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Esprit Model . Thunder Power RC . Mikado Modellhubschrauber

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Beginners Corner > Pre-flight Examination
 
 
Edward
New Heliman
Location: Hong Kong

Hi everyone. I am new around here and in fact just got into this hobby. I was reading through the forum and noticed it could be quite a diaster consequent to a careless pre-flight check-up. Perhaps all of you already have a standard protocol prior to your take off but can anyone share with me? Are there any parts that I need particular attention e.g. parts that loose easily. It may sound silly to most you but I really appreciate if anyone can give me some advices. The heli that I bought is a Lepton; any comment on the heli. I am not going into the 3D stuff and simply something standard. Many thanks.

Edward
06-06-2008 05:51 AM
 
 
JetFire
Veteran
Location: The Golden STATE

In short, Your preflight is only as good as the effort you put into it. There is no special bolt because everything is equally important.


Trex600N Pro
Kinetic 50
Futaba 7C2.4

-The ONLY way you fail is when you quit.-
06-06-2008 06:17 AM
 
 
leftyatm
Veteran
Location: Elkton, MD, USA

Exactly what Zman says. It may sound like a lot but well it is and in the end it will be worth your while financially and saftey-wise.
Check every area on the heli that moves, pivots, slides and should remain fixed. this includes bearings move freely. ALL bolts are tight (preferably loc-tited) Belt has proper tension. Ball links are not too tight/too loose and servos move freely. Also another thing to check is electronics, make sure all plugs are tightly fastened. It would be such a shame to watch your (for instance) elevator servo plug slip out of the receiver. Basically check over your heli either before every flight or after. After is better that way when you go to fly you're not wasting any time. You simply plug in and go.

P.S. When I mean after every flight I really mean every flying session. Like if you have 5 packs it isn't totally necessary to check all of the above in between each pack it wouldn't hurt but that's a lot of time. But then again if you are going to put in 20-30 flights in a single session it would be wise to go over it perhaps every 10 flights. If something goes arai in the air you're going to either cost yourself a lot of money or the other end of the spektrum injure yourself or others or at the very worst both. If you need any more info pm me.

2X T-Rex 450 SE V2 T-Rex 500 CF T-Rex 600 CF and T-Rex 600 NSP
06-06-2008 09:29 AM
 
 
speeddemon370
Veteran
Location: Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada

I don't think everyone checks everything all the time. You probably should but it's just not practical. You'll find where the high stress and wear points are with you're particular heli in due time. In the meantime it would be a good idea to check as much as possible whenever possible.

The stuff I check very frequently is:
belt tension
tightness of blade grips, including tail blade grips
slop or play in the feathering shaft
chunked or worn dampers
flybar straightness and paddle alignment
swashplate movement, tail yoke movement
battery and motor mounts
all electrical connections
servo horns, for some reason I forget to put screws in those alot
push pull link for tail control, these can come undone or bind up
zip ties, make sure they're not chewing into a wire or coming loose
ALL ball links, yank em around a bit. Too sticky is nfg. Loose and ready to fall off is equally nfg

Like I said, you'll find what works for you over time. Flight checks are very important though and not to be overlooked. Almost every time I think "it's been running fine for a while now, there shouldn't be anything wrong" it comes back and bites me in the a$$.

with 2 ears and 1 mouth you should listen twice as much as you talk
06-21-2008 11:16 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
jaycab
Senior Heliman
Location: The Magic City

The best preflight is your post flight right
after you land, every thing is important, if
you notice some thing out of the ordinary,don't
lift. There are so many componets that get over
looked;at home,the night before flying put her
on your work bench & give it a good inspection
A techniqe that I use is "what needs to be replace"

Jaycab
06-22-2008 01:27 AM
 
 
fenderstrat
Elite Veteran
Location: Aston,Pa

Quote 
servo horns, for some reason I forget to put screws in those alot

I hear you on that one,did that two or 3 times myself.its easy to forget the screw if you are centering or re-centering a servo and the arm holds on tight.But it may not hold during flight,thankfully a pre flight caught my mistakes and all was well on each flight

PerformancePlusRC field rep
COMPASS helis field rep
Mini Titan/SE
HBK2
Futaba FASST
06-22-2008 02:06 AM
 
 
Edward
New Heliman
Location: Hong Kong

Thanks a lot guys!
06-24-2008 05:27 AM
 
 
Andy from Sandy
Veteran
Location: UK

Quote 
The best preflight is your post flight right
after you land

Sorry I have to disagree there. You need to check thoroughly before the first flight of the session that your main blades are not damaged in any way and correctly tensioned in the blade grips, that all the ball links are on and secure, that the engine and muffler are not loose, that the servo horns are on securely, that the belt is correctly tensioned, that the tail section hasn't taken a knock during the ride to the field and give a good visual inspection to the whole helicopter.
06-24-2008 08:24 PM
 
 
Andy from Sandy
Veteran
Location: UK

Pre-flight continued:

I am still on 35MHz so go and put my card on the peg board.

Next I turn on my TX and check the voltage, that I have the correct model selected, that the switches are in the correct position, the trims are set correctly and the aerial is not damaged.

Check the voltage of the RX battery. Turn on the helicopter and check the controls move correctly, that throttle hold works, throttle cut works and the tail rotors move the correct way when I turn the helicopter. Check that the fail safe is working. Remember this is before the very first flight of the day. Not always but once a month do a range check.

With the model now out on the flight line I spool up and engage idle up. Apply some negative pitch and listen for any strange sounds. Check that the controls are still working correctly by giving just enough cyclic to see the disk move.

That concludes my pre-flight checks.
06-24-2008 09:50 PM
 
 
lrogers
Key Veteran
Location: Mobile, Al

Learn what your helicopter sounds like. When you spool up (after a pre-flight, of course) listen, REALLY listen to your helicopter. If something just doesn't sound right (like what you are used to hearing) of if there is a new/differnt sound, shut down and try to figure out what's going on. Also, once your head speed is up, but you're not too light on the skids, cycle gently through your controls and make sure your rotor disk and tail rotor are doing what they are supposed to do.

If I had done the later Sunday, my Airwolf wouldn't be sitting on the shelf with a badly bent head!

Larry Rogers - R/C Helicopter Pilot
06-24-2008 11:22 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
FBoss
Key Veteran
Location: Aurora Indiana USA

I couldnt agree more with the LISTEN thing. All machines talk to you, its a matter of understanding there language. Your car your dishwasher will all "tell" you when something is wrong. Thats why, although id love to, I dont listen to music when I fly.

The good ole times are now ,000132
06-25-2008 02:32 PM
 
 
speeddemon370
Veteran
Location: Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada

Quote 
Also, once your head speed is up, but you're not too light on the skids, cycle gently through your controls and make sure your rotor disk and tail rotor are doing what they are supposed to do.

I always forget to mention that one when people ask me about preflight. YES!! It's ^^ very important and has saved me a couple of potential catastrophe's to date.

One more thing to add to the listen thing: It's easy to psyche yourself into hearing stuff if you're really paranoid or nervous about the flight or the day or the spectators or whatever. Better safe than sorry.

For example, a month or so ago I developed a wierd sound during a flight, that and something just didn't feel "right". I landed promptly and checked it out. I didn't discover anything suspicious and thought it was my mind playing tricks on me. (If memory serve's correct I think this was my first day flipping so I had alot of other stuff on my mind and shaky hands like you wouldn't believe) Well, no less than 30 sec's after lift off the push pull tail linkage separated. That's some midflight excitement I could have done without and I was just too arrogant, lazy, stupid or impatient to follow through with my intuition.

with 2 ears and 1 mouth you should listen twice as much as you talk
06-25-2008 11:51 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
iher
Heliman
Location: mexico

I couldn`t agree more. If it sounds different something is different!

Regarding the preflight and post flight check ......let me tell you that screws don`t have your agenda. they won’t wait until you are home checking the heli on Sunday night. They get loose when they do!
Every flight is a dose of vibration, stress, oil displacement, wear and temperature expansion and contraction.
I do FULL check up every flight.

I rather that than repeating over and over...I should have checked...!

Blade CX + Trex SE + (x2)Shuttle ZXX w/os46FXx + Eslayer wing + Raptor 90SE+ Futaba 9ch H
06-26-2008 12:16 AM
 
 
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GrandRC . CanoMod . Futaba-RC

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Beginners Corner > Pre-flight Examination
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