HK450 Night Light Disaster

[Tony]

ok my test flight with the lights was a disaster waiting to happen.... well maybe not quite a disaster as the Heli is fine..

when the heli reached hover speed centafugal force just whipped the board, Lipo and lights off both blades. its too dark tonight to go find them, anyway lesson learnt. i will build better and lighter....

heres the vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNwLNZ7 ... CllvUBBtMw

[pvolcko]

heh. Hopefully they are attached to each other still, and salvageable.

I'm thinking CA the light strips to the blades (rough up the mounting surface of the blade for good adhesion. Then build a board that mounts to the rotor head (drill and tap the head if needed) that contains the control board and battery power for the lights. Some wires from the boards to the blade light strips. Should be strong enough to withstand the forces and keep the heavy stuff near the rotor center where forces are minimal and balance isn't so hugely critical.

That and I'm not sure what edge of the blade the strips should go on. It may make better sense to put them up near the leading edge instead of on the trailing edge. The chordwise balance of the blade will be less affected if mounted near the leading edge. Also the wind forces due to pressure change, drag, and vortexes should be least at the leading edge sides, as opposed to the trailing edge where all the drag and vortex action is.

Last suggestion. Have the top or bottom be a solid color in first flight attempts. Even with the other lights, if it starts to get away from you if you don't have at least one side of the rotor disc static pattern you may end up not knowing what upside and downside is.

[Tony]

Good suggestions there mate, I did post a query think it was on RCH about mounting a box on the rotor head as this was my original thoughts on balance etc... If I'd cable tied the lipo and pcb down it would have been ok I think, the lipo coming off would have ripped the led strip off... I haven't checked the heli for damage yet. I will later...

I'll try the LEDs on leading edge next time, CA them down. and I do plan on shrinking that micro board down a lot, quarter the size...

The patterns can be changed at will to suit best for orientation, but it does have some very bright red and green strips on the skids..

Thanks Paul

[Lee]

Its a good job it came off while you were still on the ground
It would have been a nightmare to land when you couldn't see it.
Look fantastic up to that point

[Tony]

Well like I said those red and green strip lights on the skids are very bright, but yeah better off things going wrong on the ground.... I'll be back..lol

[pvolcko]

At least things went flying when it was on the ground. Would have been hugely dangerous if it happened while in a hover.

[Tony]

well ive learnt something Paul, and it wont happen again, good thing about experimenting, one learns from ones mistakes...lol. next time they will be spot on..

[Tony]

Went to field this morning searching for lights, found both strip lights and one circuit board and lipo....

I've ordered more, I'll be back.....lol

[Tony]

My new idea

[KevG]

Ensure that is balanced well, that's a fair bit of kit sitting on that headblock,

[Graham Lawrie]

That was cool Tony:) up until it went pop:)

[Tony]

Yeah it's pretty well spot on Kev, not as much weight as it was with the board and lipo on each blade, and the centrifugal force shouldn't be as bad. Only has one lipo and one micro now in the box....

Haha yeah Graham... Was pretty scary like when they came off. Won't happen again though, only thing on blades will be the led strips.. And I'm going to put them on leading edge this time...should have the new strips tomorrow. Box and micro all done, changed the software. All ready... I'll video test flight but if it fails I'm not posting it...lol, unless it's spectacular.