Heli Artist Air Wolf w/retracts

[lrogers]

While I'm waiting for the rest of the stuff I need for my Sea King project, I decided to go ahead and work on my new Heli Artist Air Wolf. I got the black and white one with the retract system.

Opening the box, I was pleasently surprized by what was found inside. The fuselage was beautiful, the windshield was wrapped in tissue, the wood parts,tail fins, hardware and landing gear control rods were separately bagged. Even a bottle of CA was included! The landing gear was all ready mounted to the fuselage and the control horns were in place, but not secured (that comes later). The landing gear struts appear to be aluminum that was cut with a water jet machine and are VERY nice. The entire nose comes off for easy access and battery changes. It is held in place by magnets and "keying tabs". Very simple and effective.

The only disappointment was the instruction (and I use that term VERY loosely) sheet. This consisted of an 8x11 sheet, printed both sides with some pictures and very poor English directions.

Pictue 1 shows how everything came out of the box
Picture 2 shows how the main gear strut is attached in the fuselage
Picture 3 shows the main strut (MUCH nicer than bent wire)
Pictue 4 shows the nose gear (sorry about the focus)

I spent last night finsihing the rebuild of the T-Rex from my last "oops" and started programing my new Futaba 12Z FASST system.

I'm going to get started on setting up the landing gear linkages to night.

Heli Artist, if you are listening, PLEASE bring the instruction sheets up to the same level of quality as the fuselage.

More to come...........

[BikeNBoatN]

Looks nice. Those wheel struts definitely look a lot nicer than the bent wire struts on my Fusano.

[foofighter]

Looks nice! Who is stocking those?

[lrogers]

I ordered it from www.flying-hobby.com out of Hong Kong. I took about ten days to reach my door.

[frogbmth]

Nice post, those retracts look real nice. If you ever crash the thing I'll take the retracts of you :YeaBaby:

[lrogers]

Well Andy, considering the fact that I have three confimed "kills" and all were with the T-Rex, that might not be out of the question!;)

Last night, I hooked up the landing gear per the directions and using the supplied hardware. It works, but was a bit of a pain trying to CA the wooden control arms to the strut axles without getting it on the one piece ball links.

If I ever have to redo this, I'll opt for standard 2 piece ball links and/or nylon control horns secured with set screws. I think that would be MUCH easier to set up and adjust. Now don't get me wrong, the supplied parts work, they are just a bigger pain to deal with then they need to be.

Next step is mount the servo.......

[frogbmth]

I looked for control arms with set screws but couldnt find any - the causemann retracts also were pants in that department. Have you seen any? I'm still up for some to improve my set, just in the interim while I wait for your carnage ;)

Andy

[lrogers]

No offense Andy, but I hope you have a long time for any carnage to take place!

I haven't seen the set you mentioned. In the Darth styrene fuselages, the maker shows how to make the horns using a standard servo horn with a wheel collar CA'ed inplace of the servo shaft. Just drill a hole for the set screw. I wish now that I had tried that.

[frogbmth]

These are the ones I got

http://www.shop-rc.causemann.de/product_info.php?info=p119223_Einziehfahrwerk-fuer-400-450er-Hubschrauber.html

[lrogers]

AHHHH. Those are very similar to the Fusuno retracts.

[VinceS]

I too recently ordered the Heli-Artist AirWolf with retracts. It arrived a few days ago. I also ordered the CNC retract upgrades, but will install them later. Trying to get at the two back retracts looks like more work than its worth. Right now I'm trying to figure out the mounting blocks. According to step five I'm supposed to "Drew holes under the body". What is shown to be installed on the heli frame in one picture conflicts with what is listed in step 12. Anybody have some pictures or info on this area of construction ?

Cheers

[lrogers]

I feel your pain! I had hoped to start that part of the build tonight, but during radio testing I found that the tail boom was slipping. I'm going to drill out the frame blocks and use through bolts; that should end that problem!

When I mounted the new Kong Power battery, I discovered that were quite a bit thicker than the packs they replaced. That meant I had to change the placement of the electronics from what I had planned.

So basically, I'm back to where I was a couple days ago.:( On the plus side, The programing I did on the new radio was correct, everything moved the way it was suppsed to!

[BlackTitanium]

Nice post, those retracts look real nice. If you ever crash the thing I'll take the retracts of you :YeaBaby:

Andy,

The system for the rear wheels, in the HeliArtist fuselage, would probably not survive removal.
http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=45497&stc=1&d=1208494504

The Fusuno retract system would be easier to acquire and install in the non-retract HeliArtist version fuselage.
http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=45498&stc=1&d=1208494504

[frogbmth]

Hey nice photos, can you give me an idea how sturday the front tray is in each set? Is there any flex with the weight of the heli on the fron strut? I had to brace the causemann tray against the frame to stop it bowing upwards when the heli is on the gound.

Is one set better than the other in that respect?

[BlackTitanium]

I have not built the HeliArtist Airwolf yet, I just received it yesterday, I am waiting on the CNC retract upgrade parts that I just ordered after receiving the fuselage.

On the Fusuno Airwolf, the flexing did not affect the operation of the retracts.
With the battery mounted on the lower tray, and a Velcro strap under the tray and around the battery, flexing of the retract tray was minimized.

[omster]

Hey Titanium - are you going to be building the non-retract version fuselage w/the fusuno retract kit?

[BlackTitanium]

Hey Titanium - are you going to be building the non-retract version fuselage w/the fusuno retract kit?

No, I'm building the HeliArtist V3 Blue Airwolf with retracts.

[omster]

No, I'm building the HeliArtist V3 Blue Airwolf with retracts.

I have the Airwolf non-retract version (V2) along with the fusuno retract kit - do you think I would be better off selling this and getting the kit with the retracts? This will be my first scale model - thanks so much.

[VinceS]

Well, after staring at the empty fuse for two days I decided to use the CNC retracts after all. The process took a little over 2 hours to complete but I am glad with the new CNC parts. They are definitely easier to set up. No more CA, just a bit of blue loctite. I did have to break the existing CF rods to get the old retracts out. Also, the rear wheels needed a small spacer between the aluminum strut and the wood side. Now I need to figure out a way to mount the frame to the fuse so that it is still easy to remove later on. Does anybody with this setup have any pictures available ? Not sure on how many of the wood blocks to use, placement, or attachment methods to use.

[lrogers]

Vince, I spent most of the day yesterday trying to figure out to make all the parts fit using the included "directions". I finally said the heck with and tossed the directions. Here is what I did:

1. I noticed that the front wooden mount would be sitting on the wood work for the retracts. So I glued two pieces (one with the small slots and one with the larger slots) together for the rear support.

2. Next, I scuffed up the interior with some 100 grit paper and ran CA around the landing gear support "tongue". When the glue was dry, I removed the two inboard nuts/bolts.

3. I then took one of the "soild"wood pieces (marked "assembly on the fuselage" on the instruction sheet) and drilled them to suit the mounting holes (where the skids mounted) on the frames.

4. I attached the wood piece to the frames with the strut mounting screws. I then inserted the frames into the fuselage and positioned it so the main shaft was centered in it's opening.

5. Now the tricky part. Holding everything steady, I turned the fuselage over and screwed two of the washer head screws supplied with the kit through the holes that the nut/bolts that I removed in step 3 were in. This secured the wood mounting piece the landing gear woodwork. Now remove those screws, remove the mechanics and remove the wood piece from the frames.

6. Now, take that wood piece and re-attach it to the landing gear wood work with the two screws. I then used CA to permanently attach the wood piece. While the glue was drying, I cut a template from poster board for all four mounting screws.

7. Using the proper sized bit in my Dremel, I drilled the front mounting holes through the fuselage using the wood mounting piece as a guide.

8. I then ran two screws through the template and through the holes just drilled. I smoothed it out (gently) and secured it with masking tape. I then marked and drilled the aft mounting holes and removed the template.

9. I mounted the doubled aft block and used the template on the iside to double check that all was well. When I was satisfied, I CA'd the block in place.

10. The acid test! I fit the machanics and screwed it in with some longer screws I had in my "left-over-parts-bin". It's a bit of a pain to get the last screw in the proper place, but it works!

After finishing that test fit, I removed the screws so I could slide the mechanics further back so I could reassemble the tail rotor. After that was complete, I pulled the mechanics forward to the mounting point and discovered the tail boom would need to be "relieved" a bit so the tail rotor bell crank had enough clearance. That was where I stopped last night and haven't had a chance to get back on it today.

Hopefully, this and the pics will give you an idea how I attacked the problem.

[lrogers]

Okay, I've finally just about got the AirWolf complete. Just need to mount/set the retract servo and make final adjustments in the radio programing. After going through the build, here's some opinions/thoughts:

1. The fuselage is beautiful and well made.
2. After going through the pain of trying to figure out to mount it using the parts and instructions (see the post above), I FINALLY figured out what the instructions were trying to say (too late now)
3. The struts I thought looked like water-jetted aluminum are really laser cut plywood painted with silver/aluminum paint.
4. If you get this fuselage, get the CNC retract up-grade. The parts, CA and one piece ball links are a major PITA. Also, the supplied push rod is WAY to flexible.
5. I was working to get the AirWolf completed for a fun-fly this weekend so I used what was supplied. I am going to get the retract upgrade and take this thing back apart and re-do the landing gear. I'll be going back with standard 2 piece ball link connectors and 2mm push rods.

More to come AFTER the first flight!

[welshheli1980]

Hello,

I have a Raptor E550 which I am looking to get an Airwolf fuse for, could you recommend any makes / places to buy decently priced ones from ?

[lrogers]

I'm not familiar with that helo. Is that a 400/450 size? If so, the Heli-Artist is a nice fuselage. I got mine from www.flying-hobby.com out of Hong Kong.

If that is a 30-50 size, be sure to check out the Century/Funkey fuselages, they are very nice, at www.centuryheli.com

If it is one of the new 500 class e-birds, I've seen any fuselages yet.

[welshheli1980]

thanks irogers,

Raptor E550 is a 30 sized heli, Im preferably looking to get it from the far east as it should be a bit cheaper. From what I can gather the bodies Century sell are made by Fun-Key ( www.fun-key.com.hk (http://www.fun-key.com.hk) ). Sent them a fax tooday to see where I can buy one from out there. Should be a bit cheaper hopefully without centur's mark up etc.

[lrogers]

Your are correct, the Century Fuselages are made by Funkey (Funkey is even printed on the woodwork). I got the Pre-painted H5OOD for my Sceadu Evo 50. Very good quality, you won't be disappointed!

How does your helo compare size wise to the Century Swift? Reason I ask, they have a killer looking Augusta 109 in USCG colors for the Swift.