T-Rex 500 esp FBL conversion

[dunkonu23]

Just a short video...



Scott

[Jerrymac]

Hey bro,
It looks like your Trex500 finally likes you, lol.
I remember you saying one day that you never flew it cause it didn't like you. Glad to see the FBL conversion helped you 2 "make up".
Seems to me that you are really liking the FBL set up better than the flybar.
I can't bring myself to convert one of my helicopters to FBL simply because if I like it, I would not have the heli funds to convert them all. I would imagine switching back and forth between flights with fbl and flybarred helis might be tough, so, I will have to stick with flybars till I win the lottery.

[dunkonu23]

HA HA HA HA!!! Yeah, it sure looks that way. Jerry, I'm telling you, for the first time since starting this hobby, I'm having fun. I'm not scared to mess up. I'm not shaking and I'm definitely learning stuff faster than ever. Sure, I could do 8's, flips, rolls, and stuff with FB helicopters, but it scared me. Now, I'm relaxed and just enjoying it. And, yes... I'm liking FBL better than FB. I've only got three FB helicopters, now.

Cost... here's the actual cost of the T-Rex 500 conversion.

RJX T-Rex 500 FBL head: $ 73.99
BeastX Microbeast: $199.99
Edge 423 FBL blades: $ 59.99

Total: $333.97

That's it. I did it over a span of a month.

Nothing wrong with staying FB, Jerry. Nothing at all. That I converted most of my helicopters shouldn't pressure anyone to do as I have done. It's you're happy, stay that way, bro. In the end, you decide what makes you happy.

Scott

[Jerrymac]

Well, the fact that you are enjoying yourself is the most important thing Scott. I enjoy flying every chance I get, but, the learning experience has been slower than I had hoped. The frustrating part is the inconsistencies in my learning curve.
I can fly across the field and do right hand barrel rolls fairly well, but left hand rolls are nothing short of ugly. I can fly backwards circles in one direction, but the other direction is terrible. I was thinking that maybe FBL and a BeastX would help to smooth out the jerky stick movements when flying in a pattern that I don't feel confident with.

The cost of converting one bird is not out of reach, but, the cost of converting 5 of them is. My big concern is that mixing FB and FBL while still being a rather novice pilot might cause more harm than good due to different flying characteristics.

Anyhow, glad to see that you are finally getting some air time with the Trex500. You have had it for quite a while and haven't really seemed to fly it much.

Jerry

[dunkonu23]

I'll tell you, Jerry... my learning curve has been way flatter than anyone I know...you, included. I could flip, roll, loop, and do 8's but that was after two years and only after I got over my first pack crash thing. Then came FBL and it suddenly became fun. I mean, blast type fun. Not shaking while flying is the biggest benefit I have. It's a huge confidence booster.

I don't think there's that much difference to worry about it. You can set up flybarless systems to be pretty radical in terms of response. The stick inputs are the same with the difference being the flybarless system goes where you point it.

Thanks... the 500 did NOT like me at all. I think the most I ever flew it was at IRCHA in 2009. Shortly after that, I built my Gaui, then converted that to a HeadHunter and never really thought too much about the 500 because I crashed it almost every time I flew it. So, it didn't like me. Now, it likes me just fine!

I did have a messup yesterday... I was flying the 500 as fast as I felt I could and it was FAST. Then in the middle of a turn, by accident, I hit throttle hold. Well, I moved the throttle hold to the switch on top of the stock position... that's where it is on my DX-7 so it's cool. Well, when I noticed the helicopter falling, I moved it one click... it's a three position switch, so no go. By the time, I noticed it wasn't spooling up, I gave it one more click, but it was too late... I managed to get the helicopter level and slowed, but that was it. Just a broken skid.

The Flybarless system will reduce corrections so it's more like put it where you want it and it will stay there as long as you don't move the sticks. So, I guess in that regard it will smooth out things.

Scott

[dunkonu23]

More fun today...



Scott

[Jerrymac]

Lookin good bro. "No Fear", lol.

[dunkonu23]

Thanks, Jerry!

More no fear...



Scott

[Jerrymac]

Nice smooth flying Scott. Glad to see that you are finally enjoying yourself at the field.
I still get frustrated with my ugly, jerky stick inputs at times, but I have fun flying. I have a bad habit of over-correcting when I don't really need to, then have to correct my correction. Sometimes it makes for a really ugly looking flight.

[dunkonu23]

Jerry, this has been the best time I've had flying, ever. It all started when I got the mCP X and then everything in the sim translated to both the mCP X and then larger helicopters. I can understand exactly what you're saying about correcting corrections. Dude, I had so many corrections over corrections that it was driving me nuts. I hate to say this again, but where you point a properly setup FBL helicopter is where it stays. I also learned to relax on the sticks. I had a bad habit of keeping pressure on either the rudder or cyclic all the time and that meant I had to correct all the time. It's a pain in the butt. Now, when I finish something, I just relax the stick until I need to move it. A complex variation of the KISS method.

Scott

[Jerrymac]

I think a good deal of my over corrections, and re-corrections might have a lot to do with my not so good eyesight. I can fly pretty smooth as long as the helicopter is pretty close and I can see the rotor disc and canopy. When I fly faster and farther away, I can't see the canopy or rotor disc so I just make stick movements based on which way the whole helicopter "appears" to be going.
That is where the flights start to look ugly, lol. I will make a stick input, then realize it might have been too much, or not enough, then correct, and sometimes over correct, and it just continues until I can get it back close to me again.
If I had to guess, I would say about 100ft is as far away as I can see the larger ones well enough to fly them smoothly. I do fly them farther away most of the time, but I just kinda guess on which way to move the sticks.

[dunkonu23]

I hear you. I have a depth perception problem, I think. I think that's why I hit the tree last week. I've been very careful around trees since then. I know if I can't see the blades, I tend to make incorrect corrections. It happened the other day. I almost dumped the 500. Turns out if I fly against a gray sky, I can't see the blades, so like you I have to rely on the big picture. In this instance, I was able to recover. Not a fun thing, though.... Oh, yeah....I wear glasses. For the last week, probably because of the weather, both my eyes have been watering something fierce!

Scott

[Jerrymac]

I wear glasses too, bifocals, but ever since my infliction with SJS about a decade ago, I still can''t see very well even with glasses. Road signs are really tough as I can't read them till it is too late, lol.

On the eyes watering, I think it might be grass pollen or something like that. Several weeks ago my eyes watered like crazy for about 2 weeks, but not much now. Being a little farther north, your spring/summer weather is probably a couple of weeks behind ours here, so it might be the same thing, I dunno.

Another problem I have is that after being in several accidents the past 15 years that totally destroyed both vehicles, I suffered two lower back injuries and a severe neck injury. Although I am still able to get around fine, and work every day, I can't turn my head very far, or pivot at the waist very well, so while flying I have to mainly move my eyes and shuffle my feet to turn my whole body toward the direction of flight.

Shuffling my feet all the time to turn toward the direction of flight makes it a little hard to keep the stick movements smooth as the TX kinda bobbles around in my hands.

I am not complaining though, as I still love going out to fly, I just have a little trouble trying to compensate for the lack of physical agility. I used to love to golf also, but not much now as it is hard to swing when you can't rotate your hips very much.

[dunkonu23]

I hear you, Jerry. I feel for you, too. You know that, though. In the end, as long as the day ends in a good way, we're all good.

Scott

[Jerrymac]

Well Scott,
Your loops were looking really good, although I must admit, I held my breath for a second at the bottom of one of them, lol. Mine aren't that nice, as they usually look more like 9's instead of O's. I tend to pull out of them too soon. ( Hey, I remember 'pulling out' too soon when I was a young guy and it was a good thing, lmao.)

Although I am not a good pilot, I have a lot of fun at the field. I fly some, play 'catch' with my grandson, watch him hit some golf balls, fly some more, let him practice hovering one of the old King 2's, then we go look for some 4-leaf clovers, and just have a fun time. I try not to crash though as he gets all teary-eyed when one of the helicopters goes in.

[dunkonu23]

Thanks, Jerry.

You paint a very cool picture of your grandson and you just enjoying being around each other and enjoying life in general. It's beautiful.

Scott

[Jerrymac]

Thanks Scott,
I do enjoy my days at the field with my grandson. Hopefully it will last for a long time too. As he gets older and becomes interested in spending time with girls instead of his granddad, I am not too worried about it yet as I have another grandson that is less than a year old that can fill in the gap, lol.

My wife says I look foolish though when I hold tiny toy helicopters in front of him and make "motor" noises.

Sorry to derail your thread.

[malcolm]

Not as bad as spending $1000+ on a slightly bigger toy helicopter and then trying to throw it at the ground LOL

[Jerrymac]

Jul 6, 2011 19:49:52 GMT -5 malcolm said:

Not as bad as spending $1000+ on a slightly bigger toy helicopter and then trying to throw it at the ground LOL

Hush now, my wife doesn't go to the field with us so she doesn't know that.

[dunkonu23]

I put my T-Rex 500 FBL in hard at IRCHA. I still don't know what happened, but I'm certain it was me. Anyhow, boy... it's the most expensive crash I think I've ever had. Yesterday, the total was $173.00. Today, it went up another $40.00.

So far...

Boom, tail output shaft, front Torque tube drive gear, main gear, both main bearings, stripped two servos (converting all three to metal gears), lost a link, broke a link, broken antirotation bracket, cracked canopy (it's fixable so the repair won't be ssen), tail blades, main blades, and the main shaft.

It was odd, I thought I had tail gain dialed in but at the top of a loop, the tail was wagging hard. Dumb, me... I thought about landing and lowering gain. I should have. But... I didn't. I kept going... just doing 8's and circling then boom.

On the plus side, the HeadHunter flew perfectly, no issues at all. The Furion 6 flew well, except when I went to loop it I think I dumb thumbed it so it turned. That helicopter is FAST. Before I knew it, it was just a little dot, but I got it back. I did have a bad landing where I broke a link on it, but that was easy to fix.

So, all in all.. I've spend a lot of money on the 500, but it'll be fixed and flying soon.

Tip... if you convert your DS510 plastic gear servos to metal, you will need to get new screws for the arms. The output shaft on the servo is metal so the self tapping screws for the plastic gears don't work. I used some button head screws from the T-Rex 500 RCScrewz kit. Works great.



The running joke Jerry and I have about the 500 is that it doesn't like me. Well, now I think it likes me just fine. It's just making me pay for all that time when I thought it didn't like me.

Scott