Mini vacation coming up, 550 maiden soon!(edit-Today!)

[warpspeed]

Well, while the rest of you gents were enjoying the big IRCHA event, I've been stuck here in broiling hot Denver (108 today!) getting my 550 set up. I think it's finally ready for a simple test hover so on Wednesday I'll see if she needs any more work and then give her a whirl. I've had a heck of a time getting the pitch right, and it's still not how I'd like it but it's close enough until I can get my hands on some CF blades.

Some random thoughts...
Aside from the missing parts, (rectified quickly by Century) there really weren't any issues with the build. Everything fit together well and when complete it is a very sturdy birdie. Anyone that's built a chopper before shouldn't have too hard a time with this one.
The main shaft has a pronounced lean towards the front, and the whole chassis reminds me of an old hot rod with the rear-end jacked way up. Very aggressive looking! Can't say I care much for the canopy but I'll fix that with the 620's shell once it hits the market. The skids are very sharp and I sliced myself open quite a few times until I finally pulled them off to finish the rest of the build. I went full bling so the head is all metal, and while I understand there are issues with the thrust bearings and plastic grips the alloy bits are smooth as butter. Unlike Align's, the gears on the Swift are ROUND-no issues with gear mesh at all.The only niggle I had is with the front boom block-it consists of two plastic halves that sandwich the boom in place, and spinning the head by hand was enough to loosen the belt. I didn't completely tighten the screws for fear of breaking the tabs, so it looks like I'll have to pull it back out and use the ol' electrical tape trick to keep things in place.

I'm looking forward to cutting her loose, and I'll post some pic's on Weds. before the maiden.

Parts list for those interested:
Century 600+
13t pinion
CC HV85
9451's on cyclic
GY401/9254
Align 6 amp bec
1850ma rx lipo
4s 4650 TP

Not sure how she'll do on the 4s pack, but I went that route because the bigger lipo's are killing me! I can always swap out the motor and go bigger later if necessary, but I'm really after duration more than power. We'll see.

[warpspeed]

Oh baby! This thing is amazing!
Took her up into a hover, wasn't really going to do anything else but.....you know how that goes.:lol: She's very tail heavy but 2 clicks of trim and she just sat there waiting for me to try to crash her. So I decided to try a little FFF and jeez louise this thing scoots! It's not as "snappy" as either of my Rexys but I think that's a limitation of the 4s pack I'm using. On 5s she ought to be a rocket-6s is probably beyond my capabilites at this point. This heli is very quiet-of course you've got the usual rotor noise but get it out away from you a bit and you can barely hear it at all. What's really cool is it's as responsive (twitchy?) as my 450 and yet as stable as my 600, if that makes any sense. For her 2nd flight I switched to the Hawk Pro paddles and that tamed her down enough for me to run without any expo. She weighs in at 5lbs 12oz, compared to the 600 at a little over 7 lbs. I got a solid 6 minutes on the first flight and put back 2875ma, (TP 4s 4650) but the pack did come down a bit on the warm side.
I had really wanted to run on 4 cells due to cost, but it looks like 5 is going to be the ticket. May as well go with 6 so I can use 'em in both birds. I'm going to have to get a second job (or send the wifey back to work-yeah right..) to keep all my babies juiced up.
I'm glad now I didn't hold out for the T500. I'm sure that will be an awesome heli as well, but the Swift is more than capable of handling anything I can throw at it, and it's ability to run so many different configurations gives it a serious edge IMHO.

Anyway, I know there's not a huge Century contingent here, but here's a few pics for those interested. The big Rex is included for size comparison.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o222/scootermonkey/550006.jpg
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o222/scootermonkey/550009.jpg
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o222/scootermonkey/550010.jpg

[Greybird]

Warpspeed, I saved that top picture to my favorites. Man, that heli looks good! I have a regular Swift. It is my favorite. I have been going back and forth about getting a 550. I probably will after looking at these pictures.

[warpspeed]

Actually Greybird, I owe you a big thanks! It was your post about flight times that got me interested to begin with, and now that I've actually flown it I couldn't be happier.
I've put two more flights on it since I posted, and man this thing just couldn't be any more smooth. It also appears that my crashing streak has ended.:clappp

She is good looking. My cheapo camera really doesn't do her justice, but I'll try to get one of those glamour shots you see in the heli rag's to really show her off.

[hopntod]

Very nice warpspeed !So did you get your bell-crank spacers?I am waiting for thrust bearings and metal grips.Like you,I have all the bling but the silver where yours is purple and I got the Electron 80 and a 9 tooth.You have done a clean job of hiding you wiring,I can't see your RX! Regaurds, Todd

[warpspeed]

Thanks Todd! Yep, Century really came thru. Those shiny metal grips are courtesy of an extremely helpful gentleman at their office who sent them, along with the spacers and several other upgrades, within a couple of days after seeing my post about missing parts.

I originally had the rx up front next to that mongo speedo but I'm anal about wiring-so I made a little tray sandwiched between the frame and struts and put it there. Let's just say she's not so pretty from the back end.:o Kinda like my canopy-I thought I'd go hi-viz so I sprayed it a simple 2-color scheme, flourescent red on top and flourescent yellow on bottom. Unfortunately the red came out pink, so it turned out looking like something Liberace would've liked.:oops:

Anyway, I'm guessing you're going to run 6s? (9t) Talk about a powerhouse!

[Greybird]

Warp, Look at www.callie-graphics.com The graphics can be made in any color

[warpspeed]

Thanks G.B.! Some very cool graphics there-I'll have to keep them in mind before I decide to butcher another canopy.

Todd, I got an email notice about your pm but can't access it with the current site issues so hopefully you don't mind me responding here.
I'd have to pull them off to get the inside dimension but the spacers are 3mm tall and the outside diameter is 5mm. They're not real thick, (from what I remember about 1mm) so they don't fit tight around the bolt that holds on the bellcrank. If you could make a straight cut you could pick up a 5mm aluminum tube at a hardware store and make your own.
Course you'd have enough material left over to make a few dozen more sets!

I was able to get a couple more flights in over the weekend and I gotta say I'm really liking this heli. It just doesn't have any oddball tendencies unlike my 450, and FFF is a blast. Gotta plug the HV85 too-that thing doesn't even get warm, and the slow start works great.

[hopntod]

Thanks for that warpspeed.I just tried several different thickness bushings til I found some that would make the bell-crank balls clear the frame.I got my grips and new thrust bearings from hellworld yesterday so I hope to finish and maiden this weekend. todd

[warpspeed]

Nice! Good ol' American ingenuity in action. Good luck on the maiden-let us know how it goes!

[Greybird]

warpeed, Do you have a full size picture of your avatar?

[warpspeed]

It's not real big, but a little better shot. Just something I googled up-I don't know the story behind it but find it appropriate in my case as that's how most of my heli's usually wind up anyway!:o

[hopntod]

I got the remaining parts from hellworld on thursday and finished assembly last night.It looks like I am going to have to cut my canopy to get the 6s to balance.This was my first complete build.Thanks for the help Bob.

[Greybird]

Wow, that canopy looks good. I would Have a hard time cutting on it.

[hopntod]

Same here Greybird but i am going to have to cut it to use 6s

[warpspeed]

Looks great Hopntod! I'd be afraid to run that expensive canopy, let alone cut it up.
Are those blades the Century CF's? Looks like you didn't need any balance tape-do they track well? On that subject, I'm curious about your bell mixer arms-on mine to achieve 0 pitch at midstick the end of the arm away from the blade is tilted up, or sits slightly higher than the end nearest the blade. Is yours the same way, or are they level? I fooled around with that for hours......

[hopntod]

Warpspeed,My bell-mixer arms are the same as yours at zero pitch.It was/is my intention to start over at the bell-cranks and work my way up again to see if I can make some improvement on the head set-up.The blades are century and they balanced dead-nuts out of the box.I have not hovered yet,I am having a problem with my 401 initiating.I am sure it is something simple that I have overlooked.On a philosophical note,if building helis was easy,anyone could do it and it would not be so much fun.