It's definitely a milestone, and proves once and for all to me that working the Sim is well worth the time. Now I have to keep going to condition myself to inversion with less adrenaline..... trying to hold and work a radio while my hands are shaking is very annoying.

 

Nah, I wouldnt go with trim. Check your cyclic setup again.

 

Will do.

 

I dropped the servo trims a few points toward negative and adjusted the elevator link 4 turns shorter to get level. All radio trims are at zero.
The curious thing is that even though all servo arms are mechanically set to dead center before installation and all links seem to be at proper length, the elevator servo at the rear of swash (#1) is trimmed down as far as it will go to get to center. Once out of setup, all controls behave normally, but to have to run #1 trim all the way to the bottom seems strange.

 

Success, nevertheless..... negative collective is all there now.

 

So apparently that first crash also put a hair-line fracture in the one way bearing sleeve that I didn't notice before when I was replacing main and tail drive gears.
The little tip-over yesterday due to an emergency landing in moderately thick grass certainly finished it off though. I had managed to throttle stop just before, but the inertia must have carried enough force nevertheless. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary and went back up for a few more minutes, but on landing and throttling off, I noticed the rotor stopped abruptly. The following disassembly revealed a shattered one way bearing assembly. Parts already ordered.
As far as the power-loss, it was the bullet connectors in the motor leads..... I'll be scrutinizing those tonight.
Go find a drone to chase @Crash Heligod ...... you are getting on my nerves.

 

You are given a few small allowances as I advance my skills beyond past limitations and begin to give this 450 a workout.

 

Out of sheer curiosity, I found out the one way bearing and sleeve from a Blade 400/450 will fit my TRex clone.
Back in the air.

 

Second DSMX Sat arrived and installed. I figured two sats are better than one.
Since I'm waiting on blades (tree be damned), I'm going to set up a capacitor (at least 4700uF) to fortify the ESC output to the FBL and reduce any chance of brown-outs. Other than that, I don't foresee any other mods in the future. I'm taking more of a "just fix it and fly it" approach with this one.

 

The stockpile grows. Ordered a complete main frame assembly, Tail assembly, Boom and CF blades.
My FG blades may arrive tomorrow.

 

OK nice your stockpiles of the necessary parts is a smart move. Often you will find that parts from one heli work on another, which can be a good thing. And the cap for the ESC is good insurance as well. Nothing worse than a brownout. As for the motor leads try to ensure that there is no short going to the frame. I remember @The Dude had an issue with random power resets and he found there was a short inside the motor! But even a motor powerlead just touching the frame can cause the same.

 

Yes, I have already established that my particular CX450SE-V3 is kindred to any Align 450 SE/Sport/Pro type heli depending on versions and options... and that some other brands share parts of common standardized sizes such as bearings and other parts.
This recent batch of parts (frame, blades boom and tail assy) I picked up for $40 shipped in U.S...... far below retail price!
I routinely inspect for wires binding against frame and metal parts. The motor lead problem was a bullet connector not fully engaged in the connector.... a problem I have corrected and taken preventative measures to avoid future problems there.

 

I spent $160 to $180 initially to get this 450 kit and electrics bought, built, and flying exactly as I had planned. As I scan the classified adds (Heli stuff for sale) for deals on parts, I see complete used ARF/BNF helis for sale at nearly the same price as what I have invested in my 450. Most of them, unfortunately, are either fly-barred, or smaller than 450.
Then there are those like the B230s.... I notice many of those being re-sold, probably for good reason... dodged a bullet there I suspect.
Sure, my CX450SE-FBL is an older design, but it works well, its evidently a tough little airframe, and I can't seem to find much to complain about thus far. In short- No buyer's remorse.

 

Cheap fiberglass blades....
Better than wood, not quite as good as CF, but tougher. Of the 2 sets that just arrived, one set was same as the original CX450 blades, fairly well balanced right out of the plastic bag. The others were a lesser generic brand, and look pretty with the blue and white paint job, but aren't balance matched worth a Shiz. Yeah, I get what I pay for..... but not quite ready for more expensive blades just yet.

 

It wont be long and you will get better blades @Beaver. Just keep flying...

 

....as for you and your little surprises, @Crash Heligod, blade grips were not a problem. However, the elevator servo is another issue. I noticed it acting a bit weird last flight, then it locked up and fried its motor while I was in setup mode tonight. That last dirt-dive cracked a metal servo gear!
I had spare gears and motor to patch it up, but now I get to order more servos, no thanks to you. Better safe than sorry.

 

Hi Beaver,

I've been watching your CopterX thread for a bit now, and it's kinda got me interested in building my own budget 450 heli(kinda like yours). Hence I thought of joining here to see if I can learn a thing or two. Please keep the post coming.

maingeer

 

For an initial investment at just under $200 to get the CX450SE-v3 frame and all the necessary electrics, I did well. The Heli flies well and has survived two nasty crashes with no frame damage.
Shopping around for deals on parts on EBay and "for sale" threads in these forums helps keep cost down.
Blades, mainshaft, landing skids, bottom frame tray, feathering shafts.... all easy to replace at minimal cost. Tail boom and servo links slightly bent, but can be straightened fairly easily.
The last hard crash was bad enough to trash one of my (digital/metal geared) cyclic servos , so I'm about to another set at just under $5 each.
When still in the learning stage as I am, it just doesn't make sense to invest $500 or more in a "name brand" heli, knowing mistakes will be made and crashes will occur as a result.

 

Yeah that's what I've been doing, looking for specials on ebay and just buying it part by part. I already got some stuff just waiting for some more to come in so I can start the build. I'm just a bit nervous I might crash this thing on hover. Thanks for the tip I'll keep an eye on the for sale threads here for bargains