Scale Fuse for EP550

[Cralis]

I know this has probably been covered, but are there options for putting a scale fuselage on an EP550? I love the Bell 222 (Funkey), but if there's a 30 size, would it fit an EP550? Is the Hurricane a .30 sized heli?

[Drew816]

Do a search, this was covered not all that long ago; Century bodies I think being the big winner there; I like the Twinstar, oohh....

[mysticmead]

http://www.centuryheli.com/products/fuselages/index30.html?currentid=168 watch out for sticker shock....

[Wazzer]

Yes the Hurry fits into the 30 size heli bracket for scale bodies.
Its a little on the small side of 30 so bare in mind the weight of the body

Funkey and Century have the largest range but Boy are they expensive!!

try checking out some of the singaporean sites as they often have good prices and of course eBay

[MarkM1]

I am currently fitting my 550 to a Century/Funkey 30 size fuselage. The Twinstar unpainted body is only $99.95, which isn't that expensive. I'm building a plywood spacer to position the mechanics just right.

[Cralis]

Mark, Maybe you can explain how you do the plywood part? How does it attach to the heli, and how the boom is fitting?

[MarkM1]

Hi Cralis,
The aircraft plywood box acts as a booster because of the depth of the century fuse.
It raises your swashplate and tail boom up high enough to fit properly. I have drilled large circles in the plywood to reduce some of the weight. The box can attach to the body on the bottom and sides. Your skids bolt on the bottom of the box (4-40 blind nuts) and the mechanics bolt on the top. Mine is approximately 2.5" tall and 8.5 inches long. The base of the box extends forward to act as a battery tray. To fit the boom down the fuse, you just remove the boom supports and the tail drive section and poke it through. Like many have done, I am using a Pushrod from the tail servo back to the drive. In a couple of days I may be able to post some pictures. Hope this helps. Here's a picture of my unpainted fuse.

[Cralis]

Nice one, Mark...
That's gonna look excellent, I'm sure. I'm hoping to get the same fuse, but.. maybe painted. It's quite a bit more to go painted, but .. I'm no painter, and I guess if you want a good job, you need spray guns and stuff? The heli is a nice shape.

The wooden box - how does it attached to the fuse though? Do you have to bolt it on somehow? Would that not leave bolts on the outside whioch detract freom the look. I assume not - just wondering how it attaches without having to put holes through the fuse.

Any idea if I'd need an upgrade in parts? I have the CF Hurricane, with the longer boom... Raptor Skids... 980Kv engine and will be flying on 3300 zippies. Lets say I flew with my current Kong Power 2200 packs... and I am getting 6 minutes flight with sport flying... any idea what the weight of the fuse would subtract from my flight times? I'm swinging 550 Gaui CF blades. I hear you can get blades that gain more lift by their shape ... but no upside down stuff... That would suit me fine, if that was the case... for Scale flight.

Looking forward to seeing your heli progress! We'd you get it from?

[MarkM1]

The wooden box - how does it attached to the fuse though? Do you have to bolt it on somehow? Would that not leave bolts on the outside whioch detract freom the look. I assume not - just wondering how it attaches without having to put holes through the fuse.


My skids are on the outside of the fuse, and the plywood box is on the inside, so when you bolt on the skids the fuse is fastened too. The box also has some ply cutouts attached and they are the shape of the inside of the fuse. These act as vibration dampers and add strenght to the fuse. You can attach them to the fuse in a variety of ways. A little foam around the boom, anchors the mechanics really well.

Any idea if I'd need an upgrade in parts? I have the CF Hurricane, with the longer boom... Raptor Skids... 980Kv engine and will be flying on 3300 zippies. Lets say I flew with my current Kong Power 2200 packs... and I am getting 6 minutes flight with sport flying... any idea what the weight of the fuse would subtract from my flight times? I'm swinging 550 Gaui CF blades. I hear you can get blades that gain more lift by their shape ... but no upside down stuff... That would suit me fine, if that was the case... for Scale flight

I am using the long boom, which is just right for the Twinstar. Currently I have T-Rex 600 skids and will use them until I build some custom ones. I'm not sure on flight times as this is my first attempt with the Hurri. I do know that flat bottom blades will provide more lift and I will be looking around for some shortly.

[Wazzer]

Hi Mark

Do you have a link to the Unpainted Fuse for $99.99

Would like to take a look at that.

Cheers

Ben

[mjdee14]

http://www.centuryheli.com/products/fuselages/funkey/fktwinstar/fktwinstar.html?currentid=170

Wazzer...they don't show it unpainted...they just list it under the picture

[Wazzer]

thanks mike

I just took a look and i think i prefer the Augusto 109A they have!!

Needs retracts though so will bump the price up again!!

Thanks

Ben

[MarkM1]

Hey Ben,

Here's the link to all the Century/Funkey fuselages. You'll find mine under .30 size Twinstar. Most all of the other fuses come unpainted to.

http://www.centuryheli.com/products/helikits/scale.htm?currentid=96

Mark

[Wazzer]

Thanks for that

I was suprised the unpainted fuses are not too bad price wise
i really like the 109 but i am sure the retracts would bump the price up quite a bit

[MarkM1]

i really like the 109 but i am sure the retracts would bump the price up quite a bit
I like the Agusta 109A to, but decided to keep my first scale project less work intensive. Gonna fly T-rex 600 skids on my Twinstar (funscale) until I build some custom ones.

[bmichels]

Hello

I am also planing to fit a 30 size century Fuse to my Hurricane550. I am still hesitating between the Twinstar and the Jetranger.

Could you tell me the weight penalty when we replave the original fuse by this Twinstar scale fuse ?

thanks

[MarkM1]

Could you tell me the weight penalty when we replace the original fuse by this Twinstar scale fuse ?


Can't give you any numbers yet. You have to take into account the aircraft plywood framing, misc. hardware and paint and I'm not quite there yet. I know the extra weight will reduce my flight times somewhat, but it's a good trade off for a scale fuse.