Transformation has begun

[rcgeek]

Now just to get it finished. I can't wait. Must be done before IRCHA.....

Going flybarless. CGY750
Synergy head

[dharwood]

Warning: See your dentist and have your teeth cleaned, straightened, verniers installed and all that stuff. Your teeth will be getting LOTTS of exposure due to the excessive smiling once you convert

You will enjoy,

Dale

[The Dude II]

I'm touching his his heli!

[rcgeek]

Why yes, yes you are....

I think Gus feels sorry for me, Only reason I can figure he helps me so much, That or he knows I'm gonna screw it up good because backwords Timmy may be on that day, or there is forget full Timmy, then there is always Pissed Timmy if something does not go his way then the pantera may get used as an axe....and A.D.D Timmy is always there, Mechanicaly I'm not to bad but add electronics, wiring, and programing and.......

I can't thank him enough for the help he gives me...

You the man. or is it You the Dude...

[forvols]

I'm thankful to have Dale as my "manual reading and following to the letter" buddy

The whole "going FBL" thing is somehow both awesome and a royal pain in the rear all at the same time.

[The Dude II]

And then there were Nexus Servos.

Hope I find some gear sets before Timmy reads this! Let's just say the output shafts are VERY brittle and do not take side loads what so ever.

"Damn, that broke easy!" x 3...just like Hitec Carbonite...thought that stuff was reserved for future use with Hans Solo.

[rcgeek]

On to plan B.

Now what is plan B

Any one else using theese plastic nexus in a flybarless set up?? I still have enough scavanged from the Edge540 that ended it's life. Kinda scared to use them though, not wanting to risk a failure, i have to much in the airframe now to take any chances. Not many stock parts left.

Maybe plan C. $$$$$$.. New servos, From now on no more trying to save a buck and trying something cheeper, Just not worth it. I'll dish out the extra and just get Futaba's.
No more I'm done....

[gdzero]

CRAP !!! I'm using Nexus servos in my Pantera ! Sounds like you guys have had bad experience with these .

[The Dude II]

should be enough to keep side loads from causing what happened here.

These Nexus servos replaced a set of Hitec THAT DID break an output shaft in flight.
It was the output stabilizer that "saved" the model...by keeping the broken output shaft sandwiched between stabilizer & servo case.

The force(though not much) applied when snapping on a ball link onto a 18mm servo arm was enough to snap this unsupported servo.

The replacements(more nexus... for now) will certainly have the stabilizers mounted before I start snapping on links.

The internals of these Nexus servos look good, the handling qualities in flight are good.

If you're Sport to mild 3D I'm betting these will be OK...but give it to me...bet I can break it in flight (have bent elevator pushrods from just pushing the FBL heli hard)

[rcgeek]

Futaba bls253's on order...

[forvols]

ya'll must fly em really hard. I'm using Futaba S9252 plastic gear, plastic output shaft and have not had any issues. I've replaced some gears after crashes, but let's not talk about that ok?

[rcgeek]

For some reason I have terible luck with the plastic output shafts, Even broke them on my rave 450, But was able to just upgrade to metal gears on that. (align servos).

[The Dude II]

9252 is an awesome servo - hard to break, last forever and just works...bargain @ $80 each.

[rcgeek]

Oh so close, pitch curves then I think its time to head to the field. To many external factors today to finish it.

[The Dude II]

Little update on the Nexus DSW613HB servo-output shaft SNAFU.

I'd place it(the oh-so-easy breakage) largely upon a matter of unique facts.

1. Nexus DSW613HB - BIG NOTE ON THE "HB" part - as in plastic output gear.

2. Align Metal Servo Arm

3. Audacity M3 servo output stabilizer stud.

So the Servo has a plastic output shaft. Obviously less robust than metal, but that is what you get at this price point; I still don't think the DSW613HB is a "bad" piece of equipment; quite the opposite.
I'd still use them in a modest RC model...not a High Performance model or a model where a pilot "might be purposely pushing the limits" - but your Sunday Flyer.

This servo combined with the #2 & #3 sets up what I(we) experienced.

The Align metal servo arm is ~ 3x the thickness of the Futaba arm where the retaining stud passes into the output shaft. The decision to swap from Futaba to Align was for geometric reasons for this FBL setup. This additional thickness of the arm does not allow the Audacity stabilizer stud to thread very deeply (actually maybe 5 threads) into the plastic output shaft. This fact along with the Audacity stud being a bit shorter than the original retaining bolt lead up to a combination that was...well....REAL EASY TO SNAP-OFF the spline shaft.

Lesson learned.

Luck would have it...(REALLY TIMMY ) this machine sits with 3 Futaba BLS-253, less than 24-hours after the breakage!!!

Let's just say...some people are born lucky!!!

You guys with the Nexus - fly em. Use extra caution if you use the Audacity stabilizers studs in combination with a servo arm that is "thick" atop the spline...as you'll be right where we were.

And I hope to hell you don't need parts for them(Nexus)...over 90-minutes on web searches and I couldn't locate a vendor that I'd be able to speak with. That said...you know a contact, we still need 3 output shafts for the mentioned servo!!!

[forvols]

Noting the Synergy swash and FBL head. What was the combined price for these?

Last time I went looking for full metal fbl head and swash, I gave up in disgust as I didn't want to spend $400 to make it happen. This is what lead me (and continues to keep me) to going with RJX. Thus far I've not had any issue using the stock Pantera swash with the RJX head. The geometry works well. Not sure if the Align fbl head would work well with the Pantera swash or not.

Having removed the 50 sized RJX head from my P50 for use with the P7e, I need to find a replacement fbl head for the P50. I may try the red neck fbl conversion on a stock Pantera head. There is a big difference between the control arm spacing on the stock head vs the RJX fbl head. I checked out back to see how the money tree is doing. Apparently it died a few weeks ago due to drought, and then got washed away with the 2 weeks of rain that followed.

Nice looking fleet of Pnateras in the pictures. Can't wait to hear about Timmy's reaction to his first flights on the fbl Pantera!

[The Dude II]

Synergy swash $61 and you'll need ~ $10 worth of balls.
Align Metal servo arms - need 18mm spacing for geometry - set of 3 $23
Synergy 600/700 FBL Head - $151 + ~ $2 for blade bolts (4 or 5mm)
3 bags of Synergy Ball Links - $4.50 each x 3 = $13.50
1 Botos Sizer ball link tool - ~$15(?)

Total : ~ $266 and you'll be blown away by the quality...and never replace a worn ball or link again.

[The Dude II]

[rcgeek]

It flys. I pressured Guss into heading out to the field tonight so we could test the heli.
After a quick check on the bench and setting the pitch curves, and un glueing the tail pushrod we headed out to the field. Got the bird fueled and fired up and handed the transmitter to Guss and watched eagerly as he popped it in the air popped it around a little, did some Piro's and then comenced to beat the crap out of it. After landing he adjusted a couple things then to check the tail for center, not bad, needed one turn on the link. Another short hop and he hands me the transmitter and says dont break it, (thinking to myself, ASS H0!E, jinx me why don't ya).

First flight I was trying to feel it out and was nervous as heck, Asked him to turn down the Aileron rate and I wanted to back down the expo as well, Second flight, Better but landed after a minute and I backed down the expo 10 points across the board, Much better, Was getting a little dark for my liking but took it out a little for some nice turns, Stall turn and some awesome piro's across the sky and just getting the feel of it. Much smoother this time up.

Well, to round it up, I LIKE IT...

It is different but good, I can see great things coming out of this conversion.

Very happy, and still grinning..... Can't wait for the week at IRCHA...