Specifications

Chapter 12. Post-Construction/ARF Checklist
These items should be double-checked before you attempt to fly your new helicopter. These
items should be checked for both helicopters you have built yourself, and also for prebuilt ARF
kits.
1. The main rotor blades should be mounted for the correct rotor head rotation. For most
helicopters this is clockwise. For the Corona this is counterclockwise.
2. The tail rotor blades should be mounted for the correct rotation. Turn the main gear by
hand so the main rotor blades are rotating in the correct direction, and the tail rotor blades
should be rotating in the correct direction also. If the tail rotor blades are rotating in the
wrong direction:
i. Make sure the tail blades are not mounted backwards.
ii. If the heli uses a belt-driven tail, then ensure the tail belt is twisted in the correct direc-
tion.
iii. If the heli uses a gear driven tail, then ensure the the tail drive gears is meshing at the
correct point on the main gear.
3. Check the meshing of all gears, and ensure they are not too tight. If your gears (including
bevel gears and motor pinions) are meshing together too tightly, you will lose a lot of
power and your flights will be very short.
Make sure that the gear teeth only mesh together by about 3/4 of a tooth. This can be
easily set by putting a plastic bag between the gears and squeezing the gears together,
then removing the bag. You can check the mesh by holding one gear and rotating the oth-
er. If the gear mesh is correct, there should be some free play. This will allow the gears to
transfer power more efficiently.
4. If using a tail belt drive, make sure it's not too loose nor too tight.
5. The flybar paddles should be an equal distance from the main rotor hub. You may need to
loosen the flybar and slide it in or out to ensure the flybar paddles are an equal distance
from the head. If using flybar weights, they should also be an equal distance from the rotor
hub.
6. The flybar paddles should be parallel to each other. If you have the KSJ-624 paddle
gauge set, then you should use these to align the paddles. (Not applicable to the Corona.)
7. The flybar should tilt very smoothly and easily. If you blow on the flybar paddle, the flybar
should tilt. If the rotor head is built absolutely perfectly, then the flybar paddle should tilt
down, then bounce and come back up. You should be able to keep the flybar paddle
bouncing by blowing on it with the right timing.
If the flybar does not tilt easily, then you will have very little cyclic control, which is danger-
ous. This problem must be fixed before you attempt to fly the model. To fix this, you may
need to:
i. Loosen some ball links using a pair of pliers or ball link sizing tool
ii. Lubricate the flybar pivot with powdered graphite
95