Jeremy Scott
Senior Member
Posts: 229
Loc: Madison, WI
Reg: 01-30-04
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 02-02-04 05:30 PM - Post#35558
Hi there, I was just looking over the Raptor 60 manual
-- considering purchasing one -- and I see that a lot of things are controlled by ball links with 2mm / 2.3mm rods.
Well in the RC car world, ball links are used for steering
and a popular upgrade is to replace the tierods with turnbuckles. That way if you need to adjust the length of a rod, you don't need to pull it on and off to get it just right. Just turn the nut in the middle to shorten or lengthen the part while it's on the model -- it's very precise as well, as you can watch how things move with
a level/measuring tool as you turn the wrench.
Has anyone ever used these types of rods for precise mechanical trim on a heli?
They are available for RC cars in just about any length
and size. I'm not sure they would work too good on a
rotor head (clearance/weight issues), but for servo connections they're probably fine. The last Kyosho model
I built had their quality Z-BEND(tm) linkage system for steering and throttle which I quickly replaced with ball links and turnbuckle rods.
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Anonymous
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02-02-04 06:17 PM - Post#35559
In response to Jeremy Scott
The ball link cups used on R/C cars don't allow sufficient angular movement for cyclic input. Since they wrap farther around the ball than aircraft ball links do, every time you get near maximum travel, you'll be popping the ball links off.
I had a similar thought once, since I also come from a car background, but it just doesn't work right.
Aircraft ball links are a proven item, and it's not like you're doing constant adjustments to the links anyway. Once you build the heli according to directions, and the links are built to the correct length, the only reason you'll need to do anything to them is if you break them in a crash, and at that point you'll be rebuilding the whole linkage anyway, so turnbuckles really offer nothing except an ego boost.
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RC Man1
Full Time Senior Member
Posts: 2271
Loc: Central Illinois
Reg: 12-05-00
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02-02-04 06:30 PM - Post#35561
In response to Buddykitchen
Kyosho use to make turnbuckle upgrade kits but hardly anyone bought them. The current linkage is very reliable and adding more complexity would just increase the odds of something going wrong.
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alexander
Senior Member
Posts: 921
Reg: 12-20-02
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02-15-04 12:32 PM - Post#36595
In response to Jeremy Scott
Quote:
Has anyone ever used these types of rods for precise mechanical trim on a heli?
Miniature Aircraft used to sell rods with a left and right hand thread. Better yet would be acoarse and fine threaded rod. Keep in mind that if the thread friction gets loose on both rod ends the sucker will self adjust without a jam nut or some sort of lock.
stephen
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galifrey
Senior Member
Posts: 227
Loc: UK
Reg: 12-28-02
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02-15-04 10:41 PM - Post#36656
In response to alexander
left/right thread turnbucles are the most accurate way of tuning rod lengths, but are really not a requirement for helis as they only get adjusted once and then left alone...
Cars require constant tweaking for a track and therefore turnbuckles are a godsend for ease..
Good idea, but adds more complexity than is required
The only thing I would ask for is ball links that are push on both ways... that way you can use half a turn instead of a full turn without stretching the links
 
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