Hi everyone. First time poster and limited experience so far in RC helos. After having fun flying an E-Flite Blade mCX around the house, I finally bit the bullet and purchased a 5 flight old 450 sport. Unfortunately something was wrong with the set up (not to mention not being beginner friendly with no flybar weights etc) and the tail servo did not return to centre causing it to 'crash' into a 'wall' due to the rotation and my limited experience. Unfortunately it bent the main shaft, kinked the tail boom and damaged the main rotor drive gear. After searching on-line for spares I found a pack of main shafts for the T-Rex 450 for a reasonable price. However most of the parts on that web page referred to the 450XL. What I haven't been able to find out was if, whilst the part number only specifies the 450, the main shaft of the sport would be the same. I know there are some difference between the two, however I haven't read anywhere that has mentioned that the shaft was changed in the 'upgrade'.

After the repair, I intend to set it up initially as a 'sport' and not 3D model as per the manual. However the model didn't have flybar weights as mentioned in the manual and I haven't been able to find any. Having flown real helos and having a basic understanding of how helos are 'supposed' to fly I believe that the weights would be a good idea as I 'learn the ropes'. At least I have Phoenix to practice on until I get around to fixing it!

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance and regards.

Mark.

Hi mate and welcome,

firstly the 'sport' is an older versionbasd on the trex V1 with limited bling, i think blade grips were plastic and also the tail was plastic too(if memory serves me correctly), also a pic would say a thousand words.

depends on which exact model, you still should be able to get parts for it, and again(if memory serves me correctly) the sport shared all the same mainshafts and featheringshafts with the SE V1.[the SE V2 and SE V3/PRO are'nt compatible with earlier models]
flybar weights are just the same as 'DUBRO' collar lock which is used to keep the wheels on RC Planes, just try to get the smallest inner diameter as possible and about 3-4 on each side would tame her down somewhat and you can remove as experience is gained.

but ultmately a picture would easily establish which model it is and which parts are compatible

Thanks for the reply VT. The "sport" I have is the new mid 2009 version that is basically a SE V2 with upgraded head, tail, frame and brushless motor. Essentially a V3. Here are a couple of links. http://www.alignrcau.com/product_detail ... d=KX015076
http://www.rcheliresource.com/spy-shots ... ex-450-v3/

I think the difficulty is due to it still being fairly new and the manual part numbers being different to the website part numbers. I have managed to order in some parts from Taiwa/Wattsuprc that they say should fit, fingers crossed! Will see how they go! Thanks for the tip WRT the flybar weights. May have to go to my one and only LHS to see what I can find! Thanks again for your help. Now for the fun of re-assembly and fault finding. Not to mention re-tuning everything from 3D to sport etc. Now all I have to do is find a good book/dvd etc for beginners with detailed, easy to follow instructions how to set it up properly including the settings in my DX6i radio. These next couple of months will be a steep learning curve I think!! Thanks again!

OK, now some light has been shed on the whole story

so, disregard my first post aart from Welcome...

your heli is essentially a V2 chassis with a V3 head and tail, so all V3 feathering, mainshafts, tailshafts will fit fine, the chassis
and anything CF will be in the V2 section

hope this helps ur situation and hope they the right parts

Good luck and happy landings

also i wouldnt worry about the sport setup at all, i would just setup the 3D but with maybe 8degs of pitch and 4-5degs of cyclic and make sure 0pitch is dead cente of stick travel

sport doesnt allow for the odd loop and roll so a little bit more negative is needed when upsidedown

I have finally put it back together again with all the parts fitting which is a bonus! However after testing all the servos etc, I have a question. I noticed that whenever I moved the anti-torque controls the tail servo would would deflect the tail rotor as required, but when I returned to lever to neutral, the servo stayed at it's deflected position. Is the servo meant to return to neutral again in line with the controls? I am thinking this is what caused it to 'crash' in the first place. For information the gyro appears to be working as the rotor pitch does change in the correct sense when the helo is rotated around it's axis when no anti torque control is applied.

Regards,

Mark.

good to see your back in the air, what gyro, tail servo, cyclic servos, ESC, motor, Tx, Rx are you using, this will help further?

All is now well! It was just a minor set-up issue that has been fixed. I found some great info vids on helifreak that have helped heaps. I have also found what appear to be good throttle and pitch curves. Now I think I have to re-balance my blades etc. The only problem I have now is that I am having trouble with tracking. Set the tracking properly and the pitch on the blades isn't even. It don't know how to fix it as most of the linkages on the sport head are not adjustable. The fun of rc helos!!!