Rob Manser

Thank you. Yes, I'm clearly missing some bits. I think the repair person I found is the best way forward; I'll phone them next week.

Thanks. Yes, one of those Blades was the other heli I was looking at, in fact I missed out on one before buying the 450. I was advised that they were both suitable for me and readily available. The Blades do tend to be expensive seconhand in good condition, but I guess that's because of their better suitability?

Many thanks. As I say, I was very surprised that was the case - I'm clearly missing quite a few pieces! I've found a couple of RC heli repair people online, one of whom says he's happy for you to watch his repair and he can explain things, so that seems like a good move, if I can manage the journey.

Thanks for the one or two helpful replies! In answer to questions: I asked a few RC heli flyers before buying the 450 whether it was suitable for a beginner and they said yes. I had been looking at this or a Blade on the secondhand market. In the past I've owned an RC glider, a powered plane, a car, and two very basic non-collective pitch helis, so saw this as the next step. I classify myself as a beginner for collective pitch helis, because I understand well that they're quite hard to fly. I did check the nuts and bolts on the heli before flying and they were all fine, but this problem doesn't appear to be linked to any nuts and bolts - they appear to be push fit items, which surprises me, thus the questions. I have a dongle for my tx and a sim on my PC (AccurRC 2) and have been practising hovering for a few weeks now. With this heli I planned to take things easy and limit the first few flights to very low altitude hovering. I suspect the issue was the speed of the blades without any collective pitch. I hadn't anticipated that this would cause the blades to detach! The idea behind the heli is that I'm largely stuck at home due to illness and we have a fairly large garden in a rural area. If I was going to join a club and travel with it to a larger flying field I would have bought another plane.

Last weekend I bought a secondhand Align Trex 450 Sport from E-Bay. I got a secondhand DX6i and two new LiPos and a charger. I tried to fly it for the first time yesterday. The throttle and cyclic seem to work fine, but there was no collective pitch. No matter how far I moved the throttle forwards, the heli wouldn't take off. Presumably, the lack of AoA allowed the blades to spin too fast, because in my brief time at max throttle the blades suddenly flew off. Thankfully they didn't hit me, or my five year old son! So I have two questions: 1) What was I doing wrong? My transmitter has the Swash set to "CCPM 120 deg" and I followed a You Tube guide for setting up my DX6i with the 450. 2) How can I fix the heli? Photos below. As you can see, I'm missing a black plastic servo arm connector, and also one of the tiny rubber/plastic bushes where the blade spindle inserts. These are undoubtedly somewhere in the garden, but I don't think I'll ever find them. a) How do the blades attach to the heli? Is it just a push fit, or are they somehow tightened down? b) How does the servo arm attach to the ball joint on the blade? Is it just a push fit? c) Are these parts still available? I understand it's an old model of heli. Many thanks in advance.

Yes, I noticed that on a You Tube video. It's like people that arrange their playing cards increasing in value from right to left 🙂 I'm pleased to report the transmitter is now working. I've probably done about 30-40 minutes of fiddling, trying to adjust the contrast blind, and then suddenly the screen came on. I wasn't in the contrast menu when it did though, which was weird; I was in the previous one. I'll keep things very conservative when I get my heli, testing on the ground etc, before I fully trust it!

Got it - thanks. Ok, so that proves that one! Whether that's happened to mine or not remains a mystery. I've tried adjusting it blind, but it's really hard to do, even with the manual. You enter the SETUP menu by holding down the roller wheel as you turn the tx on, and then CONTRAST is item 12, then you can scroll to the right to increase it. The problem is that I'd need to know the exact sequence of pushes (e.g. does the setup menu need a click before it starts on 1, do you push before scroll in the CONTRAST menu? etc etc). I wish there was a factory reset, but the only one I can find out about is in a menu!

I can't view the video. Could you try again, or a private You Tube link?

Thank you for all the replies. The batteries are brand new Duracell AA. I opened it yesterday to check, and I can't see anything that's come loose. That doesn't mean there's not a loose connector hidden behind a PCB of course. I trust this E-Bay seller as we've chatted a bit, and the advert had photos of the screen working before he sold it. He even said that it's missing a couple of lines at the very bottom, which I accepted as it won't affect screen output. I do understand the risks of secondhand electronics, but I'm on a strict budget. Contrast is an interesting one; would they really make the lowest setting invisible? I've got the manual and menu sequence and have tried going to the item blind and adjusting it, but nothing happens.

I've just bought a secondhand DX6i transmitter. The buyer seems genuine (he got it with some drones, but already has a transmitter), the transmitter looks in almost new condition and comes in a nice hard shell case, and there were photos on the advert of it working fine. However, I've put new batteries in and the screen doesn't display anything when the transmitter is powered up. I can hear beeps from the menu selector, so the rest of it is presumably ok. Is this a common issue? Is there perhaps an easy fix? Is it likely to just be the screen? Replacements come from the US and are really expensive, but I've seen illuminated upgraded ones in the UK for £13, which I could easily fit. Many thanks in advance.

I've just bought a secondhand Align Trex 450 RC Heli, but it comes without a case. Can anyone recommend something? Align made a case with pre-cut foam, but they're out of stock everywhere, and all the aluminium cases I've found online are too small. Thanks in advance.