Starflex scale heads for AS350

[npomeroy]

This is the 3 bladed head that is a scale copy of the real AS350 head.
There seem to be two versions of these:
http://scaleflying.de/product_info.p...981490d1928317 for about 600 Euro
and
http://www.double-cats.com/index.php...&product_id=50 for US$320, although a week ago I'm sure the price was UD$280.
I assume cheaper one is a different head, but with the still high price I assume it is good quality.

Anyone have any more information on these - what the difference is, and why the US one jumped from $280 to $320 (or maybe I was mistaken).

[Keyrigger]

The differences become visible when you compare the two heads directly. The German head has a much more refined finish and is complete with swash and follower. The second set does not have the same overall final finish as the German head but so far, it has performed as stated. If I have that kind of money when time comes to replace the Century head on my AS350, I will opt for the German head for the most scale appearance but if it is a good looker and does not have the durability, I would not mind the other head on bit. Take care.

Don

[npomeroy]

Originally Posted by Keyrigger

The differences become visible when you compare the two heads directly. The German head has a much more refined finish and is complete with swash and follower. The second set does not have the same overall final finish as the German head but so far, it has performed as stated. If I have that kind of money when time comes to replace the Century head on my AS350, I will opt for the German head for the most scale appearance but if it is a good looker and does not have the durability, I would not mind the other head on bit. Take care.

Don

The double-cats one is also shown with swash and follower (my image above is from their website).

[satsuma]

I have JUST fitted the one shown above onto my Trex 700E and test flown, now ready to go in my AS350 from Marvelcraft, the head flies beautifully, phasing being done through my V bar, great head for the money, smooth as silk.
Available in 10mm and 12mm shaft sizes, 12mm being on my Trex?

The Starflex head I have on my large turbine powered AS350 was purchased from Hugo Markes in Switzerland.

[npomeroy]

Originally Posted by satsuma

I have JUST fitted the one shown above onto my Trex 700E and test flown, now ready to go in my AS350 from Marvelcraft, the head flies beautifully, phasing being done through my V bar, great head for the money, smooth as silk.
Available in 10mm and 12mm shaft sizes, 12mm being on my Trex?

The Starflex head I have on my large turbine powered AS350 was purchased from Hugo Markes in Switzerland.

Sats: Just to be clear - The version on your 700 is the cheaper one?

[satsuma]

Originally Posted by npomeroy

Sats: Just to be clear - The version on your 700 is the cheaper one?

Yes, I purchased it from Ron, Bell 222, from his Just Scale website, same person I bought the Marvelcraft AS350 from in Australia .
And as I said, it flies extremely well, good value for money.
http://www.justscale.co.nz/catalog/

http://justscale.co.nz/catalog/produ...roducts_id/425

[Tapgorup]

Hi all and fellow AS350 freaks. I also have this head for my 600. Still testing out before fitting into the fuse & liked how this flew for the first 2 flights. So I am still fine tuning and was looking over the head for loose screws/fittings, taking measurements of the links, etc.

I noticed that when I lift on the blades, the starflex hub has a lot of play in the front bearing holder of the blade grips. The front feathering shaft moves up and down quite a bit in the front bearing holder. I thought that it was somewhat snug when I installed it. So wanted to ask others if this is normal to have a lot of play like this?

I really appreciate any input. Thanks again. Terry

[Tapgorup]

Ok guys. For anyone interested, I found the reason for the slop. The front bearing holder has additional space in front of the bearing. First I replaced the front bearing with a thrust bearing from East Coast Vario.

But I found that the space in the bearing holder causes the feathering shaft to slip past the bearing, and that is what is causing the slop. I installed a canopy grommet from trex 450 in that space and it fit perfectly. Now the feathering shaft cannot slip past the bearing and there is no more slop in the head.

Flew 4 flights afterwards and it was very sold. No more slop in the head. Hope that helps anyone interested in this head. Beautiful design otherwise, very scale looking.

Terry

[Tapgorup]

Forgot to mention. The head that I have is the Starflex head from Double cats. It is a fery nice design and I think that it has more scale detail than the German one posted above. Just my thoughts.

Terry