I have been debating for some time now whether or not I really want to get into the RC Helis. I’ve had several 3 & 4 channel, fixed pitch helis in the past that are very easy to learn and fly, those don’t really count. The 6 channel helis are a different story, when you add roll and pitch into the mix, it’s a whole different story. Anyway, I just got my Honey Bee CP3 in and am doing my best to learn to fly it on my own using a flight sim and training kit for the heli.
The head cover holders on the Volitation 9053 Helicopter are very fragile, mine broke on the second flight I believe. They are not very expensive but after replacing them several times I decided to come up with a simpler and hopefully better solution to hold the cover.
I started by drilling holes in both sides of the frame just behind the original rear cover holder mounting screws.
Then I straightened out a paperclip and pushed it through the holes I just drilled. Using needle nose pliers, I created a bend inside the frame walls to help the paperclip stay in one place.
Then I bent the paperclip like the pic below and created hooks on both sides to slide through the cover holes.
The lower blade shaft on the Volitation 9053 can be reversed or turned upside down in order to allow an additional inch of space between the upper and lower blades. This is very useful when flying in slight wind or making sharp turns. If you have flown the 9053 heli for a while you have probably had the blades hit one another causing you to loose control. This will help alleviate that problem.
I believe this would have to be my very 1st stress related crash. I had finally gotten to spend a good amount of time flying this one on the Saturday afternoon prior to the crash. I was getting VERY comfortable with it’s capabilities, I had the flat spin down to a T. I must say that this plane was quite aerobatic for it’s size and build, a slightly larger engine would have been nice, 52cc is what I had on it. Anyway, I was basically taking the plane as high as I possibly could, dive bombing at full throttle and then pulling back at the last second, completely making a 180 and flying inverted at the top end, so needless to say, a lot of stress no doubt. I had done this several times but the last time, I pulled all the way back on the elevator and almost instantly the top wing flew off, with small fragments of wood flying in all directions, followed by both lower wings and more wood fragments milliseconds later. At that point the fuselage was like a self guided missile, moving at an astonishing rate, headed directly for the ground. Upon impact, I was simply hoping that something, even if it was a few servos or the tank, was recoverable, it hit that hard! Despite the frustration and loss of loosing a plane as great as this 1, the crash was something else, probably number 1 in my book of crashes. Engine will need a new head and carb but once rebuilt will soon go on a edge 540 or extra 300!
In the process of restoring my biplane, I actually came across the reason for the engine dying mid-takeoff. Turns out the fuel line inside the gas tank came off, causing the engine of course to loose fuel supply and die. Sorry reason to crash a plane if you ask me. My recommendation to my fellow RC’ers, take the time to put a zip tie around the fuel line(s), inside and out, and zip them down nice and tight.
It’s always a good idea to take the extra time when building a model, plane, helicopter, what ever it might be, to go ahead and take all the small precautionary measures you can to help avoid this type of failure. Use plenty of thread-lock, use a small amount of CA or other glue on screws, zip tie wires, control clevises & FUEL LINES, etc..
I have finally finished the Ultimate Biplane, it’s ready to fly. FYI, it’s extremely important to take tons of pictures when you have reached this point in an rc airplane project, right before the 1st flight!!!
I guess I kind of took a small leap of faith here in ordering a gas engine for my Ultimate Biplane and I say leap of faith because first, I don’t know much about gas engines/models, secondly, I ordered the cheapest engine I could find that was plenty big to power my plane and third, it’s coming from Hong Kong. I ordered a (Turnigy) TGY52, which is their 45cc engine bored out to 52cc. I found the engine at www.HobbyKing.com, check it out, they have great prices on gas engines.
Spec. Displacement: 52cc
Weight: 1584g
Carburettor: (Japanese Walbro) Diaphragm & Butterfly valve.
Prop Speed: 1700 ~ 7800rpm
Max power: Over 3.2kw
Suggested prop: 20×8, 20×10, 22×8 or larger
Ignition: DC-CD (6v)
Mixture: 25:1 to 40:1
Bore/Stroke: Unknown x 31 mm
Size: 170mm long, 215mm wide, 215mm high (Including baffle)
Mount hole: 64mm x 64mm
I ordered my 1st gas airplane today, the Ultimate 50cc Biplane, should be in Thursday!
I am going to put a RCGF 50cc Gas Engine on it, which I have not ordered yet. Gas gets expensive, I’m used to the 40 size nitro planes, like $70 to $120 an engine, $100 for an ARF model, etc.. It’ll be a freggin blast though!
Capacity: 50cc
Weight: 1630g incl. stand off’s and ignition unit
Power: 5hp at 7600RPM
RCexl Ignition unit.
Prop Range: 22X8 to 24X8
