RCE Solutions Colco Thunderbird Concept II User Manual Download Page 3

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Part I Introduction

Part II Safety Instructions

Part III Know your Radio Transmitter

Part IV Heli Trim and Pre-Flight Setup

Part V Adjust the Balance with the

Battery

Part VI Gyro Setting

Part VII Service and Cleaning

Part VIII Repair Hints & Tips

Part IX Explosion Drawing

Part X Individual Spares/Part List

Part XI PP Joy

Index

Contents

© <2005> ... RCE

Summary of Contents for Colco Thunderbird Concept II

Page 1: ...This material is Copyright c 2005 Colco Thunderbird Concept II User Operators Manual RCE Solutions Capetown South Africa Spares ordering and Questions Visit http www rchq co za ...

Page 2: ......

Page 3: ...io Transmitter 3 Part IV Heli Trim and Pre Flight Setup 8 Part V Adjust the Balance with the Battery 12 Part VI Gyro Setting 14 Part VII Service and Cleaning 16 Part VIII Repair Hints Tips 17 Part IX Explosion Drawing 33 Part X Individual Spares Part List 34 Part XI PP Joy 42 Index 0 I Contents 2005 RCE ...

Page 4: ...ct operation We do not take any responsibility for personal injury or damage property caused by incorrect handling or non observance of the safety instructions To maintain this status en ensure safe operation the user must comply with the safety instructions and warnings contained in these instructions Do not leave chargers and connected battery s in operation unattended Chargers and accessories s...

Page 5: ...ane you are responsible for actions and any consequences Remote controlled model aeroplanes are not toys For this reason children and young people should always be supervised by adults when operating 3 Know your Radio Transmitter RC Helicopters come in different modes to fly in Mode 1 and Mode 2 Personally I think mode 2 is the easiest mode to fly any RC heli in But that s a personal decision and ...

Page 6: ...ctions of the Channels Sticks on the Radio Transmitter This is a Quick overview of the Functions for each channel on the radio With the thunderbird we only use 4 Channels due to the fact that the TB is a Fixed Pitch Heli Channels 5 and 6 are not occupied and are not required for flight operation Channel 1 ...

Page 7: ...The left hand control aggregate control the rotor speed proportionally in the vertical direction This is the only aggregate with a Snap in feature for maintaining the rotor speed during flight Lever DOWN 0 Speed Lever UP 100 Speed Channel 2 ...

Page 8: ...y in the horizontal position This feature is necessary to turn the helicopter with the nose in the direction in which you wish to fly This takes place through the control of the small rear Tail Motor Lever to the Left Nose Left Tail Right Lever to the Right Nose Right Tail Left Channel 3 ...

Page 9: ... Transmitter 2005 RCE The Right hand Control controls the Nick feature forward Backwards in the Vertical position Lever UP Helicopter nose Down and Flies forward Lever DOWN Helicopter Nose up and fly Backwards Channel 4 ...

Page 10: ...This feature is necessary for flying the helicopter side ways The nose of the Heli still points forwards Lever to the Left Helicopter inclines to the Left Lever to the Right Helicopter inclines to the Right 4 Heli Trim and Pre Flight Setup Put the helicopter on a flat level surface Fit the battery pack ...

Page 11: ...er the screws that hold the rotor blades and lift the heli off the table Adjust the battery position until the heli lifts of evenly The Landing gear lifts of level with the table Turn on transmitter ALWAYS FIRST Plug in battery Set the TX trims so that the Swash plate is level Make Sure it is level with the surface the heli is on ...

Page 12: ...ht up or down angle on the fly bar paddles will affect the flying characteristic Make sure the fly bar lengths are exactly the same on both sides of the rotor head Slight length differences Will cause vibration Straighten the rotor blades by pulling on their tips and then aligning them 90 deg to the fly bar rod ...

Page 13: ... but should not fall slide out of position under their own weight If the blades are loose they do right themselves by centrifugal force but I do not like the vibration it causes until they are aligned Now rotate the whole rotor head assembly by turning the main gear through 360 degrees Ensure the fly bar paddles remain exactly level through the entire rotation ...

Page 14: ... never be able to fly it properly You will be fighting it every second you fly 5 Adjust the Balance with the Battery A very important aspect for flying the Thunderbird Helicopter is to make absolutely sure that the Balance Also refer to as the CG Centre of Gravity is set correctly on the Helicopter Incorrect Balancing can lead to a few problems when flying Use the Battery to Adjust the Balance of ...

Page 15: ... to be adjusted forward Move the battery forward to make the Heli hangs level This can lead to a broken Tail rotor as soon as you try to lift up due to the Heavy weight to the back The next picture show the Ideal Balancing of the Helicopter When holding at the Fly bar beam the Helicopter hangs horizontal in the Air ...

Page 16: ...compensates the rotary movements of the helicopter fuselage which arise through the rotating motor The Helicopter remains stable in the desired light direction This feature has to be adjusted before flying is commenced Proceed as follows Put the helicopter on a Level open Area Centre the channel 2 Trim slider Move it to the centre position ...

Page 17: ...ng gear Increase the throttle and allow the main blades to start rotating at a fair pace where it feels as if it want s to lift off out of your hand Check to see that the tail motor starts spinning too Feel whether the helicopter is trying to except a sideways force on your hand If the heli s tail wants to swing anticlockwise turn the gyro mixing control 1 screw clockwise ...

Page 18: ...il rotor should speed up rev to try to prevent this movement The size of this Rev is determined by the gain control 2 screw on the gyro Do not fiddle with this screw It should be set Ok Doing so will also affect the mixing ratio and you will have to start adjusting again from the top of this chapter Now Still holding the helicopter throttle up to hover rpm the heli wants to fly up out of your hand...

Page 19: ...Tail Rotor Motor and Gears Here are a Few Images I took to demonstrate how to assemble the Thunderbird RC Helicopter Put the Small Capacitor Legs through the Little hole at the Back of the Tail Rotor Motor Screw the Rail Rotor Motor to the Tail Holder ...

Page 20: ...18 User Manual 2005 RCE Solder the Wire to the Motor Please note the Polarity Red wire Black Wire Add the Tail Rotor Gear to the Tail Fastening Sleeve Spindle ...

Page 21: ...lastic Tubbing to the Tail Fastening Spindle The Tail Rotor Motor assembly are completed Please note the Distance between the Motor and the Rotor Gear Do not tighten to tight Leave a Little cap between the Motor and the Gear SERVOS Connect the Servo Tie Bars to the Servo Horn ...

Page 22: ...20 User Manual 2005 RCE Connect the Servos with the Screw supplied to the Main Frame Servo Holders Receiver Speed control and Gyro Add the Speed Control and Receiver in the PCB Box ...

Page 23: ...21 Repair Hints Tips 2005 RCE Connection Diagram for the Speed Control Gyro and Receiver is as Follows ...

Page 24: ...22 User Manual 2005 RCE Main Motor Main Gear Add the Main Rotor Motor Give Out cove to the Main Motor Be careful not to put the Cove over the Ventilation Holes on the Motor ...

Page 25: ...o the Body Frame Don t tighten them yet because we need to align the Main Rotor Gear Add the Main Shaft to the Main Motor Gear and Press in the Main Frame Body Please make sure that the Bottom and Top bearings are fitted correctly before press the shaft through the Main Frame hole ...

Page 26: ...e Main Shaft in place at the Main Gear I used a Little CA glue after the pin is securely fitted Also adjust the Main Motor that the Gear is not running to tight against the Main Gear Press the gear to the top and Attach the Sur clip to the Main Shaft Head Assembly ...

Page 27: ...25 Repair Hints Tips 2005 RCE Add the Sir clip to the Main Rotor Shaft ...

Page 28: ...26 User Manual 2005 RCE ...

Page 29: ...27 Repair Hints Tips 2005 RCE ...

Page 30: ...28 User Manual 2005 RCE Loosen the Fly bar Blades and align the 0 Horizontal and tighten them again Balancing Fitting the Main Blades ...

Page 31: ...29 Repair Hints Tips 2005 RCE Use two Flat bottom glasses and put the Main Rotor Blades with head Assembly on the bottom If the Blades hang to the one side Use Electric Tape to balance the Blades ...

Page 32: ...30 User Manual 2005 RCE Slow cutoff and remove small pieces of tape and put the Blades back on the Glasses Once the Blades hangs 100 horizontal it s balanced and ready to connect to your Helicopter ...

Page 33: ...31 Repair Hints Tips 2005 RCE Ready to Go Once everything is checked and re checked you are ready to take your heli for a maiden light ...

Page 34: ...djust the Balances with the Battery section on Balancing Tips Extend the Transmitter Radio antenna to full length and switch on the transmitter Please NOTE Always make sure that the Channel 1 Throttle Position is set to 0 Connect the Heli Battery to the Receiver and ESC units ...

Page 35: ...33 Repair Hints Tips 2005 RCE And there we go isn t this FUN 9 Explosion Drawing ...

Page 36: ...34 User Manual 2005 RCE 10 Individual Spares Part List ...

Page 37: ...Spares Part List 2005 RCE No Part No Description Image 1 EH 1 Main Motor 2 EH 2 Rotor Head 3 EH 3 Double Hole Tie Bar Short 4 EH 4 Rotary Sleeve Spindle 5 EH 5 3 x 6 x 2 5 mm Main Rotor Ball Bearings 4 2 x Rotor Head ...

Page 38: ...6 User Manual 2005 RCE No Part No Description Image 6 EH 6 Internal Control Panel 7 EH 7 Double Hole Tie Bar Long 8 EH 8 External Control Panel 9 EH 9 Stabilizing Wing Beam 10 EH 10 Internal Tilting Pan ...

Page 39: ...37 Individual Spares Part List 2005 RCE No Part No Description Image 11 EH 11 Single Hole Tie Bar 12 EH 12 Servo Hole Tie Bar 13 EH 13 Stabilizing Blades 14 Servo 15 EH 15 Main rotor Motor Kit ...

Page 40: ...38 User Manual 2005 RCE No Part No Description Image 16 EH 16 PCB Box Lid 17 EH 17 Framework 18 EH 18 Casing Canopy 19 EH 19 Battery 20 EH 20 Foot Pole Support ...

Page 41: ...39 Individual Spares Part List 2005 RCE No Part No Description Image 21 EH 21 Main Shaft 22 EH 22 Driving Wheel Gear 23 EH 23 Battery Holder 24 EH 24 Casing Pole Support 25 EH 25 Foot Pole Support ...

Page 42: ... Manual 2005 RCE No Part No Description Image 26 EH 26 Tail Stabling Wing 27 EH 27 Tail Fastening Sleeve spindle 28 EH 28 Tail Rotor 29 EH 24 Tail Rotor Gear Wheel 30 EH 30 2 x 6 x 2 mm Tail Rotor Ball Bearing ...

Page 43: ...41 Individual Spares Part List 2005 RCE No Part No Description Image 31 EH 31 Tail Holder 32 EH 32 Tail Motor Motor Kit 33 EH 33 R144 IDF Receiver 34 EH 45 CLC II Electron Timing 34 EH 46 PG 03 Gyro ...

Page 44: ...rator or another user with Administrative privileges on the local machine Your system allows the installation of unsigned drivers See Changing the Driver Signing settings for more details First extract the contents of PPJoySetup zip to a temporary folder Double click Setup exe to start the installation After the installation is done you can delete the files from this temporary folder If you are us...

Page 45: ...Vision Software For more information on Installer VISE contact Mind Vision Software 5901 North 58th Street Lincoln NE 68507 Voice 402 323 6600 Fax 402 323 6611 E mail mindvision mindvision com http www mindvision com If you are a shareware or freeware author you may use their installer free of charge to distribute your products Press any key or click on the Dialog to continue ...

Page 46: ...inks your computer will not allow the installation of unsigned drivers Please see the section Changing the Driver Signing settings for details If you are sure your settings are correct then press OK to continue with the installation If you press Cancel the installation will stop Click on Next ...

Page 47: ...ocumentation Please read it carefully Click on Next once you are done This screen allows you to choose an installation directory for PPJoy This is where the PPJoy documentation and source driver files will be kept Accept the default location recommended or choose a new directory Click on Next ...

Page 48: ... recommended or choose a new folder Click on Next This screen confirms that setup is ready to start the PPJoy installation Click on Next This dialog shows the installation progress During this process Windows 2000 or Windows XP may show Unsigned Driver warning messages Please click on Yes Windows 2000 or Continue Anyway Windows XP when these warning are shown ...

Page 49: ... This will prevent the installation of unsigned drivers Warn This will prompt the user whether to install an unsigned device driver or not Ignore The system will install unsigned drivers without prompting the user The PPJoy device drivers are unsigned and you will need to set your system to Warn or Ignore The rest of this document describes how to do that Unsigned device drivers are drivers that a...

Page 50: ... impair your system performance It is up to you to decide if you want to take the risk or not First locate the My Computer icon on the desktop or in Windows Explorer Right click on the My Computer icon and select Properties Windows XP ...

Page 51: ...49 PP Joy 2005 RCE Windows 2000 After clicking on the Hardware tab your screen should look like one of the two screens shown above Now click on Driver Signing ...

Page 52: ...er Warn or Ignore is selected Then click on OK Opening the PP Joy Application Applet This document describes how to open the PPJoy Control Panel applet The PPJoy applet is used to add and remove joysticks that are plugged into the Parallel Port ...

Page 53: ...51 PP Joy 2005 RCE First click Start on the Taskbar then Settings and finally on Control Panel This will open the Control Panel ...

Page 54: ...t Joysticks that connect to the Game port or USB will not show up here If you get this error message instead of the PPJoy applet you need to make sure that PPJoyBus sys is installed Under Windows 98 Me you need to install it yourself see Windows 98 Post Install actions Under Windows 2000 XP you need to make sure your settings allow the installation of unsigned drivers see Driver signing for more i...

Page 55: ...the Instructions on How to Install PP Joy Plug the Serial Interface Received with your Heli into a Free Serial port on your Computer DO NOT PLUG IT INTO THE RADIO TX YET Go to Start Control Panel Parallel Port Joysticks Click on ADD ...

Page 56: ...d Press ADD and the DONE Your Operating System will Install the Necessary Software for the Virtual Joystick Continue Installation until Done When Complete with the Driver Installation go to Start Programs Parallel Port Joystick and PPJOYCOM to Execute the Com Driver for the Joystick ...

Page 57: ...he Radio ON NOTE The Message will change to Read Serial Stream if the connection is successful If not remove the Cable and try a Different COM port Minimize the PPJOYCOM Window and Start FMS NOTE This window must be active to allow the Radio TX to work with FMS Once in FMS go to Control Panel and Select Joystick Interface and Click on Mapping Calibration The Default setup should look like the Imag...

Page 58: ...56 User Manual 2005 RCE Remember to Calibrate you TX before lying attempts Press the OK Button You are ready to fly the Heli on FMS Enjoy ...

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