Swift RTF Mods-What Battery?

[rreichar]

Originally Posted by cactus

Last fall I got my first Zippy/Flightmax packs and I went with the blue 5mm bullet connector system on my 3DHS Extra 3s 3000mah packs. I just cut the stock red bullet off and soldered these on. I'm going to use these on the Swift packs too.

Thanks Mike. I like the 5mm blue connectors better than the red 4mm. I have used EC3 connectors before but did not realize there was an EC5. I just ordered a couple of Turnigy 4S 5000 packs from HK last week. Next order I will try some of the EC5s. I have been thinking about getting a HK 450 clone to play with and may order that soon. I had a couple of Art-tech Falcon 3d 400s but I actually managed to nearly land my Swift on the last one on Sunday (it was probably too windy and dark for my limited skills) and nicked it with a blade tip chopping off the flybar damaging the tail. I managed to take out 2 helis in one semi-crash. Broke a blade grip and blade on the Swift. I had enough parts to fix the Falcon but had to order the Swift blade grip. I am running out of Falcon parts so the next time I crash it will probably order a 450 and the blue connectors.

[cactus]

Originally Posted by rreichar

Thanks Mike. I like the 5mm blue connectors better than the red 4mm. I have used EC3 connectors before but did not realize there was an EC5. I just ordered a couple of Turnigy 4S 5000 packs from HK last week. Next order I will try some of the EC5s. I have been thinking about getting a HK 450 clone to play with and may order that soon. I had a couple of Art-tech Falcon 3d 400s but I actually managed to nearly land my Swift on the last one on Sunday (it was probably too windy and dark for my limited skills) and nicked it with a blade tip chopping off the flybar damaging the tail. I managed to take out 2 helis in one semi-crash. Broke a blade grip and blade on the Swift. I had enough parts to fix the Falcon but had to order the Swift blade grip. I am running out of Falcon parts so the next time I crash it will probably order a 450 and the blue connectors.

Over on Horizon Hobby there is an article with photos on getting the EC5 connectors built. I followed it to make sure I built them right and to not get them backwards. This was the first time I used something other than Deans for along time. I like the EC5's and they are easy to connect and disconnect. I also felt the Deans where too small and that I was going to rip something apart when I disconnected them.

I have the 450MT from HK which is a clone of the SE v2. It is nearly CNC metal on a majority of the heli and you can use the setup manual for the Trex 450 SE v2. I have a build log over on RC groups talking about some of the issues I ran into, but now I have a nice inexpensive heli to fly near my house without stress about how much it costs and damaging expensive parts while learning acrobatics!

[rreichar]

I made the long trek to the not-so-local (40 minute drive) hobby store to get a few parts for my son's EXI 500 today. Turns out they have the EC5 connectors so I got some to try. I also got some wire so I could make a parallel charging harness. I forgot to get balance plugs but at the rate I am going I will be back there soon. They have very few Century parts but nearly every Align part made plus a great selection of electronics. This is one reason why I am thinking of a 450 clone. It would be nice to have something with parts available locally. Also a bit cheaper to crash than the Swift. Swift parts are pretty cheap but when you factor in postage it starts to add up. I have been off all week with mostly great weather but have not gotten to fly while waiting for parts.

Mike, your 450 build log on RR is interesting. I am looking forward to a flight report. I bet flying in Durango can be challenging what with the altitude and the snow. We used to make it there every year for a little skiing. One of our favorite places.Rod

[cactus]

Hoping to get some outdoor flights in very soon on both the 450MT and the Swift. The snow is melting and the highs are getting into the 50's.

[rreichar]

I got some Turnigy 4S 5000 packs for my (formerly) RTF Swift. Only 9 days from China. It has been quite windy here in Austin. Tried to fly a bit on Sunday but about 5 minutes into the first pack just doing some hovering and mild flying around I thought I noticed some extra vibration in the tail. I brought it in close and it seemed to be getting worse so I landed and gave it up for the day. The vibration seemed to be originating from the head so when I got back home I spun it up without the blades and noticed a bit of wobble. My Swift has the old hollow main shaft. I took it out and put it in a drill and spun it up. Definietey had some wobble. I ordered a couple of the solid two bearing shafts from Heli-World as my favorite store, FX-Aeromodels, is closed for vacation for a couple of weeks. I got the shafts today and I was a bit surprised to find that neither one of them is especially straight either. I installed the best of the two new shafts and spun it up and it is a bit better but not great. Is that normal for the Swift? I saw on YouTube that someone has a video about using a Hirobo shaft for the Swift. I may think about that.

As soon as I get the time I will try the new Turnigy packs and post the flight times. My Swift with the 550 1300kv motor and 10t pinion is a great beginner heli. It is super quiet and docile and smooth. In comparison, my son's 6S EXI 500 with it's much higher head speed is a bit intimidating to me. Especially since it exploded a couple of weeks ago when a ball on the swash backed out (yes it was loctited). Not a lot of damage but I definitely keep it farther away now. The Swift is very relaxing to fly.

[cactus]

Good to see you are getting some flights on it. Mine is not flyable with 5S due to an unknown problem. I still have not got to hover it yet.....

[rreichar]

I got all inspired this weekend after attending a few hours of the Central Texas Heli Fun Fly here in Austin. I was doing kid duty all weekend but my 10 year old is an aspiring heli pilot so he didn't mind going to watch Curtis Youngblood fly a few demos with the new Rave ENV 90 Nitro with the Total G flybarless system. Amazing stuff.

Despite really big wind I decided to work on the tail setup of our helis after getting some advice from Curtis. My Swift now has a $14 HobbyKing gyro on it after a couple of exciting incidents with the Futaba 401 (eBay used) that was on it. The cheap gyro worked really well but near the end of the setup process I heard a really bad squealing that I think is the oneway bearing. It could also be the motor. I just greased the one way bearing after the last flight a week or tow ago when I changed the wobbly hollow main shaft for a wobbly solid main shaft. I think the heavier main shaft with its lack of straightness may have killed the bearing. Is this just an ongoing issue with the Swift?

I see that the Spartan Quark is pretty cheap right now so I may get one of those while I am down. I have still not gotten to fly much with my Turnigy 4S 5000 packs. Between gyro and bearings the Swift has mostly been grounded. I will pull it apart tomorrow and try to figure it out. I started out with a Swift RTF because I got a decent deal on eBay. It had only been flown once when the owner came to his senses and got rid of it. Great airframe with junk electronics. Besides replacing all of the electronics I have had to replace the thrust bearings (they were bone dry) after just a few hovers. The stock battery is worthless as well. The lesson here is to buy the kit. Then I would have had some control of the quality. I have had to completely rebuild it anyway. The ESC and motor are fine for my current skill level but will have to be replaced eventually for something with a bit more pop. If anyone needs a bag full of junk servos, gyro and radio gear for their Swift RTF I will be happy to send it you.

Back to the thread topic. A vendor at the Fun Fly today was Spyder Batteries (spyderbatteries.com). They were letting peopel test fly their batteries. They are local here in Austin. I need some 3S 1800 packs for my 400 Falcon 3D. I may give them a shot. They have some 6S 5300 packs at $150 a pop. Seemed like nice people. They do local pickup which would save me time and money.

Mike I am sorry to hear yours is down also. What is up with yours?

[JustPlaneChris]

Rod, I'm bummed I didn't get to meet you at the funfly! I was there all day Fri and Sat. I'll probably go back out for a little while today (after the misting rain stops) because I have a few more charged packs I need to burn through.

[rreichar]

Hey Chris: We had to leave right after the noon demo by Curtis. We did not do a lot of talking. Mostly staring. My son was kind of in awe at seeing you and James as we listen to your podcast. I had to take him to a birthday party in Hutto at 1:00. My wife took my daughter to a gymnastics meet in New Mexico this weekend. Normally I do the out of state meets but she did this so my son and I could make the Fun Fly. I believe her exact words were something like,"I am driving 13 hours through the middle of nowhere so that you can go play with your toys." I pointed out that we were actually going to watch other people play with their toys. In the interest of marital harmony I am trying to get a lot done around the house before my wife and daughter get back very late tonight. My son really wants a little Rave and he really enjoyed seeing a bunch of those. Watching Curtis wring out the 90 Rave ENV was one of the more amazing things I have ever seen. I have a brother-in-law who works for NASA and I have seen 3 shuttle launches (including a night launch in 06) and seeing Curtis fly was right up there. I think the Total G is pretty impressive as well. I was hoping to see James fly the Radikals but no such luck. Good luck with flying today. It is not looking great weather-wise.

I am a little bummed about my Swift's somewhat wobbly main shaft and what I think is now a bad bearing. Does anyone know if the 3rd bearing upgrade is worth doing? There is a Youtube video of a guy grinding down a Hirobo 10 mm shaft so that he could use it in his Swift. In looking at the other solid main shaft that I have and am starting to think I somehow used the wrong one. One of the two that I bought was much straighter than the other. The spare seems fairly straight. The bearing noise could be the motor as well. Oh well, I really like the fiddly part of the hobby but I don't like having to wait for (and pay for) parts.

[JustPlaneChris]

It sounds like you and your son had a great time! I totally agree about Curtis' ENV flight... he can really put on a good show with that (or any) heli.

I did the third bearing upgrade from the beginning on my Swift, and I really think it stiffens up the frame. Of note is the new NX has that as standard equipment.

Stock bearings for most helis tend to be "bottom of the bucket" quality. Luckily, just a few bucks at BocaBearings will net you some really good ones that will last a long time.

[cactus]

Rod,

My Swift power issue got worked out this weekend. There was nothing wrong with the Turnigy lipos. I soldered new bullet connectors on the motor and setup a new CC Ice 100 ESC and was doing some test hovers at the club field on Sat. Now if I could just get the blade tracking better! 1/4 or more gap to resolve.

My little cheapo 450 is flying great. 6-8mph breeze does not phase it much. Flew 5 packs of mostly FFF figures eights at the club on Sat. What was more interesting is after I put my planes and the 450 away around noon, the wind increased closer to 12-15mph with gusts and the Swift hovered so solid, just a slight rise and fall during changes in wind speed.... I put the Hawk Pro paddles on it and the flybar weights all the way out. With those and 80% dual rates its almost to sedate.

[rreichar]

Chris: My son really enjoyed the Fun Fly. I did too but was dealing with a back injury/sciatic issue that really made it difficult to stand but I never found a good place to sit. That plus a huge Honey-do list kept from spending a lot of time there. Mostly healed up now. I saw your suggestion for a 401 with a Hyperion tail servo on another forum and I think I may go with that. I am going to do the 3rd bearing kit and may replace all the other bearings then. Right now you can push down lightly on a blade tip and you can see the frame flex. I am thinking that addressing the frame flex might help with my main shaft wobble. I raised the head speed a bit and that seemed to smooth it out some.

Mike: Glad to hear your Swift is up and running. I flew briefly last Saturday in much higher wind than that I have flown in before and the heli was rock solid. Sedate is a good word for it. My bearing noise was from the motor. I will order bearings tomorrow. I am grounded until those show up. I was going to look for some locally but my son broke his wrist at school today so that didn't happen. I can't decide what size (o.d.) the biggest of the two motor bearings is. Either 13 or 14mm. It actually appears to be right in the middle. I need a digital caliper. My little 550/1300kv motor only showed up on the Century site very recently ($50) so there is no info on it that I can find. I was going to order the expensive ceramic hybrid bearings but it looks I will have to order multiple sizes from Boca and see which one fits. I see Century is offering my motor and ESC in a bundle with the NX for $340 and are advertising it as a 4S/5S. I emailed them a couple of times trying to find out if I could run it with a 5 cell pack and never got an answer. The documentation that came with the RTF says 4S only for both the motor and ESC but neither one appears to be the same as the ones I got. I bought a couple of Turnigy 4S 5000s which are fine for what I am doing with it right now but I would have rather bought 5S. I may try some 5S 4000s in a month or two. I may have to take care of my son's EXI 500 until he gets the cast off in a few weeks. It has been way too windy here for my little 400.

[cactus]

I'll tell you what Rod, I have been pleasantly surprised at how much wind a 450 (325mm blades) class heli can fly in. If the what people are saying about the Swift being much more stable in wind over a 450, then I am going to get allot more flying in this year! No more looking out the window and shaking my head while staring at the fleet hanging on the wall.

[cactus]

Here is what my Swift is looking like as of last weekend's test.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/attac...mentid=3182930

I am going to mount the 5S 5000 on the carbon mount coming this week. I thought about moving the battery up under the canopy on an angled tray, but I did not see a way of doing it with the stock parts without a permanent destruction of the mounts for the tray on the front of the frame. I wonder if the new tray from the NX would fit with some modification?

[Greybird]

Hey Mike, I am sending my NX canopy to Callie so she can make Rippin graphics for it. I also have the same as you on one of my other Swifts. Easy to see, and looks great.

[cactus]

Originally Posted by Greybird

Hey Mike, I am sending my NX canopy to Callie so she can make Rippin graphics for it. I also have the same as you on one of my other Swifts. Easy to see, and looks great.

Cool, looking forward to seeing what she does with the new "canvas."

[dougb]

+1 on the Rippin graphics ... Thanks Greybird for sending in your NX canopy.
May I ask a favor? If you have time please ask Callie to measure the NX for the Taxi Swift graphics. Thanks. I'll order both the Rippin & Taxi graphics later this spring.

Doug B.

[rreichar]

Got to fly the Swift today and finally took the time to do some timed flights with my 4S 5000 Turnighy packs. With very low headspped I can get 71/2 minutes and am putting back about 75% back into the packs. My recent switch to a Spartan 760 has really solidified the tail. I flew my 400 first to warm up. It was a bit windy and I eventually crashed it. The Swift is in another universe stability-wise. I am thinking that when I get tired of sedate hovering and basic flying around that I can get some 5S packs and bump the headspeed quite a bit with no other changes. I intended to check the rotor rpm today but never did.

[JustPlaneChris]

That's great to hear, Rod! We still need to get together sometime and go fly... but my time seems stretched so thin recently it seems like I never have enough time to go play. :o

[Greybird]

Me neither Chris. No time to finish my NX, or fly..... Oh well, I guess its good we are working.