Who's still flying their Swifts?

[aramsdell]

I have recently brought my fleet of swifts back out of retirement.

Winter does that to me as I can fly in my yard, a little.

My 550 upconverted 3 brg. is now flybarless. Used the washout base to make the swash follower. Metal head/grips. Scorpion 4025 1100kv.

A Swift RTF I got cheap has some new parts and 550's on the Lightning 550 with a 4S5000 pack. Sounds cool spinning them on an 8T pinion.

My old 550 Swift Helicam is going flybarless with the Lightning 600 and
either 5S or 6S packs.

Parts are hard to find. I have been sourcing from as many sites as I can find
and using parts from other Century models for the tail etc.

I found parts at CenturyUK but they won't ship those to the USA because of Heli-World's territory I guess.

If you look around, though, enough parts can be had to build a whole Swift if you want.

Flew the 4S5000 in the driveway this am and the FBL 5S4900 at the club field this afternoon. 20+ mph winds. No problem.

Merry Christmas!

al

[rotorsport]

I have two Swifts and they are still flying strong.

Charles

[phoenixheli]

I sold my swift 16 a few years ago, but plan on buying an nx. Thinking talon 90 using internal bec with h6160hv spektrum servo's all around. Spartan quark gyro, rotortech for tail and main rotor. 6S 4800mAh and a 10-12T pinion. I havent figured out what motor brand yet, but something in the 800KV range will produce a nice slow 1600-1800 hs.

However, I'm a little nervous about purchasing anything 550 sized. It seems serveral manufactureres have disconinued products or they are not being restocked anymore. Thunder tiger, Blade, etc. It would be a shame for this to happen to some century products, as they are one of the few good manufacturers that make kits(airframe only).

[Dennis P]

Originally Posted by phoenixheli

I sold my swift 16 a few years ago, but plan on buying an nx. Thinking talon 90 using internal bec with h6160hv spektrum servo's all around. Spartan quark gyro, rotortech for tail and main rotor. 6S 4800mAh and a 10-12T pinion. I havent figured out what motor brand yet, but something in the 800KV range will produce a nice slow 1600-1800 hs.

However, I'm a little nervous about purchasing anything 550 sized. It seems serveral manufactureres have disconinued products or they are not being restocked anymore. Thunder tiger, Blade, etc. It would be a shame for this to happen to some century products, as they are one of the few good manufacturers that make kits(airframe only).

The only one I know of that has left is Blade which as far as I understand dropped everything above the 450 size. Thunder Tiger has not dropped there 550 class as they still have 2 but did change distributors. Century uses the swift in a lot of the scale mechanics so I would imagine it is still a popular kit and would not think it should go anywhere . I think almost every mainstream manufacture out there has a 550 class heli . I agree on the 800-900 kv motor for the Swift if running 6s as it give you options . If you ever need a Quark let me know as I have a virtually brand new one in it's box . Happy New Year

[MotorRotor]

I have been exercising my Swifts quite regularly this year. Logging 115 flights on the Swift NX and 79 flights on the Swift Carbon SE set up with the CN2517A FBL head.

[lblampman]

So, I haven't posted here in just about forever it seems like. I bought a Swift 16 kit back in 2010 then got very busy in my business and never did get it built (it's still in the original box!). Things are a bit calmer now and I'm getting the bug to get back to the Swift.

As could be expected, the spreadsheet I did for the Swift with the motor, ESC, servos, gyro, etc is pretty outdated at this point. Seems many of the products/models just aren't made anymore. Which leads me to ask the forum here what current choices would be good ones for the Swift 16 in terms of the motor especially (seems like 800 to 1100 kv isn't as easy to find these days)? I'd also love to have your thoughts on the ESC, servos (tail too), gyro, and such. I've been researching online but a lot has changed and I'm a bit overwhelmed (back in the day I could read on the setups for the Swift 16 on Helifreak here, but they're now quite outdated, like my list).

I can't afford a bunch of really high end stuff and the Swift will be used as a trainer/fun flyer (3D work is not anticipated, at least not for quite awhile). I just need some good, affordable parts to put this long-neglected heli in the air.

Thanks in advance!

All the best,

Les

[phoenixheli]

Well, here's some insight on my future NX build and retail prices:


Swift NX (Air frame only) $150.00
Motor Scorpion HKIII 4020 890KV 5mm $150.00
ESC Talon 90 $90.00
BEC talon internal $0.00
Cyclic Servo's Spek H6160HV x3 $111.00
Tail Servo Spek H6210HV $105
Gyro Spartan Quark $80.00
Lipo Zippy 6S 30C 5000mAh x4 $250.00
Main Rotortech 560mm $85.00
Tail Rotortech 92mm $28.00
Paddles Rotortech CF $35.00
Pinion 12T 5mm mod 1.0 $8.00 1975rpm@100%Throttle@80%Efficiency/9min flight est.

Total $1,092.00


Not bad, one reason I like the basic kits offered by century and not having to pay for iffy electronics that are going to be replaced anyhow or having/not having functions you specifically want/do not want.

Now, there's lots of ways to cut costs using B electronics. I've used some on serveral of my mini heli's (450's) and they have proven reasonably reliable for the price. Turningy motors and lipo's work and hobbywing esc's have worked for other pilots as well in super cheap clone builds. I've also used some servo's from HK, but can't recall the "brand". I personally don't like the idea of using too many B electronics in 550+ applications, but your mileage will vary and you could save half over my build with this route.

One recommendation, since you have a swift 16, replace the stock skinny landing gear with CNE612 from the nx. If I understood correctly, later swift 16 kits may already have these skids, don't know if yours does or not. The originals were very skinny and easy to snap, even on mild landings. In my mind they were something like 3/8" x 1/8", however the cne612 is far stronger.

[MotorRotor]

I have my Swift NX set up for sport 3D (not smack) with some pretty basic equipment:

1 x Scorpion 4020-910 KV motor ($130.00)
1 x Hobby Wing 70A ESC with BEC up to 6S ($50.00)
3 x Futaba S-3151 cyclic servos ($90.00)
1 x Futaba GY-401/S9254 combo (I had for at least 10 years) ($200.00 or so new)
1 x FunKey 530mm silver composite blades ($50.00)
3 x Spyder 5S/4000/30C battery Packs ($210) Great batteries - 5 minute flights at 2050 head speed
1 x 13T pinion (10.00)

Had a lot of great flights on this on in 2014!

For more sport type of aerobatics, you could use a 12T pinion on it and get a rotor speed of about 1890 and increase your flight time to over 6 minutes. Or use the 11T pinion for a head speed of about 1730 and get about 8 minutes.

Oh I have now purchased an HI5130E ($60.00) canopy from the Radikal E640 and found it easy to modified the mounting system to accept it.

[lblampman]

Originally Posted by phoenixheli

Well, here's some insight on my future NX build and retail prices:


Swift NX (Air frame only) $150.00
Motor Scorpion HKIII 4020 890KV 5mm $150.00
ESC Talon 90 $90.00
BEC talon internal $0.00
Cyclic Servo's Spek H6160HV x3 $111.00
Tail Servo Spek H6210HV $105
Gyro Spartan Quark $80.00
Lipo Zippy 6S 30C 5000mAh x4 $250.00
Main Rotortech 560mm $85.00
Tail Rotortech 92mm $28.00
Paddles Rotortech CF $35.00
Pinion 12T 5mm mod 1.0 $8.00 1975rpm@100%Throttle@80%Efficiency/9min flight est.

Total $1,092.00


Not bad, one reason I like the basic kits offered by century and not having to pay for iffy electronics that are going to be replaced anyhow or having/not having functions you specifically want/do not want.

Now, there's lots of ways to cut costs using B electronics. I've used some on serveral of my mini heli's (450's) and they have proven reasonably reliable for the price. Turningy motors and lipo's work and hobbywing esc's have worked for other pilots as well in super cheap clone builds. I've also used some servo's from HK, but can't recall the "brand". I personally don't like the idea of using too many B electronics in 550+ applications, but your mileage will vary and you could save half over my build with this route.

One recommendation, since you have a swift 16, replace the stock skinny landing gear with CNE612 from the nx. If I understood correctly, later swift 16 kits may already have these skids, don't know if yours does or not. The originals were very skinny and easy to snap, even on mild landings. In my mind they were something like 3/8" x 1/8", however the cne612 is far stronger.

Thanks very much for the in depth information, it's super helpful!

All the best,

Les

[lblampman]

Originally Posted by MotorRotor

I have my Swift NX set up for sport 3D (not smack) with some pretty basic equipment:

1 x Scorpion 4020-910 KV motor ($130.00)
1 x Hobby Wing 70A ESC with BEC up to 6S ($50.00)
3 x Futaba S-3151 cyclic servos ($90.00)
1 x Futaba GY-401/S9254 combo (I had for at least 10 years) ($200.00 or so new)
1 x FunKey 530mm silver composite blades ($50.00)
3 x Spyder 5S/4000/30C battery Packs ($210) Great batteries - 5 minute flights at 2050 head speed
1 x 13T pinion (10.00)

Had a lot of great flights on this on in 2014!

For more sport type of aerobatics, you could use a 12T pinion on it and get a rotor speed of about 1890 and increase your flight time to over 6 minutes. Or use the 11T pinion for a head speed of about 1730 and get about 8 minutes.

Oh I have now purchased an HI5130E ($60.00) canopy from the Radikal E640 and found it easy to modified the mounting system to accept it.

MotorRotor,

Thanks very much for taking the time to list your build, I sure do appreciate it!

Now off to the Internet to see what I can find.

Les

[FR4-Pilot]

I finally got to fly my Swift NX (5S) and Swift 16 (6S) today - it's been a while. They flew great. The NX had it's ESC revert to airplane mode, so it throttled up near instantaneously. Didn't strip the main gear though! The foam pontoons on the skids allowed it to spin in the grass. Without them it would have been tragic. On the next flight I was able to re-program it to heli/slow start/no governor mode (electron 80/100) so let's see if it stays or if it's gone flakey on me.

I hope Century/Heli-World returns to supporting us heli guys with supplies of parts, kits and such someday ...

[MotorRotor]

Got more flying on my 5S powered NX this past week...still having a lot of fun with it.

[aramsdell]

I had the occasion to fly twice this weekend with my Swift .

Cheapo 550 fiberglass blades
HKing 3DH BeastX clone FBL
Scorpion 4025 1100kv
9T
Corona HV servos incl tail

This is a real monster. I have to be careful as I recently
strippped out the entire tail drivetrain on a maximum climbout.
Full idle-up rpm and then punched the collective to 13 degrees.
Yikes.
I've programmed out some of that pitch and now it is only wild.
It went 0 to 100 feet in about 1.5 seconds straight up !
The power of the Scorpion is unbelievable. I can just get it to bog a little on consecutive hard flipping maneuvers otherwise it's unstoppable.
The headspeed is scary.