Rotorheadz
09-16-2008, 06:12 AM
COPTERX INFO SECTION
(Credits to Jackosmeister from RC Groups)
Read this, chances are your problem has been experienced before
COPTERX 450 GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The CopterX AE/SE v1 and v2 are a great low-priced CNC Heli, easily comparable with the Trex SE in all areas but there are some reports that they require stripping and reassembling with reference to the finless bob video's http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=11373 and http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=29182 and http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=41692 ) Download/order these videos, watch them once, then get your Heli out and rebuild while watching the appropriate video, finless bob rocks and if you follow his vid's your Heli will fly great. Depending on how you mount electric components you made need to add an extension to your esc wires, and remove excess wire from gyro/tail servo. Elf hobby 9g and hs65 cyclic servos wires are long enough to mount in the recommended way. CopterX don’t seem to supply an assembly manual, various trex and Copterx manuals are online in pdf format - Google is your friend
COMPATABILITY WITH TREX
Every major assembly and most minor ones are directly physically compatible with align parts, anodizing/plastic color being the only real difference. The only difference I can think of is in the assembly of the tail pitch slider (swaged as opposed threaded on the trex - more on this later). Frames are identical, head is identical. To sum up - Mix and match as required
THE 450 MODELS
The latest generation of the Copterx models are broken up as follows
AE/SE - Aluminum frame/CF frame
The aluminum frame is lighter than the carbon fiber frame but doesn’t handle crashes as well. Comes down to personal preference.
V1/V2
V1 helis have a 3 mm feathering shaft, no thrust bearing in the blade grips, and bushes on the mixer arms. V2 helis have 4mm feathering shaft, thrust bearings and bearings on the mixer arms. All AE/SE Copterx have v2 tails.
V1 heads are rumored to survive crashes better, V2 better for more 3d style flying. V1 to V2 upgrade is easy and cheap. The V2 has better designed frames (same as trex se v2) which allow gyro mounting under boom easier, boom clamp is better, bigger batteries can be fitted as the angle of the tray is steeper, HS65 servos fit easier.
KIT/ARF/RTF
The RTF kit is a worthwhile purchase. The 6exh/r146i are a great first computer radio and work well, the elfhobby 9g servos do work and are suitable to learn to fly with. Recommended gyros to replace the elfhobby are g190/gy240/gy401/JR770T, I’m sure there are more.
COPTERX 430L/30A ESC
The Copterx 430L and a 30A esc both work well, and are suitable for everything up to doing taxing 3D. The ESC's built in BEC will happily support 3 analog cyclic servos, a gyro, and digital tail servo running a standard PCM receiver. Running a spektrum/FAAST radio or digital cyclic servos it may be necessary to replace the ESC or install a UBEC. The 430L is a good motor to start with and will make the Copterx get up and go quite well, the 13T pinion is recommended.
MAIN AND TAIL ROTOR BLADES
The bundled wooden blade are very average and will require the blade roots to be filed down a smidgen so they fit nicely in the grips. The carbonhobby/Copterx CF blades are quite good (esp. for the price). The stock plastic tail blades work well, the Copterx CF are also good.
BATTERIES
Invest in some quality lipos and a good charger.
COPTERX OEM UPGRADES
CNC gear
These are nice, but are not recommended if you can’t land like a pro.
CF paddles
Yet to be tested
CF main and tail blades
Impressively good for the price, main blades so far for me do not require balancing.
Fiberglass canopies
Really nice for the money!
USEFUL SPARES/CRASH KIT
Part - CX p/n - Align p/n - Note
DOUBLE CHECK P/N BEFORE ORDERING
Flybar V1 - CX450-01-10(w/paddles) - HS1006 (2pcs)
Flybar V2 - HS1184 (2pcs)
Big main gear - HS1219-84 (3 pcs)
Aluminum tail boom - CX450-07-03 (2pcs) - HZ030T (2pcs)
Main shaft - CX450-01-09 (3pcs) - HS1217 (2pcs - High carbon steel)
Tail shaft - CX450-02-04 (3pcs) - HS1203 (2pcs)
Feathering shaft V1 - CX450-01-13 (4pcs) - HS1003 (3pcs)
Feathering shaft V2 - CX450-01-23 (4pcs) - HS1251 (2pcs)
Feathering shaft Orings V1 - HS1186
Feathering shaft Orings V2 - HS1254
Tail belt - CX450-02-05 - HT1003
As well as the above you'll want a couple of sets of main blades and tail blades, possibly a replacement tail blade grip assy, spare tail fins, spare servo links, spare hardware.
COPTERX ACCESORIES/REQUIRED ASSEMBLY TOOLS
The CopterX accessories/tools are all good quality and I recommend them. The CopterX training gear is also very good (possibly best 450 training wheels available)
To assembly maintain a Copterx you'll need a few basic tools and such
Ball link pliers
Small sidecutters
Needle nose pliers
Screw driver set
Hex driver set (NOTE - Some Copterx hardware is 1/16" hex - Be careful to use the right tool)
Sharp craft knife
Vernier calipers (very handy)
Keyhole file set
Mini heli pitch gauge
Soldering iron
Heatshrink
Small cable ties
Loctite (medium grade works well for all screws)
Triflow or other light oil that doesn’t wreck plastic
Silicon grease for tail belt
These are highly recommended but not required
Swash leveling tool
Ball link reaming tool
COPTERX ISSUES
Tail pitch slider assembly
CopterX tail pitch slider assemblies are swaged together, possibly as early trex versions, which are threaded, have been known to come apart. However on some copters (with high times) the swage cracks or simply loosens off resulting in play in the tail. This is fixed by replacing with align kit p/n HS1200.
Servo mounting hardware
Some ARF kits come without screws/nuts to install servos (p/n to come)
Canopies
The Blue painted plastic canopy are basic but OK for learners and rough housing.
Carbon lower frames
Some lower frames don’t mate well with lower plate and will need filing too fit
RECOMMENDED SETUP
The most common/generally recommended equipment for a sports flying orientated machine is -
Power - CopterX 430L on 13T and 30A Copterx esc
Cyclic - HS65HB or MG cyclic servos
Gyro - Gy401 (the JR770 rocks too, but is reasonably new and doesn’t have the same support base)
Tail servo - Futaba 9650, 9257, or digitized hs65
Radio - Futaba 6exh works well, or DX7 is perfect
Lipo - Good quality (Thunderpower/Kongs etc) 3S 2200-2500Mah 25C's
Recommended Setup (6exh)-
Headspeed - 3000rpm
Pitch range - -9 to +9
Throttle curve normal - 0,40,60,95,100
Pitch curve normal - 40,40,50,75,100
Throttle curve idle up - 100,95,90,95,100
Pitch curve idle up - 0,25,50,75,100
You should aim for an all up max weight of 850grams
SUPPLIERS
Rotorheadz http://www.rotorheadz.com/
COPTERX LINKS
www.copterx.com
http://helimaniacs.de/mod/downloads/ - CopterX model for Heli-X Sim
GENERAL LINKS
www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html - RADDS Flight school
www.rchelis.co.nz - NZ align supplier
www.trextuning.com - Trex site
www.futaba-rc.com/radioaccys/futm0807.html - Futaba gyros (pdf manuals)
www.futaba-rc.com/radios/futk58.html - 6exh (pdf manuals)
http://dhrc.rchomepage.com/calc.htm - Dark horse headspeed calculator
www.clearviewrc.com - Clearview RC simulator
http://www.heli-x.info/download_e.shtml#DownloadHeliX - Heli-X sim download
Useful build stuff below
Attached Files
•http://www.rotorheadz.com/elf-hobby-fm30a-esc-user-manual-ver3.pdf (143.1 KB)
•http://www.rotorheadz.com/trex_linkage_lengths_v5.pdf (45.0 KB)
•http://www.rotorheadz.com/elfhobby_gyro_manual.pdf (244.1 KB)
• params.txt (2.7 KB, 131 views) Modified flight parameters for clearview RC. Tweaked to fly very closely to how a Copterx flies. Copy & paste into clearviewRC, or just replace the params.txt file for the model with this one. Should work with all clearviewrc heli's.
(Credits to Jackosmeister from RC Groups)
Read this, chances are your problem has been experienced before
COPTERX 450 GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The CopterX AE/SE v1 and v2 are a great low-priced CNC Heli, easily comparable with the Trex SE in all areas but there are some reports that they require stripping and reassembling with reference to the finless bob video's http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=11373 and http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=29182 and http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=41692 ) Download/order these videos, watch them once, then get your Heli out and rebuild while watching the appropriate video, finless bob rocks and if you follow his vid's your Heli will fly great. Depending on how you mount electric components you made need to add an extension to your esc wires, and remove excess wire from gyro/tail servo. Elf hobby 9g and hs65 cyclic servos wires are long enough to mount in the recommended way. CopterX don’t seem to supply an assembly manual, various trex and Copterx manuals are online in pdf format - Google is your friend
COMPATABILITY WITH TREX
Every major assembly and most minor ones are directly physically compatible with align parts, anodizing/plastic color being the only real difference. The only difference I can think of is in the assembly of the tail pitch slider (swaged as opposed threaded on the trex - more on this later). Frames are identical, head is identical. To sum up - Mix and match as required
THE 450 MODELS
The latest generation of the Copterx models are broken up as follows
AE/SE - Aluminum frame/CF frame
The aluminum frame is lighter than the carbon fiber frame but doesn’t handle crashes as well. Comes down to personal preference.
V1/V2
V1 helis have a 3 mm feathering shaft, no thrust bearing in the blade grips, and bushes on the mixer arms. V2 helis have 4mm feathering shaft, thrust bearings and bearings on the mixer arms. All AE/SE Copterx have v2 tails.
V1 heads are rumored to survive crashes better, V2 better for more 3d style flying. V1 to V2 upgrade is easy and cheap. The V2 has better designed frames (same as trex se v2) which allow gyro mounting under boom easier, boom clamp is better, bigger batteries can be fitted as the angle of the tray is steeper, HS65 servos fit easier.
KIT/ARF/RTF
The RTF kit is a worthwhile purchase. The 6exh/r146i are a great first computer radio and work well, the elfhobby 9g servos do work and are suitable to learn to fly with. Recommended gyros to replace the elfhobby are g190/gy240/gy401/JR770T, I’m sure there are more.
COPTERX 430L/30A ESC
The Copterx 430L and a 30A esc both work well, and are suitable for everything up to doing taxing 3D. The ESC's built in BEC will happily support 3 analog cyclic servos, a gyro, and digital tail servo running a standard PCM receiver. Running a spektrum/FAAST radio or digital cyclic servos it may be necessary to replace the ESC or install a UBEC. The 430L is a good motor to start with and will make the Copterx get up and go quite well, the 13T pinion is recommended.
MAIN AND TAIL ROTOR BLADES
The bundled wooden blade are very average and will require the blade roots to be filed down a smidgen so they fit nicely in the grips. The carbonhobby/Copterx CF blades are quite good (esp. for the price). The stock plastic tail blades work well, the Copterx CF are also good.
BATTERIES
Invest in some quality lipos and a good charger.
COPTERX OEM UPGRADES
CNC gear
These are nice, but are not recommended if you can’t land like a pro.
CF paddles
Yet to be tested
CF main and tail blades
Impressively good for the price, main blades so far for me do not require balancing.
Fiberglass canopies
Really nice for the money!
USEFUL SPARES/CRASH KIT
Part - CX p/n - Align p/n - Note
DOUBLE CHECK P/N BEFORE ORDERING
Flybar V1 - CX450-01-10(w/paddles) - HS1006 (2pcs)
Flybar V2 - HS1184 (2pcs)
Big main gear - HS1219-84 (3 pcs)
Aluminum tail boom - CX450-07-03 (2pcs) - HZ030T (2pcs)
Main shaft - CX450-01-09 (3pcs) - HS1217 (2pcs - High carbon steel)
Tail shaft - CX450-02-04 (3pcs) - HS1203 (2pcs)
Feathering shaft V1 - CX450-01-13 (4pcs) - HS1003 (3pcs)
Feathering shaft V2 - CX450-01-23 (4pcs) - HS1251 (2pcs)
Feathering shaft Orings V1 - HS1186
Feathering shaft Orings V2 - HS1254
Tail belt - CX450-02-05 - HT1003
As well as the above you'll want a couple of sets of main blades and tail blades, possibly a replacement tail blade grip assy, spare tail fins, spare servo links, spare hardware.
COPTERX ACCESORIES/REQUIRED ASSEMBLY TOOLS
The CopterX accessories/tools are all good quality and I recommend them. The CopterX training gear is also very good (possibly best 450 training wheels available)
To assembly maintain a Copterx you'll need a few basic tools and such
Ball link pliers
Small sidecutters
Needle nose pliers
Screw driver set
Hex driver set (NOTE - Some Copterx hardware is 1/16" hex - Be careful to use the right tool)
Sharp craft knife
Vernier calipers (very handy)
Keyhole file set
Mini heli pitch gauge
Soldering iron
Heatshrink
Small cable ties
Loctite (medium grade works well for all screws)
Triflow or other light oil that doesn’t wreck plastic
Silicon grease for tail belt
These are highly recommended but not required
Swash leveling tool
Ball link reaming tool
COPTERX ISSUES
Tail pitch slider assembly
CopterX tail pitch slider assemblies are swaged together, possibly as early trex versions, which are threaded, have been known to come apart. However on some copters (with high times) the swage cracks or simply loosens off resulting in play in the tail. This is fixed by replacing with align kit p/n HS1200.
Servo mounting hardware
Some ARF kits come without screws/nuts to install servos (p/n to come)
Canopies
The Blue painted plastic canopy are basic but OK for learners and rough housing.
Carbon lower frames
Some lower frames don’t mate well with lower plate and will need filing too fit
RECOMMENDED SETUP
The most common/generally recommended equipment for a sports flying orientated machine is -
Power - CopterX 430L on 13T and 30A Copterx esc
Cyclic - HS65HB or MG cyclic servos
Gyro - Gy401 (the JR770 rocks too, but is reasonably new and doesn’t have the same support base)
Tail servo - Futaba 9650, 9257, or digitized hs65
Radio - Futaba 6exh works well, or DX7 is perfect
Lipo - Good quality (Thunderpower/Kongs etc) 3S 2200-2500Mah 25C's
Recommended Setup (6exh)-
Headspeed - 3000rpm
Pitch range - -9 to +9
Throttle curve normal - 0,40,60,95,100
Pitch curve normal - 40,40,50,75,100
Throttle curve idle up - 100,95,90,95,100
Pitch curve idle up - 0,25,50,75,100
You should aim for an all up max weight of 850grams
SUPPLIERS
Rotorheadz http://www.rotorheadz.com/
COPTERX LINKS
www.copterx.com
http://helimaniacs.de/mod/downloads/ - CopterX model for Heli-X Sim
GENERAL LINKS
www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html - RADDS Flight school
www.rchelis.co.nz - NZ align supplier
www.trextuning.com - Trex site
www.futaba-rc.com/radioaccys/futm0807.html - Futaba gyros (pdf manuals)
www.futaba-rc.com/radios/futk58.html - 6exh (pdf manuals)
http://dhrc.rchomepage.com/calc.htm - Dark horse headspeed calculator
www.clearviewrc.com - Clearview RC simulator
http://www.heli-x.info/download_e.shtml#DownloadHeliX - Heli-X sim download
Useful build stuff below
Attached Files
•http://www.rotorheadz.com/elf-hobby-fm30a-esc-user-manual-ver3.pdf (143.1 KB)
•http://www.rotorheadz.com/trex_linkage_lengths_v5.pdf (45.0 KB)
•http://www.rotorheadz.com/elfhobby_gyro_manual.pdf (244.1 KB)
• params.txt (2.7 KB, 131 views) Modified flight parameters for clearview RC. Tweaked to fly very closely to how a Copterx flies. Copy & paste into clearviewRC, or just replace the params.txt file for the model with this one. Should work with all clearviewrc heli's.