Fun-Key MH-6 Rapid Insertion Helicopter

[Keyrigger]

I am back on track after a rather dismal time in Florida. I found that there were a number of failures (before or during the crash) which were addressed in the rebuilding of the chassis. The head and main shaft were undamaged but the main shaft collar shattered, two links were MIA, and there was the damning evidence of link failure plus the swash driver rotating. The swash rotating alone would result in the helicopter driving itself right into the ground with no recovery possible when only a few feet up in the air.

Since I had won Sport Scale at the US Nationals with the TOW Defender, I decided to retire it from competition and use it as an everyday flyer. I had a second body kit that I had bought after crashing at the Helicopter Scale Masters in 2013. The lack of documentation pictures has stopped a second TD from ever being built but fate has a strange way of working things out.

I had the blessings to build up another two helicopters to replace the TD and CH-139 for competition. I ordered a standard MD 500 nose and a 700 size Jet Ranger body and I am now in the first stages of the building of an MH-6 Little Bird. The chassis has been repaired and will be test flown when the space and temperatures allow. It might need to be indoors so it can be ready to fly in the spring. I had started the body almost a year and a half ago but it was put on hold for lack of pictures. It took two trips to the American Helicopter Museum but I managed to get the needed interior shots to build the cockpit.

It was rather unusual to go into a museum with tools in hand to open an exhibit that was screwed shut to keep prying hands off but they let me at it, so I was not one to say no. The instrument panel is not complete as there were some avionics that were removed prior to being donated to the museum. This is not the actual MH-6 lost in Panama during Operation Just Cause, but a replica made up for the museum from a retired body. This is a repurposed Defender as the covered up upper exhaust hole is unmistakable and so is the shape of the engine door rear.

I will be adding to this as soon as parts become available as I am changing the tail servo location from the chassis to the boom. this will allow a much stronger tail control rod to be used rather than my original system of a re-enforced Sullivan Golden Rod. The large tail blades do the job well and will handle anything the winds will dish out. Here are a few pictures of the original helicopter, the body as it was when first started, and the chassis ready for the tail pushrod. The old tail is on there for testing purposes and will be retired after test flights as it has damage from the latest crash that will not be repaired. Take care.

Don

[heli143]

Don,
sorry to hear the Florida trip was disappointing for you.

But, on a brighter note, you are into a new build and I'm sure it will be even better than the last one. So I am following this build closely

BTW, what museum is that? It looks familiar to me. Was that in the Seattle area?

[Keyrigger]

Thanks Roy. This museum is just outside Philadelphia, PA in West Chester. The just took possession of a completely restored H-34 and it is fantastic to see. I took a bunch of pictures but could not get any interior shots this time around. I might make it to one of their open shows in the spring as there are additional helicopters that fly in to take part in their shows. See you soon.

Don

[flysti06]

Originally Posted by Keyrigger

Thanks Roy. This museum is just outside Philadelphia, PA in West Chester. The just took possession of a completely restored H-34 and it is fantastic to see. I took a bunch of pictures but could not get any interior shots this time around. I might make it to one of their open shows in the spring as there are additional helicopters that fly in to take part in their shows. See you soon.

Don

Stan and i from S&W hobby actually did RC flight demos this spring for the opening of the museum.. we will probably be doing it again next year... it was a great day at the museum.
Erich

[Keyrigger]

Cool. I hope I can make it to one of those but the calendar of events fills up very quickly, especially in the spring. Take care.

Don

[heli143]

Don,
I knew it looked familiar. Angie and I stopped there while I was working in Philly.
I try to stop anywhere there are helicopters while I'm on the road.

Even in Puerto Rico while passing a small city airport I looked over and saw a Russian helo. Of course, I had to stop

The Police Captain let us walk in and take pics which was very cool of him to do. Met some pilots who walked us around and let us look at all the parked aircraft.

take care!

[ckankel]

Nice heli but I'm really digging that blade holder! Be nice to have for a 5-blade scale model.

Roy, have you been to the Army Aviation museum at Rucker? Went there when my cousin was going through Apache training. They've got a great collection. There was an MI-24 tucked away between a two buildings a couple blocks away along with YAH-63 and Cheyenne prototypes.

[heli143]

Hi Chip,
was jus talking to my son about you yesterday. Told him we need to get together soon and do some flying and gossiping about helis LOL

Yes, been there many times and I've got a load of pics from there. Emile (Copterdoctor) lives right outside the base and knows all the hiding places for these old classic helos.

You and I need to go down there and fly with Emile at the RC club on one of the airfields and then go for a tour with him.

take care!

[Keyrigger]

It would be rather easy to make up such a holder but most of our blades would not have the proper pivot points to match up with the four spots on that setup. One thing is for sure, I will be making the blade holder that goes on the top of the cabin where the upper windows used to be. Take care.

Don

[Keyrigger]

Today, I received the boom servo mount that I ordered from Leisure Tech. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was from K&S Co. Japan, a company that I was familiar with when I built control line and RC aircraft many years ago. I had no idea that they made helicopter accessories. These are setup to fit booms from 20 to 22mm depending on the use of the supplied shims. I spent an hour making up a short boom from one of the wrecked ones I had laying around and installed the mechanics in the wrecked body so I could see where the servo needed to be to clear the body. I found out I had lots of room to play and could set the servo pretty much where I wanted. I made the guides up from styrene and the control rod is an unaltered Align 550 pushrod. All I needed was to lengthen the position of the servo on the boom and I was done. If I ever need to stretch the belt out, the tail pitch will remain where it is and not alter the adjustment. Take care.

Don

[Keyrigger]

After getting the tail system in, I prepared the 5 new blades that were on hand for this project. They were pre-selected and were mostly around 133gr. but a couple were just a bit heavier so those were matched to within .2gr. of the main batch. A simple resetting of the tail endpoints along with changing the servo direction, and the chassis is now ready for testing. Tomorrow, the weather will be as good as it is going to get for quite a while so I will take advantage of it. If I get two test flights in, I'll be a very happy camper. Take care.

Don

[Keyrigger]

The results are in and they are not good. Seems a faulty satellite wire was the cause of the crash as it happened again. This time, it was only a foot off the soft ground (lots of rain and no freezing temps yet) when the pitch went full negative and the motor spooled down. The LED's were flashing red on the Skookum indicating a hold yet the satellites were solid. I had heard that a faulty wire can cause this type of error and when I wiggled the wire ends to the remotes, one started to flash, naturally, one that is connected to the Skookum. I inspected it at home and the black wire seemed to be the culprit so I had another one in reserve to replace it with. The links were not the cause so no mechanical failure occurred and therefore no pilot or crew chief error. It sucks to have had this happen and there was no visible indication that it was damaged. I did find a hidden spot where the insulation was damaged on the orange wire but the copper was not compromised. I am liking these ultra small connectors less and less. With the extra channels no longer needed, I think it is time to remove the AR9020 with channel extender out of the helicopter and go back to just 9 channels, total. Take care.

Don

[Keyrigger]

I picked up most of the crew for this build as I will be putting the two from the TOW Defender into Heli-Babies. I am having a bit of trouble finding out what the outfits were that were worn by the assault team from the original mission in Panama. I might need to go with what I can get that was from the same era, and that is one of the next operations, Gothic Serpent. The helicopter would have been very close, if not identical, to what I am building now. I will need to look up what little birds were used directly on that mission. A bit of poetic/modeller's licence can be allowed as there are no pictures of crew with my documentation pictures so the crew should be good to go. I only need one more tan jumpsuit for the second pilot and I might just give reworking the outfit he is in just for the experience. I did get a shot of the chassis spinning up (or spooling down) but I can't remember which. Take care.

Don

[cobieg]

Don, it is looking very good. I am glad to hear that you found the problem that caused the crash. I have had 2 remote Sat. cables gone bad. The latest I found during a pitch change set up, the receiver started flashing, wiggled the wire, the light went solid. Yeah I am not liking the little plugs much.

Ron

[Keyrigger]

Thanks Ron. I had gone looking for threads in the Skookum section about the cable ends but I could not find the one I first read about the issues. The thing I have the most difficulty with is the fact that the second satellite wire was perfect so the resetting of the Skookum is what bugs me the most. Everything shouts out that the reset shouldn't have happened yet it did. I will try and get an answer about it, even if I pick up the phone and call Art about it. Take care.

Don

[Keyrigger]

I reworked a couple of figures I have and now have the third member of the team for the benches of the MH-6. This guy used to be the pilot from the TOW Defender but I needed to switch things around as I have found a better way to use what I have. He has been reset to the squad's marksman that he used to be. I found a second complete 160th SOAR pilot's outfit that allows me to have the two inside guys matching completely. The outfit on the pilot (pictured above) came from an older action figure that was very orangey in colour and would not look great with the Bruce Willis figure I used. That fellow was put aside but now I have finally figured out how to use him. I am including a picture of him to compare to the pilot of the MH-6. In this helicopter, the pilot will not use the mask but the co-pilot/gunner will. This way, I can completely cover the face and use the new figure for the second Heli-Baby I have coming. More dressing and undressing, sigh. Take care.

Don

PS: Yes, I will soon be getting at the build but this week is a bit filled up with other adventures.

[guyken]

Very good looking figures .

[Keyrigger]

Another small update but no pictures of the change yet. I spent the better part of the afternoon and evening working out what has to be changed and removed from the electronics. I still have one more item to change and that is the remote receiver type. I am going with DSMX rather than the current DSM2. I have it so I might as well use it and benefit from the quicker reconnection time. I removed the AR9020, X-Plus 8 channel extension, and TM1000 telemetry. I seldom used the telemetry for much more than a warning that when the helicopter spooled down, it would warn me if the motor was in need of a cool-down. I have finally replaced the S6030 high torque steering servo with a brand new Align DS620 that I had floating around. I have a DS650 but it was in need of a replacement wire harness and I didn't really feel the higher speed of the 650 was better than the higher torque of the 620. The .18 sec speed was ok but the gyro showed the lag from time to time.

It looks like we will be getting a couple of days at the end of the week that are going to be warm enough to fly so I might take advantage of it and see how this performs. I am working out how complex I will be making the lighting system as I am tempted to have a four level lighting system that operates the main navigation and warning beacons, then turns on the formation lights (those small dome lights that are below the body navigation lights and one with the tail rotating beacon) with a second system to power the interior lights and finally turn on the landing/warning light. I am working out how to get this all functioning and theoretically, all I need are three channels for the entire system. I might need to do some special servo harnesses in order to power this from the Skookum bus rather than try and add the separate remote power bus. All sorts of time to think but so little time to build, sigh. Take care.

Don

[Keyrigger]

I have finally got my butt into gear and have started to get the landing struts set. I found that with the measurements I took at the museum, I might be shortening the struts even more but as it turns out, I nearly cut too much off the rear set. The fronts will end up a mear 1/8" shorter than stock. The rears will end up being 5/8" shorter than stock but that turned out to be how much I had shortened the overall length. I have decided to rework the brass tubing by adding more material and that will end up right against the floor when installed. The rears are done and I will be getting the fronts done tomorrow after which there will be a good day's worth of Hysol work to build up the fairings. The second shot shows the missing Hysol and the joining point of the additional tubing. Once the gear is done and installed, I can get at putting the chassis back into place. Let the fun begin, sigh.

Don

[ssmith512]

Looking good. With your attention to detail and your skills, this new version will be off the charts amazing.

Keep at it!