MAXXED
09-22-2006, 06:08 AM
The one annoying thing about crashing a Blade is breaking the carbon fiber tail boom.
It's such a pain to remove the broken tail boom cleanly, and replace it.
It's easier to just replace the entire frame and tail boom together, but that involves completely rebuilding the entire heli.
After my last crash and destroyed tail boom, I decided to rebuild the tail boom and not only make it stronger, but make it much easier to replace without the hassle of trying to de-bond CA. :roll:
After my experience with the HDX aluminum Blade CP tailboom, I found that it did have merit.
In a bad crash and boom strike, it would dent mildly, and in the worst case, bend into an "L" shape.
A couple minutes worth of massaging, and it was straight enough to go back to flying again without ending my day.
Problem was HDX made it too short, and the main blades would actually strike the tail rotor in a hard landing and shatter it. :shock:
My solution was to go with an aluminum tail boom that was the same length as the stock Blade CP carbon fiber boom, 12 inches, to prevent the tail rotor decapitation.
But, I wanted a thicker, more rigid aluminum tube.
My LHS had a near perfect solution.
K&S sells precut 12 inch long, 3/16" x .035" thick aluminum tube made of 6061-T6, Stock No. 3030.
I suspect others had the same idea, as I bought the last two pieces that my LHS had.
The aluminum tube is slightly smaller than the Blade CP carbon fiber boom by .004".
Wrapping a piece of masking tape around the end made the diameter too big, so we're talking about just a slight difference here.
You could stretch and enlarge the ends slightly by .004" for a perfect fit, or CA a small strip of paper to increase the diameter if needed.
My solution was to use JB Weld where the boom enters the frame, and jig it in place while it set up. The JB Weld acts like body filler and fills the .004" gap nicely.
For the tail rotor mount, my CNC clamp on dual tail motor housing worked perfectly.
Again, if you're using the stock tail rotor housing or similar, you'll have to build up the tube diameter slightly.
The last part was making several pieces out of very thin piano wire.
I made slip on wire hangers for the tail boom brace, fin, and tail rotor bumper.
They were a spring loaded friction fit, and CA'ed in place.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/airshop/pianowireholders.jpg
Hmm, didn't realize I went so heavy on the CA! :lol:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/airshop/tailrotorbumper.jpg
I've already crash tested it, :lol: and bent it back into shape and was back flying in a record two minutes!
My Plasti-blades are a guillotine for carbon fiber booms, and eats them with alarming regularity.
Because of the thickness of the aluminum boom (.035"), the Plasti-blades just glance off without even putting a mild dent in it!
Here's a pic of the straightened tail boom ready for more abuse.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/airshop/aluminumtailboom.jpg
What about removal and replacement?
Piece of cake.
I unsolder the tail rotor wires and unbolt the tail rotor housing, then completely remove the tail rotor power leads from the tail boom.
Using a small butane torch, I heat up the tail boom near the frame for a few seconds, and the JB Weld begins to smoke and breaks down.
Tail boom can now be slipped out fram the frame with no damage.
The tail boom brace, fin, and tail rotor bumper, same procedure.
Heat near it with the butane torch, and the CA smokes and breaks down in a few seconds, and they are easily removed.
Once the tail boom is completely removed, it can be cleaned with acetone to remove any traces of CA.
The aluminum tail boom is nearly the same weight, and hasn't affected CG at all.
It's such a pain to remove the broken tail boom cleanly, and replace it.
It's easier to just replace the entire frame and tail boom together, but that involves completely rebuilding the entire heli.
After my last crash and destroyed tail boom, I decided to rebuild the tail boom and not only make it stronger, but make it much easier to replace without the hassle of trying to de-bond CA. :roll:
After my experience with the HDX aluminum Blade CP tailboom, I found that it did have merit.
In a bad crash and boom strike, it would dent mildly, and in the worst case, bend into an "L" shape.
A couple minutes worth of massaging, and it was straight enough to go back to flying again without ending my day.
Problem was HDX made it too short, and the main blades would actually strike the tail rotor in a hard landing and shatter it. :shock:
My solution was to go with an aluminum tail boom that was the same length as the stock Blade CP carbon fiber boom, 12 inches, to prevent the tail rotor decapitation.
But, I wanted a thicker, more rigid aluminum tube.
My LHS had a near perfect solution.
K&S sells precut 12 inch long, 3/16" x .035" thick aluminum tube made of 6061-T6, Stock No. 3030.
I suspect others had the same idea, as I bought the last two pieces that my LHS had.
The aluminum tube is slightly smaller than the Blade CP carbon fiber boom by .004".
Wrapping a piece of masking tape around the end made the diameter too big, so we're talking about just a slight difference here.
You could stretch and enlarge the ends slightly by .004" for a perfect fit, or CA a small strip of paper to increase the diameter if needed.
My solution was to use JB Weld where the boom enters the frame, and jig it in place while it set up. The JB Weld acts like body filler and fills the .004" gap nicely.
For the tail rotor mount, my CNC clamp on dual tail motor housing worked perfectly.
Again, if you're using the stock tail rotor housing or similar, you'll have to build up the tube diameter slightly.
The last part was making several pieces out of very thin piano wire.
I made slip on wire hangers for the tail boom brace, fin, and tail rotor bumper.
They were a spring loaded friction fit, and CA'ed in place.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/airshop/pianowireholders.jpg
Hmm, didn't realize I went so heavy on the CA! :lol:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/airshop/tailrotorbumper.jpg
I've already crash tested it, :lol: and bent it back into shape and was back flying in a record two minutes!
My Plasti-blades are a guillotine for carbon fiber booms, and eats them with alarming regularity.
Because of the thickness of the aluminum boom (.035"), the Plasti-blades just glance off without even putting a mild dent in it!
Here's a pic of the straightened tail boom ready for more abuse.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/airshop/aluminumtailboom.jpg
What about removal and replacement?
Piece of cake.
I unsolder the tail rotor wires and unbolt the tail rotor housing, then completely remove the tail rotor power leads from the tail boom.
Using a small butane torch, I heat up the tail boom near the frame for a few seconds, and the JB Weld begins to smoke and breaks down.
Tail boom can now be slipped out fram the frame with no damage.
The tail boom brace, fin, and tail rotor bumper, same procedure.
Heat near it with the butane torch, and the CA smokes and breaks down in a few seconds, and they are easily removed.
Once the tail boom is completely removed, it can be cleaned with acetone to remove any traces of CA.
The aluminum tail boom is nearly the same weight, and hasn't affected CG at all.