Thunder Tiger Raptor Remote Control Helicopter Tips

This page is dedicated to the Thunder Tiger Raptor helicopter, we have tips we've read and discovered on our own. Here is a list of the common issues that the Raptor helicopter may have. I suggest that you read through these completely, as there are some tips that would be easier to impliment before building the helicopter.

Please feel free to add your own Raptor Tips here or just let us know how helpful you found the page. Cheers

Problem: Blade Grips do NOT come guled on!
Solution: Glue the blade-grips onto the blades! They do not come glued on! Unscrew them, cut the plastic where the blade grips are and sand the blades / blade grips then use Epoxy.

Problem: The TT 36 engine that comes with the helicopter doesn't run right.
Solution: There are a few things you can do to help the engine along.

• Wait till you've run at least 2 gallons of fuel through your engine for it to become reliable.
• I've seen two high-speed nedles self-adjust (towards lean) from engine vibrations, even when I thought it felt secure. I used large fuel tubing and slipped it around the needle and it's holding mechanism to lock it in place.
• Run CoolPower 30% fuel with the head shim installed
• Make sure you have the new low speed needle. To get the low speed needle out...
1. First take note of how many turns out both your needles are.
2. Unscrew the large high speed needle all the way
3. Unscrew the small low speed needle hidden inside the throttle arm, it won't come all the way out.
4. Get a small drill bit or needle or t-pin and push it through the high-speed needle hole to poke the low speed needle out the other side.
5. The new low speed needle has a 3-tapered tip, which comes to a point. The old needle valve is a single taper that stops at a blunt end about 1 or 2mm dia.
6. If you don't have the new needle, write tthelihotline@yahoo.com and request one, they'll mail it to you free of charge.
• The o-ring seal on the large high-speed needle valve may leak, use a small section of fuel tubing and place it over the entire needle to seal it up.
• Put on a pipe or a better muffler
• People report that the O.S. 6B carb on the TT 36 works very well, however this carb retails for 60 bucks so it may not be worth it unless you have a spare one laying around.
• Run a high head speed, 1600 hover to 1900 sport flying.

Problem: The clutch keeps breaking with the part that spreads out snapping off the clutch body
Solution: The clutch liner on the drum is too thin, there is too much clearance between the clutch and the clutch liner and you need to replace it.

• It is a somewhat tedious process to replace the liner because the clutch drum pinion gear is pres-fitted to the ball bearing on the top side of it. The ball bearing is enclosed in the frame of the helicopter and will not come out without splitting the frame at least 1 inch apart, which means you have to take off the collective rocker arm. (1 hr job)
• The clutch drum is regular-threaded onto the pinion, but it is loctited and hard to unscrew. If you find a way to hold the pinion and unscrew the drum you won't need to split the frame. I could not find a way to do this.
• To replace the liner, you need to remove the drum, which is screwed tightly on to the pinion, which is press-fit to a bearing, which is completely enclosed by the frame, which is why you must split the frame to replace the liner.
• It is also very difficult to get the drum/pinion/bearing component out when the main gear is installed, so it's easiest to remove it. Removing the main gear is actually very easy and quick, just loosen the boom, remove the jesus bolt under the gear, pop the links and the entire mast/head slides right out. Once the mast is out nothing holds the main gear in any more so you can remove it. This demonstrates how the only thing holding your blades on is one Jesus bolt. (Called a Jesus bolt because when pilots loose them they say "Oh Jesus!") This is also a good time to replace the Jesus bolt if you haven't done so in a while. You actually have 2 Jesus bolts, one on the bottom of the mast and one on the top in the head. Replace them both seasonally, or after a crash.
• Splitting the frame also requires you to remove the collective lever. Be careful not to loose the spacer-bushings and tiny washer inside of some of the bearings.
• There is a way to avoid having to split the frame to replace the drum, once you have everything apart, or before it's built. What I did was to use a dremel and sand down the lower recess of the bearing enclosure so that it was just a 1mm bump holding the bearing up. Be careful not to sand away any of the actual enclosure walls, or your bearing my spin in the frame. You don't need the lower bracket to hold the bearing up, because tightening the frame puts a lot of friction on the bearing and the starter nut also holds the shaft from moving. Now you will just have to loosen the frame screws around the bearing to remove the clutch bell. Unfortunately, the main gear gets in the way of the bearing comming out, so that too must be removed still, but that's much eaiser than splitting the frame because it's only a matter of 1 bolt and 4 links..
• Another option is to use some lubricant, such as grease, on the pinion/drum threads. Since the torque of spinning the main blades will keep it tight, it should never unthread unless your engine starts backwards. This way (in theory), you'll be able to unscrew the drum from the pinion without having to split the frames. Of course, this only works with the clutch already out.
• You must first remove the old liner and the adhesive from the old liner. Someone with a lathe can do this in less than 20 minutes and leave a very clean surface. If you don't have a laith, you'll have to do a lot of scrapeing, you want as smooth a surface as possible.
• One option is to use a XCell 60 liner and trim it for a tight fit OR use the stock liner and a strip of some business card paper between the liner and the bell. The XCell 60 liner will be slightly too thick and you'll need to sand it down till it just barely fits with just enough room to turn the clutch in the drum with a tiny bit of friction. Wrapping the clutch with one layer of electrical tape is the thickness you want. With the tape on the clutch your fit should be very snug. The tape is used to judge the gap only, don't leave it on! If you clutch rubs a little bit when you start the engine, you're close enough and it will stop rubbing after a couple flights.
• Another theory is that the bottom of the clutch is rubbing hard against the top of the fan hub every time it strechtes out causing a twist on the clutch, so the preventative measure is to use a very small washer between the clutch and fan hub screws. You'll probably have to custom make these washers since there is so little space for them. The other option is to grind away a small amount of the fan hub around the screw holes, this is the area that is worn looking on a used fan hub. It's this worn-look on the fan hubs that first alerted the guy who thought of this fix that the clutch might be twisting and breaking early.
• This off of TT's web page: If you are onto the 4th clutch, then the problem is definitely not the clutch. I am pretty sure it is due to the clearance between your clutch liner and the clutch is too big. The standard that all brands of helicopters use is the gap should be around .008 to .012 inch. If the main rotor is held on for an extended time or the engine is revving too high while holding the rotor on the ground, that will wear out the liner quickly. When the gap become bigger than .020 inch, then the clutch shoes have to spready out too far, therefore, cause the steel clutch shoe to fatique and crack. Changing the clutch is not solving the problem. You simply need to change the liner. and that is a lot cheaper. the liner comes in a pack for around $4. When gluing in the liner, do not press the liner down too hard. Leave some epoxy between the liner and clutch bell. One trick is wrap the steel clutch with one layer of electrical tape, then place the clutch in the clutch bell while the liner and epoxy cures. After they cure, then remove the clutch and the tape and you should have the correct .008 to .012 inch clearance. But measure it to be sure. Now you will never have clutch breaking problem again.
• Write tthelihotline@yahoo.com and ask for the address to get the clutch/liner replacement. They'll replace the 1st one for free.

Problem: The screws for the main boom supports can dig into the fuel tank.
Solution: Pad the fuel tank, use a couple washers or cut off the tips of the screws.

Problem: The fuel tank can have a split in it new from the factory
Solution: Contact tthelihotline@yahoo.com for a replacement fuel tank or seal it with adhesive silicone.

Problem: The stock fuel tubing in the gas tank deteriorates with a few months of flying time, which causes it to suck up mainly air bubbles and the engine dies
Solution: Replace the fuel tubing in the gas tank with quality fuel line and make sure it's the exact same length.

Problem: The blades can go suddenly out of track by a couple inches when descending with a near 0 pitch on the collective. If you're doing a inverted loop and this happens you'll get a boom strike and the helicopter will explode.
Solution: The exact cause of this is not known, but many people claim to have found a solution...

• First, to make the blades return to in-track apply full collective sharply
• Use silicone grease on the rubber dampeners and feathering shaft.
• Recover the stock wood blades or re-shrink them with a heat gun. Don't melt the covering!
• Get different blades, such as NHP or CMT carbon fiber blades.
• Someone on the raptor list can describe how to adjust the lead lag timing by trimming the ball links on the blade grips.
• Another radical solution to change the delta angle is to mount the head upside down. This requires some hacking and when all is said and done your collective will operate backwards. Tweak at your own risk.

Problem: The pitch meter built in to the side of the frame is incorrect because the pushrod lengths are not accurate.
Solution: Thunder tiger has the correct lengths on their web site to make the pitch meter accurate.

Problem: The tail tends to rest on the ground digging in the dirt
Solution: Turn the landing gear struts around so they arch backwards instead of forward.

Problem: Some people report mysterious radio hits or interference
Solution:

Check to see if the starter nut has any vertical slop, pull and push on it and see if it slides a little up and down. If it does, yank the engine, loosen the set screws on the nut and push up on the start shaft from the bottom while pushing down on the nut to remove the slop. Then tighten the screws. Listen for any noisy bearings. They can cause radio hits. Make sure that the screws holding your boom supports to the boom are secure and can't vibrate against the boom.

Range test you raptor and see if it's sensitive at only sertan angles. Some people have trouble if their antenna is pointed directly at the helicopter. There could be excessive noise on your channel. Make sure you're not on a harmonic of a local tv channel. Ask people that do rc planes if there are any "bad" channels in your area.

Make sure you're antenna stays as far away from any servo's or electronics as possible. Also, don't let it come into contact with anything metal on the helicopter. Look for anything metal to metal that is not secured or loctited. To demonstrate how sensitive this stuf is, just take a screw driver and rub it on the skid or boom and odds are your servo's will start twitching.

Problem: The set screws that hold the tail rotor on the tail drive shaft may not have enough loctite or may be loose.
Solution: Feel for slop in the tail rotor system and if there is ANY reassemble the tail rotor and loctite the set screws.

Problem: The tail rotor stops/starts suddenly while turning the throttle up and makes a racket noise.
Solution: The belt is too loose and the teeth are hitting each other inside the boom, you need to tighten the belt. This can also happen if your helicopter has been sitting a while and the belt gets a 'memory bend' in it which needs to get stretched out by use.
You should inspect your belt every few gallons for missing teeth because there can be many teeth missing and you wouldn't even know.

So you have read our tips on the matter of Raptors, now it is your turn to add your tips from from your own experiences here in our Raptor Tips Section.