Marvel Craft A109S on TRex 600

[Indydrt]

Looking great love the girl pilot..oh yea. Lol. Is the gauges going
To light up ? I ordered a Rc aerodyne a109 era body for the 500 I got from here. Hovered
It today was decent. Plan to use beastx on it..if thee fbl head and blades clear body enough
Ordered upgraded restricts also from smartmodelhk. Cosmetic.. Ok look forward to see your baby roost..lol.

[majuro15]

I'll have to check out their new retracts. The IP panel can be backlit, but I haven't decided if I'm going to or not.

I got the pilot at http://www.monkeydepot.com/. It's 1/6 scale, so a little big, but she still fits nicely and looks okay. I could cut the legs shorter a bit, but it's more hassle than it's worth and the flight suit fits great now. The stuff was pretty inexpensive and great quality. Need to tame that hair a bit and move her to the actual right seat, hehe!

Spent the morning figuring out the main battery box placement. I have it all set and will epoxy in place tomorrow, as I had to make a run to the LHS. In the mean time, I got the Rx and Acc. lipo box built and installed. I placed it aft of cg, as the cockpit is weighing more than I thought and the bird has the perfect stance as tested, so working to keep it that way. I'll be using two 1000 mah 2s packs that are only about 120 g total.



Also put the exhaust in. It was painted flat black from MC and I kept it as is, I just like the texture and look of them. I could have made the inside a bit smoother, but it works for this project. I'll add some black foam on the inside to help mask the mechanics when looking into them.



Got the gear paint touched up and wheels painted as well. I'll get a picture of that tomorrow with the doors bolted on for good.

[majuro15]

Got a good bit done today before having to do family things. :wacko:

I mounted the main lipo box with CA and it is curing with 30 min epoxy overnight. I'll get some shots tomorrow. I also installed a velcro strap to keep the packs in place that turned out nicely.

Finished up the gear by putting the doors back on and everything back together. Also touched up the black paint from some chips and sanding work which turned out well. I may go back and paint the gear wells, but for now, they are staying the way they are. The gears turned out really nice, have to get a good shot of them. Just wish I had used an outer tube of aluminum, not brass, so I have the right look to the struts.

Final thing to do before test flying is electrical work. Set out today to make the main battery wire harness. I got some tap connectors at work which worked great to hook up my parallel connection. I then routed the positive lead through the arming switch which is on the "control panel" on the right side main door. That way I can plug the main packs in, get them secured and not have to worry about the heli doing something I don't want it too!



Next up is some wiring for the voltage indicators and switches for the lights, rx and gears.

[majuro15]

Been a couple of days, lost my Air National Guard pilot slot and officer commission due to vision dis qualification. 2 prism diopters out of regs and it's all over, simple as that. Very frustrating, spent two years on this application and it's DQ'ed me for all military aviation. Ironically, they gave me my FAA 1st class physical and sent me on my way. Funny, and kinda scary right?

Back to topic, many updates on this, so will do this in a couple of posts.

First, I got the flight pack box and small lipo box made and installed. Hooked up the control panel (just need to secure it to the frame) and achieved power on! Everything worked out great and I really like having this as it's less plugging and unplugging batteries and stuff. Plus it's just cool. And I'm a dork like that.





With power sitting in there, it was just too tempting not to complete the maiden flight! I did several blades-off bench tests, ran the gyro through it's paces and went outside to the driveway. I thought about videoing but decided against it as I just wanted to hop up and hover, make sure it actually flew.







Hover test went well, it lifted off strongly and was pretty stable. The tail had some minor issues, but nothing worrisome. One thing that did scare me was a near gear collapse. I reconfigured the front door sequencer and am waiting on a servo reverser in the mail. So I went in-op on the gears. Problem was, there was no power (I didn't turn them on from the control panel) and the mains budged a bit with my takeoff. Fortunately I was able to land softly and hold the tail to make sure it didn't fall over. Turned the power on and left the gear channel alone and no issues at all.

All the logs looked good, vibes were 2.0 and below and the ESC was pulling about 45 amps. So, successful first flight!

[majuro15]

I came back in, charged some lipos and made some adjustments to the SK. I read a lot from 1hander about his and tried to duplicate the results. I also tweaked the cyclic a bit and added some stopping power to the tail, as it seemed a little loose.

Second hop up was good, tail was rock solid, actually had a bit too much stopping power. But it was holding great and responding well. I did a fast 10 foot climb to see how it would hold and was very happy. The heli shows it's weight for sure, but I think will still be pretty responsive. I'm running about 1275 governed RPM and noticed no real bog down. After looking at the CC log, I did see it spike to a 87 amp during that climb out, so I won't do that purposely. The temp also was pretty high, about 150F. It was 92F outside, so I think that affected it, but I may still add a cooling fan on the ESC inside the fuse.

Second flight was almost over, doing some small circuits over the grass in the front yard when the RPM spiked, tail flung around 90 degrees and something went wrong. I was able to half auto it to the ground from about 3 feet and it landed on the gear in the grass, but then tipped enough for the blades to dig in.

My blood pressure went . I nailed throttle hold when I touched and that helped save a lot. Damage, once I got inside out of the heat, was minimal. Blades (main and tail) are trash, one bent link on the head, both main landing gear bent/broken, a couple of chips on the dog house and that was it! The gear wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, was able to cut the bent shaft it mounts on and redo them with minimal effort.






So, what caused it? I noticed the tail rotor was spinning free of the main and found both front umbrella gears were missing about half their teeth.



I've never had any issues with these, being more than three years old. I've been reading up though, and seen a lot of folks have failures of these. I think that my tail setup may have been a little taxing as well, as I have larger tail blades on than a typical 600/700. Or it could be just bad luck and age. Either way, I got really lucky and have ordered all new parts (front and back) with new blades coming as well. I have a stock pile of parts for the head and already have that back on. The main shaft is still running true, but have a new one on the way as well.

[majuro15]

Having already planned a heli weekend, I dove in before even taking pictures of the damage! Anyway, the gears are fixed and awaiting paint in the morning. Touched up the dog house (see above pictures), stripped the head down and balanced it making sure nothing else was bad. Obvisouly took the mechanicas out and apart to get the gears out. I ordered another main gear, as the KDE gear had just a couple of teeth with the tips knocked off. Made an order to Beyond-Heli.com, as they guy has everything I needed in stock. It's also a good site for some scale stuff, so I took the opportunity to order my seat belts.

With the fuse empty, I went to work as planned and got some good stuff done. Filled in the landing light area and it will be painted tomorrow. The lenses are cut, just need to be glued in as well.




Reconfigured the gear pivot as well, making it easier to remove. I used shaft collars instead of epoxying in several brass tubes. This way, it's all adjustable (for the doors to line up) and I can easily get it out if I need to do maintenance on it.



I also got the cockpit floor cut and fitted. The seat frames are built and ready to go as well. I am working on the bulkhead and will fab some foot well bulkheads tomorrow, then start laying carpet.



I also took the time to go over all the gear stuff again, making sure servos and sequencers were good. Once the reverser comes in, they will be all set. Lastly, I got two more flight packs and my 2s lipo's in today, so got the case all ready for those. I have the supplies for my charger case but haven't gotten to it yet.

[majuro15]

Also got word (and request for payment, hehe) that my instrument panels were ready from Faye. Man do these things look awesome! It took a long time, but was worth it and I'm obviously not behind due to her!







She is finishing up the throttle quadrant and then they will be in the mail. This is all at the same time of contacting Robcon and getting a drawing of theirs! Awesome customer service from them and hoping to hear back next week about lead time and price. It's a Power (E) model cockpit, but still looks great and I figure I'll get both and use the one that best fits my cockpit. The other will be up for sale, as I know other folks out there are looking for these. Hopefully both will be on the market soon!



All of these pictures are the property of the designers, so please do not duplicate or use for any other purpose but drooling.

[Indydrt]

Looking great. Especially those gauges. ,, good god ..lol. I'm in the middle of my 500 retract reconfigure trying to modify my rear landing with a upgraded set from smartmodelhk there's is not a 90 degree.

[majuro15]

Indy, do you have a picture of their gear? I can't find it on the website and am curious.

I have made some changes to ease the tail and will check the gov gain on the ESC before the next flight. I read that elsewhere too. The failure happened right as I was doing a high pitch climb out test, so that might have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

Tonight, she is sitting on her own three legs again! Put the gear back together and got it in and installed. Repainted as well, oiled and working great. I'll do a gear swing test when the new parts come in and the mechanics are installed. Took me most of the day to do this and watch Indy Car and F1!

[majuro15]

Progress is being made! I received the servo reverser in the mail so I decided to sit down and get the gear sorted. I wound up swapping the little HS65 out for a Futaba something or other servo LOL. It was a cheap one on sale at the LHS I picked up, but it's a standard size (DS610 case size) and has much more power for the front gear strut. After installing that, I set about rewiring and reprogramming the sequencer.

I had issues with the sequencer and the travel from my TX, so I reconfigured the setup to run everything through the sequencer instead of the matchbox first. So I still have a power on / off switch for the gear system, but the Matchbox which handles the two mains is now run through the feed-through from the sequencer. Works much better and I got full range for everything I needed. I have some videos, but it's too late to edit them so I'll post them up tomorrow night.





Good news is the gear works and looks great! Now, just waiting until Friday for the parts to arrive to start piecing back together the mechanics. Hope to make more progress on the cockpit tomorrow night.

[blade77]

Looking good there Maj, on the retracts I think you are right to beef up the front servo, I couldn't get the hs65 to match the endpoints of the 7000 retract on the back, I'm using a y cable on mine with the stock retracts so far. I hysoled in my woodwork yesterday so there is no going back now - well done with the build, I look forward to the updates

[majuro15]

Good to hear yours is moving along as well! Yea, I still need to clean the retract mechanism well, I think some paint got up in there but the stronger servo is a must now, no binding or buzzing.

Got all of my parts in today. Have to say wow for beyond-heli.com for great service and super fast shipping. I worked for two hours and managed to get the mechanics back together, mounted in the fuse and almost finish the tail. Hooking everything up takes forever! Took my time, lubed all of the gears as suggested and will be ready for blade work tomorrow. I'll do some bench runs without blades to make sure the vibes are good and no issues before another test flight hopefully this weekend.

[Indydrt]

Finally got mine back from my buddy kris yesterday and hooked up retracts. Took a while but working nicely now..the front retract is not a off set one like the original wire spring type..so I trimmed the body out like a 1/8 inch. And I hated to do that. Or it was move the servo location and the retract location ..so I took the easier way out. Oh well. Next scale bird I won't do that way.. Any how today I will stop at my lhs to get a new front smaller wheel and tire to fit it. I took some pics just now have a great day yours is looking great

[majuro15]

She is back on her legs ready for a flight test! Spent the evening doing some bench runs, fiddling with the gyro and ESC, and balancing blades. These Century Rotor Tech blades are amazing. A postage stamp size of aluminum tape on two blades and they all balanced out to each other at 120 g each. Oiled all the gears again and monitored temp levels. No binding or bad noises, bench tests without blades went well, and I think I am ready to go. Tomorrow afternoon should be test flight number 1 - post crash!

[Indydrt]

NICE looks great ...) got my front wheel today little to narrow for the mount but will work for now..

[majuro15]

Thanks!

Got her back up in the air today. Just did some hovering and tiny circuits. Everything looks good, need to work on tracking again on the main blades, but all else is smooth. Vibes are topping out at 2.0 on the SK and with a smoother throttle control, I maxed amps out at 48, with plenty of control. I think I will just have to adjust my flying style, but it's already helping, cause it looks more scale!

The tail held well, I went back and decreased some stopping power, as the tail had a tendency to over-stop on right turns. Increased the gain by two clicks up to 54 for the next flight, as it held well but had a little wondering when in ground effect.

ESC is good, but warm. Ripple is topping out at 1.08 volts, and the ESC is topping out around 175 F internal temp. I just added a tiny cooling fan just to get air moving around it, so we'll see how that works out.

Gear train looks good as well, ran temps and everything was nice and cool. I'll keep them all oiled and do free hand checks before flights.

Hope to get some video soon, I have drill tomorrow, by some miracle, they are letting me stay on and wait for more officer slots to open. We got the go ahead for +4 for each unit, so they'll be hiring. Hanging on to this dream by a nail, but it's worth fighting this hard for.

[Indydrt]

Awesome. !! How hard is it to do the tracking on 4 blades? I might have few more questions for you if ok with that .? Thanks

[majuro15]

Not hard at all, just have to use four different colors with four blades. There are other ways, but that's the easiest for me. I'm always open to questions!

[Indydrt]

Ok kool about the blade tracking...hey I just noticed your question to me about the gear I guess at smartmodelhk.com. I'm sorry I did not notice that way below. Until I just did a re read on your updates...ha getting old..lol. Anyhow. http://www.smartmodel.com.hk/ Then look for landing gear. From 450-700 I think. I can't get my front wheel to stay locked. ..driving me nuts.. Good luck on your job hope u get it.)

http://www.smartmodel.com.hk/

[Indydrt]

Hi checking the cg on this new scale 500 augusta 109 from rc aerodyne. build..as i lift the blade grips, the nose gear wants to raise about 2 inches higher then the rear landing gear lifts.. thats with a 3300 mah 6s battery mounted in the stock position on a trex 500 .. i did slide it down as close as i could get it without hitting servo for landing gear .. so my qustion is do these typically have more tail weight and fly that way also??
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#2 is it ok to fly it this way an add forward elevator into the radio?
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thanks indy