My first scale......500E on Trex 600E.

[wren1702]

Finally took the plunge yesterday. It was my 44th birthday and my wonderful wife told me to order the scale fuselage....so I did. :YeaBaby:

Ordered the unpainted Funkey 500E to start my project. Found the paint job I wanted as well. It's simple, but very nice looking! I'm going to start prepping the airframe this week.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/2925440170028503639tjKppS_fs.jpghttp://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/2071506930028503639xFKISb_fs.jpg

I'm sure I'll have lots of questions!

[Mike_117]

Are you going run the mutliblade head?
Good luck on the project. definitely looks like it will be fun.

[wren1702]

No multi blade head, sport scale for me.

[Mike_117]

No multi blade head, sport scale for me.

That would be pretty cool though. They sell some good kits for the trex head.

[Rodan]

Nice! Looking forward to the build.

[sgil123]

DA54 has done one if you run into snags he could possibly help here is a link to his copter http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=64081

[wren1702]

OK, Here we go......Pulled my trusty heli down for an inspection and to tidy up some wiring. Some of my loom had tie straps on the ends, which I replaced with heat shrink. This 600E probably has 400 flights on it.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/Prepwork1.jpg

Next I removed all of the tail hardware and moved the rudder servo. Thank goodness for HeliFreak and Scale RC Helis! Don't have to stumble blindly into this project!
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/PrepWork4.jpg

Next I fitted the flex cable and adjusted it to the correct length. Didn't take as long as I thought it would and worked very smoothly.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/PrepWork2.jpg

Moved to the end and set up the tail linkage.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/PrepWork3.jpg

A couple of test flights (Careful ones since I no longer have tail braces). Everything worked perfect. Now to wait impatiently for the fuselage to arrive! :YeaBaby::smokin:

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/TestFlight2.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/TestFlight1.jpg

We're very lucky, the landing pad/flying field is about 50 feet from the workshop. :D

[wren1702]

Finally decided to go ahead and flip the tail. Flew it a little harder today after flipping it just to make sure everything was good...and it was! *******Fingers crossed, fuselage will be in tomorrow or Tuesday!******
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/LHTailRotor.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/RudderServo.jpg

[wren1702]

Test Flights!

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/Guesswhatswrong.jpghttp://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/LeftSideTailRotor1.jpghttp://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/LeftSideTailRotor2.jpghttp://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/NoseIn.jpg

[wren1702]

We did a lot of work on the heli while at Huntsville at put it in the air! I'm going to post a video and then fall back and put up some more pictures. Had a vibration issue while at Huntsville, when I got back home I installed a set of Radix tail blades and Gohbee main and the vibration went away! :thumbup:

This flight was 7 minutes so I edited down.

XWHFlmiLcc8

[Cralis]

That is fantastic! Inspiration for me! Just - can't afford packs for the 600E, nor the charger yet... But, watching that makes me think.. maybe soon. :)

[turbine50]

I just started test fitting my T-Rex 600 in the Funkey 500E fuse and Im worried about the clearance of the flybar from the doghouse. Hows yours coming?

[wren1702]

The clearance is not an issue, just level the blades half way decent and fire it up!

[turbine50]

It clears just under an inch and a half with it level. Got any pics of how you attached the rex frame to the 500 plywood?

[wren1702]

It clears just under an inch and a half with it level. Got any pics of how you attached the rex frame to the 500 plywood?

I'll get some nice detailed pictures up tomorrow night! Fire away with the questions and I'll try to help all I can! It really bolts in nicely.

[turbine50]

Here's my tail servo set up. I used nylon spacers. I'm also using the torque tube, makes it much easier to do this and you don't have to change belts!

[wren1702]

I ended up with mine on top, since I flipped the tail to the correct side.

[wren1702]

It clears just under an inch and a half with it level. Got any pics of how you attached the rex frame to the 500 plywood?

Used the stock Raptor bracket and spacers on the back, had to drill 2 new holes so the bracket would fit the Align mounting point.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/0606180006.jpg

On the front I made an adapter out of plywood and spaced it with a servo mounting spacer and one flat washer per side.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/0606180010.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/0606180005.jpg

The rudder servo (For top mounted use) seems to work better centered over the boom. Made a stand off for the control rod with a ball link, long screw and servo mount! Worked great and keeps the tube very still.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/0606180018.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/0606180023.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/0606180024.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/0606180017.jpg

Glad I took the time to flip the tail rotor.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/0606180011.jpg

The stock upper mounting brackets bolt right in with only a bit of grinding on the right hand one, so it would fit under the servo mounting screw.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l218/wren1702/0606180007.jpg

[vann001]

Fantastic job. I just finished my 600e in the same fuse. My heli is tail heavy and my tail is wagging. I need to add some weights to the front of the fuse to balance her out. I increased my rudder gain to maximum, but it's still wagging. Any advice? I also noticed that you used the spacers for the rear but not the front. I used the spacers for both. I'm thinking about removing the front spacers and just use the plywood.

[wren1702]

Fantastic job. I just finished my 600e in the same fuse. My heli is tail heavy and my tail is wagging. I need to add some weights to the front of the fuse to balance her out. I increased my rudder gain to maximum, but it's still wagging. Any advice? I also noticed that you used the spacers for the rear but not the front. I used the spacers for both. I'm thinking about removing the front spacers and just use the plywood.


I got mine to balance by moving the battery tray to a more vertical position and mounting the RX pack to it. I then put the main pack on the bottom tray. Worked perfectly!

Very nice looking Heli you've got!

[vann001]

Thanks! My wife works at Kinkos and she made the vinyl decals for me. It's cheaper and more enjoyable to purchase the unpainted version of the fuse. Looking forward to seeing more of your pics.

[lrrps]

Hi Wren,

I'm very interested in you MD 500 fuse project, I'm actually waiting for the same fuse to arrive but this one is made by Align, I guess it comes from the same mold as yours.
I have already switched the tail rotor to the left, the rod is now on top instead of on the bottom like before.
The tail servo is still attached to the tail boom, do you think this is OK or do I need to move the servo forward, if I move it forward then the rod will be too short, I think that's the reason why you replaced it by a
flex cable.
Where did you buy your flex cable and what's the lenght?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Gaston.

PS, on the Align site the tail rotor is on the right side, did you have to made any modification on the tail boom to accomodate the tail rotor to the left side?

[lrrps]

Wren,

I'm waiting for the answer.

[wren1702]

Hi Wren,

I'm very interested in you MD 500 fuse project, I'm actually waiting for the same fuse to arrive but this one is made by Align, I guess it comes from the same mold as yours.
I have already switched the tail rotor to the left, the rod is now on top instead of on the bottom like before.
The tail servo is still attached to the tail boom, do you think this is OK or do I need to move the servo forward, if I move it forward then the rod will be too short, I think that's the reason why you replaced it by a
flex cable.
Where did you buy your flex cable and what's the lenght?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Gaston.

PS, on the Align site the tail rotor is on the right side, did you have to made any modification on the tail boom to accomodate the tail rotor to the left side?

Yes, the Align Fuselage is made by the same company.

Yes, I would move the servo forward, it'll clear the fuse better. Tower Hobbies has the flex cable, as will any decent hobby shop. Here's a link for it:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXFU90&P=ML

Not sure on the length, I would have to measure it. It's easy to make what ever length you want.

The only modification to the tail boom was to drill a hole on the opposite side for the tail box to align.


Sorry, I missed your post...:oops:

[lrrps]

Yes, the Align Fuselage is made by the same company.

Yes, I would move the servo forward, it'll clear the fuse better. Tower Hobbies has the flex cable, as will any decent hobby shop. Here's a link for it:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXFU90&P=ML

Not sure on the length, I would have to measure it. It's easy to make what ever length you want.

The only modification to the tail boom was to drill a hole on the opposite side for the tail box to align.


Sorry, I missed your post...:oops:

Thanks a bunch Wren,

Take care & happy flying.