For those who aren't familiar with Gohbee.

[Gohbee]

Howdy Helifreaks! For those who are just now hearing of us, please allow me to introduce ourselves.

Who is Gohbee Aviation?

We are the exclusive distributor for the Stinger line of helicopters in the US, Canada, Mexico as well as other countries. The Stinger line of helis are manufactured in China by our business partner. The Stinger heli is also marketed under the Tianzi name in other countries. Essentially, the Tianzi and Stinger are the same heli, except we specify and offer certain “upgrades” as standard. For instance the Stinger comes standard with metal pitch arm and is available with fiberglass canopy. Basically, Gohbee is the largest stocking distributor in the world for the Stinger line of helicopters. We have a large inventory of replacement parts and options for our customers. We stand behind every kit / replacement part we sell. Our instruction manual is written in English by native English speakers. Our warehouse is located in South Carolina and items ordered by 12:00 noon usually ship the same day (except Fedex Ground -- they delay pickup for one day :? ). Also, our website provides you with various shipping options so you can choose how much to pay and how fast you want it delivered. No surprises in the cost of shipping.

Below the swashplate the Stinger is very similar in design to the Raptor-- however, our parts on not the same. Our frames have been beefed up and are made of stronger material. There are many subtle improvements that add up to make the Stinger a great chopper. The improvements may not be so evident until you do a side by side comparison. For one the ribbing along the side of our frames are taller and increase the lateral strength. We’ve also added a tray underneath the fuel tank to improve frame stiffness. For more complete list of features, please follow the link below:

http://www.gohbee.com/Merchant2/docs/instructions/Why%20the%20Stinger.pdf

[ChrisLaFollette]

I for one will say the Gohbee line if helicopters are VERY well built and VERY good flying helicopters. I had the chance to wring out Jody Greers Raptor 50 with the Gohbee head on it and it was very nice! Flew very good and tracked VERY well also!


Thought I might add that Tid Bit of info for people who read this post. :D

[WillJames]

I have flown the 30 and 50 myself and they do fly very nice.

[esmith]

Is there a problem with the stiffness of the Raptor V2's? One of the improvments of the Raptor V2's is a beefed up frame. I've had no problems with weak frames for any of my raptors. At what point does beefing them up simply add unwanted weight? Also, there is a carbon stiffner for the Raptors that fit's between the frame and skids. Is the stinger stiffner just a knock off of this or is it something previously unavailiable?

Does "stronger" really mean "heavyer for no real reason"?

Sorry, I don't mean to knock the stinger, I've never tried one. It just seems to me there is more to it than knocking off a heli design from another company and reproducing the parts. When they make structural changes, shouldn't they at least consult the designer to see if it goes against any of the design principals?

Maybe not, I really don't know it just seems that this is a cheap knock-off of a good reliable proven machine. Why screw around, we know you get what you pay for, why not just get the proven Raptor?

-eSmith.

[Gohbee]

Interesting comments & questions. I think there's several improvements all working together that make the Stinger a worthy entry into the heli market. I think that a lot of your questions would be answered after looking at one in person and especially after flying one.

In theory there are several advantages to having a very stiff frame. In practice, judging a frame's stiffness and it's affect on performance is more difficult. Frame stiffness is required to maintain engine and clutch alignment during forceful 3D manuevers and during sudden engine loading. Theoretically, the stiffer frames allow for smoother power transmission to the main rotors and thus smoother flight characteristics. As you noted, TT added a cf plate in order to increase their frame stiffness. We opted to beef up the ribbing along the sides of the frames because this is closer to the where the forces are actually being transmitted. (Take a look at the comparison photos in the attached file) Our frames are also made of a stonger plastic to increase strength. Therefore our designers felt a cf stiffner was unecessary because of the improved stiffness inherent in the Stinger frame. One added bonus is that you don't have to take a stiffener plate off to get to the engine.

I really haven't taken the time to measure the weight on a TT frame versus our frame. I'll be happy to weigh one of our frames and post the weight. (I'll include our plastic fuel tank tray and leave out all the screws) I don't know whether our frames are lighter or heavier. If you or someone else has a Raptor 50 frame w/ cf stiffener laying around I'd be interested in knowing their respective weights. Perhaps you or someone could post it for comparison. We may find that our frames are actually lighter because we're adding the weight/beef where it does the most good. This of course would be even better! (ie better stiffness without the addition of a cf plate) Then again we may be heavier......

Regardless, what I do know --is that the Stinger when tooled up and ready to go, is a shade lighter than an identically equipped Raptor. Like I said we haven't gone so far as to figure out where there are weight differences. I'm only speculating.....for example, if our frames are in fact heavier then perhaps we've shaved weight in the head because of the simple yet effective flybar design. Again, perhaps we're heavier in one department and lighter in another. What's important is overall RTF weight. And we're right there if not a shade lighter.

There are other improvements in the Stinger that are noteworthy. Most important I think is the head. There are numerous other improvements that all add up to make the Stinger a great machine and it is also very affordable to fly.

I hope this explanation is helpful. Thanks for your interest! :D

Happy Flying!
David