Well the Blade 130X arrived yesterday at stores in the UK, so naturally we quickly charged our LiPos and took the model outside for a test flight.
Here was mine… 
All posts tagged ‘Rob Turnbull’
The Align T-Rex 600 DFC Head currently available is not intended for use on the Nitro T-Rex 600, but only the electric version and the T-Rex 550.
The problem being the supplied main shaft is the wrong length for use on the Nitro model.
Not that I was about to let that deter me
The correct length shaft can be made by machining down a standard T-Rex 600 nitro main shaft, and drilling a new top bolt hole. The new top bolt hole should be drilled 156.5mm above the bottom bolt bole, measured from hole centres, leaving 10mm of shaft above the new top hole. Thanks to Pete Ayriss for working this out and sharing the information with me, and thanks to Noel Cross for machining the shafts for me!
Here is how I went about fitting and using the DFC head on my T-Rex 600 V2 flybarred nitro model.
Flybar head fitted on the model
First, we take the flybar head off the model, and remove the parts we are no longer going to need.
Flybar head removed
The DFC upgrade kit comes with only the parts required to upgrade the latest versions of the Align heads, so if yours is not a latest version head, with the separate pitch arms on the grips, then you will also need a new set of blade grips as well. The T-Rex 600 Nitro V2 comes with the new blade grips already.
Parts not needed
The parts we will be keeping from the existing head assembly (everything on the main shaft from the mast locking collar upwards) are the swashplate, feathering spindle (and bolts and spacer shims), blade grips and blade grip bolts. That’s it!
Stuff to keep
Next we need to start building the new DFC head assembly. Here’s a picture of the DFC box.
T-Rex 600 DFC Head Upgrade Box
And here are the box contents.
T-Rex 600 DFC Head Upgrade Box Contents
Make sure you apply grease to the thrust bearings and a little on the dampers when assembling the new head. Here we have a picture of the assembled blade grips and headblock. The DFC downlinks are not yet complete, although I found that threadlocking the metal parts in place (using green threadlock) and having them screwed all the way in was the best option here.
Head Block and Blade Grips assembled
Next we will be removing the inner swash balls (all four of them) and fitting two shorter balls on opposite sides of the inner swash. This will help increase resolution. This next picture shows the existing swashplate, along with the two new swashplate balls supplied in the DFC kit. We will not be using these two new balls from the DFC kit as they are too long.
The Swashplate
I used the two short balls found in the T-Rex 700 FL Linkage Ball pack – part number HN7099T.
Short links
And here is the completed head assembly ready for fitting to the model.
Complete head assembly
Once the head is fitted to the model, all that’s left to do is fit your chosen flybarless controller (a fullsize VBar in my case) and set it up!
DFC Head fitted to the model
Having flown this a lot since fitting the DFC head, I can tell you it certainly performs well. I have not yet properly crashed the model, but I have seen one that took a tumble and the bolts in the pitch arms will bend. Keep some spares on hand (when they become available!).
As it stands right now, the upgrade process is not straightforward for this specific model (T-Rex 600 Nitro V2), but I’m sure Align will resolve this quickly and make the upgrade process painless once they release a main shaft that doesn’t need to be machined to the right dimensions.
A final note… The dampers wear out pretty quickly, so replace them often to avoid issues with blade tracking in flight.
I will post a video of this model flying in the near future, so watch this space!
Tags: Align T-Rex 600, DFC Head, Rob Turnbull
Posted in Team Blog
This Sunday (1st April – no joke!) the newly appointed UK F3N Team met up at a nice facility near Tamworth, in order to put in some practice towards our efforts for the European Championships in Germany later this year.
Scallywag Models gave the Team exclusive use of their field and facilities for the entire day, and we made the most of a sun scorched Sunday.
Duncan Osbourn, Stuart Mott and myself (Rob Turnbull) were all present, and we all helped each other with practicing our set manoeuvres to make sure we are all flying them correctly. There’s nothing worse than practicing something only to find out you’ve been practicing it wrong!!
With such a full calendar of events going on this year, it is proving difficult to get our team together to practice together and make sure everything is moving in the right direction. We would like to do well on the European stage, and hopefully days like yesterday will be a massive help to us all.
The weather was superb all day long, and after several hours of flying, we all finished the day a little scorched by the sun.
I think we all took something good away from the day, and can continue to practice on our own, knowing that we are working on the right manoeuvres, being flown the right way.
Onwards and upwards Team GB F3N!
Here are a few photos from the day – mainly of my Logo which was superb!
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- Duncan Osbourn and his T-Rex 700E
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- Duncan Osbourn and his T-Rex 700E
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- Rob Turnbulls Logo 600
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- Rob Turnbulls Logo 600
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- Rob Turnbulls Logo 600
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- Rob Turnbulls Logo 600
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- Rob Turnbulls Logo 600
Tags: Duncan Osbourn, Rob Turnbull, Stuart Mott, UK F3N Team
Posted in Team Blog
The weather played nice, and we managed to get a full weekends flying in for a change!
I made great use of my Aurora 90 Nitro, as well as my Logo 600.
The Logo is a carbon framed beauty, and it is flying extremely well – loving that thing!
I’m flying Thunder Power 5s 5000mah Lipos paired in Series to make a 10S powerhouse. Scorpion HK3-4035-560KV motor, Mini VBar controller and a YGE 120 HV ESC make for a very exciting flying machine. I will be swapping the ESC out for the new Scorpion 130a Commander in the near future, as well as switching over to the VBar governor.
The Aurora just keeps on rocking – the OS 91 3D Speed I’m running with the GP 977 muffler is also a great combination. I can see myself stepping up to the OS 105 in future, but for now this has plenty of power for what I want to do with it. The RigidCore flybarless head paired up with the VBar Pro system works great – it is still the best flying 90 out there in my opinion.
I’ve been recently flying some new development fuel for OptiFuel in the shape of XXXULV, an extra (extra extra) low viscosity oil fuel, and having used just over 10 litres so far I am finding it to be yet another winning formula from Optifuel. I look forward to flying more of this fuel in the coming season.
Logo 600
Tags: DX8, Logo 600, Rob Turnbull, XXXULV
Posted in Team Blog
Here’s a video of a flight on my Mikado Logo 600 3D. The heli uses Scorpion HK3-4035-560 motor, YGE 120 HV ESC, Savox Servos, Thunder Power 10S 5000 mAh batteries and Spin Blades.
Tags: Logo 600, Mikado, Rob Turnbull, Savox, Scorpion, Spin, Thunder Power
Posted in Videos
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