problem with my raptor 50

[mcnscott]

hello, I'm having a heck of a problem with my heli. I recently switched from the OEM wood blades to glass ones. The first flight everything was great, went through a couple of tanks and called it a day. That was about 2 weeks ago. I went out today to fly and things are bonkers. When I throttle up my rudder doesn't want to counteract the torque of the mains. I give it a bit of throttle and she starts swinging (tail) to the right give it some right rudder to correct, give a bit more throttle and again I have to give more right rudder to keep it from spinning.

I have a Futuba 240 gyro, and I've never had to constantly correct the drift like I am. When it gets above about 3/4 stick it just goes crazy like the gyro isn't even reacting. When I shake the chopper in my hands a bit the gyro does move the servo back and forth like it should, so I'm stumped. Any ideas or tests I can try out? How do I know if my gyro is on its way out as I suspect? Thanks a bunch.

Scott

[heli-cuzz]

Reverse the switch on the gyro. Somehow it must have been switched since your previous flite.

[mcnscott]

thanks for the reply. I gave it a shot with the gyro reversed (which is actually NORM position), but the heli is totally uncontrollable so I put it back in the REV position, and I have more control. The problem still remain though :(

[heli-cuzz]

thanks for the reply. I gave it a shot with the gyro reversed (which is actually NORM position), but the heli is totally uncontrollable so I put it back in the REV position, and I have more control. The problem still remain though :(


Make sure everything is correct, servo centered and slide ring on the tail spindle slightly off center towards the tailcase. It's possible your gyro went bad or servo. I believe the gy240 is for a smaller sized heli. Ideally you'd want a 401 and up for a fifty sized heli.

[SAAB-o-matic]

Check the revo-mixing and possibly the gain on the gyro and see if anything got bumped.

[cbflys]

You also want to make sure the gyro initializes correctly. Make sure you read the gyro instructions.

[heli-cuzz]

Check the revo-mixing and possibly the gain on the gyro and see if anything got bumped.

With the gy series gyros, leave the revo mix off.

[AaronS]

depending on what tail servo you have on there, that may be the culprit. The gyro will work the tail servo much more than the other controls, and without a good servo on there it is likely to burn out a cheap servo very quick, especially if the gain is set too high. I don't see any problem running a GY 240 on a larger heli, it is the same as the 401 except for the remote gain, digital servo compatibility, and end point adjustments on the gyro. good luck!

[mcnscott]

Still a bit of a problem though I'm not sure what exactly it is. Is my tail suppose to gradually keep shifting? Once in a while the tail will start acting as if the gyro isn't even there, but I set the heli down on the ground then take off again and everything is fine, other than the slow drift to the right even while doing nothing but hovering. My tail servo is a JR821

Thanks!

[SAAB-o-matic]

Just a stab in the dark and I don't know if this will do anything but try a futaba servo with the gyro. Maybe the jr servo and Futaba gyro aren't getting along.

[tdswan]

Yes, that's about the only time you don't want to mix electronics. The gyro/servo combos are a little finicky when you mix them.

[heli-fan]

I agree go w a futaba servo the 9254 is the one sold w a package deal and is a great servo.