First, I try to orientate myself on what direction the tail should push.
Check tail blade installation Rotate the main gear and the gear that drives the tail clockwise (direction the blades will spin). Does
the tail blades move so that the thicker part of the blades are on the
leading edge? (check online photos of the Belt to compare).
Rate vs. HH mode on the bench Lets also understand the difference between being in rate mode and HH mode on the bench. In
rate mode, if you slowly rotate the heli, the tail servo will not move
(if it does, just barely). If you are in HH mode, the tail servo will
move almost proportional to how far you rotate the heli. It will move
to one end as you rotate in one direction and the other end as you
rotate the other way. Sometimes (quite often) if you turn on in HH mode
or just switch to HH mode, the servo will just start moving all on its
own in one direction and keep going till it hits the end of it's
travel. That is definitly a sign you are in HH mode.
I say Get your heli in Rate mode or bypass the gyro to bench test the tail and gyro settings. Looking
from the top of the heli, the blades will rotate clockwise. (blade
moves right as it crosses the front of the heli). This will make the
heli want to rotate counterclockwise (Nose left). This means that at
hover the tail should push air so that the nose of the heli should
rotate right (clockwise) and the tail moves left. That would be the
neutral position of the tail. In rate mode (or w/ gyro bypassed), the
neutral stick position at half throttle should be w/ the tail blades
pushing air to the right. Right tail rudder on the Tx stick
should make the pitch of the tail increase. Left tail rudder on
the Tx stick should make the pitch of the tail change so that it pushes
the nose left (making the tail push right). Back to neutral position
and it should be pushing slightly to right. Once again, you have
to do this tail test w/ the gyro bypassed or in rate mode. In Heading
Hold mode, this will not work. Reverse your tail servo if you
need to make the heli go in the right direction. Adjust servo or
linkage so that the servo is at 90 degrees in your slightly right tail
position at neutral stick. Get this part right before moving on !
OK, now that you got the tail going in the right way, lets test the direction of the gyro. Test Rate mode first (if you can!)
Rate Mode If
you disconnected the gyro to set up the tail servo, Connect up the gyro
again and test that the tail is moving in the right direction again. Push
the Tx Left stick (tail) to the right. Look at the direction the servo
or a linkage is moving. Put your finger on it. Practice feeling the
servo moving by feel of the finger. stick right, you want
somethign pushing on your finger (servo arm, linkage arm etc). Now, put
the Tx down, hold the heli w/ your other hand by the flybar or anywhere
on the head so that you can rotate the heli in the air leaving your
finger on that servo or linkage. Jerk the heli counterclockwise. When
you jerk the heli counterclockwise, you should feel that servo or
linkage push on your finger. The more the push, the more the gain
is turned up. If it does not push, reverse your gyro (unplug the heli
when you do this so that when you test the gyro, it will reset).
HH Mode (there are other methods, but this is mine) Turn
on the Heli and let it settle. When the tail starts to drift (if it
does) then adjust the tail trim on the TX till it stops. Try to
move the tail trim to get the servo at 90 degrees and stop. Now,
you've already learned how to tell if the tail is going in the right
direction, Move the stick (a little bit) for the tail to the right and
verify the tail is moving in the right direction of pitch. When you
move the stick, the servo will move in the direction and stay there, or
it will keep going then stop. The higher your gain is set or the
farther you push the stick the more it will move and the farther it
will go. Reverse the gyro if needed. Now, use the stick or trim to
center up that tail again. On the bench, rotate the nose of the heli to
the left about 45 degrees. The tail should have moved so that it is
giving thrust to rotate the heli back to where it was. It probably will
move and stay in one spot. Rotate the heli back to it's original
position and the gyro will move back. If it does, your HH gyro is
set.
