Most wheel balancers on the market have 4mm shafts making it impossible to balance tail rotor blades that have 3mm holes.

MA produce a set of reversed machined pushrods that taper from 2mm-4.5mm.
Slip a tail blade on from each side and place that on the balancer (If you don't have a balancer two glasses work well)

I realised today that many of the guy's that are new to Miniature Aircraft X-cell helicopters would benefit from some of our experience as regards to general maintenance and things to check after a crash.

The thing that led me to MA's products way before I was mugged into taking the agency was the reliability of the mechanics-Sure the early machines really needed to be built carefully, but once complete they would out last and out fly just about anything.
The new Fury series have really reduced the build time-I can build a Fury to flying in three evenings including the radio installation-Which is probably the simplest of any machine on the market. No extension leads needed and neat Velcro straps included in the kit for Battery, Rx, Gyro box and even a governor box if you chose to fit one.

When building the model the main areas that need attention are the Fan installation and tail gear box-gear mesh.

The fan needs checking both for balance and for accurate running-people are lucky and just bolt it together finding a smooth vibe free machine...This is a rarity!

Fan balance is achieved on an aircraft type balancer, using the kit collets. Drill dimples in the fan to reduce the weight of the heavy side. (the fan has to be spinning true before checking) If you don't have the facility then we will balance a fan before sending if you ask.

The fan needs aligning to a maximum 1.5 thousand of an inch-I look for better than 1 thou. This is checked on the 1mm edge of the fan hub, not the face. I don't worry about the fan it's self running out if it's balanced.

The tail gearbox

The biggest thing people get wrong is the end float on the shafts-it needs to be zero.
When you think you have the mesh set, grab the tail output shaft, ideally with the tail hub in place and push and pull as hard as you can. If you can detect movement then you need to start again.

In the standard box I pre load the shaft by pushing as hard as I can with my thumb against the gear and nip the grub screws. Check and then fully tighten.

A perfect mesh will only be achieved with gears that have the gear teeth matched in tooth position.

The Aluminium case that comes with the Extreme and Tempest is slightly more difficult as you can't see the gears. Normally it needs a shim at the closed end of the box. If the gears feel rough when you push the input shaft in then they are not lined up.

Again if you can't get a smooth mesh we will do it for you for a nominal charge of £5

When you install the M2 screw in the 0870-1 tailplane mount it's much better to do this off the boom.

Things to check and change after a crash.

Main shaft bearings often become notchy after a crash-check by putting a load on the bearing and turning.

If the frames aren't broken after a crash (often the case with the Fury series!!) it's still likely they are tweeked-The channels do bend so check with a steel straight edge.
Loosen all the screws on the side frames, flex them and re tighten.

An easy check for the head axle is to turn the axle with an Allen key and see if the blade holders move. If there is no "wobble" then it's probably straight.

Usual maintenance

Check the fuel clunk tube regularly.
If it becomes stretchy then it's time to change it.
Head dampner rubbers need changing every few months along with the thinner shim washers, which dish.
Tail gearbox bearings become rough because of the fine metal coming from the gears. These should be checked every 6 months.
Lube the split gear bearing with teflon oil wicked in through the top oilite bearing which you can get to with a long nozzle on 4801 oil.