My Custom 700N Build - PIC Heavy

[DCflyer]

Thought i'd share some progress. Some background here - I bought a used 700N off the forums a few months ago and wasn't quite happy with it. Ended up parting out most of the heli. Pretty much everything went - servo's, frames, head, etc. The only thing I really ended up keeping was the 91H which I have completely broken down and am rebuilding currently. The plan being to put some miles on the airframe and eventually drop an OS105 in there.

Anyway, with the used 700 parted out, I did some research and decided to build my own airframe since the Align aftermarket is so big. I wanted my first 700 to be an Align for various reasons. So after several months of assembling parts I finally was able to put together the dry airframe and she turned out quite nicely I think. Each part/component was bought individually for this build so I would consider this custom even though at the end of the day it is an Align.

The only Align original parts in it are:
Tail pitch slider fork
tail case and torque tube gears
boom
Main rotor grip arms, spindle, and swash follower arms
Skid pipes
Main Shaft

The rest is an assortment of KDE, Lynx, Microheli, i2rc, Tarot, and Custom Heli Parts.

On to some pics. This is it for now. I willl revive this thread from time to time as I make progress but this will probably be a slow build that will extend through the winter since I have quite a few things on my plate.





Here is a comparison of the carbon fiber between the stock Align frame and the Custom Heli Parts unit. As you can see the weave between the two is quite different. The CHP frames are noticeably stiffer in my hand when I try to flex them and I assume it has to do with this approach to their carbon pattern. The cuts in the CHP frames are also very precise and clean/smooth compared to stock. Very impressed with their stuff. ReadyHeli had these on clearance for half off - I sold the stock frames for almost as much as I bought these for so it was a nice upgrade.

Stock:


CHP:


A Fellow flyer and Helifreaker showed my a neat trick that he uses on his frames to attain a more polished and professional look. He uses a very fast acting super glue called Insta-Cure that drys within 3-5 seconds and gives a nice glossy look to the edges of the frames. Makes a noticeable difference when working with a lot of carbon fiber. I applied this to all edges including the carbon landing gear. Not the greatest pics, but should give you an idea for comparison:





All CHP gear aside from the landing gear:


Ball bearing swash:


The KDE blocks going together:




The Custom head going together:


With Trueblood dampeners:


And Lynx Spindle Bolts:


Perfect alignment from the KDE grip arms:


The finished product with KDE block integrated swash follower arms. All bearings with a drop of Scorpion bearing oil. This is easily the smoothest head i've ever felt:


KDE third bearing block drilled and installed:


And leveled.......


Now things get exciting as things finally started to go together for a dry fitting. I must say everything lined up perfect. I was stoked. I did have to drill out the holes for the rear frame support another 0.5mm due to the larger KDE bolts supplied with that kit, but that was it. The Lynx frame screws holding everything together:



The metal tail case is an i2rc unit. Bob is great to deal with and has quite an intuitive design here. The top plate that holds the front spur gear is easily accessible and removable by the four stainless cap bolts you see here. This makes changing spur gears or doing general maintenance an absolute breeze as you can now easily remove the spur gear in a matter of seconds instead of having to take the entire tail assembly off. The boom is held in place by two collar blocks - this makes it possible to easily adjust gear mesh. His machine work is top notch as usual. I will be using locknuts to hold it firmly in place.





And here we are - the complete custom airframe:







KDE tail unit:




Up next.........

[DCflyer]

Also, I would like to give a shout out to Patrick at KDE Direct for his continued support and constant communication in helping me with the various assemblies you see here. Top quality stuff and excellent product support. As long as I own model helicopters I will be using the KDE brand.

Thanks buddy!

[abit late]

Looks like this is coming along nicely. Thanks for sharing, will be watching this with great interest.

[DCflyer]

Originally Posted by abit late

Looks like this is coming along nicely. Thanks for sharing, will be watching this with great interest.

[nmdesertracer]

Looks awesome!

[Glenn Goodlett]

I had bad luck with that swash plate. Mine developed slop quickly.

[DCflyer]

Originally Posted by Goodlett

I had bad luck with that swash plate. Mine developed slop quickly.

Yea I hear you. We will see - I still have the stock 700 Pro swash but wanted to try this one. After a dozen flights i'll check it. I wish KDE or Lynx would come out with a nice bearing swash. The market for them is certainly there. And both companies know their stuff when it comes to bearings.

[Glenn Goodlett]

I have a ball bearing swash on order from Heli Option but it has not arrived yet. Hopefully it will be better than the MH one.

[DCflyer]

Did some work over the past couple days. Mainly main gear/hub and motor.

KDE hub vs. stock - must have with the integrated sleeve.



The old OWB, which you can see has become out of round, next to a new one purchased from RC bearings - same part number as Align - perfect fit. In case you guys ever wonder where to get these without having to pay for an entire Align hub assembly.






Bolted up to a Mod 1 KDE 112T slant and Align slant auto gear. All remaining gears in the drivetrain will be Align black gears.

Pretty amazing specs for this gear: http://www.kdedirect.com/TREX700MDGM1S.html



Did some shimming and found a good combination that allowed for perfect clearance and ease of sliding the jesus bolt through as to not over-stress the OWB and hub. Adjusted gear mesh with the i2rc tail case.






Only thing left to install in the gearbox is the torque tube.

Up next is the motor. Like I said previously, the plan is to put some miles on the airframe with the 91H and after a season swap in an OS105. Since the motor was used I wanted to do a full teardown and check things out. Aside from some rusty, but still smooth, bearings, the internals were in good shape.

Removing the hub with G-force hub puller - awesome little tool makes things so much easier:





Giving everything a good soak in some 90% denatured alcohol:


After a good cleaning with a toothbrush on the tail casing and wipe down of the internal section, it was time to put it back together - Nice ceramic bearings from RCbearings went in, along with a new ring, and a generous coating of Mobil 1 synthetic for that first start-up.

Also, a Lynx metal turbo fan and new hub with fresh screws:





Up next is to finish up the motor accessories - Lynx heavy duty clutch, Quick UK needle valve adjusters, KDE backplate bracket and Spektrum sensor for the Multigov, etc.

Thats it for now. More later.

[DCflyer]

More progress tonight working with the electronics........


Created new model in DX8
Bound AR7200 and satellite
Set servo Frequencies/Pulse and centered servo horns

Outrage Torq 9180 and 9188. RJX HV cyclic on throttle. QuickUK metal servo wheels and horns.



Quick video of everything moving to my commands for the first time!

[Avidflyer]

Awesome build keep the pics coming!

[DCflyer]

Originally Posted by Avidflyer

Awesome build keep the pics coming!

Thanks! I plan on it. Have a couple of other projects i'm working on right now but will pick up the build again this weekend. I would like to get the engine and fuel system in this weekend.

I am currently working on figuring out my wiring and how I want to route everything. Could use some advice here from people.

Do you guys mount your FBL units with the wires facing the front or facing the rear of the model?

Having them facing the front would make them easily accessible but more exposed and its not quite as clean looking.

Having them facing the rear would make for a cleaner look but i'd imagine make things harder to service. Plus with the fan shroud being back there all the servo cables would be bunched up back there. How do you guys approach this?

[ualdrivr]

Nice work, looks awesome.

[DCflyer]

Originally Posted by ualdrivr

Nice work, looks awesome.

Hey thanks - alot of the hard to find parts like the Lynx metal fan and the Lynx heavy duty clutch liner came from GrandRC

[Stevendavis]

Me likes!!

[jameson]

looks awesome

[Azalin]

Awesome heli and nice pics.

Where did you find that Lynx Pinion block? They were out of production.

[DCflyer]

Hey thanks! I googled the part number - after a bit of research I got the last one over on Rotorquest in Canada.

[Azalin]

Lucky I think you grab the last one.

[rovers 550]

awsome job great pictures