I just spoke to the owner of RCER about US parts availability and FBL...

[feapril5]

I stopped flying my Dragonus a few months ago and sold all my spares because I was tired of spending $28 in shipping everytime I needed tail booms and mainshafts.

So I emailed RCER and asked about the rules for distributorship and how much the investment would be. The minimum order quantity at distributor prices is $1000 which is the low end of the spectrum. I figure if there are at least 15 of us who are regular flyers of this heli it would be worth doing as I could easily and cheaply set up a webpage to process orders.

I also with Mr Asoka about improvements. He said an FBL head has already been designed and is ready for production. He was also amenable to other improvements such as non adjustable head links and slant gears (think how quiet that would be), and special configurations of the kit (ie mixing elements of Plus, Elite and Pro). Obviously, he wants to keep this going.

As for me, I'm not looking to get rich but I am looking to make enough to at least break even. Before taking the risk, I'd like to know how many people would keep flying (or start again) if they could get parts from a domestic source with cheap shipping.

[Arbo]

Well, I just ordered direct from RCer. But it would be nice to actually have parts in the USA if needed.

[feapril5]

Right now that appears to be the best if no the only option.

What parts did you order? I used to always stock up heavily on hardened mainshafts, booms and feathering shafts. Of secondary concern were landing gear and canopies. I used a Rave 450 FBL head and 450 Sport head on mine when they were converted to FBL so I sourced head parts locally.

If you could change something about the Dragonus, what would it be?

[Arbo]

I ordered the metal center head hub (or whatever the real name is), hardened shafts, and some blades since I was ordering.

I have an extra boom and feathering shafts and some other misc parts, as well as two of the bare bones heli's.

I need to get it flying and gain experience with it to know what I would change.

[buzzsaw 46]

feapril5 I know you had suggested changing the tail boom to 12mm but it seems like they would cut their own throat by doing that. Yes, it would be nice for us but how many of us would stop buying RCer parts if we could use parts from a trex or the many clones. I think it would be cooler to go up to the Blade 450 size boom , still the same problem for RCer though.

My suggestions for improvement would be a serviceable tail slider instead of the pressed together unit we have now. Chinese weights on the tail grips. A true FBL head instead of the converted standard head.

One of the things that many had problems with in the past was the narrow head block and how hard it was on dampers. Why keep that? For that reason alone I would go with the RJX FBL head over the RCer FBL conversion. Then you consider the replaceable grip arms, and 4mm spindle and its a no brainer.

[feapril5]

Good feedback. Especially on the FBL head. I switched my RCER head out so long ago I forgot how quickly you could go through a set of dampers.

I thought the same thing about the 12mm tail boom but that put a very nasty taste in my mouth due to shipping. On account of that, I left the fold six months ago because it wasn't worth the expense of shipping those booms. The way I see it, they lost on all the other crash parts I would have bought that fit a smaller dimension for shipping. I figured they'd rather have a smaller piece of a bigger pie than no pie at all.

In any case, it doesn't look like its worth the effort and risk of ordering a $1000 replacement parts batch and selling. Not enough interest so far. Thanks again for the feedback.

[DeadTom]

HobbyPeople.net, they do carry all the parts you will need i.e. hardened shafts, aluminum and carbon fiber parts. They only carry the basic kit and hope that you will upgrade it with all of the good parts. But if you already have a Pro or Elite you can get parts from them and the shipping is cheaper albeit it is still shipping though...at least you will not have to putout monies from your own pocket and hope that everyone buys what you ordered.
my 2 cents,
Tom

PS - Hobby Shack is the old name of the HobbyPeople.net and Hobby Lobby used to carry the Dragonus but no more.....just for clarification.

[buzzsaw 46]

Tom I dont see main shafts on the web site. do you have a link?

[Arbo]

Yeah, I checked there for shafts before, that is one item they do not have.

[feapril5]

When I purchased a Dragonus kit from Hobby People in 09, checked their website many times for shafts, booms and landing gear. It seemed they were always out of stock. The more I think about it, DT is probably right. I don't think there is enough interest to justify a massive parts order (despite the 35% savings).

[DeadTom]

Well I'll be...They were on the HP site and I know they sell them at the Las Vegas stores.
I got this stuff in my last 2 trips to LV from both of the HP stores and next time I go down they will have restocked what I have purchased from they're shelves.
Tom

PS - do a search on the HP site with "RCer" in the search line to see all of the surrent parts that are carried.
PSS - I am not affiliated in any way with HP and not a fanboy either but they do have the parts I need..

[feapril5]

Did they give the impression they would continue to support the Dragonus? If so that's great. It also means I'm not tempted to do it myself.

[krimo]

I just came across this post sorry for the delayed response. I'm up for a stateside distribution source that is committed to this heli besides Hobby People.

My Dragonus has been sitting for a couple of months due to crashes parts expense and my MCPx. I would appreciate a reliable source of parts beside Hobby People. I have a couple of Hobby People stores to chose from but neither keep sufficient stock of Dragonus parts. The shipping for parts from RCer is very expensive.

I'd like to see some improvement on the hardened shafts, they don't last long and sometimes right out of the bag they are not true. The swashplate needs some improvement in reliability as well IMO.

I want a FBL Dragonus but don't know what I need to get it done. We should have a Dragonus FBL sticky so newbies can quickly figure out how to make it happen.

Thanks feapril, if you decide to get parts for distribution let me know, I'll buy some!

[feapril5]

Converting the Dragonus to FBL isn't hard. It's really as simple as buying a FBL head. For parts sourcing simplicity, I'd go with an Align (or clone) head and the Gazaur swashplate. The Gazaur swash has lasted hundreds of flights with no slop and there really isn't much to an FBL head. Those two items and the FBL controller of your choice will have you up and running. The mechanical setup is essentially the same as what you would have on an Align heli for which there are tons of examples.

I've been fortunate with the hardened main shafts so far. The stock pieces are soft but all my hardened shafts spun true (at least at first). If you stock up on those, frame pieces, feathering shafts and the other small pieces, your shipping should be around $14 EMS from Rcer. Booms, canopies, decal sheets and landing gear drive up the shipping cost (in that order, yes I actually took the time to compare, I spend a fair amount of time in hotels with nothing better to do ).

Speaking to another one of your other points, you can make your own Dragonus shafts from Align pieces if you have a drill press and a 2mm hardened drill bit.

Finally, one other thing I learned from neccessity is how to convert the Dragonus to the 12mm tail boom used by Align, and many others. If you order the Gazaur swash from Dave at Mars480.com and pick up the tail boom clamps as well. You can easily use these by elongating the lower holes in the Dragonus frame downward and they only cost $8-$10. Now you've got the look and sound of the Dragonus with most of the crash compatibility of the Trex. You can reliably get canopies, frames and landing gear from Hobby People (but I never have luck on booms and mainshafts, go figure)

Oh, yeah, if you want to keep the 12.8mm booms, you have one other option. You can have them domestically made to order. I live in Atlanta and found a local fabricator who can produce these items in bulk out of multiple grades of aluminum (even titanium). My price was around $50 for 15 in either 6061 or 6065 grades (can't recall which). You'd still have to drill and notch yourself but that is an option.

Sorry for the long winded answer but as you can see, I really like this heli and take an almost perverse pleasure from keeping it going against all odds. If you want to know if something works on this heli, chances are I've tried it so feel free to ask. Cheers.

[DeadTom]

Originally Posted by feapril5

I really like this heli and take an almost perverse pleasure from keeping it going against all odds.

LOL, that is funny but I guess it sums up on how I think about the Dragonus also. And if you are still going to do the $1000 buy from RCer then you can count me in also, I am always on the look out for parts like the hardened shafts and aluminum bits.

Tom

[feapril5]

Thanks DT. I'll keep you guys posted on that. I'm still hoping Hobby People will step up their parts support. If their situation doesn't improve soon, I'll probably do it. I'll let you guys know before I do so I can get a concensus of what everyone wants most.

[krimo]

This is my first helicopter, I want to get substantial stick time with it and explore all it has to offer. It's very affordable out the door and the total build cost depends on component selection. I'm not ready to move on. I purchased an MCPx to help me get my skills together with actual stick time vs. simulator time plus the MCPx has very low crash costs. Nonetheless, its all about preparation to fly my Dragonus, a lot!

[feapril5]

An MCPx is IMHO the best investment you can make in this hobby. I learned more about flying in less time than with any other purchase since I started flying heli's in 08. The minimal (if any) crash expense coupled with the fact that you can fly almost anywhere mean lots of real world stick time that even the best sim can't touch. After about a month I converted to brushless with a twin motor tail. It became my favorite heli in a lot of ways because I could now fly a fully aerobatic heli with no fear of crashing. Only thing it can't do now is auto. No heli's perfect I guess.

[krimo]

My thoughts exactly! The best trainer ever!

Originally Posted by feapril5

An MCPx is IMHO the best investment you can make in this hobby. I learned more about flying in less time than with any other purchase since I started flying heli's in 08. The minimal (if any) crash expense coupled with the fact that you can fly almost anywhere mean lots of real world stick time that even the best sim can't touch. After about a month I converted to brushless with a twin motor tail. It became my favorite heli in a lot of ways because I could now fly a fully aerobatic heli with no fear of crashing. Only thing it can't do now is auto. No heli's perfect I guess.

[Himilou]

I emailed hobby people earlier this week and they replied stating that they had no plans to discontinue the dragons. Matter o fact they just got in a shipment of the kits cause I got an in stock product email yesterday.

On another Note: the dragonus tail boom seemed weak to me. I went to the local hardware store and bought 6' of aluminum tube for under $10. I didn't bother to notch it just cut the ends flush and it works w no issue.