Sneak Peek - Century Radikal Condor

[carey shurley]

Normally I reserve sneak peeks for products that aren't yet on the market However in the case of the Century Condor which has been available for several months now, there is very little information available about it.

Peter Chao of Century provided me with some photographs of the production model as well as some from the prototype. Here is a link to the Assembly manual, its still in pre-release form. Click on the Manual cover to download the manual



The Condor is configured for 830mm blades and is designed as a lifting machine. Its intended for commercial purposes not for any sort of 3D or really even sport flying

It appears to have a payload weight of about 15 lbs and a flying time of around 30 minutes as configured. The rotor head wasn't installed on this model


Chassis/Fuselage

A little closer view of the side of the canopy


Side View

The tail rotor isn't installed on this model


Rear boom cover

Here you can see where the canopy and the rear boom cover meet and overlap


Front/Rear cover intersection

with the canopy removed you can see that the boom cover is recessed so that the canopy fits rather flush with it


Front Cover removed

A close up of the main drive train


Drive Train

The model uses Century's proven and heavy duty FBL rotor head


FBL Rotorhead

Much like the JR GSR260, the JR Forza and several new models, the Condor uses a boom cover. The tail boom is a standard arrangement and this cover is attached to it as shown


Boom cover internals

Here's the tail rotor, you can see the metal drive gears. This is the standard Radikal 30 V2 tail rotor arrangement


Tail Rotor

The tail boom on this model is really long. Rather than use a really long push rod to control the T/R, the servo simply mounts at the rear of the tail boom which results in a very short, resonance free control rod


T/R Control system

A good look at the rear of the chassis. Although the drivetrain is from the Radikal 30 V2, the frame design is unique to the Condor


Rear chassis

The fuel tank carries over 25oz, enough fuel for about 30 minutes of flying time. If more time is needed additional tanks can be mounted


Fuel Tank

Here you can see how the tail boom mounts to the chassis, and the additional boom support


Tail Boom mount

and where that support ties into the tail boom. The extra long boom has 3 supports


Tail boom support

The model requires the PUH format of the Zenoah engine. If you're familiar with the Radikal 20/30 series, this mounting will look familiar. It should because all of the drive train is lifted directly from the Radikal 30 V2 series. Very tough and proven. Includes the standard H/D clutch which efficiently transfers power to the large rotor head. This model has an 8.18:1 gear ratio


Zenoah PUH format engine

The landing gear is graphite, with reinforcements. Its taller than standard to allow for a payload. There are optional mechanisms for payloads


Landing Gear

this model is one of the reasons Century created their UAV muffler. Its quieter than normal which is desireable because these types of models are typically operated around populated areas


Century Commercial UAV muffler

And there you have the Century Radikal Condor!

[Calil]

Call me crazy but I really liked this heli.

EXCEPT for the skids. So I would shorten the skids to look like this:

[LoveToFly1]

its not a bad looking bird. and I am sure it will serve its purpose very well for pictures and things, but keep in mind its not for 3D.

[MotorRotor]

Thanks for that review Carey. Looks to be a great addition to the big gasser market.

[datatools]

I purchased one of these kits just a few weeks ago and I'm in the process of building it now. Its my first gasser, so I'm taking my time to ensure I learn all that is required. The build went well, just a few issues with the build manual but an experienced builder will work around it. Quality is great, and it shares many parts with the Radikal G30v2. I'm installing the HWC 29E engine with the Century UAV muffler. My maiden flight should happen within a week, if everything goes according to plan . I'll write-up my take on this machine once I get it flying.

Bryan

[R_Lefebvre]

I wonder how much the price of this thing is due to the canopy, and if they would sell it without? The kit is so much more than the G30 machine it's based on, I can't see the justification.

If it's truly supposed to be for UAV usage, I'm not sure how many people will be interested in the canopy. Quite often they're run naked.

[vadson]

Good day.
I have long been engaged in helicopters as a hobby and for work. I bought a few helicopters century, namely G30v2 1pc and condor 5pc. I can say that they are absolutely in the mechanic, the price of condors very overpriced.
And now about the quality. I even had to deal with the Chinese clone HK600GT helicopter, even the Chinese clone of the quality higher than the century. You do not think that this is an anti advertisement. I actually came a lot of problems with these helicopters from the outset.
1. helicopters came understaffed in each of the sets something was missing. in the end of the 5 sets, I was able to collect 3 helicopter.
2. in one set was originally clutch bell curve, indicating poor quality control in manufacturing.
3. The main problem is the tail. Because of him, I had already 4 more crash.
3.1. Case of the tail which poured from plastic curve. Because of this imbalance is created in the gearbox and its rapid deterioration.
3.2. Geared 21T pinion tail attached to the shaft of the key. Because of this, I had a crash, during a flight feather flew out of gear.
3.3. Metal Gear can not be exposed to constant gap, which is why there is excessive wear on the gearbox.
3.4. plastic sleeve which carries ply gear rotates and you have lost the tail. (later to attach an photo). in that the sleeve also includes a drive shaft of the tail with one hand while the other gear is fastened ply.
3.5. The bearings in the front gearbox is not very high quality. particularly large bearings in the front and rear gearbox plastic bushings.
3.6. tail slider bushing 5 hours of flight produce up to strong deterioration. This is a very small resource for this part.
4.In the main rotor approximately 5-10 Flight appears backlash, due to bad bearings.
5.Frame of fiberglass instead of carbon fiber. Carbon has a total of 2 layers on the front side. This I found only on the Chinese clones.
Sorry for my English, I used a translator.

[gassed]

...so I take it you will not buy another one?