Perfect Flybarless UflyS

[jtpile]

Hi, just wanted to share my experiences for the past year + with my Ufly and UFlyS. First off my Ufly is technically retired, I've moved "up" to the UflyS and have added MANY different mods and additions to it. I would not recommend doing any flybarless mod on the original Ufly, only the UflyS with it's 3 axis gyro (RX2435)

These additions include:

• homemade flybarless head originally thought up by SAK_080981 on rcgroups, loved it but I have since upgraded to an non-homemade version...

• retired homemade flybarless head for a PERFECT flybarless head taken from the Walkera 370D01; it works without any problems except you will have to shorten the servo connecting rods to the swashplate. Thanks goes out to Rick at Clubheli.com for giving me some basic measurements that gave me the intuition that the Walkera 370D01's flybarless head should work on the UflyS without much modification which luckily has worked out perfect!!!

•LED lights running off the main battery. These LED lights included 2 white headlights and 2 rear taillights, all 4 integrated into the struts using very thin wire, resistors, and of course some superbright LEDs. Also one red LED strip running down the tail boom with a blinking blue LED on the tail stabilizer. All these LED lights allow me to fly my UflyS with ease at night; it's also very easy to tell the UflyS orientation during night flight.

•Replaced stock motor with a TurboAce motor (6000kv) from wowhobbies.com which has been an awesome motor but now I am currently using another type of motor that I believe works out nearly as well, it's a Hobbymate motor (5000kv) that I got at dealextreme.com (don't laugh!). This Hobbymate motor is very well made, cheap $12!, smaller than the TurboAce, TONS of power, and it nearly matches the red metal of the UflyS. Both motors are awesome, but for the money the Hobbymate can't be beat, it's more compact, lighter in weight, and is very quiet. Either way you can't go wrong...
TurboAce Motor: http://tinyurl.com/6bxog87
Hobbymate Motor: http://tinyurl.com/5tgkzqm

•Replaced ALL Walkera servos with ones that actually work perfect without ANY problems. I have tried many different servos but Walkera's gyro/receiver are extremely picky, either they don't work or they have intermittent problems all the time. I do not work for any of the companies I mention so my advice is ONLY from trial and error and what has worked out the best for me. After trying many servos ranging from cheap to expensive I finally found some that has the best speed (to keep up with a flybarless head) and ones that worked properly with the UflyS RX2435 receiver. The servo I found that finally worked properly is a company called "Henge" that I received from Hobbyking.com. Because any flybarless setup puts much strain on the servos, especially the cyclic servos, I choose metal gear versions and ones that are extremely fast which a flybarless head requires. Here's the exact servo I used to replace ALL of the servos in my UflyS, D922MG Digital Metal Gear Servo 1.8kg/ 12g/ 0.07sec: http://tinyurl.com/4jodckc. I can't say anything bad about these servos, they're very affordable, have replaceable metal gears, lightning fast, and not one problem like all the other servos I have tried on my UflyS including HiTec, Corona, and a bunch of others. My flybarless setup on my UflyS kept killing my Walkera servos even after a very minor crash so I quickly got tired of that!

•Replaced stock motor pinion with one that doesn't strip, only one I found that meets that criteria and works with the UflyS main gear is this one from microheli 0.4M 13T - Vortex 200PRO: http://tinyurl.com/6alwyu4. I have tried a couple others and they simply strip on me or do not mesh with the UflyS main gear. This little pinion from Microheli is awesome!

•Other small and simple mods like a tail guard to minimize tail strikes, used longer screws that holds the battery away from the motor, added additional grommets so that my longer 1300mah batteries wouldn't overstretch the canopy, and a few other things once I remember them I will try to post.

Overall I really do enjoy my Walkera UflyS, there's been times that I wanted to give up on it, especially finding servos that worked besides the crappy Walkera plastic gear driven ones. Now that my UflyS has a true flybarless head, fast metal gear servos, LED lights, and some other mods, this heli is seriously one sweet fixed pitch helicopter that is a blast to fly, day or night. It's extremely fast now and with my new flybarless head, vibrations are almost nile and it handles like a dream.

I can post better pics if anyone out there is interested or if anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them. Sometime soon I will shoot some video of it in action. Seriously though it's a sweet heli now, especially for the beginner or intermediate pilot like myself who is just now moving onto collective pitch helis. Once I do get more into cp helis I still will fly my UflyS around the park near my home, fields, and anywhere else that's safe. For the money it can't be beat, especially after doing these very affordable mods which in the end save you money from having far less crashes due to mechanical failures.

-cheers

[Flatliner]

awesome ! great article keep it up !

[wesleyson21]

What parts did you need to do it? Do you need the V370D01 swash or the stock UFLYS? I know you need the head, blade holders, and linkages.

[js349]

Originally Posted by wesleyson21

What parts did you need to do it? Do you need the V370D01 swash or the stock UFLYS? I know you need the head, blade holders, and linkages.

I asked jtpile some questions about this in another forum and he didn't answer so I don't think he's checking the forums. Anyway, I did this conversion this past weekend and here's my 2c. In addition to what jtpile said, I had to swap the head from the V370 with the head of the Ufly and keep the Ufly shaft because it has the hole in it for the main gear pin (the V370 shaft does not). I also had to swap the Ufly RX for a fbl RX (I had an extra 2433V RX so I used it). I tried it without the fbl RX and it wasn't stable at all (this may not be necessary so try with the Ufly-S 3-axis RX first). I also went back to the stock blades from the Airy Harden blades and that made it even more stable (it wobbled with the Airy blades). And, when I ordered the V370 head I also ordered the V370 linkages because I needed longer ones to go from the flybar to the head. I still have the stock servos and they seem to work fine. To answer your question, you can keep the Ufly swash - I did. I think that's all I did and I'm glad I did it because I now have a much more nible and responsive Ufly and it is way more stable.

[hcazar73]

thank you SOOO much t for the info...but what about the blade holders ...are you using the ufly's blade holders?....thanks again

[hcazar73]

just wondering if i can use the ufly blade holders or do i have to get the v340d1....thank you

[hcazar73]

Originally Posted by js349

I asked jtpile some questions about this in another forum and he didn't answer so I don't think he's checking the forums. Anyway, I did this conversion this past weekend and here's my 2c. In addition to what jtpile said, I had to swap the head from the V370 with the head of the Ufly and keep the Ufly shaft because it has the hole in it for the main gear pin (the V370 shaft does not). I also had to swap the Ufly RX for a fbl RX (I had an extra 2433V RX so I used it). I tried it without the fbl RX and it wasn't stable at all (this may not be necessary so try with the Ufly-S 3-axis RX first). I also went back to the stock blades from the Airy Harden blades and that made it even more stable (it wobbled with the Airy blades). And, when I ordered the V370 head I also ordered the V370 linkages because I needed longer ones to go from the flybar to the head. I still have the stock servos and they seem to work fine. To answer your question, you can keep the Ufly swash - I did. I think that's all I did and I'm glad I did it because I now have a much more nible and responsive Ufly and it is way more stable.

did you used the uflys blade holders?....thank you

[jtpile]

Hi, sorry for the slow response. I used the 370D01's flybarless head, blade grips, and swashplate. I used the 370D01's swashplate because the ball connectors are the proper length for the flybarless head. I did not use the 370D01's main shaft, just the stock uflys' main shaft. I also used the linkages from the 370D01 and only shortened the servo links as the swashplate sits much lower than the stock swashplate due to the flybarless head.
Hope this helps!

[jtpile]

Also I am using the stock 3 axis gyro, RX2435. I replaced ALL of the Walkera servos not because they do not work but because the plastic gears don't take kindly to even the slightest rotor strike. The Henge servos I am using now are awesome, metal gears are tough and replaceable.

[js349]

Originally Posted by jtpile

Hi, sorry for the slow response. I used the 370D01's flybarless head, blade grips, and swashplate. I used the 370D01's swashplate because the ball connectors are the proper length for the flybarless head. I did not use the 370D01's main shaft, just the stock uflys' main shaft. I also used the linkages from the 370D01 and only shortened the servo links as the swashplate sits much lower than the stock swashplate due to the flybarless head.
Hope this helps!

Thanks jt I could have used your input on Saturday. I forgot I had to find some ball links for the blade holders and I don't remember if I took them from another Ufly swash I had or somewhere else. I didn't have a swash from the V370 so I used the Ufly swash and it seems to be working. The hardest part of mine was getting the pin out of the Ufly head that held it on the shaft. I had to take a grinder and grind the head all the way to the shaft before I could remove the shaft. I believe there is more than one way to accomplish this you just have to work with what you have.

[js349]

Originally Posted by jtpile

Also I am using the stock 3 axis gyro, RX2435. I replaced ALL of the Walkera servos not because they do not work but because the plastic gears don't take kindly to even the slightest rotor strike. The Henge servos I am using now are awesome, metal gears are tough and replaceable.

I have the hot rod Ufly which had a 2433 RX on it with the small Walkera plugs and connectors and mine didn't seem to be all that stable with it but I did have the Airy Harden blades on it at the time. I changed the RX to the 2433V and the blades to stock at the same time so I may not have needed the fbl RX. So far I haven't hit anything but I wonder why striking the blade on something when the flybar was there didn't cause the same results. Anyway, if it happens, I'll ge the servos with metal gears.

[jtpile]

You may want to use Eflite 1135 retaining pins to hold the flybarless head onto the main shaft. I use these pins because they are much longer. Don't forget to loctite this pin and let it completely dry overnight! I also have loctited the tail blade grip nuts, ball joints on the swashplate, and every where else that could cause problems. Don't get it on any plastic...

[js349]

Hey jt,

I pm'd you on this too - does your fbl Ufly have a wobble when you use Elev or Aile?

[jtpile]

I would get the 370D01's blade holders because the links on it are the proper link. Here's what I purchased from Hong Kong (370D01 parts): main blade holders, rotor head set, swashplate, and ball linkage set (ordered some extras). I also use 1300mah skylipo batteries which balance out the UflyS very nicely. To make the canopy fit I used a Dremel tool and made 2 additional holes in the canopy to allow it to fit nearly perfect. I'll try to get more photos up soon along with some video.

[jtpile]

Originally Posted by js349

Hey jt,

I pm'd you on this too - does your fbl Ufly have a wobble when you use Elev or Aile?

No wobble, smooth as glass. If you're using a rx2435 (3axis) receiver you shouldn't have any wobble or problems. You will have to turn down the extent and possibly adjust the gyro pots on the receiver.

[jtpile]

Originally Posted by hcazar73

just wondering if i can use the ufly blade holders or do i have to get the v340d1....thank you

I would get the 370D01's blade holders because of the length of the linkages.

[js349]

Originally Posted by jtpile

No wobble, smooth as glass. If you're using a rx2435 (3axis) receiver you shouldn't have any wobble or problems. You will have to turn down the extent and possibly adjust the gyro pots on the receiver.

I'm using a 2433V 3 axis RX which is the same one that is on the fbl V120D01. I may have my pots up too high. How do you have yours set? I'm using the Ufly blade holders and they work just fine since I'm using Ufly blades.

[jtpile]

Originally Posted by js349

I'm using a 2433V 3 axis RX which is the same one that is on the fbl V120D01. I may have my pots up too high. How do you have yours set? I'm using the Ufly blade holders and they work just fine since I'm using Ufly blades.

Hi js349, I'll try to get you a pic soon of my rx2435 showing you my settings.

[js349]

Well, I stripped a servo gear last night so I've ordered the servos with metal gears. I wonder why these strip like that but other fbl helis I have don't strip the servos in a crash. Any idea?

[jtpile]

Originally Posted by js349

Well, I stripped a servo gear last night so I've ordered the servos with metal gears. I wonder why these strip like that but other fbl helis I have don't strip the servos in a crash. Any idea?

I'm not sure but I would imagine a rotor blade strike with a flybarless
head puts more direct stress onto the servos because they're directly tied to the servos rather than taking some of the brunt energy off of them being shared by a flybar. I too rarely went through the Walkera servos but after the "homemade" flybarless head I was going through far too many of the Walkera servos and began evaluating a suitable affordable replacement servo that had a quick enough speed, metal replaceable gears, plus ones very affordable. After going through 3 or 4 brands I took a chance on the 922 Henge servos and they have well exceeded my expectations in minor crashes and their speed is lightning fast, besides only being $9 and replacement gears for only $5. I got them from Hobbyking, no idea if they're sold anywhere else. The Walkera servos have plastic gears and although they are uber quick they suck whenever you have any sort of rotor strike with ground; perhaps your other fbl helis' servos also use metal gears or more durable plastic ones. Hope this helps!