Jeff excellent information for setting up or matching the pitch of the rotors, nice little gauge 👍🏻 better than a bubble level 😂. I guess you would also want to check the tail rotor tracking also ? ☺️
Thank you! I hope the video was helpful! Much better than a bubble level or old-school pitch stages that were mechanical lol so you actually don’t ever track the tail rotor because they are fixed linkage points. There is no adjustability from the pitch slider to the tail grip.
Jeff, another great video as usual. I would like to add a technique that was shown to me when I first started flying helis 14 years ago, and I have used this technique ever since, and have honestly never had a set of blades be out of track. This technique uses a Dubro prop balancer rod with the two cones. All you have to do is get your servos set to 90 and your swash leveled, however you want do it. Now all you have to do is to insert the rod into the blade grip bolt holes and snug the cone points until they are tight into the grip holes. Now do exactly as you have demonstrated and align the grip with the boom, and simply adjust the turnbuckles until the Dubro rod is centered on the main shaft. Your eyes can tell when it is exactly centered or if it is off. I truly have never ever tried to measure the blade pitch with a gauge as, like you indicated, there are inconsistencies in the gauge. The beauty with this method is that you do not have to worry if the heli is level, because when you use this method, you know your blade pitch is at a relative zero value with reference to the main shaft, and all you now have to do now is set your system to the trim function which zeroes the servos, zero your pitch gauge, and now when you set your throw values in the collective and cyclic values you know you are measuring with respect to the main shaft.
nice, I remember back in the day I had to put the digital pitch gage aswell on the flybar paddles heheh, what a pain in the ass those flybar days were.
oh man do I remember those days! Before digital pitch gauges came out we used to have those mechanical ones that sucked and were a pain in the ass to use lol having to build 30,000 different linkages for your head measuring waiting so glad the technology has evolved people today. Don’t understand how good they have it with setting up helicopters!
@@westhobbiesrc8051 lol, yeah man. Well I had those non digital aswell, had to set it to zero, line it up on a table and all kinds of linkages lol, I remember my outrage fusion 50 with flybar jesus the swash plate to servo linkages were a pain. Or them flimpsy esky belt cp days😂😂😂
You dont need tape or pitch gauge. Just fold the blades, put them on 0 in vbar and the adjust links to have even blades. :) Also use phone to set aprox max +- pitch. But useful info as always.
@@westhobbiesrc8051 I use pitch gauge also, but folding the blades seems to be also very precise in all position, even if the heli is not even on the table:)
I use the pitch gauge on one blade and then fold the blades together to match the second one (check both ways). Pitch gauge is +/- 0.1° accuracy, so potentially you can have a 0.2° difference between blades. If I fold the blades together after setting it up with pitch gauge only I always notice it isn't perfect yet (blade tips should touch). Very easy to see minor errors that way because folded sideways any offset is amplified at the blade tip. For example on a 700 size just a 0.03° difference will be almost 5mm up/down movement at the tip.
Good video but I think you missed the step of setting the gauge to zero. I use the motor can to set the zero level on my gauge because my table may not be perfectly zero or the skids may be slanted a bit so the best reference to me is the motor. Also Steam released a pitch gauge that actually attaches to the blade grips so you don't need adapters and get the same result of not having the blades on the heli. I also measure on the front blade to be as close to the original zero of the motor as possible. Finally, you have to love SAB helis with the pitch marks on the head and the turnbuckles and just how easy they make it. Sure other helis have those as well but what can I do I am a Goblin fanboy :)
I didn’t show the step, but I explained it off of going off the can or any other level surface on the machine such as the frame sides depending on the helicopter and or FBL mount, etc. every time I build a table, I make sure it is 110% level in every direction and corner. That comes from airplane building days of getting a square and straight, fuselage and wing. That way when I build my main frame, I don’t tighten nothing down until it’s even pressured on both sides with the main shaft in the middle and it is perfect every time.
Can you do a video on getting 90 degrees on the servo and setting the Swash level? Sounds simple but there are a few ways people do it an I would love to see your way
Trying to level my mini comet was a bit of a pain since i cant adjust the turn buckles so its a bit of a guess, but i love flying it with radiomasters nexus, i know you made a video introducing it a few months ago and i was wondering if you are going to do another video on it eventually?
@@Runk3lsmcdougal I’ve got 0* when blades are in front and back of the heli like it should be. But when i spin my blade 90 degree and its on the left side its -2.5. On the right side of the heli (tail points me) its +2.5.
@lukasy086421 Check them both on the same side. In others words, like Jeff did. Check one, then rotate the head to Check the other. If you Check one in front of the heli and the other over the boom, you will get different readings, if that makes sense.
@@lukasy086421 This is completely normal. The helicopter is not horizontal, he is leaning forward. So you read this inclination on your pitch gauge (Positive on one side, negative on the other..). But first, How do you zero the gauge before you start?
Thanks for the video. Is there a specific reason that blades are tracked when aligned with the tailboom? Could you zero them at any position and get the same result? Also could you do a video on balancing blades too? I've been using the tape on the point of CoG method but would be nice to know if there are any better methods
Oh and another fanboy moment. SAB helis usually have available a mechanical swashplate leveler tool so you can set that up perfect when you get to the step of blade zero pitch :)
Yea they do, I never use them. I rarely use swash plate levelers lol they are a great tool if your eye can’t see perfect level, but I can set up a machine and throw a swash plate leveler on it and it is dead perfect pretty crazy. And it sucks having a ton of different ones lol I think steam makes a universal? That would be a great one to buy or make.
Great vid Jeff. I always just fold the blades for tracking this.
@@danielschibig8014 Thank you, you can definitely do it that way as well!
Jeff excellent information for setting up or matching the pitch of the rotors, nice little gauge 👍🏻 better than a bubble level 😂. I guess you would also want to check the tail rotor tracking also ? ☺️
Thank you! I hope the video was helpful! Much better than a bubble level or old-school pitch stages that were mechanical lol so you actually don’t ever track the tail rotor because they are fixed linkage points. There is no adjustability from the pitch slider to the tail grip.
Jeff, another great video as usual. I would like to add a technique that was shown to me when I first started flying helis 14 years ago, and I have used this technique ever since, and have honestly never had a set of blades be out of track. This technique uses a Dubro prop balancer rod with the two cones. All you have to do is get your servos set to 90 and your swash leveled, however you want do it. Now all you have to do is to insert the rod into the blade grip bolt holes and snug the cone points until they are tight into the grip holes. Now do exactly as you have demonstrated and align the grip with the boom, and simply adjust the turnbuckles until the Dubro rod is centered on the main shaft. Your eyes can tell when it is exactly centered or if it is off. I truly have never ever tried to measure the blade pitch with a gauge as, like you indicated, there are inconsistencies in the gauge. The beauty with this method is that you do not have to worry if the heli is level, because when you use this method, you know your blade pitch is at a relative zero value with reference to the main shaft, and all you now have to do now is set your system to the trim function which zeroes the servos, zero your pitch gauge, and now when you set your throw values in the collective and cyclic values you know you are measuring with respect to the main shaft.
Thanks
@@mikec9404 Thank you! I greatly appreciate the support!
Great information sir, like I always said you’re the man,that paint scheme is amazing,love it.
Thank you! I always appreciate it! SAB nailed the paint job! Super happy with it! Can’t wait for the freedom scheme for my kraken 700!
nice, I remember back in the day I had to put the digital pitch gage aswell on the flybar paddles heheh, what a pain in the ass those flybar days were.
Yep!
oh man do I remember those days! Before digital pitch gauges came out we used to have those mechanical ones that sucked and were a pain in the ass to use lol having to build 30,000 different linkages for your head measuring waiting so glad the technology has evolved people today. Don’t understand how good they have it with setting up helicopters!
@@westhobbiesrc8051 lol, yeah man. Well I had those non digital aswell, had to set it to zero, line it up on a table and all kinds of linkages lol, I remember my outrage fusion 50 with flybar jesus the swash plate to servo linkages were a pain. Or them flimpsy esky belt cp days😂😂😂
You dont need tape or pitch gauge. Just fold the blades, put them on 0 in vbar and the adjust links to have even blades. :) Also use phone to set aprox max +- pitch. But useful info as always.
@@morph788 you can definitely do it that way as well. I like the pitch gauge better but both ways work!
@@westhobbiesrc8051 I use pitch gauge also, but folding the blades seems to be also very precise in all position, even if the heli is not even on the table:)
I use the pitch gauge on one blade and then fold the blades together to match the second one (check both ways). Pitch gauge is +/- 0.1° accuracy, so potentially you can have a 0.2° difference between blades. If I fold the blades together after setting it up with pitch gauge only I always notice it isn't perfect yet (blade tips should touch). Very easy to see minor errors that way because folded sideways any offset is amplified at the blade tip. For example on a 700 size just a 0.03° difference will be almost 5mm up/down movement at the tip.
Good video but I think you missed the step of setting the gauge to zero. I use the motor can to set the zero level on my gauge because my table may not be perfectly zero or the skids may be slanted a bit so the best reference to me is the motor. Also Steam released a pitch gauge that actually attaches to the blade grips so you don't need adapters and get the same result of not having the blades on the heli. I also measure on the front blade to be as close to the original zero of the motor as possible. Finally, you have to love SAB helis with the pitch marks on the head and the turnbuckles and just how easy they make it. Sure other helis have those as well but what can I do I am a Goblin fanboy :)
I didn’t show the step, but I explained it off of going off the can or any other level surface on the machine such as the frame sides depending on the helicopter and or FBL mount, etc. every time I build a table, I make sure it is 110% level in every direction and corner. That comes from airplane building days of getting a square and straight, fuselage and wing. That way when I build my main frame, I don’t tighten nothing down until it’s even pressured on both sides with the main shaft in the middle and it is perfect every time.
Awsome video jeff!! 👍🏻
Can you do a video on getting 90 degrees on the servo and setting the Swash level? Sounds simple but there are a few ways people do it an I would love to see your way
Thanks for sharing great info 👍
Thank you for watching! I greatly appreciate it!
Well done sir
Great vid.
Thank you!
Trying to level my mini comet was a bit of a pain since i cant adjust the turn buckles so its a bit of a guess, but i love flying it with radiomasters nexus, i know you made a video introducing it a few months ago and i was wondering if you are going to do another video on it eventually?
Hello, is it good when i've got -2.5 on left side and +2.5 on rigt side? I used swash leveler and think its perfect level.
Like, the same blade but on the boom its 2.5 , on the canopy side it's -2.5 you mean?
@@Runk3lsmcdougal I’ve got 0* when blades are in front and back of the heli like it should be. But when i spin my blade 90 degree and its on the left side its -2.5. On the right side of the heli (tail points me) its +2.5.
@@lukasy086421 OIC, I think that is correct
@lukasy086421 Check them both on the same side. In others words, like Jeff did. Check one, then rotate the head to Check the other. If you Check one in front of the heli and the other over the boom, you will get different readings, if that makes sense.
@@lukasy086421 This is completely normal. The helicopter is not horizontal, he is leaning forward. So you read this inclination on your pitch gauge (Positive on one side, negative on the other..).
But first, How do you zero the gauge before you start?
Thanks for the video. Is there a specific reason that blades are tracked when aligned with the tailboom? Could you zero them at any position and get the same result?
Also could you do a video on balancing blades too? I've been using the tape on the point of CoG method but would be nice to know if there are any better methods
@WesthobbiesRC What is an afforable tail servo for 550 size heli?
@@MASSARMS3 I really like the Theta T1, great servo and never fails.
❤so good
Thank you!
This only works if your bench its on is perfectly level?
@@KiwiboyAotearoa no, as long as your pitch gauge is level, you can use he motor can of the helicopter to level the gauge
How do you get your turnbuckles so smooth? Mine are so stiff on my raw 700
Put chapstick or light oil on threads when building initially makes em all turn butter smooth
Oh and another fanboy moment. SAB helis usually have available a mechanical swashplate leveler tool so you can set that up perfect when you get to the step of blade zero pitch :)
Yea they do, I never use them. I rarely use swash plate levelers lol they are a great tool if your eye can’t see perfect level, but I can set up a machine and throw a swash plate leveler on it and it is dead perfect pretty crazy. And it sucks having a ton of different ones lol I think steam makes a universal? That would be a great one to buy or make.