Titan X50 (nitro, flybarless) build thread.

Dark_fox

Junior Member
So after much decision about if I needed yet another Helicopter I decided to just go for it, especially considering I have never built a Flybarless setup before. So after biting the bullet, ordering and then buying the kit and items I have in my possession a brand new Titan X50 Flybarless with a TT53 and pipe for good measure (my old TT50 is getting a bit sad).

x50boxsmall.jpg

(I know the pics bad, only just got the thing, no time to edit all this. I also apparently took the picture of the electric side .... oh well)

This time however I decided to put my years of building these things into some use and actually document most of the process, whilst a lot of my skills and build mannerisms come from Finless bob (arguably the best thing to happen to the community in a while) not everyone has heard of it and there seems to be a lack of Nitro building on flite test.

Building a nitro Helicopter is much the same as building an electric in some ways but also requires a few more careful touches in others, for example locktite is required, especially as these things are quite large comparably to 450 size helicopters. Vibration can be more of an issue and the general setup and tune of a motor can take a bit of practice, you need to gather multiple skills to effectively tune nitro helicopter motors (more than just watching smoke) and sadly enough many of us burn our first nitro motors quite badly until we gather the said skills.

Being flybarless I imagine the head setup will be FAR easier (4 linkages will tell you that one) however the daunting look at the flybarless gyro makes me a little concerned, I can't imagine they will be much different to the tail just with around 4 times the settings.

So far here is the part list I am using, I already have the servo's ready to be pulled from a dead Trex 700 but with a helicopter just remember, you can never be too quick on the cyclic servo's (or tail for that matter) especially when gyro's are concerned.

Titan X50 (flybarless +tt53 +pipe combo)
GT5 3 Axis Gyro (flybarless requires a flybarless gyro to be nice to fly)
Zero X Governor (If you can spare the cash, Governors will make flying Nitro far more enjoyable.)
Align DS650 (tail servo, I like them for bang vs buck)
DS620 x3 (cyclic servo's, once again, I like fast vs torque)
Some standard Metal gear servo for throttle.
Thunder Tiger Redline .53 (Came with Kit)
High Flow 3D Muffler (Came with Kit)
Flybarless 600mm Blades (Came with Kit)

With the Titan x50 combo that will pretty much get you out of trouble, tools required to put something like this together include.

Blue Locktite (or super glue/CA, its the same stuff basically)
Red Locktite (I use removable strength, chances are I wont be using it except on engine bolts for this build.)
5 min Epoxy (you never know, doubt it will be used.)
Spray Oil (For the torque tube, you will be surprised how much easier they are to work on with this)
2 sets of Allen Keys (Or hex tools depending on country, 2 sets for redundancy + some bolts will be easier with 2)
Socket Set (like the Epoxy, you never know, usually handy for the clutch fan attachment.)

I will edit + add to the thread as I start to build the helicopter, which will be in the next day or two. I can usually get the whole framish built in a day, the electronic setup can take a few hours and with this flybarless gyro I can guarantee it will take a while.

Updates to come.
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
Awesome. I have been looking at the flybarless titan myself. I'm going to fly the heck out of my century hawk pro this year and try to build up a flybarless 50 size over the winter. I look forward to your review.
 

Dark_fox

Junior Member
(As usual, pic are probably bad, I am between houses right now so things aren't as they normally are.)

Every build starts with the head for some reason it always feels the best to build first, after this is done (which was rather quick with the FBL system) its the body, then the tail and last we put the head on top to finish the whole build mechanically.

After finding the bits and pieces that make up the major head components we can get started, this step really only needs Allen Keys, red locktite, and patience.
Pic1.jpg

First the control collars are attached to the blade grips, half completing the blade grips themselves. Its a different design than I am used too, usually the grips are one complete set (although the FBL system seems to make the arms on the grips wider)

The completed grips look like this, as long as you get the arm on the inside of the grip the rest doesn't matter, they are the exact same part once finished. Don't forget the red locktite on the small screws, at the end of this post I will describe the proper technique for locktite on these types of screws.
pic3.jpg

From there its time to build the thrust bearings, attach the blade grips to main head piece. This is done by first building the bearings and placing them inside the grips, its best to read the instructions carefully involving the thrust bearings as they are designed to go in the grips in one specific direction. I find the best idea is to build the bearing system onto the feathering shaft, then feed the feathering shaft through the blade grips thus feeding the whole assembly neatly into the grips.

Bar one spacer the thrust bearing setup looks like this,
pic4.jpg

After you get the thrust bearings setup its time to put them inside the head piece, there are 3 steps to this. Generally I try to get one side of the feathing shaft bolt tight, feed on the grip for that side then put the feathering shaft aside. Next Inserting the Dampers into their given spaces. Finally feed the feathering shaft through the dampers (making sure to put the correct spacer where its designed to go) and completing the build by putting on the other grip and tightening the feathering shaft.

Make sure both feathering shaft bolts are locktited then with 2 separate Allen keys, tighten them as tight as you can get them, do not be afraid to go REALLY tight with these bolts, you will have to be really strong to strip them out. These 2 bolts are all that hold your blades together so they take huge amounts of load and are required to be very solid.

At this stage I went ahead and put on the ball links for the blade grips and the washout arms, make sure the washout arms are oriented in the following way, the bolt must be opposite to the blade grip on its given side, the plastic swash plate adapter oriented so its in the center of the whole assembly. Here is the whole setup completed.
pic5.jpg

One more step and the whole thing head is basically complete, now we attach the main shaft, Jesus bolts and swash plate complete with the 2 linkages (this is a nice change >.>)

Feed the main shaft into the head piece, you will see 2 holes, just feed the 2 supplied bolts through the holes and tighten them on the other side. These are nylock nuts so do not put any locktite on, most Jesus bolts are nylock nuts but just to be sure ALWAYS check them before every flight (you should be checking every head bolt before you take off each time with every helicopter) This helicopter has 2 Jesus bolts so that is a nice bit of safety.

Next just feed the swash plate up the main shaft, getting it ready to be attached to the head piece. At this stage you should be doing a last minute check of every bearing, anything that moves on the head should have NO binding what so ever. The blade grips should spin smooth, the washout arms should move freely, if this is the case then feel free to start attaching everything to the swash plate. Make the 2 supplied push rods (these are designed amazingly, one thread is opposite to the other so you can just spin the arm to shorten or lengthen rods.) at this stage it is not really important to get measurements correct on the head, just to get this assembly built and ready to be put on the heli.

The finished product should look like this, (that picture is MEGA washed out for some reason, chrome makes it hard to find a good spot to take a picture.)
pic7.jpg

At this stage just add the little spinner on the top and everything is done.

That is the entire head built and ready to be put on the helicopter, we will be moving onto the body next which in a nitro helicopter is one of the longest parts of the build. Once again I will get it done when I get it done. Next is a short talk about Locktite.


Locktite is a very important part of building a larger helicopter, doubly so if you are running a helicopter with an internal combustion motor. The vibrations from running can cause the bolts to loosen up in metal parts and can lead to some impressive explosions because of it. Most new people also over do locktite or do other stupid things with the glue, there are a few simple things to watch out for and it will be okay.

First step to locktite is only use a TINY amount, just a small dab on the bottom corner of a bolt is all that is needed. The locktite isn't there to hold the strength of the bolt, its only to stop the bolt vibrating loose so the more you put on the harder you will find it will be when it comes time to remove the bolt. Even a small amount on an edge will spread its way through a good part of the bottom threads.

The second thing is to be VERY careful with bearings, this stuff is glue and will glue up bearings if you are being careless. The trick to this is simple, if you are close to a bearing, either thread the screw through the bearing THEN use a very, VERY tiny amount of locktite on the end or put a small dab of locktite straight into the bolt hole.

The final thing, red locktite should only be used on metal to metal threads, it will be useless to plastic parts. If you are going to be locktiting plastic (honestly, plastic these days will hold the thread pretty damn tight) then use blue locktite, which once again, is basically just super glue. I find thing CA also works great.



The build is to be continued.
 
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colorex

Rotor Riot!
Mentor
Thanks, I've always wondered how hard it is, to build a helicopter... Seems quite complicated at first!
 

Dark_fox

Junior Member
The first time you build a helicopter is the hardest, after you build them once you can build almost any of them. They all go together mostly the same just in a slightly different pattern.

Everything bar the electronics is standard in the Flybarless Kit (I got the kit with the motor) This isn't a cheap helicopter either, I would want it to be a metal head. You are looking around $1000+ to get something like this flying.
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
That's not too bad actually, considering the price of the gassers and turbines lol. A good 700 size will run almost two fully prepped.
 

Dark_fox

Junior Member
I have up to the motor setup completed, I found out I was missing a socket for the motor so I will be waiting a day or two before going further. That said however I have 2-3 posts worth of writing up to do, I will do that in the mean time.

I usually don't build the Torque Trasnferance box this early however the manual does have this as the next step and looking forward into the build I can see why, so lets start with building this up. It comes completely apart unlike a lot of helicopters you get these days, whilst it looks complicated its really only 3 bits.

tail1.jpg

First you get the long white gear and the little black thing with the bearings in it (not sure what its called) adding 2 spaces that they provide you just simply slide the gear through the bearings, like every other step make sure it spins freely and smoothly. It goes together much like this.

Tail2.jpg

Next you get the metal tail hub and the black gear, there should be a bag with a few screws and a little metal pin, make sure to take the pin out. From here you slide the gear onto the hub as shown, line up the holes and push the pin through the gear. The pin is VERY tight going into the gear but it has to be, this eliminates slop in the mechanism. Once again, this is how it should look.

tail3.jpg

Next is a little white gear, this actually slides over the top of the black gear, locking the pin in place and the gear. There is a little pin with a screw on it, make sure the screw end of the pin is screwing into the larger hole on the gear, otherwise just do the same as before. Finished the hub should look like so.

tail4.jpg

Finally we finish off the assembly and this step by putting it all together, the kit has 2 bearing blocks, put these on either end of the hub as shown in the manual then slot the hub into the casing. Make doubly sure you are doing this correctly by looking at the manual, the gears (which are on the lower half of the hub) should be oriented towards the bottom of the assembly. Once this is done just slide in the last gear, this locks into a slot in the assembly and seems to fit quite well. Mine has a slight bit of roughness in a spot but a few runs will smoothen these gears out, besides I have no idea how to adjust it if it was binding. From here just place in the small metal blocks, finshing it like this.

tail5.jpg

And finally, close up the other half of the gear box, once everything is closed give it a little spin to make sure everything is working fine. Put on the 4 bolts and nylock nuts as it shows in the manual, no locktite is needed with nylock nuts. Also do not do these screws up very tight, you will just have to loosen them when it comes time to put the tail on the helicopter. And it should finally look like this.

tail6.jpg

Thats the Torque Transferance box completed, next will be the body. That writup will be a little longer and may take a day or two to appear.
 

Dark_fox

Junior Member
I have been busy moving, the helicopter is built and I have taken pictures of the entire process (or most of it) I will start writing it up again some time tonight.
 

Dark_fox

Junior Member
Most of this next part is just a small jigsaw puzzle you piece together and close up the frames.

Start by getting the side frames, deciding which is going to be left and marking said side. It doesn't really matter which is which so just pick any, just remember you can't change it once the build starts to make sure its marked in a spot you can see yet hide once its built.

Looking at the manual place the small arm holders onto their respective sides, locktite as usual then move on.

body2.jpg

Now get out the cluch bell and starter shaft assembly, this is the only part you will actually have to build in this step and its quite easy.

body3.jpg

Make sure the pinnion gear threads correctly then locktite it tightly to the bell, following the manual place each bearing into its respective place in the housing. The next step is to slide the starter shaft into the housing, this step you have to be careful on. DON'T make the same mistake I did and try to thread the shaft in the wrong way, if you are doing it wrong it wont fit, if you are correct it just slides in smoothly. As a hint, the part that is clipped is actually threaded in first. So you push the shaft down the assembly, not up.

Put the circlip on, put on the starter adapter, locktite the grub screws and the assembly is built. I like to leave the circlip with a bit of movement, this assembly is really only used when the helicopter is starting, once started there is really no pressure on it at all.

body4.jpg

After that, follow each of the next steps and place the bits on the frame as they fit. At this stage you also have to place the servo holders in, they are the wierd shaped plastic bits. Much like the rest of the frame just place them where they fit, you wont need to use locktite on these, the plastic is so damn hard to screw into I doubt they will unthread on their own. Use locktite on the metal threads as usual. I like to place everything on one side of the frames, eyeball it. Then I put the screws on loose to attach them all to the frames. Once happy I then remove and locktite each screw that needs it. Once the 2 frames are together you have the frames pretty much completed.

body5.jpg


The next part is the motor build, not too difficult. Basically just the clutch fan and clutch itself. Hopefully I can start writing these more often now that I have moved.
 

Dark_fox

Junior Member
I would like to add, I just flew the Heli around 10 minutes ago for the first time, and other than the 3 minute fuel tank (due to runin) it flew absolutely amazing. Literally hands off hovering, it will just sit like a picture in the sky and you literally don't have to touch a single control. Can't wait till I get the motor ran in and can throw some actually good Rpms on the blades.
 

Dark_fox

Junior Member
I half forgot, half lost energy on this. I will try and complete the mechanical write ups tonight, or early tomorrow.

Next we will setup the engine, like almost all RC helicopter engines they
just look like standard plane engines with a large heat sink and generally
large necks on the carb.

First are all the parts required, really the only thing that needs to be done
on a modern RC helicopter engine is placing the clutch fan, clutch, governor
(if you are using one) and engine mounting bracket.

Before you start it might be an idea to take off the carby, it just makes the
engine a bit easier to work on without having all the tuning screws and
throttle connections in the way.

pic1.jpg

Once you have all the parts you can set them aside, we have to pull some of
the engine apart first.

First we take off the back plate to the engine, this exposes the crank which
we will need to keep still to screw everything onto it. If you have the time
and money buy a crank lock for a 50 size engine, I generally use my own
finger to hold the crank still as I lost feeling in the tips of my fingers a
while ago and can't really feel any pain at the tips.

Whatever you do DO NOT jam anything else into this part of the motor,
scratching any part of the internals or putting any pressure on the conrod
can cause major damage or reduce overall life.

pic2.jpg

Then take off the main engine bolt, make sure you keep the washer as this
will be used as a spacer for the clutch fan.

pic3.jpg

This next part is among the hardest of this section as it requires a heavy
handed touch with lots of locktite. You have to get the clutch fan attached
to the motor then locked down, because engines use standard threads on the
cranks it will loosen when starting and running if its AT ALL loose.

pic4.jpg

This is the one stage I will say use a fair bit of locktite, run a bead half
way down the crank threads, you have to make 200% sure it will only run on
the threads. If you put too much on it might run down the crank and into the
engine bearings, engine bearings are REAL annoying to replace so you don't
want that.

With the crank locked down make sure the washer is still on the crank, thread
the fan down the crank and get it as tight as you can by hand without warping
the fan leafs. Next get the crank bolt (you can use the one that came with
the engine) and tighten it as well, get this as tight as you can go (there
are some serious threads on engines so you won't strip them.)

Next we will be building the clutch and placing it on the fan.

pic5.jpg

Make sure to put the little spacer on the clutch, I have not used them before
and nothing really seemed to happen but if its there, use it. Next place the
clutch into the fan, its a tight fit but once it starts it will slide right
on.

Lock it down with the 2 allen keys and once again, locktite and get them
as tight as you can. Don't stress about the angle of the clutch as it wont
matter.

pic6.jpg

Now is probably the time to put the carby back on, look at how the motor will
mount into the helicopter and align the carby so the throttle connections are
on the correct side of the helicopter. For almost every helicopter this is
throttle servo on the left side.

pic 7.jpg

Next is to put the engine bracket on, this is also the stage where most
governors are installed. For information on governors I will either do an
article or add it at the end of the build. You only have a few screws left so
place the bracket on the back and start screwing it down, at this stage I
shouldn't have to tell you to use locktite so use red on metal/metal threads.
As you tighten the bracket down do it in a star pattern, one turn at a time,
gradually.

You want to get the bracket tightened evenly and keep it square,
doing it all with one bolt at a time can cause the bracket to warp and cause
the whole engine to sit off on the helicopter.

pic8.jpg

You are now looking at the engine completed and ready to be installed into
the body, some people like to balance the fan, I personally have never
balanced or aligned a fan or clutch before and never had an issue. If I was a
professional pilot who needed the helicopter to be absolutely vibration free,
then I would. For normal people, it doens't really make too much of a
difference.
 

Dark_fox

Junior Member
Next we will be inserting the engine, building the skids and basically finishing the carbon body work. After this all that has to be done is putting on the CCPM arms and then rest of the individual parts are connected to the body.

Get out the skid parts, with the bottom plate.

bot1.jpg

First thing we do is slide the engine into place and bolt it down with once again, a star pattern. This process is quite easy and painfree, just slide the motor in, push the clutch into the bell and bolt the motor against the frame. Use Locktite and star pattern the bolts to avoid warping again, spin the clutch bell once everything is in place and make sure nothing is binding.

bot2.jpg

Next we attach the little lugs at the back, these are what we use to attach the back half of the bottom plate and the skids too.

bot3.jpg

Now line up the bottom plate remembing to align the open spot with the motor and the closed with the tank, this part isn't screwed down util the skids go on.

bot4.jpg

Now get the 2 white skid arms, line them up with the holes and used the screws provided to bolt them and the bottom plate to the helicopter. You can align these either forward or backward, I rather them going foward as they are suppose to look but some like it backwards. They are a little easier to land at speed backwards, that and they look faster.

Glue the little lugs into the holes at either end of the skids, slide them in into their holes and put on the rubbers. You will find 4 little screws to thread into the skid arms, these just lock the skids down, the threads generally don't feel like they have held and are stripping. Just try and give the skids a twist after you have them in, if they have failed you can just glue them in, just means you have to rebuy the entire skid section if something ever goes wrong with them.

bot5.jpg

Well wasn't that easy, one more thing to do then the whole helicopter is pieced together, at this stage you are mearly an hour away from the helicopter being mechanically setup (and 5-6 later for electronics, flybarless can take a fair while.)
 

Dark_fox

Junior Member
I only have 3 pictures of the CCPM build, its enough but I am missing the bag picture. Its been so long I can't remember the bag number and I can't find the manual for the heli either. No biggy.

I wont have to spend long on this part as there isn't really much to say about it, half of the work is done when you are building the frames so all you really have to do is put together the elevator arm, then screw the arms in. I also apparently didn't get pictures of the pitch and aileron arms, these are litterally just 2 stubs to which you screw the arms onto, it would be hard to actually write much up about them to be honest.

ele1.jpg

First get the plastic elevator arm, slide it onto the mixer arm and slide the small pin through the 2 of them, locking it down with the small grub screw (locktite as usual.)

Align the elevator mixer arm into the frame, insert the little adapter into the correct side of the bearings and lock it down with a grub screw.

ele2.jpg

The other side of the mixer should have a screw that goes directly into it from the side as follows.

ele3.jpg

You will notice 2 circle holes in the side of the frame, these are to make sure you have the alignment of the elevator correctly. When the arms are straight vertically, the pin should be in the center of the hole as follows.

ele4.jpg

Whilst I don't have pictures you should see 2 small stubs, these attach to the 3 ball arms. You wont need to locktite these as they use a lock nut, these they screw down onto the sides of the start shaft bearing block. Everything may look strange but once you start to put it all together, everything makes sense.

I will get some pictures in the next day or two of how the pitch/aileron arms are suppose to look.

I also screwed up my earlier posts, forgot the tail hasn't been built yet, yyaaaayyyyy.

Next up we will attach the head to the body and put in the main gear.
 

Dark_fox

Junior Member
This next part is the main gear installation and main head build, very simple build but one of the most critical, a wrong step can lead you with a body going one way and rotors the other.

main1.jpg

Here is what we will need other than the entire head we built earlier, in the manual it states that you will have to build the auto rotation gear. Mine was already built and after pulling it apart everything was locktited so its up to you if you want to do so, its only 3 odd pieces and the manual explains it really clearly.

You will see 2 gears, one should just smoothly slide free of the other do this and double check all the screws under said gear. Place the gear back where it was once this is done.

We will have to build the upper bearing block, its the large black block with a bearing we didn't use earlier. Slide the black block onto the main shaft, the larger side pointing down. Then slide the bearing onto the shaft then finally the lock, the lock should have its smaller side pointing up. It should look like this.

main2.jpg

Now this step is 3 parts, first we push the main gear into the body with the smaller gear on the bottom. Next we slide the main shaft down through the gear, letting it just sit on the lower bearing. Slide the bearing on the main shaft into the block then bring the block down and screw it into place in the last 2 screw holes in that part of the body. This next part takes a little bit of patience to get it all to line up at once.

You will notice at the bottom of the main shaft is a hole, you need to spin the main gear, the lower gear and the main shaft until the 3 entrances line up. Once they line up push the rather large black bolt that was in the bag and use the lock nut to tighten it all up, you wont need locktite on lock nuts, the rubber keeps them tight.

main3.jpg

Now remember that little locker that was put on the main shaft last? It now has to lock the main shaft tightly so it wont move up or down. You will notice the frame has 2 small holes just under the top bearing block, you use these to tighten the grub screws and lock the main shaft down. Push the main shaft down tightly, slide the little lock up and hold it against the bearing as hard as you can, tighten up the grub screws on it. Once you let pressure off the main shaft you should notice that it stays tight, test this buy trying to move the shaft up or down. If you notice any movement at all, try doing this again.

This part is THE SINGLE most important part you need to worry about, if there is any movement here it can slam up and down on the bearings, this will eventually cause the inside of the bearing to let go and needless to say, things explode.

Now you can connect the elevator arm to the rear of the swashplate, the head will seem broken until everything is completed so don't stress if everything looks iffy.


Next pull out the main fuel tank, if the clunk isn't built then do this first. Its a fairly easy process, my kit had an already cut line that got the clunk into every section of the tank. A hint I like to use is to put a little fuel on the bung before you attach it to the tank, this will help it seal a little better.

Next we slide the tank into the body, this process can be aided with a little human lube (spit) on the rubbers around the body, slide the tank into the helicopter until the little plastic tab stops it from going further. The next step will lock the tank into the frame. It should look like this

tank1.jpg

You will find the little header tank holder, you screw this onto the side of the body over the top of the tank. The bracket looks like so

tank2.jpg

Then after that we slide the header into its holder, then screw the header onto its bracket. This will lock the main tank into the body and basically finish the main body setup. I may do a fuel plumbing setup at the end for people who are unsure, its really quite simple and if you do run nitro/gas planes you will find yourself putting headers into all of them. Headers remove the chance of air bubbles completely, all for for the sake of barely any weight and a bit more complicated fuel plumbing. Headers are extreamly important for 3D fliers.

tank3.jpg


Next is the tail setup, the rotor itself is in my opinion more complicated than the head setup as everything is REALLY small.
 
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