130x tail drift

Slowly trying to get the hang of my new 130x but there is an underlying problem which is proving too much of a distraction - when it's hovering, the tail will slowly creep round to the right, so I add a little left to bring it back but it will slowly creep round again. Now I've seen the Youtube video on adjusting subtrim, but with the motor disconnected and TH on, the main and tail blades behave normally when controlled, any idea's?

soane wrote:Slowly trying to get the hang of my new 130x but there is an underlying problem which is proving too much of a distraction - when it's hovering, the tail will slowly creep round to the right, so I add a little left to bring it back but it will slowly creep round again. Now I've seen the Youtube video on adjusting subtrim, but with the motor disconnected and TH on, the main and tail blades behave normally when controlled, any idea's?

Yes I am sure that it can be a distraction when learning. There is no Heli to my knowledge that can hover hands off (no input required from the pilot, unless it has a GPS and position hold) all Helis require constant input to maintain heading and hight ( even when you have it on heading hold) hence a lot of people find them difficult to fly.
You can spend double the price you've paid for the Heli on various upgrades which will improve the performance and handling a bit, but when learning I don't think it's worth it. Better save for a bigger more stable model.
Now with all that said, have you asked someone test fly it and to see if it is an actual problem or are expecting the thing to fly on rails ! Personally anything that small will always have some small issues, which you have to learn to live with and accept.
You have, Mark, Neil and Danny all have the 130, ask them to test it for you.
Just my thoughts

Hiya mate, the 130 has an awesome tail. If you don't touch the rudder while hovering it will not drift at all.
There's a couple of ways to get rid of tail drift,
1. Don't run too low a head speed. The lower the head speed the less ability the tail has. In other words set your throttle curve at a flat 85%. It should be enough to hold solidly.
2. Tail gyro gain I would adjust next. Increase the gain a little at a time until the tail starts to wag, then back it off slightly.
3. Use this link to learn how to adjust the gain for the tail.

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=429592

Something that's worth doing also is going through the heli looking for out of balance main and tail blades, tail rotor, tail output shaft and main shaft.
The 130 can be a bit of a pain when it comes to vibes, so making sure it runs smoothly is important.

Checkout the helifreak forum for loads of fixes that cover everything and you'll learn the model inside out.




Danny.

Thanks for the replies, I went through the Helifreak forum and found a link about subtrim, I dialed in a little left rudder trim and it appears to have cured it. If they're there I'll certainly askNeil, Mark or Danny if it is flying OK.

Well apparently using the subtrim while flying is a big no-no, can't see why myself as it is solving the problem. At the moment all I want to achieve is a stableish hover to get the feel for this bigger-than-mcpx heli.

Danny, I watched the video on Youtube about adjusting gain values, am I right in thinking this makes the servos more or less responsive? Negative values make the servos react quicker so making 3d flight easier and positive gain reduces their reaction time? Or am I way off the mark here?

soane wrote:Well apparently using the subtrim while flying is a big no-no, can't see why myself as it is solving the problem. At the moment all I want to achieve is a stableish hover to get the feel for this bigger-than-mcpx heli.

Danny, I watched the video on Youtube about adjusting gain values, am I right in thinking this makes the servos more or less responsive? Negative values make the servos react quicker so making 3d flight easier and positive gain reduces their reaction time? Or am I way off the mark here?

Are you aware that subtrim and trim are two separate things

Brian, form watching a tutorial on Youtube via Helifreak, subtrim is used to set the blades when there is no power to the motor and to control servo centring response (?) but trim is used in fight to make minor corrections. I did find a good DX6i manual that broke down each function more clearly than the factory manual. In flight, if I adjust rudder trim it seems to add too much, so it starts to rotate in the opposite direction.

Please feel free to correct/educate me as I'm new to this heli business.

Ok thanks for the reply, check on your transmitter as you can vary the amount of each trim adjustment with each "bleep" of the switch on many transmitters

That's the first thing I tried when I realized that it was making no difference. I'm at the sports centre later so we'll see what the other guys think.

The reason it drifts in the opposite direction when using trim in flight is that the flybarless system thinks it is a stick input.
You're right about the gain values. It reacts quicker with a higher gain value.
Something I do with the 130 is to slacken off the 2 screws that hold the tail rotor to the boom. Move the servo along until the tail blades are level with each other, which is zero pitch. Then tighten the servo down again.
This ensures that you have similar movement available in both directions.
There should be a few of us there later to help with any problems you have.




Danny.

Thanks Danny, at the moment I'll stick with the L3 subtrim, this seems to work at the moment, I'll see what you guys think later, I'll bring plenty of tools