Cool new Eflite indoor CP heli

[copterboy]

Originally Posted by psilo

What did it cost including shipping about $100? That's just porn and now I need some! Will await your lfight reports though, guessing a bit extra weight will go on with that little lot!

EDIT: Just noticed shipping is free and it reduces the weight!!! Damn now I really need it!

Yeah, and I got it about 3days after it shipped,by DHL. Microheli are also getting in on the aftermarket game too, but I've not done any weight comparison on the MH stuff.

Sorry I got distracted by the SIM, not started yet I'm gonna get 30 mins in now, see if I can get it completed.

[copterboy]

Well I made some good progress and got the head built up, but I got stuck when I come to doing the tail. Now thinking the boom is so badly damaged, I better not fly it yet!!

So I'm gonna check the mcpx forum for tail boom mods, as I don't want to pay £10.99 for a new boom/motor/holder, when all I need is the boom!!

Anyone here seen/done anything similar yet?

EDIT : I've just found what I think is the CF pushrod from my old belt CP, got the calipers out, checked the diameter and it's exactly the same. I keo it to help push new belts through the boom on my 450's, but now it has a new purpose in life. Thanks e-sky, I now have enough CF for 2 solid mcpx booms Will make them later and be back in the air.

Anyone know best way to grind out the flats? I don't have a dremmel, but I do have an angle grinder with diamond blade? Bit overkill do you think? I'll just take it steady.

[Tomstoy2]

It's all there, I like the solid carbon fiber lengthened, ( forget how much, but it's there), idea the best.

[copterboy]

Originally Posted by copterboy

EDIT : I've just found what I think is the CF pushrod from my old belt CP, got the calipers out, checked the diameter and it's exactly the same. I used it to help push new belts through the boom on my 450's, but now it has a new purpose in life. Thanks e-sky, I now have enough CF for 2 solid mcpx booms Will make them later and be back in the air.

Anyone know best way to grind out the flats? I don't have a dremmel, but I do have an angle grinder with diamond blade? Bit overkill do you think? I'll just take it steady.

Already found a spare CF rod in my box Tom. Just need to know best way to cut and grind it. Edited my last post almost straightaway, but left my laptop and forgot to save the changes!!

[rapidgaz]

Make it 20mm longer den as it makes tail more solid. Also be carfull with the wires as it's easy to rub the insulation of. Guess how I know.


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[copterboy]

Was the voices in your head that told you?? I dunno!! lol...bet it cost you about £10.99 to sort it out, or did you upgrade to 120SR wires?

lol...I got mine all put back together for it's RKH bling/upgrade maiden. Just one more photo to take of the finished article.

I was able to make 2 booms from the peice of CF I had, was just enough to make them both about 15mm longer. I messed up one of the cuts grinding a 2nd flat out, so I had to chop one back down to stock length, which I have now installed.

I'll see how this stock length solid cf boom goes, and I'll swap to the longer one soon no doubt I'll upload some more pics from last night/today, and a video or two later.

[copterboy]

The first attempt at doing this last week, I forgot to click the submit post button and lost it!! So here goes my second attempt, albeit a shortened version Will add some more comments later.

So first some close ups of the parts that arrived...


Workbench all ready to go...and some shots to show the work under way. You can see the order I stripped the head down, starting with main blades, blade grips working down to the swashplate and main shaft collar.



Couple of shots of the main frame with the new head almost complete...



Here's where I got stuck with the tail and a quick vid of how I managed to fix it with the belt-cp cf tail boom support, to make a solid cf boom for the mcpx!! The RKH unit actually clamps onto the boom, so it's much more crash resilient I feel, and doesn't need to be straightened out after a typical crash. So you only need to grind out one flat spot on the new boom. The vid only shows me grinding one flat spot, but I did add another later, then realised I didn't need it with the RKH tail motor mount!!



And finally the finished article. Find I'm preferring the main blades with bullets at the moment. Adds a little weight to the inertia I'm guessing, giving a little more stability. Which I need all the help I can get



Hope you enjoy the pics...I've just shot vid, so will get on with uploading it now.

EDIT : Nothing special really, just plopping around indoors. Got the DR's tamed down to 40% and 5% expo for indoor flying. Got it at 100% DR 10% expo for stunt flying (not that I feel ready for it yet!!). Listen out for the blade scrape. My brother is moving house, so the drums will be gone after today! Had to get it in whilst I could

[rapidgaz]

Looks really good Dennis, how much was the Swash and the grips.


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[hoot]

I often put hand powered tools in a large vise. This way they can be used as a stationary tool. The belt sander is great when clamped by the handle upside down in a vise. Nice work using what you have available.

[Mitchell]

iv orderd one of these bad boys about an hour ago! heard there great

[copterboy]

I think my summary about this heli is shaping into something like this - it's great fun and really gets you more used to the feel of a CP heli, than say an mSR or mCX.
That said, it doesn't have lots of power like a brushless CP heli, and I've had a few blowouts of the tail when trying to flip it (need to practice better collective management apparently!).

Indoors, I've had to tame elev/aileron right down for indoor flight, as it would get away very fast and not then not have enough power to stop it from colliding with the wall for example. You just have to hit TH, and hope sometimes. Then wait for it to finish bouncing off things on the way down before you go pickup and check for damage.

Outdoors - I've loved flying it in the garden on the calm days as there is more room. But still feel it needs, just a little more room than I've got, or probably less obstacles would help. Not really done much experimenting in the wind yet, or trying to flip it much.

I'm about 30-35 flights in and I'd say I'm just starting to get it dialled where I can fly it reasonably well indoors and out (with the space I have available).

The CNC upgrades cost almost $85 for the 4 items.
Description:CNC Main Blade Grips (Silver) - Blade mCP X, Item#:mCP X030-S
Amount:$26.99 USD
Description:CNC Main Rotor Hub (Silver) - Blade mCP X, Item#:mCP X010-S
Amount:$16.99 USD
Description:CNC Swashplate and Collar (Silver) - Blade mCP X, Item#:mCP X178-S
Amount:$24.99 USD
Description:CNC Tail Motor Mount (Silver)-Blade mSR/mCP X CNC, Item#:mSR860-S
Amount:$15.99 USD
Shipping cost: $0.0 USD
Total: $84.96 USD

Shipping for the upgrades via UPS was free, and I received them about 3-4 days after they emailed shipping confirmation. Not sure if that was a special offer or not, as I pre-ordered before release, and I bought the whole set in one go. Worked out about £58 in English £.

Judging by the crashes I've had since the upgrade's, I'd say I've saved at least 2 new swashes and something else like grips, so IMO it's paying for itself already. Had a couple of dinks with metal objects and the blades still under power. I am starting to think it's proven more crash resitant already, especially with the solid tail boom. Lot of money to shell out in one go, but I'm convinced now I will save money not buying stock parts as often.

As far as stability is concerned, I would say it is just as stable as stock. I found the main noticable improvement is responsiveness because the head is more rigid, and less slop in the swash.

Hoot - Nice tip about the power tools BTW. I've thought about getting a vise previously, but got a whole host of other things I need to buy first!! And I don't have a mounting surface that is stable enough, come to think of it!! So that mean buying a bench for it too!!

Mitchell - I stongly advise taming it down with DR's and not using as much EXPO, if your gonna fly it in a house/large room. I'm still tweaking mine, but currently at 40% DR and +5% EXPO. Other than that, I think you'll love it.

[copterboy]

A little video from earlier. I landed on the washing line at 3:40, but bounced off again. 2 other crashes, which just needed the tail boom twisting back, and the main gear pushing back up. Finally, a helicopter I can afford to fly