nice fit. The esc is mounted on the outside right rear. To close to the receiver in my opinion. It does seem to balance it out a little better though.

I tried wrapping the receiver in padding and placing it inside the rear cavity of the frame which would be ideal, but again too close to the motor and esc imo.

The manual suggested installing the receiver in the rear,but, makes no mention of where to install the esc. There's not a whole lot of mounting services for the esc to be safely installed and yet far enough away from the receiver,again imo. I'm trying to avoid mounting it near the motor so that it doesn't block off air getting to the motor.

Then theres the gyro. Everything that I read recommends not installing it on top of the boom for obvious reasons. But, most every pic I see in these forums shows alot of people still doing it. I'm not crazy about inverting it under the boom. It would seem to make it a pain to set up.

Maybe I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill. I just like to try and do things right the first time and gain from everyone elses experiences instead of learning the hard way.

[DoubleD]

Does the extended battery tray make it that much nose heavy?

[CLM]

All these reports of people having nose heavy rexes... Man I must have a lead tail boom :D

Chris

[DoubleD]

By the way, what is the effect of putting the reciever too close to the ESC? Isn't the antenna what 'catches' the radio frequency?

[Helifino]

All these reports of people having nose heavy rexes... Man I must have a lead tail boom
Where/how did you mount your receiver and esc?

[Helifino]

By the way, what is the effect of putting the reciever too close to the ESC? Isn't the antenna what 'catches' the radio frequency?
From what I have read it could cause a radio glitch which in turn could possibly cause you to lose control of your heli while flying. Not a pretty site. Someone out there might be able to explain it better.

[DoubleD]

http://www.rchelimag.com/wallpapers/trex/trex-1280.jpg

I FOUND IT!

[Helifino]

Does the extended battery tray make it that much nose heavy?
It seemed to have on mine. I guess it depends on what receiver,esc and battery your using. Mine's pretty standard stuff.

[Helifino]

Judging by your pic, it looks like they crammed the gyro,esc,receiver and the kitchen sink into the cavity of the frame. I guess I'll try that next.

[DoubleD]

Judging by your pic, it looks like they crammed the gyro,esc,receiver and the kitchen sink into the cavity of the frame. I guess I'll try that next.

That picture is one of the rchelimag's wallpapers. Let me know how it works.

[tdswan]

OK, guys....it took some work, but here's my setup.

[tdswan]

....and the other side.

[DoubleD]

That helps. Thank you.

I also got the JR Gyro.

I just hope I can fit everything. Shipment comes thursday.

[Helifino]

Thanks Troy! :)

[CLM]

Finally got some pics of my lead-tailed bird. Enjoy!

http://home.earthlink.net/~parrot23/images/t-rex/REX1.JPG
http://home.earthlink.net/~parrot23/images/t-rex/REX2.JPG
http://home.earthlink.net/~parrot23/images/t-rex/REX3.JPG
http://home.earthlink.net/~parrot23/images/t-rex/REX4.JPG

(posted as links for people with slow connections)

http://home.earthlink.net/~parrot23/images/t-rex/REX5.JPG

Chris

P.S. as she sits in the pics, she has the jazz esc, align 3200kv 420 motor, 3x hs65hb , 1x hs50, gy401, electron reciever, apogee 1500mah 20c 3cell lipo. I swapped out the carbon fiber fin with stock white plastic, as well as anything else yellow :rolleyes: Added some walkera weighted paddles I had knocking around. Swapped my stock white woodies which were broken in a jazz testing mishap with 325 pro black blades, SE black tail blades, and aluminum mixer arms in the head because the price of plastic ones annoyed me as they come complete with bearing... I would rather break grips as you can get them in a 4-pack :rolleyes:

[CLM]

Oh yeah, 3 4 and 5 up there shows how I have the reciever mounted.

Chris

[Helifino]

Nice bird Chris! Thanks for the pics, I like your setup. I didn't try mounting the receiver at an angle like that. I'm surprised your tail heavy.

[CLM]

Well I do have a heavy gyro and esc, not to mention a 1500mah lipo is a bit smaller then a 2100 so I have lost a bit of leverage from battery weight. I do like the reciever location though, it is as far away from the esc I can go without either putting one on the end of the boom or on the tip of the canopy :)

The reciever is soft mounted, a piece of foam under it and an align battery strap holding it on. Well ok, so I lost the foam and it's actually a folded up plastic parts bag, but it's supposed to be foam ;)

Chris

[Helifino]

Yea, I have the 240 gyro and 2100 battery. Makes a world of difference. Any concerns with gyro mounted on top of boom?
How do you like the optic 6? I bought one and then started hearing alot of negative stuff about them. So far I haven't had any problems.

[CLM]

As I have not yet done anything but take the tips off the stock blades testing my jazz, but I don't see a major problem untill I wad it up on the ground... I don't plan to do that :)

I love the optic 6, did not get the spectra module as that's the only problem I could find with them, and the single channel one is working just great :) Sure it doesn't graph my curves but, well, It's not a calculator ;)

It's easy to set up, I have set up 3 different birds in it and had no issues yet :)

Chris

[DoubleD]

I just wanted to thank you guys for helping me through this.

Thank you all. You've been more of a help than you may have realized.

[Helifino]

How's the build going DoubleD? Any pics yet?

[DoubleD]

I'm in a holding pattern 'til I get a minute. Til then new pics are always at http://web.mac.com/dustindiesing

Check out 'Building my 2nd Heli'

It really is overwhelming at times.