TRex 450 SE nV2 to 500E Makeover ...

[warpspeed]

How has everyone managed the tail pushrod? Can't tell for sure yet but it looks like it's going to rub on the fuse. Were you able to get the tail in place in the stock configuration or did you wind up having to do something similar to Bob's setup?

[redrsv]

Hey Kids,
I'm building the red tailed 500 like Simons...
I just finished building my 450 S this weekend and test flew it out of the body first.
It flew perfect on the first hover and even better on Idle one at the feild.
Last night I thought I would fly in the wind to see how it handled. Its my first Trex.
A gust came a long and it went straight up like an Estes rocket. I put it in idle one to bring it down and a big tree jumped right into it....
The flybar is wrapped around the main shaft twice, the head is destroyed.
OPs............
Waiting for a new kit, and more skills and better judgement
Cheers,
Steve:arggg:

[crazyerick]

Warpspeed it does unfortunately. I did the following to make mine work:

http://crazyerick.com/llpf/hughes500e/IMG_9359-01.jpg
http://crazyerick.com/llpf/hughes500e/IMG_9366-01.jpg

Bob C did something similar, check some of his earlier posts.

[SimonV6]

Steve, Don't you hate the way tree's just jump out in front of heli's like that ;)
hope she flying again soon, and watch out for them damn tree's...and wind


Simon

[SimonV6]

my boom is not dead centre, it flies fine and NO rubbing?


Simon

[redrsv]

Simon, Are you running the tail control rod in its "normal" position or off to the right side ?
I know Bob C is using a golden rod but I'm trying to keep this bird as light as possable.
I should have the new kit built by next week...
Thanks,
Steve

[Snoopy6]

At this moment HeliProz is indicating they have stock of the Align 500E body. The ad is for the red tail version. I'm sure they won't last long.

Looking good there crazyerick!!

Bob C.
Just saw your post Bob and checked Heliproz site......doesn't show stock on Hughes fuse......aaarrrgh! :arggg:

[Snoopy6]

sylvian1975 on ebay sells them and he is one of the best people I have ever dealt with on there, and he's in Hong Kong. He also has or can get other colors than what he has listed, even unpainted ones. Just ask...
Hey turbine.......I've been following this thread and am ready to get a Hughes fuse. I emailed sylvian1975 and asked if the 450V2 version came with instructions and got a negative reply. I am totally new to helis (had my 450 SE since this past Christmas). So my question is: is this a pretty straight forward build without instructions? I know I will get plenty of help here but just like to have instructions; not to worry??

[SimonV6]

Simon, Are you running the tail control rod in its "normal" position or off to the right side ?
I know Bob C is using a golden rod but I'm trying to keep this bird as light as possable.
I should have the new kit built by next week...
Thanks,
Steve


I do have mine off set to the right a little, however, having seen this set up I may change mine to this, as it seems to be a better postion for this fuse?

Simon

[RChristopher]

Man the HeliProz stock went quick.

Snoopy6, PM me with your e-mail address and I can send you a zipped photo copy of the instructions if you want.

Bob C.

[ObiDon]

I just wanted to say "Hi" to my fellow 500E owners. I have just started my project and I'm glad that there are others that have gone before me!

I have an SE V2 with HS-65's, a 401 and a 9650 on the tail. It looks like I will be going with the vertical mount with the 9650 like Gra55hopper did here : http://helifreak.com/showpost.php?p=544227&postcount=77

I also have a very cockeyed mounting frame inside the fuselage.
http://www.bayrc.com/boards/files/platform_203.jpg

I'm inspired by those of you that have finished and posted pictures and videos. I'm looking forward to finishing mine.

Cheers,

Don

[crazyerick]

Hi Don,

Not to fear my HeliArtist one was also like that. Presume a design reason?
You can't see if very clearly in this pic, but it was there. I added some washers on my mounting blocks on the low site to correct it a bit.

http://www.llpf.co.za/llpf/hughes500e/IMG_9213-01.jpg

Good luck with the build and welcome to the Hughes club ;-)
Bob C - perhaps we need to form a club, lol ;-)

Ciao

[crazyerick]

Bob C,

Out of interest, remember me asking about the flybar hitting the top of the fuse, well I ended up putting to pieces of aluminum to stop it.

http://www.llpf.co.za/llpf/hughes500e/IMG_9367-01.jpg

I dont think it was needed thinking back of my last flight. Spooling up was fine, but I'd rather be safe.

- Erick

[warpspeed]

Erick thanks for the pics you posted previously. I'm using the 3154 which can't be mounted vertically, so it looks like a little creative tinkering is in order.
Now if I could just find the right shade of touch up paint.....

[crazyerick]

This is what I did, although I used the JR 3400G servo in the end...

http://www.llpf.co.za/llpf/hughes500e/IMG_9210-01.jpg

[DDragon]

First off, I'd like to say that I'm glad this thread is growing. It's a wealth of information on the Hughes 500E conversion.

OK... I received my fuselage yesterday. It's looks really good except for one thing. The front piece (canopy) had the front windshield installed (which I assume is the way it should come?) but it's a really messy job. There are finger prints all over the place and some sort of "hazing" on the smoked plastic. Plus the paint on this piece is a "warmer" white then the rest of the fuselage... so they don't match.... the back end is perfect.

I'm not too concerned because the original plan is to paint it... attached is what I would like to reproduce.

I was wondering if this is normal (maybe Align needs to check their QA process if it's the case) or was the guy that did mine stoned on the fibre-glass fumes or having a bad day?

[ObiDon]

... There are finger prints all over the place and some sort of "hazing" on the smoked plastic. Plus the paint on this piece is a "warmer" white then the rest of the fuselage... so they don't match.... the back end is perfect...

I have small blobs of epoxy on my windscreen. But the paint matches on both halves.

Don

[Snoopy6]

[quote=ddragon;548522]First off, I'd like to say that I'm glad this thread is growing. It's a wealth of information on the Hughes 500E conversion.

Ditto on this thread growing......I ordered my MD500 fuselage this morning and am really looking forward to its arrival. I will be spending a lot of time here during the build (and after); it is great to have so much friendly help and advice (especially for someone new)! I recall someone making the comment that perhaps this thread should be turned into a "sticky". I'll second that.

[DDragon]

I mentioned that a little while back... how do we do that? Get this made into a sticky?

[RChristopher]

It really has turned out to be a major contribution by all envolved. I wish someone monitoring this forum from HeliFreak would consider making this a Sticky!

Bob C.

[RChristopher]

There has been a post on another site regarding lose of the nose section in flight, resulting in major damage to the nose portion of the fuse. Please pay extra attention to securing the nose cap beyond those supplied by the manufacturer. My personal approach was to add additional magnets. Whatever your method, do not rely on the manufacturers method alone.

Beware

Bob C.

[ObiDon]

Yikes! That would suck. Thanks for the heads-up.

Don

[CT4]

The main reason that the helicopter is spitting the canopy off is vibration. The most lightly cause is the wooden stacked mount for the frame. Mine delaminated after a few flights, when it let go in flight things got interesting really quickly. I remade them in aluminium....big mistake! This set off a resonate vibration that was uncontrollable. I remade the original mounts and glued 1mm ply either side of them. It is also important to make sure that you have a firm contact all the way along the mount. If the base is out of wack glue a strip of wood on the bottom of the mount and sand it so as to make the mount level, I know it's easer to use washers but this can induce vibration. I have done the above mods to my 500E and just logged it's 50th flight today and all is well. Although extra magnets would not hurt!
Bob, Your panel lines came out well

[crazyerick]

Ditto on the sticky request!

[Gra55h0pper]

How has everyone managed the tail pushrod? Can't tell for sure yet but it looks like it's going to rub on the fuse. Were you able to get the tail in place in the stock configuration or did you wind up having to do something similar to Bob's setup?

For this reason I installed the mechs quite a bit higher than suggested by Align. Another scale build (a Funkey Bell 222 E-Raptor) taught me that it's best to use (as much as possible) the positioning of the boom in the fuse as the determining factor for mounting the mechs. I.e. the way the boom exits the fuse at the rear determines the mechs mounting position upfront.
The higher mechs positioning allows the stock tail pushrod to easily clear the fuse. It also creates more room between the flybar and the top of the body. It does require the elevator servo to be moved inward though (see my earlier post).
Note in the 2nd picture how much tilt was required to straighten things out. Definitely a possible area for improvement for Align I think.
Also note that although it's not really visible in the picture, I glassed the sides of the wooden "risers" using fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin to prevent the delamination as reported by some.