RC-TEK SkyShark

[Laurens]

Since a few weeks I'm sponsred by RC-TEK and Airthunder.

2 weeks ago I received my RCT450 Sky-shark. It had been in customs for a few days so I was getting worried if it would stay there for a few weeks. Luckily it came on the monday with a hefty customs declarance of about 50 euro.

It comes in ARF form, but there's no loctite on the screws yet. This is not a hard job to do. The CNC'd metal bits have a good finish on them, and the alufiberglass frames don't have any sharp edges.

This will be my setup:
RCT450 Sky-Shark
DX7/AR7000
Stock motor and ESC
SJM 402 and 401 servo's.
Stock Glassfiber blades
JR G770T
Airthunder 3s2200 batteries.

After opening the box I found some strange animals in the box. You can't just leave them alone for even one minute:
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/6056/rctek001mc6.jpg

And what was in the box:
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/6046/rctek006uk3.jpg

The things that are in the pro package are:
Sky-Shark
microheli bladepitch meter
3 hexdrivers
1 pair of GF blades
Motor
40A ESC
Big aluminum travel case

I found these pro's to a Trex:
- Top mounted motor (higher cg)
- Better designed rotorhead (lower blades = cg closer to blades)
- Costs less then a Trex

So far I'm liking the servos. They're metal geared so they should (and did...) sustain a crash well.
SDG-402 MG

Operating Speed:0.16 sec (60°) 2.0Kg/cm @ 4.8V
0.13 sec (60°), 2.5Kg/cm @ 6V
Size:23.0mm x 11.4mm x 24.1mm
Weight: 9.77g

And the tail servo, SDG-401 MG:
Operating Speed:0.07 sec (60°) 0.9Kg/cm @ 4.8V
0.06 sec (60°), 1.1Kg/cm @ 6V
Size:23.0mm x 11.4mm x 24.1mm
Weight: 9.83g

Just a few more pictures:
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/9546/rctek011wy7.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5253/rctek013hx4.jpg

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/6540/rctek018ow2.jpg

And some lipo's:
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7696/airthunderxs0.jpg

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/5691/airthunder001jr3.jpg

The ready to fly weight with glassfiber canopy and AR7000 is 847 grams. This could be a little lighter but I ordered the wrong Rx... Anyway it flies and thats all that counts.

And it flies GREAT! I think this bird is better then the 2 Trexes I've owned. It tracks like its on rail in forward flight. I'm having a few issues setting up the gyro though. I got this JR G770T from Japan, and surprise surprise it came with a Japanese manual. Pirorate is very high with the endpoints at 100. I dialed it back tot 55. In the first few testhop I had the tail blow out during pitchpumps and tictocs. I switched the servo output to high instead of low so I hope the servo will hold better now.

On the second pack I seemed to have the ESC quitting on me. I don't know if I set it up wrong or the battery was empty, but I was doing a little bit of backwards inverted flight with it at one metre high when it quit. On the first look it looked really bad, but it turns out that the only things that bent were the mainshaft, flybar, spindle and unfortunatly the headblock on which the heli landed. Also blades were damaged at the tips. This is not as bad as I expected.

To sum it up I'm in love! This seems like a little fun heli that flies just like a bigger heli. Now if I just could get a camera I'll be uploading some flying vids soon.

[theglennster]

Nice job Laurens your imported CAT looks mean :twisted:

Wow the joys of being sponsored it sux that you get hit by import duty. I'm Looking forward to the flying videos :thumbup:

Cheers
Glenn

[Fievel]

so how does this thing really compare to an align 450 se v2. i currently have an align v2 but i kinda want something different. will the rc-tek stack up? thank you

[Laurens]

I think its better on some parts. Higher center of gravity. Cheaper parts. Better tail.

[Rogan]

Way to go on your sponsorship.

Next time get them to send it labeled as a product sample, you shouldn't be paying customs charges for samples/gifts etc.

[jurassic5]

Hi,

Nice cats :D Nice review also, enjoy reading it.

Congrats

Cédric

[Raptor Rulezzz]

Hi Laurens,

Nice review but I do like to comment on a couple of things.

The ready to fly weight with glassfiber canopy and AR7000 is 847 grams. This could be a little lighter but I ordered the wrong Rx... Anyway it flies and thats all that counts.


That is VERY heavy, as the T-rex 450SE weighs in at 700 grams, yours is about 21% heavier. I could notice a heavier battery on the 450SE, so I could only imagine what the weight would do to this heli.


And it flies GREAT! I think this bird is better then the 2 Trexes I've owned.

As far as I know you only owned 2 "old" 450XL 2nd hand crap. Never a full blown 450SE with all the goodies and GOOD quality batteries, so you really have no comparison.

On the second pack I seemed to have the ESC quitting on me. I don't know if I set it up wrong or the battery was empty, but I was doing a little bit of backwards inverted flight with it at one metre high when it quit. On the first look it looked really bad, but it turns out that the only things that bent were the mainshaft, flybar, spindle and unfortunatly the headblock on which the heli landed. Also blades were damaged at the tips. This is not as bad as I expected.


So you crashed it on the second pack ever because the esc quitted or the pack was faulty? and you still say:

To sum it up I'm in love! This seems like a little fun heli that flies just like a bigger heli. Now if I just could get a camera I'll be uploading some flying vids soon.

I'm not sponsored by Align or anything, but if I trashed my first 450SE some years ago on the 2nd flight due to their esc failing... you will be sure my review wouldn't have been so nice :mrgreen:


If you really want to compare it to a T-rex 450SE, get one with a decent setup & good quality batteries and fly them back to back. I'm sure what the verdict will be, 21% heavier never helps.

Cheers,

Richard

[Laurens]

I've flown other peoples Trex SE's too, and they do fly better then the XL and CDE, but still not as nice as the Sky Shark. I've flown TP packs, so that isn't that bad.

I think I misprogrammed the ESC with hard cutoff and a high treshold for the battery. That means it will cut off with enough mah's left in the pack.

Did your Trex weigh 700 grams, no more, no less?

[Raptor Rulezzz]

I do find it quite amusing that you can honestly say that a heli with a much higher disk loading flies better, when the 450SE already flies as good as it does. And YES my 450SE is 700 grams, no more, no less.
What's exactly better?

If you use the high treshold you should get at least a couple of minutes in the flight before it cuts. Also, most controllers do not cut you off, but they make the motor rev down, to let you know the battery is empty.

Cheers,

Richard

[Laurens]

Maybe its because we both fly another style of 3D. I like it smooth, flying figures, you like to change directions fast.