Shuttle ZXX flys again

[Ozz58]

So, after taking Friday off and working on my 14 year old Shuttle ZXX she made her restored maiden flight on Saturday.

This is the heli that got me into the hobby that many years ago, and after taking 12 years off I got a Blade 400 that made me thing electric was the way for me. The next bird was my T-Rex 500, and what a upgrade this was. It really help me get to the next level. Then came the T-250 what I thought was for indoor flying. Of course after spooling her up for the first time in the house I left a small deposit in my pants and decided it was my back yard bird.

Yesterday I took all my birds to the field. Very excited about my restored Shuttle I decided to fly her first. After some problems starting this old bird, and thanks to a friend at the field I got her in the air. Other than the machanical gyro that really sounds cool when it comes to live she handled great. It's hard to believe we use to fly with these gyros and took some time getting use to the way you have to turn and chase the tail.

I couldn't believe the flight time, first flight 10 min and was only half empty. She flew 3 flights yesterday all patterns, of course with + 8 and - 4 collective theres not much more I could do, not to mention the gyro situation. My plans today are to take the 401 off the Blade and move it to, what I now call, my "old" lady. I still have to figure out how to set the gain in this old JR X-388S radio.

Well my view of nitro is changing, there could be a T-600 nitro under the tree this Chrismas for me.

Anyways I thought you guys might enjoy the picture a friend took during one flight.

Craig

[marcosp]

My god, the memories!!! I started with a plain old Shuttle in '86 and then moved to a ZXX which I used for years! Also started with a mechanical GMP gyro and then moved to a CSM piezo (not heading hold) which was like NASA stuff at the time. Wish I had that ZXX, I am a "sell when you don't use" kinda guy...

[Nuclear Dave]

Id love to see more pics. I love old RC toys because you rarely see them. And seeing the old technology and how they accomplished things back in the day is alot of fun. So deffinately throw up some more pics if you got em.

[Ozz58]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Dave

Id love to see more pics. I love old RC toys because you rarely see them. And seeing the old technology and how they accomplished things back in the day is alot of fun. So deffinately throw up some more pics if you got em.

You asked for them.

[Nuclear Dave]

Very cool pics.

what is the small tank on the right side for? and what is the fith servo for near the engine? Im sure ones for throttle, what the other one for? And i love the size of that gyro, its huge.

[99grandtouring]

Back when I was young and flying planks all the times helis and piezo gyros were cutting edge technology, the shuttles had just came out and the zxx was the full ball bearing top of the line, I saved for ever and finally got and "arf" with an enya motor already installed.

I'd play with that thing for hours just looking it over and spinning the blades by hand, never could save up enough for a heli radio for it let alone a gyro, with time / age I drifted away from the hobby and ended up selling it for $200 am just now really starting to get back into the hobby on a regular basis.

I'd give just about anything to have my zxx and just to get it to fly!
That was back when wooden blades were what they had and fiberglass / vaccume bagging blades was new ideas as well!

Looks great man keep her alive!

[tomra]

Cool pictures!

Actually, beeing someone who just recently got into this i´m kinda surprised how "modern" this bird looks. Or perhaps our "modern" birds are getting a bit dated :-) Aside from more refined specs there´s little difference. I´ll bet you could do 3D upgrading electronics and maybe the engine specs?

[deisel]

nice old bird,i learned on a z what memories and that start belt hehe

[Ozz58]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Dave

Very cool pics.

what is the small tank on the right side for? and what is the fith servo for near the engine? Im sure ones for throttle, what the other one for? And i love the size of that gyro, its huge.

The small tank is a header tank, it help to keep air bubbles out of the line. Most people now mount them sideways.

Back in these days we had machanical CCPM, so the extra servo was for the collective. The elevator and roll servo control arms moved up and down the head with this kind of set-up. Kind of crazy and I'm not sure how we got rid of the interaction in these set-ups.

You are only seeing one part of the gyro in the gyro picture, there was a control box that you can see in another picture. It about the size of an old syle receiver.

I'm very happy I got this thing back in the air, although it will not fly every weekend I do plan on keeping it. I hope I don't crash it, as parts are a little hard to come by, as you may see in the pictures I have a T-Rex 600 tail fin. I will search for a new Shuttle tail fin as I really want to keep it as stock as I can.

Glad you all enjoyed the pictures, memories.......................


Craig

[marcosp]

The landing gear is not original, right? I sold all my spares with the heli, and after almost 5 years flying it the buyer was a begginer. I always suffered thinking the heli must have never survived too long... With a piezo gyro I saw a guy at the club do pretty amazing stuff, kind of inicial 3D. At the time Curtis Y. was starting 3D (starting to teach it not to learn it hahaha). I still have 2 VHS tapes of his 3D tutorials. And yes, carbon blades were bleeding edge and the tips were not finished, they were blunt cut and we stuck colored plastic tips at the end. What was the brand... mha, hma, msh? I used their FAI Curtis signature 710 blades on an X-Cell 60 Custom!

[lang123s]

too cool.....a friend of mine gave me an old concept 10 he had from years ago....had a mechanical gyro on it etc.....completely stock. Me and my buddy started playing with it one day few months ago, managed to get the engine fired up (it was gummed up pretty good but not seized), and we actually got it flying........then we put a 401 and spektrum receiver in it, had it flying fairly decently...... then we put it back on the shelf and have not touched it since. Don't want to crash it, feels like you are flying a piece of history and I know if we crash it's game over (can't find parts anywhere). I called the guy that left it with me, he came over and watched us fly it, said it was the only time he ever saw it actually fly---every time he tried to fly it he crashed immediately (he never did learn to fly)....

[Ozz58]

The landing gear is not original, right?

You are correct and also must be a Shuttle enthusiast.

If anyone has parts or know where I can order them, please let me know.

Craig

[heli pilot 1]

I have parts, what do you need? I also am a shuttle guy. Currently I am flying a newer shuttle as my night macine and have a xx waiting to go back in the air. If you want to move up a 600 would make you ecstatic. I love mine! We need to talk reply back to me!

[Ozz58]

Man another Shuttle guy.

At this point all I need to make her original is landing struts and a tail fin.

The more I think about it, the more I'm thinking of leaving the original Gyro on it. It seemed to fly pretty well with the old machanical gyro.

It is making me feel like I did when I first started in this hobby, and that's a good thing.

Where are you finding parts for this old bird?

Craig

[heli pilot 1]

In my basement. I have all kinds of stuff left over from my shuttle days.

[RotoCopter]

Great Memories!

My first heli was the basic Shuttle (first version - no ball bearings) with green canopy