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_____ Updated 12/02/07_____
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DeeTee's Hughes 500E Winter 2006/2007
Build Project
5 Bladed Rotor Head - Specs
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Specs To Date:
Funkey Hughes 500E Pre Painted Fuselage from Century
Align RC T Rex 600 CF (Silver) Mechanics
Century Diamond 5 Bladed Rotor Head (Modified by Rich Howard)
Vario 5 Bladed Swashplate & Follower for 10mm Main Shaft
Funkey 530mm Fiberglass Main Blades
Align RC White Carbon Fiber Tail Blades
Align RC 600L Brushless Motor
Align RC 100 Amp ESC
Futaba 9451 Digital Cyclic Servos
Futaba GY611 Gyro W/9256 Tail Servo
Futaba GY401 Gyros On Aileron & Elevator
Helitronix Mixer For CCPM
Align RC Torque Tube Tail Drive
Align RC Thrusted Tail Hub & Grips
Evo Flight Power 4900 & 5000 6 Cell Main Batt Packs
Align RC 1900 12C Rx Batt Pack
Align RC 6 Amp BEC
Deans 2 Piece Based Loaded Antenna
Futaba 14Z Tx
Futaba G3 Rx
Our apologizes for not posting any further info on the progress of this very nifty model. But, with the high paced environment we have here, sales are well beyond anything we expected going into the new year and moving on. So, there has not been much progress here.
The only progress to date is that we did change the Carbon Fiber Frame to a Silver one. We thought the silver CF would like really cool inside the fuse. It Does !!!
We did upgrade the tail to the torque tube tail drive and all the high end Align RC tail components including the heavy duty hub and grips with thrust bearings. Seemed like a good thing to do since we have plenty in stock here. Besides, the anodizing on the Align RC machined tail gear box matches this color scheme very nicely. It just happened that way.
We also installed the Align RC 600XL Brushless Motor while playing with the mechs the other day.
Also, our intention is to go ahead and install a GY611 HH Hold Gyro with a 92556 Tail Servo for the tail, instead of the GY401 in our original plans. That should help to hold the tail very well.
We are at a stage now where we need to make a decision. We know there is a serious flybar issue with these mechs being an underslung flybar. To much cyclic action, other then hovering, will have those paddles coming around and smacking the upper part of the fuse. That would be very unpleasant. We could have gone with the Raptor Rotor Head, with the overslung flybar, and eliminated that issue.
But, we thought that the mechs were going inside this fuse so well, what the heck. We went ahead the other day and placed our order for the Century "Diamond 5 Bladed Rotor Head" We also ordered the Helitronics Mixer from Starwood Models. We intend to run 2 GY401 Gyros on Elevator and Aileron, respectively through the Helitronics Mixer. We have been hearing through the grapevine that that will make it fly much like a 2 bladed rotor head. That would be very nice.
We decided on the Vario Swashplate and Follower. We also got our order in for some Funkey 530mm fiberglass main blades that are colored silver.
As soon as everything starts showing up here, and as time allows, we will post pics. We will be working with Russ McCutcheon, Rob Clark and a few folks on line as we develope the pod and boom version and get it dialed in. If we dork it in during that time, we will get new parts and go at it again. We intend to do all we can to succeed. in spite of budget. Hang in there.
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This project got stalled for some time the last few months. 2 reasons:
#1 being that we accidentally damaged the fuse when it fell off a shelf and we accidentally stepped on it. The damage was not severe. However, we sold it to a friend in the local area and purchased another one. We wanted to go with the red one, but they were out of stock. So, we purchased the blue one.
#2 The biggest reason this project was on hold was that the Diamond 5 Bladed Rotor Head was not true. It was way of center when mounted on the main shaft as is. That put this project on hold for several months as, as far as we know, this rotor head was the only one that would work on this project. Vario has a nice selection of heads. But, no main blades to fit a 50 size machine.
As luck would have it, an old friend came back into the hobby a short while ago after a break of about 6 or 7 years. He is a machinist by trade. His name is Rich Howard. Most all the northwest folks know him and are glad he is back. He took that rotor head down to his shop and fixed it. The problem was the lower split portion of the head block, and the split in the sleeve that makes this head block fit on a 10mm main shaft (Actually 9.7mm). When all was tightened down with the collar, it pulled the head block off center and made it impossible to use. Rich took that rotor head down to his shop, cut off the lower split portion of the head block and machined a brass sleeve to fill the space for a 10mm main shaft. The brass sleeve extends down below the rotor head by about 5/8 of an inch. No collar necessary, and as long as the Jesus bolt is not torqued down, that rotor head is true as true can be. All indications were that the rotor head issue was the only thing holding this from getting off the ground.
Pics of Rich's machining work on this rotor head on the Test Flight Video Page
The Funkey 530mm Main Blades were balanced and matched on a "Koll Rotor Pro" main blade balancer form Min Air and an OHaus Triple Beam scale. A tedious process. But, a must do for obvious reasons.
We set main blade pitch at about 8 degrees on the top with approx 4 degrees on the bottom. The end points on the cyclics were set back to 35% with about 20% expo applied. The GY401 Gyro Gain is set at 10%. The 611 Gyro Gain for the tail is at 27%. Flys fine as is, although fine adjustments may be applied over time.
On Sunday 71/2007 we flight tested the T Rex 600 Mechs. The first attempt was a bit scary. Not because anything was wrong. Just because this is the first time that we are aware of that anyone had attempted a 5 bladed rotor head on a T Rex 600 CF Electric model. We had no idea what would happened when spooling up first time.
The first spool up, once we got the head to just below hover speed with Russ McCutcheon on the sticks, we discovered the swashplate phasing angle was off considerably. After a short debate, we adjusted the follower to change it. Scott Malone mentioned we should go one way, we thought it should go another way. We tried our way and found Scott was right. Once phasing angle was adjusted properly after the third try, Russ lifted off the ground. It was perfect. No shaking and all 5 blades were in track. We did not even have to track the blades. Very quickly, Russ moved it into forward flight with no issues. No unwanted flight characteristics and smooth as silk. Head speed was measured at 2100 to 2200 RPM. Smooth as silk.
By the end of the day, we got 5 4 minute flights, and one 6 minute flight. On the 6th flight, only 3200 mah went back into the Flight Power 5000 25C battery pack. On the 4 minute flights, only 2800 mah went back into the packs. Signaling that this thing has some serious potential.
One thing we did do before the third flight was to change out the motor from a 600XL to the 600L. The 600XL motor was running in the 170 degree to 180 degree range in temp on a 10t steel pinion gear. A bit to much. The lower KV 600L motor ran in the 150 degree range in temp with no significant drops in power. The 100 Amp ESC was about 10 degrees less in temp. Good enough.
With all those main blades sticking out there, we found this thing has a heck of a lot of collective power. The cyclic end points were adjusted down to 35%. Much more and the mechanical limits of the swashplate and linkage going up tp the grips would be stressed with cyclic input. Its plenty. Very controllable.
This thing is ready for installing into the Hughes 500E body. We are working on it now.
All up flying weight is about 10 pounds. A more accurate weight to come later.................
Will be flight testing with the body installed shortly.
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DeeTee Enterprises RC Hobbies | P.O. Box 40667 | Eugene, Oregon | 97404-0108
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New Orders/Inquiries/Tech Support
Dennis 1 541 302 0806
New Orders/Inquiries/Tech Support
Jay 1 541 345 1070
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