HELP WITH NIGHT FLYING

[helimanGF]

Hi Guys! I am desperately looking for some help. My boyfriend has a TREX 500 flybarless. I am trying to "pimp" out his heli as an Xmas gift. Since it gets dark early now he hasn't been able to fly much lately, so I got the genius idea to buy him some sort of night flying equipment. Originally I was trying to find the really cool blades that do the graphics, like the Night Magic Blades by KOK or the MS Composit Night blades but I am not sure which ones are the best or even what i should look for. Plus I think they are extremely expensive? i also don't even know if they fit his heli.

Can anyone PRETTY PLEASE suggest any night flight kit, parts, pieces... or anything that I could get him? Anything that you guys could help me with would be greatly appreciated!! Also, please note that i have zero knowledge when it comes to helis. My heli vocab is basically- blades, rotor blades, tail boom!!

[kavic5150]

Hey there. I have a few ideas for some night flying accessories. There are basically 2 different types of lighting used on helis, el wire and LEDs. Right off I can tell you that LEDs are much brighter and easier to work with. I'll give you links to both and some explanations for each.

The first thing you wanna look at is night blades, they are the best way to keep orientation while night flying. These are kind of expensive tho. Normally a t-rex 500 has 420 - 430mm blades. If you want to double check, just measure from the tip of one blade to the bolt on his heli. Then use google to convert. You should get about 16.7 inches btw.

If you do decide to buy night blades, I would recommend buying them from a well known rc heli parts supplier. That way if there is any problem with them, returning them will not be a problem. Also, most night blades use jumper pins to turn on and off, I'll include links for those as well.

Here are a few links to some night blades, first from MsComposit:

http://www.heliproz.com/prodinfo.asp?number=150249
and some extra jumper pins:
http://www.heliproz.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MS-00109
dont forget a charger from the same manufacturer, they aren't all compatible:
http://www.heliproz.com/prodinfo.asp?number=150089

Looks like the Align night blades are out of stock several places. They are much more affordable than the MScomposit. I found them here:

http://www.activepowersports.com/align-425-carbon-fiber-night-blades3k-agnh50120/
before ordering an align charger, you might wanna call this vendor. I saw 2 different chargers listed, one for the 600, and one for the 325. I'm guessing its the same charger for 325 and 425mm blades, but I'm not sure.
http://www.activepowersports.com/align-325-carbon-night-blade-charger-agnhs1301/
The align night blades come with 3 jumper pins, but having extras is always a good idea, they are easily lost:
http://www.activepowersports.com/align-night-blade-connector-agnhs1235/

I'll continue in the next post.

[kavic5150]

2 or 3 LED strips in different colors should be plenty. 1 meter strips or shorter should work out well. If your BF has a soldering iron and can solder that would be very helpful.

Heres a link to a well known vendor in massachussetts:
http://helidirect.com/night-flying-c-1_402.hdx
and some JST connectors from the same vendor:
http://helidirect.com/rc-heli-wiresconnectors-jst-with-20awg-pvc-wire-10cm-p-4727.hdx
3 or 4 of those should be plenty in case he needs an extra set. those are the same connectors that come pre-installed on small 3s lipo batterys (12 volts).

And the smallest 3s lipo from helidirect is a bit bigger than I had in mind, but will not be too much weight for a 500 sized heli:
http://helidirect.com/outrage-5c-nrg35-3s1p-111v-800mah-35c-xtreme-power-series-gaui-255-t-rex-250-and-outdoor-lama-p-17067.hdx
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Here is another well known vendor from New Jersey. I've ordered LED strips from them before. Trust me when I tell you that their idea of violet LEDs are actually pink. Ask me how I know. Also any LED strips that say yellow appear more like amber which is closer to orange.

Night flying supplies:
http://www.bphobbies.com/view.asp?id=C3351881

2 reasonably sized 3s lipo batteries. The second one is slightly larger and good for casual flying. If you BF flips and rolls his heli all over the sky and flys upside down alot, choose the first one, its lighter. Both should power 3 LED strings for 3 flights before needing a recharge:
http://www.bphobbies.com/view.asp?id=A2416229&pid=F3273871
(360ma)
http://www.bphobbies.com/view.asp?id=A2416229&pid=F3293874
(450ma)

And some JST connectors from the same vendor:
http://www.bphobbies.com/view.asp?id=V935567&pid=jst002 (female jst connector)

http://www.bphobbies.com/view.asp?id=V935567&pid=jst001 (male jst connector)
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This last vendor is also well known. They are located in City of Industry, CA. I just ordered from them last friday and got my package today. Not too shabby. They have very affordable Lipos too. Now why didnt I mention them first? I recommend LED strips no longer than 60 LEDs. You might want to mix it up and include a few shorter strips of 30 or 12 LEDs:

Here is their night flying section:
http://www.hobbypartz.com/ledlights.html

A couple small 3s lipos:
http://www.hobbypartz.com/77p-sl350-3s1p-20c-3333.html (350ma)

http://www.hobbypartz.com/98p-25c-450-3s1p.html (450ma)

2 of these JST wire adaptors will save u BF alot of soldering (:
http://www.hobbypartz.com/79p-10018.html

One more post follows for el-wire. Dont worry that one will be short.

[kavic5150]

Personally I'm not a big fan of ELwire. Its not as bright as LEDs with a 12 volt power supply. And with any el wire setup you'll need one elwire driver (also called an inverter) for every 2 elwire strings. 2 3-foot segments or 4 1.5 foot segments will do nicely IMHO. Do a google image search for el-wire rc heli or check out youtube with the same keywords. Its also known as glow wire or cold light string. Also shorter length el wire will be brighter than longer lengths.

I highly recommend el-wire with pre soldered connectors as this stuff is very hard to solder wire leads to:

The brightest elwire according to fellow heli pilot Flyinfool is found here:

www.glowire.com

They have a few kits specifically for Rc helis.

[timay]

I just did this to my TREX 500.

One of these will cover the canopy, tail boom, and tail fin ($27 each)
http://store.glowire.com/products/Heli-Kit.html
Colors:
1 yellow
1 lime

A second kit will cover the skids and the bottom of the tail boom. I ordered 2 "aqua" wires. Yellow, lime, and aqua are the brightest colors.

You'll also need a battery to power these lights. I stuck the 2 drivers and battery on the bottom of the heli by the rear skid mount
http://www.readyheli.com/THP8503SPP6...o_p_38385.html



(I made my own night blades)