Brutal death of a Raptor 90 3D

[Badger50]

Got the kit today. Main frames, cooling shroud, and tail transmition are all together. Waiting on my aluminum A-arms for the elevator control, should be here tomorrow. They go together much easier the 2nd time..LOL. I almost, (emphasis on almost) wanted to quit flying too. But I'll be damned if I'll quit until I almost master these birds, or die. Probably the latter of the two, cause my wife just might kill me for the money I've spent on these things the last 2 years. Oh well, gotta die from something. :YeaBaby:

[darryl123]

you only live once and you cant take it with you so have fun.
i just tested the hitec digital servo and if you set failsafe and with a diode and small nicad in the power line to the servo when i unplug it the failsafe kicks in and it goes to idle. it looks like for about $5.00 and a hitec digital servo you can stop the chicken dance.

[JimLerch]

Hmm?? The servo itself has a fail safe? Yea, I'm all for that!

Can you float a Nicd or NiMH at 6vdc indefinitely? (well 5.3vdc after a 6vdc regulator and 0.7v diode drop)?

Boy am I liking that Idea!

[darryl123]

yes the hitec has a built in failsafe. they sell a failsafe for cars that would do the same thing with a battery.. its a weird thing to watch the servo move after its shutoff. i would pay good money for a servo with this all built in and i bet this would be a big thing. it could be built into a govener?

[Lota Fun R]

I love my Raptor 90 and it flys as good as anything out there, when you can fly as good as Bert Magbuana then maybe you could use something more, but if you can fly that good you don' t need anything more.

I'm in no hurry for any of the new heli's. The Raptor 90 set up right is very responsive. Gotta set em up right though.

[helicraze]

Sheesh do all 90 crashes cost so much? I thought 200-300 was bad!

[Badger50]

Well my new Rap 90 3D is back in action. Took her out today for her maiden voage, She Rocks. Ran 6 tanks of fuel through her yesterday to break in th OS 91 SZ. I've got to say that I think I like the OS a little more than the YS I sold to Lim Lerch. She seems to do better at higher revs, with no bogging down, and balances out much better. I turned her loose a little bit today, the Kasama head, running at +12 -12, with 10.5 elevator and 8.5 cyclic pitch at 20% expo was as good as ever. I'm using the Super Stubz paddles with the flybar weights next to the paddle, which gives me 22 grams, with amazing, but smooth cyclic control. I'm lovin it. I also changed the cyclic servos from 9250's to 8717's at 6 volts, which when combined with my 2.4 Futaba 12 FGH Tx, makes for one fast responsive beast. Now if I can just avoid the everlovin "Dumb Thumb" again. Hope everyone had a great and safe 4th of July. See Ya.:thumbup:

[JimLerch]

Congrats Mike!! That sounds like one screaming heli. I can't imagine what it must feel like having more power than I do AND a faster, more responsive cyclic.

Are you going to any Heli events this year? I'm scheduling vacation and thinking about going to IRCHA or the the "Southern Rotary Classic" or maybe both :)

[Badger50]

No events planned for this year, hell they would probably laugh me off the flight line. :) Although I think after another year of flying under my belt, I would like to plan one for next year. When next years schedule come out, I'll touch base with you, and maybe our wives could meet and ***** about having Heli Husbands. Then let's go fly...Ya baby.

[iher]

BUHHUUUUU .....my turn! I just slammed my R90SE into the ground! I was very proud..... my first crash with my 90 after 53 flights. Doing piroflips, a cloud moved and exposed the sun..right behind the heli . I felt like a racoon crossing the freeway. The only thing I saw was a bright light and a loud SLAM!

I landed sideways. The pipe , blades and canopy absorbed all the energy. ( bye bye MP5)
The motor port really got damaged, but I think it will still work if I shave it a bit to get a good flat surface

[Badger50]

Know what you mean iher, no matter what the cause of the crash, it still bites. Although, all things considered, it looks like you got off far better than I did. Dang, you tore the muffler bolt slots off the enging...Impressive :noteworthy. Good luck with the rebuild. BTW, are you guys south of the border having any trouble getting nitro fuel??

[iher]

.....are you guys south of the border having any trouble getting nitro fuel??

Not really, apparently the local hobby shops have either a good stock or a very reliable distributer

[darryl123]

glad you got your raptor back together i have only bought a couple parts so far. to many other things going now but it should be soon.

[Raptor90standard]

Yes, me too had a bad crash couple days ago. Unfortunately I dint make pictures of what was left of it.
But the total as of today is over $700.00 CDN dollars.
Just a word of advice. Make sure the blade bolts are tight. I havent seen pictures in the forum that could match mine, but like I sayd before. I have no pictures.
Rebuild is my answer, because most likely you have parts already for your Raptor. Why buy a new

[iher]

badger50, I have the same setup as you but with a 90SE
I `m using 8.25 and 690 baldes and 1900rpms governed . I feel that after 3 consecutive tic tocs i start losing rpms ....baaadly. I can never do more than 5
I fly at an altitude of 9000 ft above sea level and use 30% nitro ( this is what I think is the cause of my heli´s ills)

[Badger50]

Altitude does play a major roll in how well your engine performs. have you ever tried to boil water at higher altitudes? It takes a lot longer. With our nitro engines, it is much the same, since you have less oxygen, your fuel doesn't burn as efficiently. I learned years ago with my nitro cars that if your at anything above 5000 feet, you have to lean the fuel mixture to compensate, however, I can't be sure with the heli engines, although I would surmise that it would be much the same. Give it a try (if you haven't) and let me know how it turns out. See Ya. :YeaBaby:

[Badger50]

Well its been a while, but I managed to trash my 2nd New 90 3D. This is the second time I have landed in the "Inverted Full Power Mode" :arggg: The culprit, Mr. Sunshine. Was coming around on a right banking turn, with the bird coming toward me, I looked up and BAM, lost complete sight of the bird because of the sun. By the time I could figure out the orientation, it was too late. Man these are hard lessons for an old fart to get through his thick head. Oh well, I've already ordered my $700 worth of replacement parts, and I'll get ready for #3. Luckily, all the electronics, engine and pipe were ok. If you want to see picks, just click my avatar, and look at my album. The blue one now looks a lot like the yellow one did :YeaBaby: Oh well, at least I still have 2 50's to go have fun with tomorrow. Adios Yall. :thumbup:

[iher]

Badger50 sooooooo sorry!
I always rebuild and fly as soon as i can, or else the bad memory lingers in you r head and scarres your flying.
I`m still wayting for the engine ring and I`ll be back in the air ( it turns out I screwed the piston and rod )
I hope you get it back in the air soon

keep positive

[Badger50]

Thanks for the encouragement iher :D I have already rebuilt the beast, and she is back up in the air and flying beautifully. It doesn't take long to rebuild...especially when you've had so much practice at it :) One of these days I'm going to get good at this 3D flying stuff, if I have to crash these things a hundred times to do it. How long ago did you blow your piston? Have you had a long time to wait for parts? Your pretty luck to live in Mexico, as you probably have great flying weather most of the time, so long as you have something to fly :YeaBaby: Best of luck to you on your rebuild, and with your flying. BTW, did you get your fuel mixture problem with your altitude figured out?

[iher]

This rebuilt is taking for ever.
I crashed almost 2 months ago. I had all the spares I bought before just for these situations.
It was ready in a week. ( even the machining of the engine port that was bent)
to my surprise, I started the engine and a metalic "clanking " sound made me stop and recheck the engine.
it turns out I F... up the engine in the lean run between the crash and the moment I got there to stop the engine.
so I ordered the replacement piston and rod. after 3 weeks I got my order but the piston didn`t come with the ring.
so I`m still wayting for the part.
It will take a week more.

so now I have to start all over again. 2 gal for breack in and then I will start to ajust the mixture right.
....I`ll let you know. Thanks


yes, we have great weather but getting spares is really a problem.

[Badger50]

Dang iher, where in the hell are you getting parts from, China? Heck if you live in Mexico, and Ron's Heliproz South is in Texas, what the heck takes so long???? That would drive me up a wall to wait that long for parts, Surely there must be a better way. :thumbup: