View Full Version : Blast from the past Century Predator Turbine
DebianDog
03-01-2007, 09:04 PM
Found this on my HDD when going though videos I have downloaded over the years.
What is the story on this project?
Greg Alderman
03-01-2007, 09:16 PM
I think that was Bob Johnston flying over in the UK...not sure who owned the heli...
Or...I could be full of doo doo...
HeliDan
03-01-2007, 11:44 PM
I think that was Bob Johnston flying over in the UK...not sure who owned the heli...
Or...I could be full of doo doo...
Well, that trailer in the background is from rosendin electric, they are a company that operates in the north-west US (california, nevada, arizona, new mexico and oregon).
They dont seem to be an international company, so I am thinking that vid was not done in the UK...... :dontknow
Greg Alderman
03-01-2007, 11:54 PM
Guess I am full of doodoo... :D Oh well...guess my mind is getting old and mushy!
Gary Travis
03-02-2007, 12:04 AM
Looks to me like the turbine Perry flew out in California, If my memory serves me right it was built by a form dist here in the US who ended up trying to copy the Wren system and market it early on.
Gary
HeliDan
03-02-2007, 12:33 AM
Looks to me like the turbine Perry flew out in California, If my memory serves me right it was built by a form dist here in the US who ended up trying to copy the Wren system and market it ealy on.
Gary
Hehe.... that sounds closer! :mrgreen:
Coolice
03-02-2007, 08:01 AM
Hey,
Garys hit the nail on the head, it was Perry Kavros Centurys test pilot of a few years back and was the first prototype.
Basically it was a company in it's early stages who built the turbine, but it was not as relaible as the WREN unit. Hence it now use's the WREN setup.
This was the model I recently rebuilt and setup again for Peter Chao, the boss of Century to fly and enjoy. It was aired for the first time at IRCHA I think.
.
DebianDog
03-02-2007, 08:04 AM
So why doesn't Peter sell a kit?
Coolice
03-02-2007, 04:54 PM
Hey,
Basically at the time of the first prototype the sheer volumes required were not attainable. eg. the turbine suppliers could not deliver quick enough to suit the demand. Hence the project was set aside. Atleast this is how I understand it to have been, but I could be wrong.
Today WREN have upped the standard of turbine manufacturer and now obtaining turbine engines in large quantitys isn't a problem.
However Century have to many other projects to deal with a turbine conversion as well. I have posed the question to them why do they not offer the WREN conversion though their own channels, but that hasn't happened.
Having said that why would they need to when WREN are more than capable of supplying to the US and beyond without trouble, plus the expertise is there to back the product up.
.
DebianDog
03-02-2007, 09:01 PM
Not sure if WREN was ever in question myself.
The Electric Swift is out, the Nitro Freestyle is out, next step is turbine baby! :YeaBaby:
The engine in Perry's helicopter was a Mk 1 Wren. At the time we had a dealer in the US who lived in San Francisco and we thought it made sense for him to work with Century rather than us, because he was so much nearer. Simon Peckham (SPS Turbines in the UK ) had just started to manufacture a version of the Wren heli gearbox to sell with our engines, and one of those was used.
Perry brought the helicopter over to the UK and flew it at the Sandown Show in May 2002. Unfortunately he failed to pull out of a manouvre at the right time and the heli was damaged.
The project was put on one side, as we had a lot of problems with the guy in SF and dismissed him later in 2002. We also had problems with Simon Peckham, who early the following year sold himself, with all our helicopter and turboprop designs, to JetCat and became JetCat UK. So the helicopter projects were sidelined for a year or two. Eventually, as Ian says, he repaired that first helicopter, with our assistance and it's now back with Peter Chao.
Wren then started to work with Century UK, and we produced the conversion kit for the Predator which we now sell. Ian is right that Century USA were only really interested in selling the heli engines if we could produce them in hundreds, and this was not feasible at first so we agreed that the engines would be sold by Wren rather than via Century.
Sara Parish
Wren Turbines
Coolice
03-06-2007, 09:24 AM
Hey All,
If I remember correctly to, Perry/Century were almost given the bill to repair Sanddowns race fence that the model took out :WOW
I rememeber it as at the time I was flying a scale model, we all expected the model to reappear from below the race line, but it didn't.
However it did survive very well as the impact was taken by the rear of the machanics, just behind the boom mounts at the back of the machine.
.