So who's flying a Caliber 30?

[babyuh1]

Chime in if you have a Caliber 30, 3 or 4. My Caliber 30 is stock except for Quick UK paddles and a modified canopy.
Has a Gy401 with 9254 and JR 537s. TiG 550s and an OS32. I run it on 15% and I would like to hear from someone who is running one of these on 30%.
I love this heli, it is so smooth and stable and easy to fly compared to my 450!
What do you think? We need to get a thread going on these great helis!

[kevinator9]

I have a Cal 3 that is in an agusta 109a scale body.
It was my first decent heli and brought me up from the hovering stage. I love the simplicity offered in the 3 because I had never dealt with linkages and adjustments etc etc...
Now that I have become accostomed to it I have found the perfect scale application for it! It flies really nicely.

Caliber 3
Kyosho GX36H engine
s3001 x4 Cyclic Servo's, Throttle Servo
GY240 with s9253 I think?
Runs on 15% Coolpower too, never found the need for more power...

[babyuh1]

Well you learn something everyday! I didn't know that Kyosho had their own engines. Where did you find your motor?

[kevinator9]

Kyosho make many little extra's including esc's and brushless motors (I use a kyosho brushless motor on my 450v!) as well as engines.
The most common kyosho engine are the gxr15, 18 and 21 that are put into their rtr cars and I think their gx36h was their first attempt at a heli engine.
It came with the earlier kits of the cal3 but it didn't seem to run too well (the low end needle could screw itself loose and the carbeurator leaked air, (I fixed both of those problems on mine...) so they now come with os 32's in the package.

[VortechZ230]

I have a Caliber 30 that's 4 years old, flies great!

[morwan_gsm]

i have caliber 30 and i it seems to be a very nice bird, it is my first heli and it is realy stable and easy to repair and setup, i did all setup my self including throttle, pitch swash setup and rudder. i am using 15% nitro and 18% lubrication in my os 32 engine and it seems to be enough

[capebob]

I have one that a fellow hired me to build. He never picked it up and, of course, never paid me. It's been over five years now so if anyone wants it, make me an offer. It has an OS 32, no gyro, and 5 Futaba 148 servos. Yes I know, but that's what he gave me to put in it. It's set up for standard mix and I don't think I can still find the parts to change it to eCCPM but they are probably still available. It has only flown twice and has never (really) been crashed. There is some rust on the flybar and a few wrinkles on the canopy stickers, but other than that it looks new. I will remove the dust before shipping.

Even with the 148 servos it flew very well as a basic trainer and is very stable in a hover.

Bob

[E Zurcher]

I have a Caliber 30 that is upgraded to a Caliber 50. Very stable learning platform.

[craigr]

I have a Caliber 4 with a Thunder Tiger 39H in stock form that I fly regularly. Very smooth and reliable. I also have a Caliber 4 with modified servo mounting system so that it would fit in a Funkey Airwolf. I enjoy both helicopters and it would be nice if US had a better following of Kyosho Helicopters. I went with Kyosho because I needed a name brand with high quality and reliability so that I could stop worrying about the heli and concentrate on flying better. These heli's have given me no problems at all and fly smooth and precise like I like to fly. I am into scale type flying using a lot of sky for maneuvers. Not into 3D which these Kyosho heli's will do.

[sigpe57]

Originally Posted by E Zurcher

I have a Caliber 30 that is upgraded to a Caliber 50. Very stable learning platform.

Hi, can you show me what parts need to be replaced from a 30 to a 50?

Thanks,

[E Zurcher]

There was a kit available which had new motor mounts, and an extended tail boom. If You also need the metal high grade clutch and a few other parts.

Here is a description I found on another site.

The Conversion Kit.

The kit contains the following?E

Longer Tail Pipe (anodized blue)
Longer Tail belt
Solid engine mounts (anodized blue)
Clutch shaft to suit 46-50 engine.

You will then need?E

46-50 size engine (glow plug and gasket)
46-50 size muffler, silencer, or tuned pipe
600mm Main Rotor Blades.


Let me begin by saying the caliber 30 was not designed with the thought of possibly installing a 50 size engine, so the stress, heat, power and performance factors of a 50 were not considered. As such, I would be concerned with simply slapping in a 50 on a standard caliber 30 to see how it goes.

The nature of the mod and upgrade would really only benefit people that can outfly their caliber 30 as it is. If you don?t understand this statement, you?re probably not ready just yet.

As an idea, my caliber 30 has the following upgrades already (from using the TT39) which make it more capable of handling the bigger engine. Im not trying to impress anyone but are trying to raise the point that you should have your caliber ready to handle the extra grunt with at least a few upgrades. Particularly the linkage system.

2.3mm linkages all round (not the standard kyosho ones)
QUICK UK Blade grips (metal 12mm blade grip, standard is 14mm)
QUICK UK cooling fan (metal)
QUICK UK mixing arms (metal)
Kyosho HG Swashplate (High grade ?Emetal)
Kyosho HG Aileron and elevator mixing levers (metal)
Kyosho HG Servo tray brace (prevents servo tray from flexing)
Kyosho HG Clutch Bell (metal)
Wide Skids
FT Canopy.

I also use a Governor GV1, with GY-401 on the calber.

Installation?E

Its relatively straight forward with a few exceptions.
The tail boom is easy and just replaces the original. The tail servo would then be mounted further aft on the tail boom, however, in my case, I ordered a longer tail control rod and kept the tail servo close to the frame. The boom is about 5 cm longer.

The blades are straight forward.

The engine is a bit tricky. The clutch shaft comes with 2 small screws that will be used to hold the fan on. They are very short. This became apparent because a 50 engine has a longer crankshaft, which when you screw the clutch shaft to, will protrude up into the area where the fan screws go. This means that the original fan screws cannot be used, and very short ones (supplied) have to be installed. Knowing the previous problems with fan screws coming loose, I decided to grind about 3mm off the 50 crankshaft and use longer screws. The end of the engine crank no longer interfered with the fan screws. (see pic below)

The glow plug has to be removed to get the engine installed ?Eit fouls on the forward skid as the engine is lifted into place.

The Left sideframe needs about 3mm shaved from it because the engine exhaust port is too close, and depending on the exhaust system will touch and melt the sideframe. (see pic below)

I used a Hatori silencer, and it was touching the fuel tank, so I had to make some aluminium spacers to push the pipe outboard further. The spacers were installed as if gaskets. Once again, it will depend on the exhaust system you choose, no doubt a tuned pipe and header combo would not suffer this problem.

EDIT 29th August - I now use a header and tuned pipe, no problems with spacing the silencer anymore. Be careful what you order, as hobby shops dont have headers specifically for a caliber 30 with a 50 engine, you may need further mods. -EDIT

Then it?s the usual engine and throttle linkage setup, and you?re ready to fly.

Flight?E

It has instant grunt! There is no question that the 50 engine in a caliber 30 is far more powerful than standard. The bigger blades make it more responsive, faster, and the 50 certainly keeps the power to the blades without problems.
The tail response is surprisingly even better (the caliber M50 has the same tail rotor diameter and gear ratio), I had to adjust my gyro gain up a bit, and piro rates were wild. Inverted acceleration, tick tocks and flips can be performed almost endlessly with good collective and cyclic management before noticing any power drop. Climbout is impressive, to say the least.
Autorotation is incredibly forgiving, in fact I oversped the rotor a number of times. You can auto and take off to about 2.5 feet then land again before the inertia is gone.

Downside?E

I used to get 11 min flight times with the TT39, now I get about 8.5 mins. I?m using the OS50Sx-H. (flight times calculated with the GV1 on and maintaining constant rpm from start to finish, obviously practicing autos or a normal throttle curve will extend the flight times)
The engine, engine mounts, sideframes, and everything nearby get very HOT which concerns me. I have added more cooling holes in the FT canopy (standard canopy is probably ok with its massive inlet), richened the mixture up, and added a spoiler to catch the forward air and direct it to the engine head. Still I?m experiencing high engine temps. I use 23% nitro, but may switch to 30% for more cooling. I now fly the 8-9 minutes then let it cool for about 5 before flying again.

EDIT 29th August - Cooling is no longer an issue, probably just new tight engine getting hot in its limited space. Now after 5 or so gallons, I dont think its a major concern, but would still check the temp periodically. I have gone to 30%, but the last gallon of 23% was not getting the engine that hot anyway, Ill go back to 23% after this 4 gallon drum of 30% as its cheaper. EDIT

The mechanics so far ( after 1.5 gallons) seem to handle the added power and stress ok.
I did destroy a clutch liner with the added power, from doing a power recovery (after auto). The power recovery was necessary because I was running on and the heli just didn?t want to come down out of ground affect! It drifted off the end of the flight area so I powered out. I believe the instant feeding in power destroyed the clutch liner. The liner was however, very worn, and may have only lasted a few more flight with the TT39 anyway.

I will continue to monitor the clutch liner, and see how my one way bearing handles the power. (its still original)

In conclusion, I don?t want to go back to the TT39, and if the caliber continues to withstand the added power, I can?t see a need to.
It?s definitely more powerful, more responsive, more forgiving, and yet more stable, and still a cheap platform to practice, practice, practice without the worry or high expense of destroying a 60-90 size machine. (been there-done that!)


here are the photos, starting with the simple kit. It retails for 9000 Yen, which is currently about $75 US.

[balbs]

The conversion kit was made by Trim Corp. I had it on my Caliber.
http://rc.runryder.com/helicopter/gallery/14203/
However, I heard and think you can use the longer parts from the Caliber 5. Also, use the stronger tailcase from the Caliber 5 or else you'll have some tail issues.

Balbs

[babyuh1]

I thought about putting my OS 50 non hyper in my Cal 30 and then running 15% for more power with cheap fuel. The clutch would still need upgrading, probably but I would leave the tail the normal length and still run 550mm blades.
What do you guys think?

[R- Rocks]

We fly a C30 with a OS37, I have a C50, in both helis I use 30%.

[wales79kevin]

Originally Posted by babyuh1

Chime in if you have a Caliber 30, 3 or 4. My Caliber 30 is stock except for Quick UK paddles and a modified canopy.
Has a Gy401 with 9254 and JR 537s. TiG 550s and an OS32. I run it on 15% and I would like to hear from someone who is running one of these on 30%.
I love this heli, it is so smooth and stable and easy to fly compared to my 450!
What do you think? We need to get a thread going on these great helis!

I just bought a Caliber 30 mk1 of ebay for £61 gbp - with carbone main blades and a MDS 38 engine & cyclic servos fitted , it just needs a cheep ish avcs gyro and a tail servo form hobbyking and my radio gear fitting in it and away to go. WOW for that price i'll fly the heck out of it as for that price if it goes in so what!- just enjoy flying it as most crash repair bills on helis cost that !.

[babyuh1]

That's great! It's a fun heli and parts are still available in a few places.
Too bad that Kyosho has quit making them.

[varacer]

I just finally flew my caliber 30 today. I have had it about 6 years and never had the sack to fly it and now it fly really good. So now Ive popped my cherry on the nitro after just flying my trex 450 I love it.

[babyuh1]

I flew mine tonight in the wind and I am just loving this heli more and more! If I had started out with it years ago I would be a much better pilot than I am right now. I just inspires confidence even in twenty MPH winds and it sips fuel so you get a lot of flight time from a gallon.
My 50 and my electrics sit more and more while I fly the Caliber.

[varacer]

I did notice I flew along time on one tank, I have to say atleast half an hour or so, but I do have a header tank on it. What engine do you have on yours?

[babyuh1]

Mine has the OS 32. It is marginally powerful enough for the 550 wide cord blades that I'm running but I'm not a stick banger so it doesn't matter much.
I can fly on 30% fuel for over a half hour without a header tank.