I used to do Track and Balance on the H-47 Chinook. All the same principles apply, except at a vastly bigger scale, and in several different flight regimes. The blade tracking is done with a specialized camera that is synchronized to the rotor speed. Rather than looking at the edge of the rotor disk, it looks upwards, perpendicular to the blades, in order to measure their distance. Balance is measured with vertical and lateral accelerometers mounted in the fwd and aft pylons. These measure the 1/rev acceleration. A magnetic pickup on the swashplate provides phase information so you can determine which blades are generating the imbalance. The Chinook has 3 types of T&B adjustments. (1) pitch links, (2) blade tip weights, and (3) blade trim tabs. It was my job to analyze the T&B data and determine the optimal set of adjustments to bring T&B (as well as autorotation and stick position) within tolerance.
Hi Mr. P. I loved the 90s, it's a great time to be into RC. I had a TREX600, I believe it was ? Been so long, but it only had 1 gyro in the tail and a OSMax 61. I just couldn't fly it. But in the 90s what mad me happy was a NOVUS Heli-max. The added counter-rotating main blades. I had the time of my life flying that micro Heli. Now I'm seeing the new Heli's with little F.C in them. Thanks again for the video and information.
I've seen Tom Stanton video about amazing swashplateless heli. Shame that there is no such system yet available on market. EDIT: There is actually IQ motion who sell patent pending motor modules with such capabilities, but underactuated propulsion firmware seems not available for public.
This is why I don't fly helis anymore lol. I spent a ton of time setting up the blade pitch and tracking and balance etc on a TREX 450 and I never want to do it again. It did fly great after all of that but what a PITA. Great explanation though!
@@Rusty-Metal If you've done it a bunch of times then yeah, I suppose it wouldn't be that hard, but when you're just trying to figure it out the first time it's not so easy. But thanks for the condescending remark.
It is quick if everything is OK in the head ;). Slightly bent feathering shafts, poor quality blades, loose screws, worn or damaged bushings or 'O-rings' can cause havoc!
@@Twx97 Yeah, maybe I'll circle back to helis at some point but right now I'm having a lot of fun with FPV. I sold that Trex and will probably sell the rest of my helis and if I come back to it I'll start fresh with something better. Thanks for the tip.
Hi lee i have the smaller eachine with a fpv cam added can you do a video how to add fpv to that copter and fly it i hope to progress to the 3d copter fpv next
Hello, Back to my mCPX-BL Heli days, blade tracking consisted in folding both blades back next to each other, and checking they were at the exact same level when no pitch given (engine off). If they made an angle, like an horizontal 'V', something was wrong. Is that blade tracking, or is this another offset/tuning/balancing/trimming ? That would explain why I kept crashing all the time :)
Fewdays ago i was watching ur videos related to helis on blade tracking but stil i cant get my blades to track the issue is the blades wil be in track for few seconds until it spools up as soons as the rpm goes high it looses track and if i give it positive pitchthen again it goes in tracking , i tried every method to track blades but got not no luck i replaced feathring shaft ,blade grips, blades too but no luck so far can anyone help its a 450 flybar heli
In my experience, if everything in the head is tight and not worn, then I'd suspect that the feathering shaft o rings are worn /damaged or the blades themselves have an issue. I had this a few times when I tried to fly with cheap blades back in the day..
@@Painless360 how to check for dampning balls i mines are soft i can squeeze them and they do look perfectly round and fine even the feathring shaft is brand new
I used to do Track and Balance on the H-47 Chinook. All the same principles apply, except at a vastly bigger scale, and in several different flight regimes.
The blade tracking is done with a specialized camera that is synchronized to the rotor speed. Rather than looking at the edge of the rotor disk, it looks upwards, perpendicular to the blades, in order to measure their distance.
Balance is measured with vertical and lateral accelerometers mounted in the fwd and aft pylons. These measure the 1/rev acceleration. A magnetic pickup on the swashplate provides phase information so you can determine which blades are generating the imbalance.
The Chinook has 3 types of T&B adjustments. (1) pitch links, (2) blade tip weights, and (3) blade trim tabs. It was my job to analyze the T&B data and determine the optimal set of adjustments to bring T&B (as well as autorotation and stick position) within tolerance.
Thanks... Relating it to a quadcopter really help me understand.
Thanks for showing us heli guys some love! Great video, keep ‘em coming 😀
great info and interesting even to a non helicopter flyer like me.
Hi Mr. P. I loved the 90s, it's a great time to be into RC. I had a TREX600, I believe it was ? Been so long, but it only had 1 gyro in the tail and a OSMax 61. I just couldn't fly it. But in the 90s what mad me happy was a NOVUS Heli-max. The added counter-rotating main blades. I had the time of my life flying that micro Heli. Now I'm seeing the new Heli's with little F.C in them. Thanks again for the video and information.
Really interesting indeed, Lee! Thanks! 😃
But, damn... Those machines are so complex! 😱
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Thank you for your video.
I've seen Tom Stanton video about amazing swashplateless heli. Shame that there is no such system yet available on market.
EDIT: There is actually IQ motion who sell patent pending motor modules with such capabilities, but underactuated propulsion firmware seems not available for public.
This is why I don't fly helis anymore lol. I spent a ton of time setting up the blade pitch and tracking and balance etc on a TREX 450 and I never want to do it again. It did fly great after all of that but what a PITA. Great explanation though!
That's unfortunate. Setting pitch and cyclic should take less than 5 mins with a cheap 15 dollar pitch gauge. It doesn't need to be hard.
@@Rusty-Metal If you've done it a bunch of times then yeah, I suppose it wouldn't be that hard, but when you're just trying to figure it out the first time it's not so easy. But thanks for the condescending remark.
It is quick if everything is OK in the head ;). Slightly bent feathering shafts, poor quality blades, loose screws, worn or damaged bushings or 'O-rings' can cause havoc!
@@flipfpv give it another chance and get an xlpower or a sab not these trash align that always has a problem
@@Twx97 Yeah, maybe I'll circle back to helis at some point but right now I'm having a lot of fun with FPV. I sold that Trex and will probably sell the rest of my helis and if I come back to it I'll start fresh with something better. Thanks for the tip.
Hi lee i have the smaller eachine with a fpv cam added can you do a video how to add fpv to that copter and fly it i hope to progress to the 3d copter fpv next
Thanks for the idea. I am planning a few more copter videos and adding FPV is easy (but getting the image to not be affected by vibration is hard!)
Hello,
Back to my mCPX-BL Heli days, blade tracking consisted in folding both blades back next to each other, and checking they were at the exact same level when no pitch given (engine off). If they made an angle, like an horizontal 'V', something was wrong.
Is that blade tracking, or is this another offset/tuning/balancing/trimming ?
That would explain why I kept crashing all the time :)
That isn't blade tracking that is checking the pitch angle. Not sure if that would explain the crashes ;)
Fewdays ago i was watching ur videos related to helis on blade tracking but stil i cant get my blades to track the issue is the blades wil be in track for few seconds until it spools up as soons as the rpm goes high it looses track and if i give it positive pitchthen again it goes in tracking , i tried every method to track blades but got not no luck i replaced feathring shaft ,blade grips, blades too but no luck so far can anyone help its a 450 flybar heli
In my experience, if everything in the head is tight and not worn, then I'd suspect that the feathering shaft o rings are worn /damaged or the blades themselves have an issue. I had this a few times when I tried to fly with cheap blades back in the day..
@@Painless360 how to check for dampning balls i mines are soft i can squeeze them and they do look perfectly round and fine even the feathring shaft is brand new
It depends on the model and head type you have... I'd also re-check the blades are ok too. Best of luck!
do helicopters fly much longer than a quadcopter of the same weight?
They are more efficient thanks to the larger props that spin a lot more slowly. These small helis can hover for longer than you'd expect!
@@Painless360 have you ever made one fly missions?
@@frankyflowers wdym?
@@Twx97 autonomous missions like where they go to way points