Box of Shame, Best and Worst of 2011

I’ve actually spent some time flying this year…  I’m learning, but have a lot more to learn obviously! The carnage is a bit scary !

The Protos 500 is proving to REALLY crash a LOT LOT LOT  cheaper and is much faster to repair than the 550E. It also has a better power to weight ratio.

Best Purchases of 2011

• Blade mCPX – this is the perfect heli to learn to hover with and begin to learn some inverted flight with. Very durable and small enough to fly in the back yard without scaring the neighbors.
• MSH Protos 500 CF FBL – The perfect heli to learn 3D on. Great power to weight ratio, extremely simple construction, well engineered, well executed, very low number of moving parts. Flies fantastic! A few of the MSH upgrades are worth having, but it really is a great heli as it comes.
• JR 11X – I’ve really come to enjoy this Transmitter. I love  the features, the monster battery I can put in it, and how it works.
• Phoenix Flight Simulator –
• Fantastic range of models that is constantly being updated
• No upgrade fees
• recognizes my JR 11X and very easy to configure.
• PowerLab 8 V2 – I have charged all kinds of things with this charger and it does a fantastic job.
• LiFePO4 – 3S  JR 11X battery
• LiPO  – 1S, 2S, 6S  so far
• NiMH – buffer battery
• Meanwell PowerSupply – this is a 1000W 24V power supply that allows my PowerLab to charge two large 6S batteries at 20A ea.
  
• EC3/EC5 – I definitely like these connectors and have gotten rid of all of my Dean’s connectors.
• They handle higher current
• They are easier to solder
• They are easier to connect and disconnect ESPECIALLY the EC5’s
• Skookum SK-720 – a very nice FBL controller with a great feature set.
• Fantastic vibration analysis tools to see where problems are with your heli.
• Auto-leveling
• Nice  for a Bail Out switch to right the heli if you get disorientated.
• This actually saved me from completely loosing my 550E.
• Also good for Video since you can really tame the heli with the Auto-Leveling  set appropriately.
• Oh and it flies great too!

Biggest Disappointments of 2011

• TREX  550E FBL – Don’t get me wrong it flies well and there is fantastic  parts availability for it, but the engineering and execution is just poor. A heli this size should have a 3rd main bearing. The frames really should be 2.0mm rather than 1.6mm. The Torque Tube tail it has is very vibration prone. There are a lot of frail parts that have created HUGE opportunities for aftermarket  upgrades of which my 550E is chock full!
• This is also not the right heli for a beginning flier as it shatters pretty well when it crashes.
• My advice is to start smaller!
• Spectrum DX8 – They appear to actually have all the kinks worked out of it and most owners are happy now. I haven’t given mine that 2nd chance since I got a JR 11X while it was off having warrantee work done on the jumpy aileron pot issue. If it didn’t fail like that I may have actually liked it long term. It does have a faster frame rate than the JR 11X, otherwise the JR 11X is just a lot nicer.
• Nanotech batteries 1S for my mCPX – half of them puffed on me very quickly. This even though they are supposed to be 300mah vs. the 200mah of the stock elite batteries.

Biggest Hopes for 2012

• Not to add considerably to the Box of Shame!!!
  
• Henseleit Three Dee Rigid (TDR) – this is a fantastically well engineered 700 class heli with jewelry like parts. I hope it lives up to all the expectations I have, but from what I can tell it really will.
• Contour Roam – 1080P HD video camera with time lapse 5Mp picture ability. Hopefully I will get some very interesting video with it from the my helicopters.
• 5.1oz
• 270 degree field of view
• 3 hours on a charge
• 4 hours of video with a 16Gb memory card.

TREX 550E is back “belted” and improved

Every time something happens to this heli, I end up doing some kind of massive upgrade to it. It’s one of the things I really don’t like about the 550E it seems like it is very needy and like it always needs improvements to it’s stock form.

We can rebuild it… We can make it better.. We can spend lots of money on it…

This go round it is now belted, has the new main gear hub, has additional frame supports across the bottom, and it has turnbuckles for the main links. In addition it is sporting a different Canomod canopy.

The belted Tail

It is Quieter, and transmits less vibrations.  Big thumbs up!  As long as it proves to be reliable it was a worthwhile upgrade.

 

I did replace all the bearings and shafts with this rebuild, but I credit the belt drive for bringing the vibrations down to what you see below which is almost all up/down tail vibration. It’s possible that I could balance the tail out a bit and bring this down even a bit more. Still this is far better than it has ever been for vibrations.

Turnbuckles

The tracking is perfect. The links are within 0.03mm of each other and I’ve never seen this heli track this well. It is truly hands off hovering.

Frame Reinforcements

I can’t really tell for sure how much they help or not, but the 2.0mm frame with reinforcements is extremely rigid now, especially compared to stock.

Reorganized the wiring

Wiring seems to be something that is improved with every rebuild.  I paid special care to keep the wires off coming into the SK-720 very loose. The new reinforcements are not seen below. They run from side to side where the front and mid aluminum connectors are on the bottom of the frame.

Currently I’m running the Kontroniks Jive Governed speed of 2100 rpm and 2400 rpm. In the TX that is 70% straight throttle curve and 80% straight throttle curve. This is with a 12T Pinion on a 1650 kV motor.

Not much of the original kit left. I think there are about 5 parts left from the original kit.

Protos 500 definitely crash worthy!

Well I got over 50 flights but not quite 60 before I just slammed the heli into the side of the hill in my back yard inverted and I’ve had 2 crashes since then. This is just simplicity at its best. Everything is so easy to get to and so simply laid out.

The good news is that this heli really is easy to work on and goes back together without much fuss. My take is that this is the perfect sized heli to learn 3D on after learning the basics on an  mCPX. The flight simulator is still integral to everything.

I have installed the alloy tail and tail hub with thrust bearings. It did seem to be a bit smoother at that point. The vibrations are very low, the tail is rock solid and it is just smooth as silk. This heli is just a pleasure to fly!!!

I’ve also had to replace all of my plastic servo gears once already, so I’ve ordered the MKS 9660A+ metal gear set which is a perfect fit replacement for the plastic Futaba 9650 servo gears.

Revisiting the 550E

I’m converting my 550E over to a tail belt system. This is the stock TREX 600 belt drive tail with 550E sized belt. The tail block is a straight replacement, just bolt on your arm and attach the tail hub. The drive gear fits where the first stage umbrella goes. The second stage umbrella and housing are just removed.

Align Metal Tail Belt Unit H60132T – Trex 600 $43.67
Align Metal Tail Drive Gear Assembly H60078 – Trex 600  $10
Align Tail Belt H55065 – Trex 550E $6.99

The conversion cost was VERY minor considering my Torque Tube, umbrella gears and multiple bearings would have all needed replacing after my last crash.  My hope is that the tail vibrations are noticeably better with a belt drive.  All the parts are here and I’ve started the reassembly process.  There is so much to fix that I almost rekitted my electronics in a LOGO 600. ( Truth be told, the only reason I’m not rekitting is the 1650kV Neu motor wouldn’t work with any pinion gear available, if  I got a new motor it would be a 12S motor and then I’d be replacing the ESC, and the trickle down didn’t make sense) I’ve also removed all the telemetry gear sensors and I’m converting from Deans to EC5 connectors.  I’m really keeping my fingers crossed that I am happy with this once it is back together.  It flew well, but has to this point been a vibration nightmare. It takes very little dirt in the umbrella gears to create monster vibrations.

TDR

There should be some news within a month as to the arrival of this end all be all, best of breed heli. I’m still feeling patient about this, but it is starting to feel like something soon vs. just something way off in the future.

mCPX

No longer plural after one blew away a while back when a serious wind came over the ridge and it was suddenly a spec in the sky. The remaining mCPX has been collecting dust. Maybe I’ll want to fly it indoors this Winter, but for now it just sits.

Protos 500 (the perfect right sized heli )

After 45 flights I’m really liking this heli a LOT.  The reason this heli is right sized is that I can fly it in my back yard so I can fly frequently.  It  is my  new mCPX, which  means my mCPX is collecting dust now, since I have no reason to fly it.

Status:

The tail binding disappeared after I put an alloy pulley in the tail. The belt has broken in and the vibrations are now pretty reasonable in flight and my SK-720 auto-leveling will now work.

The Radix blades got here and are definitely my favorite. The Edge are good but not as responsive. The stock FB SAB blades are a bit too wild for this FBL setup.

I’ve upped the tail gain to 60% and it really feels locked in. The SK-720 piro blur is interesting. With this switch enabled at full rudder it ups the control rate to 900 degrees / second so the heli spins FAST.

I did follow the advice of a HeliFreak forum member who suggested that I move the tail servo ball to the 10.5mm hole instead of the  12.5mm hole. It did seem to smooth the tail out a bit.  Apparently the  12.5mm hole is needed  for  the smaller servos, but a full sized servo has more torque and  the shorter torque arm allows it more resolution.

Performance:

It is amazing how stable this heli is in gusty winds. So far I’m flying a lot of inverted and simple 3D and it is time to learn more 3D moves on the simulator and try them out.

With 2600mah batteries, 70% throttle and about 11 degrees of pitch I’m getting about 5 minutes of flight per charge.  As the 3D gets more aggressive more pitch and throttle will  be added.

Crashability:

It  hasn’t had a real crash yet, but I tagged the tail while showing off for a friend in a parking lot.  It looked like the belt snapped, but all that happened  was that one of the pulleys in the tail boom box popped out. It was surprising how well the heli handled while it wound down without power.  After popping the pulley back in, I went right back out and flew it again!  According to the Vibration log on the SK-720 the vibrations were the same, so no bearing or other damage. This is a good sign!

Upgrades:

So far the alloy pulleys have been worth it. The alloy bottom bearing holder had no impact on vibrations.   After installing it  the vibrations spiked, so I loosened the bolts for the bearing  holders, spun the heli up so the  main shaft would center the bearing holders and then tightened the bolts back down. The vibrations  went back to where they were before.

Compared to the 550E

The 550E definitely auto rotates better than the Protos, has more hang time because of it’s weight and it was faster.  I’m still not very impressed with its design, but it did fly well. The Protos seems so incredibly easy to work on compared to the 550E, with a much simpler design and lower part count. The Protos seems a lot more crashable, and I can fly from home so it is a lot more practical for me to learn on.  I won’t say the Protos is better than than the 550, but just a better choice for me right now.

At the moment all I want to do is improve my skills so I am ready when my TDR gets here, and I think the Protos will help me to  do that.

The little Protos that could

A little time has passed and my MSH Protos 500 is flying. 

How this build went:

• Almost all of the mechanical construction was done in one evening.
• The electronics were very easy to set up, and the wiring was also pretty easy with one small exception.
• The flybarless conversion kit didn’t have current documentation on the MSH site. Basically the Protos Mini had a similar construction. I called a friend who helped make sure I got it together properly.
• My  SK-720 configuration is their Basic 3D setup, with 50%  cyclic and tail gain.
• Cyclic 2 is set up with the bail-out or autolevel at 80%
• The TX is set to 80% throttle, I’ve mellowed the pitch out a bit ( for now )

Modifications Needed:

1. The Futaba 9650 servo for the elevator doesn’t have enough wire to reach where I put the SK-720, so I had to solder on a longer servo cable.
2. The bottom plate is the newly introduced plate that has a section 90 degrees off the main shaft for mounting gyros or in my case an SK-720.
3. My Hyperion 2600mah 35C batteries are a bit tall, but fit under the canopy and I had to be created with the O-Rings to get it secured.

Performance:

Very very responsive. Of course the Stock SAB blades are for use with fly bars. I have a set of Edge 423mm blades here and a set of Radix 430mm blades on order. I’m going to try them out as well.

Issues:

My tail was binding a bit and I have heard the pop when the heli first spins up. These are known issues that affect some people. I’ve been told the belt will break in over time, however the vibrations are just on the edge of what is allowable by the SK-720 to allow the auto-leveling feature to work.

I’ve ordered the alloy main bearing mount for the 3rd main bearing block and an alloy Infinity Tail to see how they impact things. I’ve been told they should clear this right up.

Otherwise I’m extremely pleased with this kit. There is easy access to everything, it seems to fly like it is on steroids and it looks like it will be very easy to fix after a crash. So far I’ve only flown from my back yard which is something I would never dare to do with my 550E.   I need to take it out where there is a bit more space so I can open it up a bit more. But I will fly from here until I get it set up perfectly.

A little Zig, a little Zag, a MSH Protos 500 CF FBL

It’s interesting how quickly your opinions can change about things.

After a recent crash of my TREX 550E, and a good look at the damage and the time it would take just to figure out what to order and then to reassemble everything, I got fed up with the whole thing and put it in a box.  It’s not that the 550E is a horrible heli, but it’s not the right heli for me to learn how to fly 3D.  I’ll put it back together later on this Winter, but for now I don’t see the point. It’s batteries are at a storage voltage and in the refrigerator now.

Simulators are GREAT, and I am making good use of mine, but they only get you so far.  An mCPX is a fantastic little heli, but it really is not the best heli to learn 3D flying.  After you’ve mastered 3D flight, you can probably impress people by showing them what you can actually do with an mCPX.

So my objective was to find a heli that was big enough to feel right and handle well, with a VERY low parts count, inexpensive parts and simple enough construction that I could easily reassemble it after a crash. In addition I am hoping I can fly it in a local soccer field.

I ordered a Protos 500 with Carbon Fiber frame and FBL head conversion and some spare parts to handle a number of crashes.

The Protos 500 seems like a good fit. 

• Low parts count
• Cheap Parts
• Light Weight
• Good performance
• Low vibration design ( one serpentine belt to drive everything )
• Good kit
• has a decent ESC and motor
• No junk to have to sell off later
• The rest of the parts are yours to order.

Right now I feel like there are some helicopters that stand apart.

• The mCPX is a breakthrough in micro helicopter design and performance and with some of the brushless upgrades people have made they are very powerful and fun to fly.
• The Henseleit TDR is just an engineering masterpiece at the other end of the spectrum. A 700 class heli that is just amazing in performance, part quality and engineering.
• The Protos 500 has a different mission between these two. It is very well engineered for it’s price point.

Of course these are my feelings “right now”.  I was more gun ho about my mCPX when I first got it, and much much more gun ho about my 550E than I am now.

I’ll put my 550E back together eventually, but all of my Protos parts will be here in a few days and I would much rather get that heli ready to fly so I can keep logging hours and improving my skills.

Hopefully I will still feel enamored with the Protos 500 after I’ve buried it in the dirt a few times. I expect that will be a common occurrence as I try increasingly more advanced acrobatics, and I have a LONG way to go!

Diving in with both feet!

I’ve been looking at the next big jump lately mostly due to what I consider poor engineering of the 550E and had settled on a Synergy E7 which I still think is a great helicopter and very well engineered. I still may end up getting one at some point.  However, I am now in line for a Henseleit TDR which I may even see this year, fingers crossed.

So what pushed me over the edge? Ironically my Phoenix flight simulator is what did it.  The Henseleit TDR model flies better than any other model in this simulator by a long shot. That combined with TDR owners saying that the simulator was actually close but it is even better in real life.

Heli pilots who own Aligns, Mikados, Protos, etc.. etc.. all look at the TDR as something that is just different and mostly better than everything else.

The TDR does not have mass produced parts available from all your favorite heli stores. All replacement parts are shipped from Henseleit Helicopters directly.  You can not order a TDR online. An  email must be sent to Jan Henseleit who will then reply with an expected arrival date which can sometimes be a long time. It appears to be 3 months right now, but people have waited for up to a  year for one of these helis.

Whether the exclusivity of the TDR is part of why their owners are so enthusiastic about them, or just the engineering and sounds it makes and dynamic flight characteristics or some combination  of the above, I want to find out!

In the mean time I am trying to get a lot of sim and flight time in. While my 500E may not be the best engineered heli on the planet, it does fly pretty  well, parts are plentiful and I still have a lot to learn about piloting.

Rebuilt better and flying again! What’s Next?

I was out flying yesterday and it is flying really well.  I dropped the head speed from insane 2760 rpm to sane but fast 2350 rpm.  It did take me a few flights to stop flying scared after the last crash, but I think I’m over it, sort of. I’ll be a bit more careful now.

I’ve got the hang of building, rebuilding and configuring a heli, but I still have a lot to learn about flying!

The new 2.0mm Tarot CF frame feels like a rock compared to the stock 1.6mm frame. The new KDE head looks cleaner with integrated Swash arm pivots for perfect phase angle and a better means of removing any play from the main shaft. The 600 EFL blade grips are bling, but look very good. The new KDE motor mount looks really nice and appears to help setup a perfect mesh.

The list of upgrades on this heli is getting pretty extensive, but its all been fun!

I really do enjoy the large eco system around Align products. There are plenty of aftermarket companies to allow you to spend as much as you want on them. But I need to think about this point a bit… Why am I spending so much money upgrading my heli?

Other Brands…

It is really interesting to see how wide the variety is between helicopter manufacturers, and the different levels of engineering that go into them.

I’ve actually poured a lot of money into upgrading my 550E and it was interesting to find some helicopters that really don’t need upgrades of any kind. 

First I looked at Mikado because of the organic looking plastic frame and other engineering. It looked very nice and many people really love their Logo’s and feel no need to upgrade them. Parts are reasonably well available through ReadyHeli and others. They are also VERY quiet in flight compared to any of the Align products.

Then I looked at Synergy’s new E6/E7 and was very impressed with both the engineering and the content in this kit.  There are some great pictures of a build of an E7 at the following link: http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=341748  This heli appears to be higher in content and engineered at least as well as a Mikado.

Then I looked at the Henseleit TDR (Three Dee Rigid). Once again I was very impressed with the engineering. This heli was developed with the weight is the enemy mantra. This is definitely a very well designed heli and maybe in a different league from most other heli’s  in some design aspects. Of course there is a 3 month waiting list to get one.

I’m currently leaning towards the Synergy E7. It looks better engineered than the Mikado and more durable than the Henseleit which may make it the best next heli for me at some point. Parts availability is still an unknown.

Now I get to wait a little while and improve my piloting skills and see how the E7’s do out in the field.

Interesting day flying… and flight log data

Advanced electronics can’t save you when you are trying to impress your kids and are doing acrobatics too low to the ground for your skill level. At least we could laugh about it and it was a day they should remember for a long  time!

Whoops!

Aftermath

Looks like I’ll be spending more time with my Phoenix Simulator and my slightly neglected mCPX’s while I wait for all the crash parts to arrive. Everything to the right of the bent tail boom is crunched. Luckily all the stuff to the left appears to be in good shape including my new KDE main bearings.  The KDE battery holder did bend, but my battery survived. I originally purchased this battery holder hoping it would help save a battery in a crash. I can’t be sure it did, but my heli came down nose first and the battery survived.

I have a new 2.0mm carbon frame ordered along with all the other stuff to put my heli back to the way it was. It was an expensive learning experience.

 

Flight log ( from my last flight )

The flight log is pretty interesting. First of all notice that my in flight baseline vibrations are only  0.2G’s.  Then notice the G’s jump up to about 3.0G’s when the blades are barking during a big collective swing. A tamer barrel roll causes about 2G’s of vibration.

Oh yeah and then there is that little spike at the end…

The BEC voltage is very steady at 5.2-5.5V throughout this.  The Jive 100LV’s BEC circuit is doing a great job feeding my 8717 cyclic servos! 

Hopefully I learned something important from this and will keep my heli high enough in the air in the future that I can use my bailout switch when  I get into trouble again. Meanwhile I’m going to hone my skills on the simulator.

My Skookum SK-720 has officially paid for itself

Below is my heli home safe and sound.

In my last post I mentioned a couple flybarless systems that seem to work well.  As of yesterday, I don’t think I will fly with anything other than a Skookum unit with the bailout self-leveling  feature.

I’m admittedly an inexperienced heli pilot, but the way to gain experience is to be able to fly and  not have your heli crashing all the  time, and the SK-720 really helps out in this regard. 

Yesterday I let my heli get away from me twice, where it was  far enough away that it was hard to make out the orientation. With the Skookum unit  I was able to just flip my bailout switch ( Gear on my TX )  for it to self level the heli. Then with it acting like a coaxial heli, I was able to bring it in closer until I could flip the bailout off and fly it back in.

In one other instance I was doing some flips and I momentarily lost  control and the heli started to drift behind  some trees. I flipped the bailout switch, gave it full positive collective and it was above the trees a split second later.

Now that I’ve adjusted the swash and tail gain down a bit, my 550E is  running very smooth. It really flies like a dream, or very close to the flight simulator with a perfectly locked in tail.

Speaking of simulators, I’ve really been spending a lot  of time with my Phoenix flight simulator. The TREX 550E FBL model they have seems to fly very much like my 550E FBL heli. Now I just need more practice practice practice!!!!!

There is some time involved in getting a flybarless heli setup properly, and it can be a bit work, but  it is absolutely worth it!