XLPower Protos 380 fix
Tail wagging fixed

It's heard from more XLPower Protos 380 owners, there is an unresolved tail wagging problem, no matter what's changed. A slow and big tail wagging was occurred on few of the Protos 380s. But we found the cause and the solution as well. And it costs nothing, takes 5 minutes to fix it.

To be honest, I was about to cry. Taking apart and putting together the tail again and again just to make sure, we assembled everything as it's in the manual, then there was no luck. Tail servo got replaced: no luck. The ball on the tail servo arm was everywhere, in all holes: no luck either. Finally the FBL unit replacement was going to come.

Then I checked the tail again, because I was told (and I had to agree), this is a mechanical failure somewhere.

Mechanical failure? On a brand new helicopter, with no damage???

It wasn't so tight, but I could not call it loose either. I began to check the tail parts bit by bit. And the only part which wasn't super soft was the connection between the tail pitch control arm and the plastic rods, where the steel pins are inserted.

I grabbed a flat modelling rasp and pulled it over the connecting surfaces few times. Not too much just to get a tenth of millimeter off. I don't recommend to use sandpaper, a modelling flat rasp is the perfect tool, because the surface has to remain flat.

After putting it together, a simple test was the next step. I detached the tail rod, then I turned the blades towards the control arms and I checked, when the helicopter is turned aside the blades are falling down by their weights. It is not perfect, but something had to be left for the use and friction as well. The test is in the video below at 3:10.

As I noticed this stiffing depends on the temperature. When it's colder, it gets stronger. This can explain why pilots closer to the Equator can fly with no problems, and this is not a problem in Australia either, but more people face the issue here in England, in Europe now and in the United States or Canada, when the mercury drops. Which was perfect in the room, that was a bit worse outside in the backyard.

This was about the 15th test flight and the first time, when the heli started to behave like a helicopter, and finally I enjoyed it. I can't wait for the real maiden flight.