500 size Apache Gunship Build

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Nice mate that started up smooth as all get out. I didn't see any shake at all and the blades look like they track perfectly. That will fly beautifully once you dial in your expos and all that. I can't wait to see it in full sun though. That's gonna be incredible with the detailing you have done on it.

I do have a question on the way it sounds though. Is that chirping sound just new gears or is there a mesh issues that isn't quite right or possible gear slippage on the tail rotor shaft? I know when I did the gear replacement on my nitro one years ago I was informed to sand lightly between the teeth to remove the slightest bit of flashing. Then to take a piece of paper and insert it between the main gear and the motor spur gear to set spacing. The guy who was helping me said you will know by the sound if the spacing is off. Is this process different now on newer stuff like you have?
 

F106DeltaDart

Elite member
Thanks Psyborg! After some research, it appears I should be setting my spacing that way. I never learned that, the book I learned from had pretty much only covered head and blade setup. Wind is pretty high tomorrow, so sounds like a good day to check that. I don't think it's the shaft slipping, but the gear still are a possibility.
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
How does it feel and sound when you spin the head by hand? Was there a noticeable change? Should be very smooth with no feel of binding on and off like there would be if it were too tight.
 

F106DeltaDart

Elite member
Well, I had an incident today with the Apache. I guess I set the Pinion mesh a bit too loose. I picked it up to a 3 ft hover, and everything was fine for a few seconds. Then I heard a click, followed by an awful rumble and loss of power. I was greeted with this sight when I sat it down.

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In hindsight, I believe I used too thick of paper to set the spacing. A lot of the forums seem to recommend receipt paper for sub-600 birds. I installed a new main gear and the mesh seems much better now, and turns smooth with no binding. Hoping for a better flight next time.
 
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PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
EEK maybe I should have kept my mouth shut and let you do what you normally do for set up.. Sorry DD. When ever I set gear spacing for helis or cars or anything nitro powered using a clutch and gears I used plain old notebook paper. Anything thin enough to keep the gears tight but not bind.

Amazing how quick and how much a Nylon gear can chew up a Metal gear huh. It is an art to getting the gears set up properly. I usually get the spacing tight enough the paper can not slide out and the gears have to turn to release it. Then I will spin it a bunch of times by hand feeling for any binding where the gears may not be perfectly round or finding a bent shaft. After a while you can tell how well you did by the way it sounds spinning it by hand.
 

F106DeltaDart

Elite member
Not your fault man, I'm the genius who set it incorrectly :p. No harm, she is still undamaged and lives to fly another day. New main gear is installed and spaced properly for the next good flight day. As for the sound, I can't quite recognize anything unusual, especially in the Apache for a couple of reasons. The drop down gears and the raised tail gearbox are smooth, but noisy, especially when turning over a moderate speed. The tail drive pinion is especially noisey since it a brass gear driven by plastic. It also doesn't help that it's inside a scale fuselage were the sound is being bounced all over the place in there.
 

F106DeltaDart

Elite member
Mike, are those chassis bought or built?

Jim, the mechanics are mostly a combination of bought parts, with a few custom parts like the raised gearbox in the back. The kit also included a smaller main gear to allow everything to fit in the thin fuselage.
 

JimCR120

Got Lobstah?
Site Moderator
Ok, the fuselage is what I was referring to. Sounds like the answer is bought as part of a kit. Thanks.
 

F106DeltaDart

Elite member
Got the Apache back in the air this morning doing some indoor flying at the Commemorative Air Force Dallas Drone/UAS Expo for a student group. Was good fun, and the new gear performed quite well. Sorry for the video quality, but that was the best I could get from my friends phone.
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Awwwww man.. you coulda split S over that white planes wing then came back and power looped that gate.

Nice Demo mate... Were you all nervous in front of people with a guy on a PA system talking about you while you fly?
 

F106DeltaDart

Elite member
Awwwww man.. you coulda split S over that white planes wing then came back and power looped that gate.

Nice Demo mate... Were you all nervous in front of people with a guy on a PA system talking about you while you fly?

There was a guy with a blade torrent there who was having all kinds of fun with that gate and the aircraft parts. I imagine the Bell 47 tail boom would make an awesome whoop course..

Yeah, I was a bit nervous. This is really only the 3rd flight on the Apache, so I'm still doing some tuning, and the space is fairly small. Was just doing my best to keep a good distance away from both the crowd and the airplanes, so I took it pretty slow and simple.
 

F106DeltaDart

Elite member
Got in some more flying today, exploring the forward flight envelope a bit more. Was a perfect day, and was nice to see a friend who's been at college for a while now. He took a video, and got some photos of the Gunship in the air. Couldn't ask for a better day at the field!
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PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Yes this does look very real when there is nothing in the picture to compare scale to. That last picture in the post is a great example. Well done DD. :applause: I think you can chalk this one up as a success mate. This will be a crowd pleaser for sure.