New Member to the Turbine Heli Community

[Gary O]

I just purchased a Jetcopter SX used from Bob Oliva. I wanted to start out with a turbine that had already been set up and proven to get my feet wet on. It seems like every question I get answered leads to another new question. There's no one in this area that is involved with turbine helis so I'm going to be bugging you guys. Hopefully, I won't become a nuisance before I get comfortable with my new toy.

[Greg Alderman]

Nope...not at all Gary...ask away!

Congrats on the new "toy"...once you get over the "Pucker" Factor ($$$) you will be good to go!

[Gary O]

Are you familiar with the HP5 Jetcat? I'm in the process of putting the gyro in it that I want to use, it had a 401 in it and I'm putting a 611 in it. I'm also not sure of how to use the auto start. I'm flying with a JR 9303. The 10X won't work with 90* 4 servo ccpm mixing. Do you assign a switch to activate the auto start? Also, do you let it go through the warm up procedure at 0* pitch? As you can probably tell from these questions, I have a lot of things I need to know before trying to fly this thing.

[Gary Travis]

Gary, I have a Jetcopter which is set up on a 9303. Pm me a phone number and I will walk you through the set up on that radio and also the start up.
Gary Travis

[Gary Travis]

Gary, letme know how you make out with those settings, sounds to me like you are ready to go.
Gary

[Gary O]

Gary,

I think I'm getting close. I still need to re-plumb the tanks the way we talked about but that's an easy deal. I did get the starter motor to work though. On the slider, once raised slightly above the full down position, the 3 LED's go in sequence along with 3 beeps. Then when raised to full open, the starter motor engages. Then once brought back down to the idle position (halfway), the motor then progresses to speed up. I didn't want to let it turn very much since I'm not ready to complete the sequence yet. Does this sound correct to you?

[Heli_jack]

Welcome to the crowd

[Gary O]

I finally got her in the air today. I ran the turbine some yesterday on the ground but didn't actually lift it off. I did today though. 6 flights and it's still together. I may never go back to nitro or gas again. This jet stuff is just way too cool!!! The first flight probably doesn't count since the pucker factor was off the charts. On the last flight of the day I got the nerve up to do a simple loop and roll. I can't wait for tomorrow to play some more. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[Gary Travis]

Glad to here it, sounds to me like you got the plumming wright. amazing how you can set one up over the phone!! Keep im touch and let us know how you are doing with it.
Gary

[wolfdad]

Gary,
Glad to see you are having a good bit of success and, more importantly, FUN with your turbine. As Gary said, keep us posted on your progress.
Doc

[Gary O]

As I posted on RR in the Turbine forum earlier, the V-Blades on the Jetcopter turned it into a totally different machine. It felt lighter in the air,(if that makes sense), and was much more responsive to control inputs. The best part is, it doesn't "balloon" when it sniffs a breeze, nor does it have the pitchiness it had. Inverted flight was much easier and needed less neg collective to maintain consistent speed and altitude.


It seems there has been some debate about JetCat vs Wren and maybe another turbine that I've been reading. With this being my first go at a turbine machine I don't have the experience to do any comparisons, but so far I'm really liking the JetCat. I've pretty much replaced everything on the fuel system and the electronics as well. JetCat has been a pleasure to deal with. Everything I've ordered they have handled promptly and got it to me when I asked for it. Unless something really goes south I'll be sticking with the JetCat turbine.

[wolfdad]

Gary,
Glad you are enjoying your turbine experience and glad the Vblades gave you a better feel for the Jetcopter. The Jetcopter is basically a good, well built machine that you will thoroughly enjoy. My beef with Jetcat is based primarily on what I consider to be poor customer service. And, that could just be my own isolated experience. The other thing about the Jetcat is belts...frankly just don't like them. As you move along in your turbine experience, I think you will find that the Wren, being a true two stage turbine will offer a lot of advantages and versatility you don't get with the Jetcat. In a scale application, the Wren offers one extremely significant advantage and that is a lot less exhaust heat to deal with. A tremendous amount of heat engergy is utilized in pushing the second stage, so exhaust temps to be dealt with are a good bit lower.

Enjoy your Jetcopter...not a thing wrong with the machine and the Jetcopter is built like the proverbial "tank"....cannot say otherwise and glad to hear the Vblades are working for you. The side-slipping and ballooning just about drove me up the wall until I got my first set of Vblades...made all the difference in the world in handling qualities.

wolfdad sends...

[Gary O]

I am going to be starting a scale machine here pretty quick so it might be better to use the Wren in regards to the heat issue. I'll probably have some off the wall questions when I get the scaler started so you guys try and bare with me. I'm planning on the Jet Ranger XL. I'm doing some research now to make sure I get the right kit and do it exactly scale. I believe the Channel 2 new chopper here in Houston is a Jet Ranger and the colors look good. The pilot brought it to our heli event last year and I am going to try and talk to him again to get more details.

[wolfdad]

Gary,
With the second stage being a "true" power recovery turbine, the heat issues with regard to exhaust are much more manageable to deal with, as is the "residual" thrust. In working on my Airwolf which will use the Benzine mechanics, the turbine is mounted low and well forward, which poses some interesting challenges. However, in working with the Wren Team, they have already come up with some extremely attractive potential solutions for the challenges. One potential solution that Wren has sent pictures of is a shorter, straight-out, round exhaust system to which I think I can couple flexible ducting to route the exhaust back and up to the scale exhaust location. And, since the "residual" exhaust is neglible with the Wren, there will be little to no compensation required as far as flying qualities are concerned. Here, again, are just a couple of the characteristics that make the Wren so attractive.

Doc

[Gary O]

I wish I could have made it to IRCHA this year so I could have gotten a lot of valuable information from you guys while everybody was pretty much in one spot. I can't wait to get the fuse and at least get started on it.

[wolfdad]

Hey Gary,
We are all STILL in one spot....right here at HeliFreak...never more than a few key-strokes away, so if you have questions, problems, advice or recommendations, fire away. I know what you mean about IRCHA, though....nothing quite like being up close and personal.
Doc