As I get more time on the Align BlackShark there’s more tweaking and adjustment going on. Here is the latest round of modifications I’ve made to my machine to suit my tastes, and the reasoning behind them..

1) Gear Ratio

Out the box the Trex 700F3C runs a 9.33:1 gear ratio with the 470KV motor. This setup leaves very little headroom at the top end for the ESC governor to work with anything but perfect fresh batteries. This is with a Max head speed of only 1950rpm programmed into the ESC too. There are a number of options available to sort this, a change of motor or a gear ratio change. With the latter being the more cost effective that is what I went for. I changed to a 110T main gear and a 13T pinion to give myself a ratio of 8.46:1. With this ratio the ESC is happy from my hover head speed of 1570rpm right through to an aero head speed of 2050rpm with room to spare for the governor to work at its best.

2) Tail Gear Ratio

Again as standard the tail ratio is a little on the low side, just like the main gear ratio. At 1:4.33 I wanted to increase this to something in the higher 4′s. Swapping out the tail counter gear assembly and main tail drive gear allows a number of options. I went for the 21 tooth counter gear arrangement which gives me a new ratio of 1:4.95. The other option is to go for 22 tooth and have 1:4.72.

3) Flybar Ratio

Yet again, another ratio..and too low. In my previous post I talked about swapping out the ball on the swashplate side of the mixer arm to increase the ratio. With some newer more accurate measuring instruments I’ve got an accurate reading of 25 degrees of flybar tilt to 15.5 degrees of blade tilt. This gives a ratio of 0.62:1, better than standard but still far below what I would like. Fitting a set of Trex600 Pro mixer arms with  a combination of Linkage Ball B and Linkage Ball A (Complete set: HN7065). I also used Linkage Ball B in the flybar carrier (in fact this is where I got my Linkage Ball A from!), however you will need to file down the threads slightly to stop them interfering with the flybar. Using this arrangement gave me no change in overall pitch range but resulted in 19 degrees of blade movement for 25 degrees of flybar movement giving me a much better ratio of 0.76:1. I did need to add a small washer (tail rotor blade spacer) behind the mixer arm to stop the ball links from fouling on the mixer arm itself. Also this arrangement needs your servo throws set perfectly as it is on the mechanical limit of what can be achieved on the rotor head and it’s easy to get binding if things aren’t perfect.

With almost a complete week of flyable weather (shock, horror), I’ve been able to get some serious airtime on the Align Blackshark body that I reviewed in a previous blog entry. During this time I’ve made some modifications to better suit the model to me. That’s not to say the original setup is wrong, far from it, however everybody has their own personal preference on setup and this blog entry will detail the modifications I’ve made to my machine, and why.

1) Flybar ratio

The standard Trex rotor head, even in it’s highest setting, has quite a low flybar ratio. The most accurate measurement I could get was around 0.6 : 1 where as I personally prefer a setting much closer to 1:1. A low flybar ratio gives you sharper controls, however you suffer more with trim changes in the wind. My solution was to replace the ball on the mixer arm that connects to the swashplate with a lengthened ball from the swashplate. This moves the link closer to the rotor hub. The offset geometry gives a nice boost in flybar ratio. I am now just over 0.7 : 1 and the difference in flight is noticable. I can’t go any higher now with the current head design and mixer arms without things binding.

2) Flybar length

I have reduced the standard flybar length from 570mm to around 520mm. With the standard flybar the model didn’t track as nicely as it could in fast forward flight and felt slightly “balloony” on the elevator. I didn’t want to add more weight to the flybar so instead fitted a shorter flybar and cut down the flybar stiffeners.

3) Damping and teeter

Typically I like a model with a teeter point and no lead lag, which is just how the standard Trex rotor head is configured with the plastic inserts. However adding the Blackshark body I have found it hovers better with a fully floating axle. There are less trim changes in the wind with this setup. I’ve replaced the red soft dampers with the harder black damers, this is because of the increased forward speed from adding the Blackshark body. To make up the space taken by the head inserts (now removed) I have placed a standard JR o-ring damper behind the Align damper to remove the spindle float.

For completion this is my setup:

Transmitter : JR XG11

Cyclic Servos : Align 610

Gyro : Futaba GY701

Tail Servo : JR Wide Voltage MP82

ESC : Castle 120HV2

Motor : Align 470Kv

Main Blades : Radix F3C V2

Tail Blades : Radix 95mm

The Shark fuselage by Black Products Japan has been synonymous with F3C since the late 1980′s. Having graced a number of World Champion models it has stood the test of time and is still “the” fuselage for F3C flying over 20 years since its first appearance.

Black Products have for a number of years worked very closely with Hirobo, and the BlackShark body has almost exclusively been designed around Hirobo Eagles and been flown by their pilots.

Align needs no introduction, however until recently their market target audience has been nearly 100% 3D. Looking to branch out into other areas they have grown their scale fuselage range and also started to market dedicated F3C helicopters.

In 1995 on a visit to Hirobo in Japan I met a young Japanese pilot by the name of Manabu Hashimoto. He was tipped by Hirobo to be the next World Champion. Sure enough in 1997 he became World Champion. And again in 2003. His success is matched only by Curtis Youngblood and Hiroki Ito.

In a massive coup for Align they have not only managed to secure the services of Manabu Hashimoto to fly for them, but also the support of Black Products. This team work has led to the creation of the Black Shark fuselage for the Align Trex 700 F3C.

Unlike the original Black Products fuselages this one has had the Align treatment. It is available in a number of colour schemes, ready assembled and at a very competitive price. Currently the body retails in the UK for just under £500. For comparison other pre-painted F3C bodies from Japan are inexcess of £1000…

On delivery the first thing to strike you is the size of the box. It is massive. The body is assembled in one unit in the box, and the box needs to be sturdy enough to survive Parcel Force and the like. Align are certainly playing on their work with Black Products, both logos are prominent everywhere. You are under no illusion over who has been involved in the design and development of this body.

Unboxing the body reveals a beautifully painted piece of work that is honesty remarkable at the price. The paintwork is not flawless, it couldn’t be at this price. However blemishes are few and with a deep gloss the overall effect is very impressive. Certainly 1ft away and you’d struggle to spot the problems.

It’s also worth noting at this point that you get a lot more in this than just some nicely painted glass fibre. Also included in the box are:

1. New low profile undercarriage
2. Decal sheet
3. Numerous blocks of mounting foam
4. Drill and Tap and template for modifying rotor head
5. New metal and carbon fibre undercarriage mounting points
6. New low profile tail rotor gearbox

You read that correctly.. modifying the rotorhead.

The template, drill and tap are for mounting a flybar seesaw limiting screw in the head block. At first I thought this might be for flying reasons, however once the body was mounted its real intention was clear. Without reducing the flybar movement it would be in danger of hitting the rear body work section!

The Black Shark was original designed around taller Hirobo mechanics. Therefore to get the Trex to sit at the right height inside the body Black Products have designed a set of stand offs that mount to the bottom of the frames to extend the height of the mechanics.

Finally there is a new mounting block which sits on the ESC tray to secure the top of the body and the slim line tail gearbox that does away with the vertical fin mount.

The body itself is secured at the rear by the ESC bracket and the lower undercarriage plates. The front section is located with a few guide pins and securing screws. At the bottom of the front section is a strong magnet that “aligns” the body with the new undercarriage structure.

Removing the front section is as easy as undoing 4 screws and sliding it forwards. Certainly not much harder than most canopies. Removing the rear is almost as easy and the whole mechanics can be removed in about 5 minutes.

The finished product looks like something several times the asking price.. It can easily stand proudly with the most elite of F3C machines and not be disgraced.

Our beautiful British weather has reduced flight testing to a quick single flight in a water/mud soaked field!

First impressions are that the machine is quiet, smooth and tracks well in fast forward flight. Visibility is obviously excellent! I look forward to getting some more time under the mechanics to start to really stretch its legs.

To summarise, this is a very well thought out kit that goes that bit further than just providing some fancy glass work. There has obviously been some real care and attention put into the design of the fitting and packaging of the product. At this price there really is nothing available currently in the UK to compete with it. Whilst the fitting kit is designed around the Trex the original design was based on Hirobo mechanics, therefore I’d expect it to be relatively easy to adapt to other mechanics should you wish to.

Hi all,
After purchasing a Mikado Logo 700 Xxtreme I found a couple of issues with the build. I hope my build tips bellow iron out any problems you may encounter whilst building the awesome 700 Xxtreme !

• I found the main aluminum hub didn’t fit correctly into the main gear causing the gear to appear warped when assembled in the Heli for the first time. After further investigation the main gear molding measured 0.2mm smaller than the aluminum hub, so it needed some re-work in order for it to sit flat so that the main gear ran true. The gear mesh as you would expect needs to be done carefully to obtain a smooth transition and no binding takes place.

• The tail assembly I found a little tight and almost definitely was the main cause of my tail wag. The tail needs careful assembly and you must watch you don’t over tighten the screws and everything aligns well.

• The ball links on the pitch slider are also a little tight and need a small pinch with some flat pliers to loosen them off a little.

• When assembling the pitch slider ensure when screwing in the brass bush is square and true, when done check to see if the arms are level.

• The brass bush is a little tight on the output shaft, its worth putting a little metal polish on the shaft to ensure the movement beds well together and Im sure after a few flights the whole tail assembly will loosen up.

• Just out of the process of elimination I also change the 4 bearings for better quality ones.

• Sensor pad, although my first results on the vbar vibration analysis were fine, I decided to add a metal sandwich plate between the sensor and the main frame. This allows a little less vibration to get too the vbar sensor.

• vbar settings as follows: These were achieved after several flights and we believe they work very well for my style of flying !

• Style 64
Agility 94
Gyro Gain 84
Rc Deadband 2
Elevator precomp 10
Paddle Sim 20
15% Expo
Control loop Ele 47 Ail 47

Tail
Yaw Rate 94
Giro Gain 90
Rc Deadband 5
Acceleration 55
P gain 90
I gain 55
Stop gains A and B 20 20
50% expo
Control loop 38 47
Torque pre-comp
22 collective
9 cyclic
0 Zero Col

After purchasing a Mikado Logo 700 Xxtreme I thought it would be great fun to produce a time lapse video of the build !

I hope you all enjoy it !

Horizon Hobby sent me a Blade Nano a few days ago which is their latest “micro” or “mini” 3D Helicopter. I thought I would share my initial thoughts and experiences flying it.

I guess the nearest model comparison will be the BLADE mCPX which was released last year(2011) . I would say the BLADE mCPX was a helicopter that perhaps “broke the mould” and opened up learning 3D to a much wider audience. Virtually anyone could have a go. The Nano is even smaller and therefore safer version and  I was very interested to see how the Nano compared.

What packs does it run on?
150mAh 25c 1S packs.  The same packs as the Blade MSR. You get two with the kit.

How big is it? Comparing it in size it’s almost exactly the same size as a Blade MSR with a few millimeters longer on the tail. The version I have was shipped with a  yellow canopy and as with all the BLADE Helis  it’s perfectly visible in the air and pretty tough.

What is it like to fly?
The kit i got came with a DX4e but I was binding to my regular TX the DX18.  As with all the Blade BNF range setup was very easy and the process took around 5-6 mins. Once the  packs were charged I took off from our dining table. Noticeable was the round the center stability in the hover provided by the AS3X flybarless system. It gives you great confidence to hover and fly around the smallest of spaces. The tail hold is rock solid with no detectable drift.

Will it 3D?
As a 3D heli it’s easily as good as the mCPX! The flip and roll rate are just right. Quick enough to flip or roll low down and very controllable on the exit of the move. There are limits as you would expect with a tail motor but only with fast piro-ing stuff like piro circuits and loops. Overall you could put together a very sensible routine allowing for conditions.

What’s it like for the Sport flyer?
It comes fitted with  3D blades out of the box which make the heli pretty lively, BUT the kit also includes some blades with the familiar bullet style weights. These will tame the heli down and improve fast forward flight. I’ve not tried them yet but from experience on other models they make these helis very stable and well mannered for general flying about.

Will it hurt if I crash?
I’ve crashed mine on the road outside the house a few times now, it’s hardly got a scratch so it’s inherited and surpassed the resilience of the Blade mCPX in my opinion which is impressive, and I haven’t lost any of the links yet. A word of warning however, flying any heli around table, chair legs or any other vertical object will more than likely cause damage. If you fly in an unobstructed area, get throttle hold in quick you should get away with most excursions to Terra Firma.

Whats it like to fly compared with the mCPX?
The BLADE mCPX has been out for a while now and what’s great to see is Horizon Hobby have put all of the good stuff they have learned into the NANO. The NANO’s tail is really very good, you can really chuck the heli around and get away with it. Treat it with a bit of respect and it will surprise you what it is capable of. Light winds only or indoors for this one so if you need to fly in a bit more wind then I would got for the mCPX or even the 130x

Should I buy one?
It’s a great little heli. No doubt it will be very popular with  beginners, indoor flyers or 3Ders wanting  a capable heli they can take anywhere……. no office space will be safe! You could certainly take it on holiday without the wife getting too P##sed off with you! It’s going to be very well priced for what you get.

Will I get more chicks if I fly one?
Yeah for sure! They won’t think you are trying to make up for something so they’ll be all over you.

The whole experience of flying the Nano has been very easy from taking it out of the box, to test hovering it in the house to 3D-ing it outside and even in the lounge (wife not present of course!)

UPDATE 27th September – Still flying really well, I’ve crashed it on the road outside a few times and not even lost a link! Awesome little heli!

You can buy one of these right now with a TX or “Bind and Fly”

BLH3300 : Blade Nano nCP X RTF Helicopter

BLH3380 : Blade Nano CP X Helicopter BNF

I though I’d post to let you guys know I’ve done a flight review of the BLADE 300x from Horizon Hobby.

The design is very similar to the Blade 450x but is probably around 20% smaller in overall size. It’s a very capable heli which comes as standard with the AR7200BX Receiver/Flybarless unit. If you are a new pilot or wish to move up from helis like the MCPx or even the 130x this a nice transition to larger helis like hte 450 and 500 sized models available.

It’s not as powerful as the 450 but it is still capable of full 3D flight and with the well proven BeastX power AR7200BX it flies impeccably.

The 300x, like the rest of the Blade range, comes ready to fly (BNF) including a lipo pack so all you need is to charge the pack and a 6 channel Spektrum TX like the DX6i and you are ready to go.

BUY ONE NOW