Quick 50 Pro Heli Kit....

[JuanRodriguez]

After starting with a Shuttle as my first heli many hears ago, I have owned and flown Concepts, Xcells (46, 60 and gasser), Intrepids (46, 60's and gasser) and most recently the Raptor line (30 through 60). Recently, I found myself looking for something different. I feel that as an intermediate pilot, the 50 sized helis still offers the best bang for the buck. I decided to try the Quick 50 Pro because it looked like to me that there would be no "upgrades" to buy since all of the upgrades that I would need would be included in the kit.....

I want to share some thoughts throughout the building process and would like to start out by posting some pics that I took today of some of the major components. A couple of my flying buddies and I have had an opportunity to "look things over" and they agree that the machined parts that make up this kit are very high in quality. That is what has impressed me most right off the bat.

Secondly, I have been in contact with Irwin and he has been very helpful to me in sharing some thoughts on building the machine and some "do's and don'ts". Additionally, Irwin appears to me to be very dedicated to his work and truly believes that his products are one of the best , if not the best, on the market.

If anyone else has any suggestions as I move forward with this build , please do share your tips.........I would greatly appreciate it.

My initial impressions of this model is that it is a high quality kit at a price that won't break the bank considering that all of the "bling" is included......The test will be (or course) , how does it fly ??? And how do things hold up ??? Let me build it first !!

Stay tuned, more to follow.....

[Rodney]

OMG. Sombody bought one of those. Hell I had to give Leo's away.

[Rudy]

There are two types of HHI customers . . . . . . . .

Those that have been screwed over . . . . .

Those that will be screwed over. . . . . . .


Good luck to you. . . . .

[JuanRodriguez]

The build begins...

The only problem I've had so far is with a defective inner elevator lever. The setscrew was drilled and tapped incorrectly. Rather than using a "repaired" arm as I originally intended, QWW is sending me out a new piece, no questions asked....

I was also going to use a home made liner but after thinking about it, the liner that came with the kit actually looks quite good. I'll use that instead.

[DavidH]

From what your reporting. It would sound like a few specialized tools are needed to complete the building of the model. I would think that not everyone has a bench vise.

David

[chopperman]

wow there were more probelms in these first steps then the whole build of my evo 30

[Rudy]

defective parts, and parts that have to be made to work . . . . . .

You feel the workmanship of this kit is at the same level of the other helicopters you have built :dontknow

[JuanRodriguez]

Guys,

Let's keep things under perspective..... I CHOSE to do the repair on the elevator arm because I have the knowledge, equipment and ability to do it quickly. I could have just as easily waited a couple of days for a new part to be sent. One of my flying buddies had an elevator yoke assembly that was unusable and it took three attempts before receiving one that was "acceptable". I'm not going to mention the heli brand because this is not what my thread is about .....but it was one of the "high end" kits from a very respected heli company..... :wink:

Regarding the special tools...... no, many people may not have a bench vise but I'm certain that most have a simple "C" clamp that could have been used to install the two bearings in the frames.....

The clutch liner ?? Well, my choice again. There is no indication that would lead anyone to believe that the clutch liner supplied along with their installation instructions would not have worked. I would choose to do the "custom liner" myself , whether the kit was $100 or $1000......That's just part of the "tinkering" part of the hobby I enjoy doing. Many of my friends come to me to do their clutch liners on various different models such as Raptors, Bergens and Vigors......In fact, I'm running out of the material and the stuff aint cheap !!! :(

Anyhow, I hope this clears up some of the comments made but I appreciate all the fedback so far. Please keep it coming...

[DebianDog]

I am actually interested to see how you like it. I have never seen one fly for very long and only at IRCHA.

[JuanRodriguez]

I'm in the same boat as you.....

So far, I'm liking the quality of the kit....

Of course, I am dissapointed about having to "repair" a defective part right off but like I said before, there is not one kit that I have ever owned that didn't need some attention to detail here and there....

Look at all of the growing pains with the Raptors when they first came out !!

And I forgot to mention about the "locking swashplates" of the Vigors a while back....Man, I sure would be PEE-O'd if I had spent a thousand dollars on a Vigor, taken the time to do a nice build just to have it crash on the first flight due to the swashplate locking up !!! :shock:

I could easily go on and on with faults of other machines but again, this thread is not about bashing other models. The couple of examples I stated are just a reminder to some that you have to keep things in perspective of the big picture....

I'll keep you'all posted as I continue with the build and have a chance to fly it....

[Rudy]

Yes thundertiger, JR and everyone else has had problems in the past. However they have worked with the users to fix it. Irwin has a long history treating their customers like trash, and blowing off issues.

That's the difference.

[Rodney]

Well I know of 3 kits that were bought here in florida. Of the 3 they were able to make 1 fly, unitl all the missing, wrong and damaged parts were replaced. Free of charge but still have to wait on parts that you already paid for. And I mean alot of parts. Then when Leo, did get all his parts the heli still never flew. I tried to sell it on the internet several times, but as it all came to and end when I finally got sombody to feel sorry for me and gave me $10 for it.

[DavidH]

I am actually interested to see how you like it. I have never seen one fly for very long and only at IRCHA.

Would that be the one that flew thru the top of the tent that was in the pit area? With the two people sitting under the tent when this happened? Then the pilot that was trying to fly the model sends someone else over to retrieve it instead of going hisself and apologizing and seeing if everyone was OK?

David

[Inspector Fuzz]

I almost want to get one of these.
Mainly because the negative hype seems to be to bad to be true.
I have never done business with HHI, but I find it hard to belive that "they won't even fly".
Lord, I learned to hover and fly around with an MFA 500!!! I had to do some real "adjusting" just to do that, and the thing still wasn't as bad as people make it. It was a $199 heli, made in the day when everything else was $400+. I just can't believe that these are as bad as people are letting on to believe.
I heard a lot of bad stuff about the Century Falcon/Raven and it was one of the most reliable heli's I have owned. Needed a little massaging, here and there, but worked none the less.
JEFF

[SteveL]

If you want anything Quick, I would go with QOJ or QUK. I don't know Irwin but just look up DavidH's posts and you will see that he usually has nothing bad to say about anything, and he has nothing good to say about Irwin.
Just my .02

[WillJames]

Good point about David Steve. You are correct. It was actually 4 people sitting under the tent, two couples it was.

I dislike the spreading of rumor and innuendo as much as anyone, and I think I need to spell out what David is talking about from my first hand experience with seeing the incident... there was many people who saw it. And so rumors and false information does not go around about this here are the details of the event that I witnessed.

I was right there and saw that crash through teh tent that David is talking about. At least one of the people was hurt, the older gentleman and his wife and another middle aged couple, had to dive on the ground and the next day when I found them and took the two men to see Ron Kummer to make sure IRCHA was aware of what happened, the older gentleman had a hard time walking around and required the help of a cane or walking stick. These people were at their first heli event, their Ez-Up was damaged in the front, with a big hole and broken framework, think they have ever attended another heli event?

Yes as Jeff says, it is hard to believe all teh negative stuff you hear about Irwin and QWW, there is just so much of it that I definitely don't believe it all, and I would be sceptical about this tent crash event, but I was there along with at least 25+ other people and saw it all.

This incident alone is plenty good enough reason for me personally to avoid any business or other dealings with Irwin Siner/QWW even if their helis were the best in the world.

Feel free to post the build thread Juan, but realize that there is a lot more to people avoiding the QWW helis and Irwin Siner and that is what you are seeing in this thread. It is nothing you have personally done or said. Even calling out other manufacturers on their own short comings with their kits is going to do little to change public opinion.

[JuanRodriguez]

I was able to spend a little more time last nite to continue the build. Everything is coming together quite nicely without any fitment issues.

A word about the manual...... it comes on CD which in turn is printed out by the builder. The manual is also available on the QWW website. I know that other manufactures are using this approach as it eliminates the very expensive proposition of including a printed manual with each kit. I particularly like the building manual. It is very nicely done to include a LOT of 3D color CAD drawings. Most steps are clearly described, in addition to having the drawing for reference, and the parts needed for each step are itemized for you with each building step. The location (Bag #) of the parts needed for each step is also provided with each building sequence.

All in all, I'm very please in the way things are coming together thus far. Here's where I'm at presently. The upper and lower frame assemblies are ready to come together :

[JuanRodriguez]

Hi All,

I didn't get a chance tonite to do any more work on the kit but I did have the opportunity to unwrap the canopy. My plan is to have a friend who is the collision business do a custom paint job on it. He came over tonite for me to help him with some other heli related stuff and so I got a look at the canopy for the first time.

I could not believe my eyes !! This canopy is flawless !! This canopy among the best quality I have EVER seen !! I have had some experience thanx to a good friend, Mark Smith, in the mould making process and have produced home made canopies. Having done that type of work leaves me with an even better appreciation of the type of work that has been done to produce the canopy that came with my kit. I know that the pic I'm attaching will not do it justice but nevertheless, here it is....

[JuanRodriguez]

Work and home chores have prevented me from spending much time in the workshop over the past couple of days but today, I had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours and made some progress...

I can't believe how easily this heli is coming together. I am almost out of parts !! The upper and lower frame assemblies came together very nicely without the need to "fudge" here and there as I've had to do with some other kits.

The clutch bell/start block assembly are high precision. After assembly, there is absolutly NO wobble noticable from the clutch bell.

The fan hub mounts onto the motor using a double collet system which makes it very easy to get the assembly to come together with minimal runout. Mine came out to a very respectable 1/2 a thousand without much effort !!. That, together with the way the clutch bell came out should provide a smooth, vibration free setup....

A word about the clutch itself.... It is larger in diameter and in thickness (surface area) than any other 50 size clutch I have seen. It looks like to me like it belongs on a 60, not a 50. When I push on the shoes, they spring right back into shape immediately. It looks like to me that QWW has had these made out of a high carbon steel. I believe this setup will result in a trouble free clutch system. The clutch bell itself has some "air scoops" machined into the top. I'm sure they are for improved cooling.

The location of the gyro is out of the way and protected against the inevitable "incident"....NICE !

I also like the location of the fuel tank. Many helis tend to be "tail heavy" and the forward mounted tank will help with the final CG of the heli. I'm not sure how many oz of fuel it holds but it looks BIG....

Another thing I like about this kit is the use of the more expensive Nord-Loc washers. Although I have heard of them, I had never seen them used on any heli I have ever owned.

That's all for now....

Here is where I am currently...

[IS Pilot]

Whats with the extra long bolt under the main gear?? Also why are all the washer shanging over the edges??

[JuanRodriguez]

Whats with the extra long bolt under the main gear?? Also why are all the washer shanging over the edges??

The bolt under the main gear is not the one I'll be using... that was the first one I grabbed out of the pile to assemble the main shaft and gear for a quick photo.... :wink:

The "washers" are actually finishing caps for the SHCS's. Their diameter is larger than other finishing caps I've seen. I actually like them in the sense that it spreads the load over a larger area. Unfortunately, when you use them around the edges of the frames, a little of the finishing cap protrudes past the frame....no big deal...

[mike5334]

The Q50 clutch is the same size as the Audacity Tiger clutch ... identical enough that I used the Q50 fan hub and clutch shoe assembly in place of the Tigers. Heh.

I have the Q50 and loves how it flies.

[ShawnK]

Well, all I can say is "good luck" to you. You couldn't get me to fly a Quick WW helicopter if it were the last helicopter brand on Earth.

3 years of listening to firsthand reports of Irwin's "customer service" - along with my own personal encounter with him - are enough to convince me that I would rather eat lint than support QWW.

As it has been eloquently stated already by my esteemed friend Rudy, there are two types of Quick customers: Those who have already been screwed by Irwin, and those who will soon be screwed by Irwin.

[JuanRodriguez]

The Q50 clutch is the same size as the Audacity Tiger clutch ... identical enough that I used the Q50 fan hub and clutch shoe assembly in place of the Tigers. Heh.

The Audacity folks probably "borrowed" the design !! :wink:

I have the Q50 and loves how it flies.

Thanx for all the comments so far. Please keep them coming !!! :)

[JuanRodriguez]

....and a little closer to "home plate"..... :)

After having completed the motor/fan/clutch assembly , I decided that I wanted to install a Trottle Jockey governor... Actually, I __forgot__ that I had wanted to use it initially until the assembly was completed ! They say that the memory is the SECOND thing that goes !!

After mounting the bracket and carefully marking the "spot" where the magnet should go, I dissasembled the unit in order to drill the mounting hole for the magnet. The fan does not have a "moulded divot" for the magnet so the installation is left up to the user. I had to do the same for a CNC TT cooling fan which did not have the "divots" either...