Spool Up 6 - Twisting Needles

Join Greggor, Steve and Greg as we discuss some of the ways we've found to best tune our nitros for consistent power. 

Welcome to Maximum Collective; Episode 6 Twisting needles

1. Shout out to our listeners

1. 1. We feel very fortunate for all of our listeners. 

 

Steve - RC HeliNation is back!

 

Who would like to be a guest from the West Coast on our show? Who would you like to hear from? 

 

Touch base on IRCHA and the new developments?

 

https://www.modelaircraft.org/events/ircha-west-jamboree

April 12, 2023 - April 16, 2023

Reedley, CA Peg Field-42CN https://www.google.com/maps/place/Peg+Field-42CN,+1751+S+Alta+Ave,+Reedley,+CA+93654/@36.7098274,-119.408493,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8095018acab973e1:0xdf45a064779b275d!8m2!3d36.7098274!4d-119.408493

 

Raw 420 - The jury is in, it’s awesome!

 

Episode 2 on tuning?

• What is consistent power?
• Single needle???
• Default settings? O.S. 105
• Y.S vs O.S
• 37 vs 50-55-60 vs 91-96-105-120

 

*DISCLAIMER* from Greggor

 

How Do I know what to tune

• .How much smoke to look for?
• Sport tuning vs max power? Greggor would love to answer this! HAHA
• High - What to look for? And how to tune it. 
• Start by doing long climb outs or large loops. Watch for thick white and consistent smoke during the maneuver. Also pay close attention to the sound of the engine and how it pulls through the sky. When you reach optimal performance, the engine will pull hard through the entire climb out or loop while maintaining consistent thick white smoke. The engine should sound healthy, and not raspy. If the engine starts to bog down and you still have a lot of “white” smoke, you are most likely rich. If the engine starts to bog down and the smoke starts to dissipate and the smoke starts to turn brown you are to lean. You may also hear a raspy sound from the engine. 

• Mid - What is mid tuning? Basic* Start by bringing your helicopter into a hover in bank/idle 2 or3. The goal here is to carefully listen to the engine and pay close attention to how the helicopter looks and feels while sitting in a hover.
• Does the engine sound healthy, strong, and consistent? Is the helicopter stable and locked into place? It should look and feel extremely stable as if it were sitting on a table.  
• (Signs of being too rich on the mid needle will be an inconsistent sounding engine, the helicopter will seem sluggish and unstable with sharp stick inputs, thick billowing smoke, and the tail may show an oscillation.
• Signs of the mid needle being too lean will be increased head speeds, raspy sounding, thin brown smoke, and the helicopter will seem jumpy and jittery with stick inputs. 
•  
• Fine Tuning Methods or tuning for max performance. DOESN'T MEAN WE GO LEAN! It takes fuel to make power!!
• Going green doesn’t mean going lean!
• Depending on your flying abilities, tic/tocs work well for this.  Do sustained tic/tocs to load and heat up the motor. During the tic/tocs you are again looking for thick white smoke and consistent power. If the engine starts to bog down, but you still have a thick white smoke you are most likely still rich. Try leaning the mid “range” needle. If the engine starts to bog but the smoke is dissipating and turning brown in color, you are too lean. Richen up the mid needle. 
• Now we're going to add one additional component to the tic/toc. Once again  do sustained tic/tocs to heat up the engine. Once heated, immediately transition into a long climb out or a long push out, with the engine wide open. Is the smoke white in color? If not, if not you may be lean which now would require richining up the high needle.
  
  After sustained load if it recovers quickly that's a sign of?
   
• Low - kill all the bugs?
• Nite vs Day
  • Humid vs Dry
• Heat soak

 

Things to look for

• Visual tune
• Sound of the tune

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvU3FiiuMxE Tim Jones Nitro Tuning 101 - Basics - Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzNxpbQEV_s OS 105HZ R Engine Setup & Run in

 

Special enLIGHtNING guest next month! Tune in!