It is official!

[Whirly-Girl]

I ordered my Bergen EB from Larry Friday morning. This has been one of the LONGEST weekends for me to endure! I got my video from Gary Travis on Saturday evening and I can't wait to tear into this heli build.

An HCS mount was also ordered on Friday and should be here in a couple of weeks.

Ricko is standing by working on graphics for me and when he gets the fiberglass canopies from Bergen, he'll be doing the paint for me.

I look forward to posting another great Bergen success story!

Jeanette

[WillJames]

Congratulations Jeanette!!! Good for you!!!

[Malorie]

Congrats Jeanette!!!

[Whirly-Girl]

Got my Bergen yesterday...and I wasn't allowed to start it until I finished a sewing project that I kept putting off. Needless to say, I sewed up a set of nursery curtains in about 1 hour!!!

Inventory is done and kids are down for a nap...time to start wrenching!!!

[DebianDog]

So we are about an hour and a half before the test flight then? :smokin:

[Whirly-Girl]

DD: not quite... :lol:

I'm working on some of the small sub-assemblies while I await some tools for properly working on the engine. Being in the AF, my husband has to pick and choose which tools we buy...having to move every 3 years sucks when it comes to our hobby. We'll never have a permanent hobby shop until we finally "settle down." So, that being said, we don't have a dial indicator and vise...so, I'm ordering one from Harbor Freight and Chris is sending me some "Bergen tools"...like a fan hub wrench.

Right now, I just finished the washout assembly and slid it on the main shaft, connected to the swash...it is starting to look pretty sweet admiring at all that metal gettin' connected!!!

I LOVE IT!

:glasses2:

[DebianDog]

6+ years Army with a family I know the deal... It sucks!

I think your gonna be happy. Sometimes I question my gasser decision :?

[Whirly-Girl]

So far:

[Malorie]

You know, that is starting to look like one of those R/C helicopter things. ;)
Nice job.

[WillJames]

It is a quick and straightforward build. Glad to hear you are getting it together so fast Jeanette.

[Whirly-Girl]

OYE...I feel like this build is taking forever...not because of the kit itself, but because I only get little spurts of free time here and there it seems this week.

Question: Do I want soft, medium, or firm dampening for aerial photography? Keeping in mind that this ship is also going to fun flys. I'm just now starting to throw my Raptor around in the sky...I'll probably be too scared to do anything to this gasser up there...but you never know.

Jeanette

[Malorie]

Chis will probably be more help here as he has spent more time with the EBs. I think I've heard that you want the dampenning to be soft on the EBs.

Don't worry about the build going fast. This is probably a ship you are best off taking your time building and trying to understand it well. There is a lot of adjustability built into the design and it can be a bit tricky to get things right the first time. Taking your time now will pay off when it comes to your first flights.

To give you some idea, it takes me around 16hrs to build an Intrepid. That's knowing EXACTLY what I need to do and having built and rebuilt probably in the order of hundreds of times. I would expect a first timer to at least need double that.

Keep going, :)
Malorie

[cbergen]

For shimming the head for dampening, We've found that using the thickest 1mm shim and the thinnest .008 shim is the best all around on the EB, especially when using V-Blades.

In some cases, we are even taking out the thin shim, leaving just the 1mm thick one in there.

[Whirly-Girl]

Okay, made more progress tonight. I finished building the head all except for screwing on the flybar paddles because I wanted to see which hole to use. What is the difference in flight characteristics for each hole? I'm assuming that the leading edge hole would be less sensitive. What do most AP pilots use?

[Malorie]

Looks Great.

You are correct, use the front hole. :)

[Whirly-Girl]

Okay...I used the front hole and now I have another dumb question:

I used a "dielectric silicone grease" on the thrust bearings in the main rotor grips. The T/R grips call for just a "quality bearing grease"...use silicone there too? I don't see why it would be a different grease, but I'm going to ask anytime I become hesitant. :dontknow


Man this thing is lookin' FINE!
:glasses2:

[cbergen]

As long as it lubricates the bearings and won't attack rubber, it should be good.

I say won't attack rubber, cuz I use the same grease throughout my birds, lubricating the rubber o'rings in the head.

[Buckey]

MAN!!!

If you don't watch out you are going to actually have a HELO there.. :)

Glad to see it taking shape!!! Just LOVE the smell of gassers int he morning!! :)

Bob....

[Whirly-Girl]

I personally prefer the smell of coffee beans freshly grinding in the morning...ESPECIALLY when I stay up until 4:45 a.m. building a Bergen!

Take a look at My Gallery and see the updated pictures. :smokin: :smokin: I saved the motor/gear alignment for after my "nap" when I felt fresher and had some caffeine.

Atleast the kids gave me until 0800 to sleep! :roll:

PLEASE look over my work! Man, I love having my own personal, technical support. :mrgreen: :glasses: :glasses2:

[Greg Alderman]

Who is painting your Canopy? I have always wanted to send off my fan shroud to be painted that same as the canopy...

Hmmm...just realized I have a spare gasser shroud...might have to throw that in the box with the new 90 canopy I am sending to Ricko's this afternoon! Thanks for telling us to look at the pictures or I would have never thought of my spare shroud!!!! :D

Build is looking great! Can't wait to see the big smile when you get the first flight in on it!

[Whirly-Girl]

I can't wait to see my funfly canopy in person! My husband drew up the design using bits and pieces from canopies I had seen online and had liked.

I had Bergen send 2 fiberglass canopies and my tail fins directly to Ricko for painting. Now that you mentioned it, I wish I would have had the gasser shroud done too! Oh well, maybe later.

Would the paint be damaged by the heat of the heat gun/hair dryer when you form it to install flush??? Just a thought.

[Greg Alderman]

Jeanette...I personally have never had to do anything to the fan shrouds except bolt them on...

Glad to see you are using Ricko's! He does great work! All my stuff goes to him!

(yes...a Shamless plug for Ricko's place! :noteworthy :noteworthy )

I am not flying my gasser as much as the 90's and the Turbine...so if you would like my spare shroud to be painted in your colors I am cool with that...I would just have Rick send it to you after he paints it...just a thought but you are welcome to it...and you could just send me your other one when ever you get around to it...these aren't quite a item that breaks all the time...so it could be years before I need it back! :D

[DavidH]

Jeanette,


What is the difference in flight characteristics for each hole? I'm assuming that the leading edge hole would be less sensitive. What do most AP pilots use?


Just a thought, but you will probably want to use some other paddles than those in the picture above. They are good paddles, just they might be a little too sensitive for AP work even in the front hole. I would suggest some that has a little more rounded or blunt leading edge on them.
I am sure Chris can suggest some paddles that would work great for AP work. I know the AP helis I have flown, I want them to be as stable as possible. Don't really need quick or a lot of control power doing AP work.

David

[Gary Travis]

Jeanette
Go with the V-paddles, that's what I use. I think you will find them to your liking
Gary

[Whirly-Girl]

Ok Gary, I took your advice...It is now 5:45a.m. and this is the fruit of my labor (hubby helped, a little).

Note: The rudder pushrod is not installed yet, my fins are still at paint, and no gyro installed yet...radio still has to be "final" mounted too.

OH I NEED SOME SLEEP!