Beam AvantGarde building step by step

[Fabien]

Hi,

i'm making a step by step building, and will include the building comments later on ( i have put them on Facebook but as many people do not like going there, i'll copy / paste on each picture the build tips over the week end...

Step 1 : Rotor Head :

[Bluerocktj]

Awesome! It will be cool to see a step by step build of this superb machine. I wish the Avantgarde was readily available to us helifreaks in the US.

[SurfCity]

Beautiful work on those pix! What's your impression of the kit and the design of the helicopter? I can see the typical Beam attention to detail, but overall it has struck me as a fairly ordinary design, but I'm not up close and personal with it like you are.

[Inverse]

What FBL unit are you planning on using?

[olemil]

Very nice and thank you for your effort putting this build thread together!! I will be looking forward to seeing the rest of the build, just hope some day I can have the honor of actually build one of these myself!! Oh and btw, it would be really bad to take us through this build with out a first flight video to follow.....lol.

[Fabien]

Hi,

thanks for your comments

First of all, i do work for Gryphon and we work in partnership with Hatzs ( Beam / Nexus) so i would not like to give too much "credits" as it could be considered as " biased" by some people. I will let people comment the kit when they will build it, simply.

But what i can say as the " E-copter" mechanics designer guy nor " Bricobrac" on Rc Groups (the base modeller in some ways lol) is the following:

The design has been kept simple for a... simple reason: a limited number of parts, an easy maintenance and to be able to put the quality on each part rather than try to save some bucks on many small useless parts like in complex designs. There are a lot of small clever things like weakness points in the linkages for the blade grips ( breaking bridge on the linkage from swash to grip, breaking point milled on the ball extension of the blade grip, same screws using on many parts....) and so on.

On a general point of view, i liked the A3 format printed manual. If you can't read and understand the position of each screw & part, then you need definitly glasses .... I had built many helicopters in the past, with tons of screws and hardware from the "supposed" step bag associated and from previous steps and some times you just can't figure out which screw is going where without triple checking the drawing provided. Here, it's simpe and easy. A total beginner can build the heli with no doubt.. For each step, you use exactly what is in the step bagging, and this is very nice !

The quality of the parts is really good and even the screws are unusual: instead of cheapo standard screws, they all look stainless style ( no rust colors on the screws after a few weeks..). The bearings look to be good quality also ( but time will tell us...) and the carbon/ canopy quality is really nice. The carbon cut is precise and straight.

Building is a pleasure and i have to say that it was loooog time since i have been just excited to build a kit (well, when it's your jib to build, test, unbuild, rebuild, modify, you get sometmes a bit frustrated..). I had to build dozen of stuffs for work or for tradeshows and sometimes when you open the box you realise that no, it won't be built ( the mechanics) for the day after. Here, it's very surprising, when you actually open the box, to discover 2 cartons: One contains the canopy, the manual and the frames, and one, smaller, content all the parts and there are not so many.. Means this will be wuick to build even with paying lot of attention.. Nice thing !

I am starting the building of the tail and frames this morning so i can tell about them once it's done, but so far, yes, i do like it a lot and when you build things that all fit perfectly together, that the threads look solid and well done, that everything is aligned and that you do not need to un-tighten the screws to keep movement smoothness ( it happens on lot of other kits beause the bearings are not perfectly placed in the parts at the factory or the tolerances are wrong) , then this brings a lot of confidence.

In fact, i feel like when i built my 3DNT : just about quality, no BS..

Regarding the stabilisation system i'll throw in, it will be a Beast X V3.08, then i might pop in my god old Vbar 4.0 with the grey ( alu) sensor. Then, i hope to give a test to the MSH unit, i saw that thing flying at the Alpine Heli Smackdown in the hands of Bert and Tareq and Dario, and this looks very good and compact. (If you search my " Bricobrac " youtube channel there is a video of Tareq flying the Mini Protos with the MSH Unit).

Maybe i'll give a try also to the CGY 750 after that.

Servos on the swash are Nexus 616 MG ( 6.8V ) , tail servo will be a BLS 251 or a simple 9254 (i never had an issue with the good ole 9254) and then once the new tail Nexus servo will be ready i'll give a try to it.

I'l post a video of the first flights and impressions, i'm not a very good 3D pilot but the first flights will alow to tweak the FBL setup till it's good and after that i'll let my friends here, 3D addicted, give a good punishment to the Heli.

Motor wil be a 4125 from Outrage, ESC either a Jive HV 80 or a CC Ice 2 Hv 80 + a Quasar HV Bec, and for the batteries i'll put some GEns Ace inside or Kypom.

time to continue the building now

Best regards,

Fabien

[Fabien]

Step 2 : Tail assembly

LIke previous step, everything makes sense ans fits together perfectly. Very smooth and slope free tail itch control, time again wil tell how this behaves flight after flight.
A nice simple thing: on the last tail gearbox clamp, there is a screw to fit, and this locks the tail boom, so it can't rotate. It also tells you exactly how far to fit the boom. Very nice !

The largest outer diameter thrust bearings flanges are already fitted in the grps so you can't mistake there..

I'll put the detailed steps instructions over the week end for step 1 and 2 and maybe all the other ones )

[Fabien]

Step 3: Frames assembly

[Fabien]

Step 4 : Final assembly

It's finally fully assembled. I'm waiting for my motor pinion and i have to install the BEast X, receiver and tail servo.

I have tested the NExus 6.8V ( 616 Mg) and well i'm quite impressed.. Very, very fast and powerfull and return to neutral in almost any condition is very clean.. I can't wait to test all of this in flight.

Using the exact dimensions for linkages provided by the manual is just perfectly neutral and centered. One thing more on which i will not need to tweak, only surprised as i had to screw all linkages fully to get the perfect lenghts.

I like the 'breaking bridge" on the pitch linkages; in case of hard crash, they break and are inexpensive. They can save the servos and the pitch levers of the blade grips + the ball links.

Same system on the canopy mount: they are built on a small carbon plates ( like Outrage but each carbon tab is retained with 2 screws)

The only things i had to do are:

1) use 800 grade sandpaper to slighgly sand the swash carbon guide - just a very little but the servos did not seem to be disturbed even without doing it..

2) I replaced the 3 screws m2x7 for the tail rod guides by m2x8 with nylock nuts (i had some under the hand so i used them, but was it really necessary ? lol )

3) i used one of the spare main shaft washer to fit under the main gear / one way assembly. Not necessary again ( there is a little clearance in height to let the main gear self align with the motor pinion and i reduced it but wel again, maybe just for the fun to fit a washer and feel happy to "correct" something ? ll )

That's it.... Now, the built has been easy and without any problems encountered, the flight tests and endurance tests will tell me if the first positive impress will stay there

I'll make a video over the week end or next week of the full Beast X setup and first flights tunig for the BEast X and then i'll ask a friend to punish the machine as it deserves it in 3d

Just a few pics of the Heli assembled, it seems to be a good room on the front for the batteries, some adhesive foam is provided to protect the batteries from direct contact over the carbon and factory installed velcro protections also in the frames.

The heli seems very, very, very thin in fact, a little like the Avant ?

Going to remove the tail servo of my Logo 600 Se ( for saaaaaale lol !) and tonight i'll setup the whole electronics

[Fabien]

So...

Today arrived the last bits to complete the machine:

- Scorpion 4025-550 Kv, i had to pull out a shaft from a "old" v1 4035-560Kv as i have here the 6mm motor pinions ( 12 and 13T). I'll go for the 13T . I'l try and test the 4125 from Outrage after that.

- CC Ice 2 120 Hv Esc, my CC ESC's never burned, i had small failures with the old V1 but nothing spectacular and as far as i can say, these do their job so i decided to let the Kontronik aside and give a chance to the CC Ice 2 Hv

- Of course, as Gryphon guy, i'll use the Quasar HV BEC. Please note that all the Gryphon Range of product will be available in USA in mid december for those who asked about their availability in USA. We are working out the 617 mm blades also right now, first samples to pop out of the moulds early december, if everything is fine i'll bring a few sample with me at Orlando Helicopter Blowout.

- Optima 9 receiver

- Batteries wil be Gens Ace 2650 Mah ( 6S x2) for the first tests. I'll go for 3000's later on i think if the weight is ok, but i think at 2650 mAh i'll have more than what i really need already

- Blades will be standard 600's or 620's, i'll see that at the last minute, same for the tail blades..

- I have already installed the NExus 616 Mg HV ( 6.8V) and i am very confident in them so far, the tail servo is a standard, the BLS 251 from Futaba, and all this little world is controled by a Beast X V3.08 firmware. All setup is already done but i'll make a small video for the stup tips with the Best X with a small guide for people who are not used to it, in case they desided to give it a try... For the video it's a bit more problematic, i'm french and have a terrible accent when i talk english, so either someone wants to make the voice dubbing ( lol ) either i'd better shut up and write the instruction on the video and put some music in the background lol ! I'll make an uncensored version with my crap accent maybe

I'm writing actually a full building instruction to add with the manuals and will post it there by editing the pictures posts, but i wait to have a bit of feedback from a beginner to who i asked to build the heli with my writen instructions and to tell me his suggestions. Then, i'll put all these informations on manual /forum.

If any of you are going to the Orlando Helicotper Blowout, i'll be there with some AvantGarde, ready to fly, everybody carrying a AMA flying licence and able to hover ( beginners are welcome, i'll bring a trainer transmitter) up to 3D guys, is welcome to give a try ot the helicopter.

If there is enough people interrested, i might go for a full building / setup session, showing a nice heli in flight is easy, showing how nice it is to build also is much better on my opinion

OK, i have to go to fit all these things in the AvantGArde, more pictures tomorrow, and first flight comments very, very soon

Best regards,
Fabien

[SurfCity]

These have been great posts, thanks. I look forward to what's ahead.

So how did the Beam 600 get a French name?

[Bluerocktj]

Originally Posted by Fabien

If any of you are going to the Orlando Helicotper Blowout, i'll be there with some AvantGarde, ready to fly, everybody carrying a AMA flying licence and able to hover ( beginners are welcome, i'll bring a trainer transmitter) up to 3D guys, is welcome to give a try ot the helicopter.

If there is enough people interrested, i might go for a full building / setup session, showing a nice heli in flight is easy, showing how nice it is to build also is much better on my opinion

Here's the flyer, I wish I could be there to see the Beam Avantgarde in person! Thanks Fabian for the great pictures and showing us this awesome build!

http://www.torchs.org/our-fun-fly/

[Fabien]

Originally Posted by SurfCity

These have been great posts, thanks. I look forward to what's ahead.

So how did the Beam 600 get a French name?

Hi,

thank you for the kind words
The Beam "AvantGarde" has not ben decided in France, but in Korea. I have been a bit surprised also but i have to admit that the name fits the helicopter like a glove.

Best regards,

Fabien

[Fabien]

Hi,

electronics are installed now. I have made some choices ( for example ESC location) that are a bit unusual but it's just time to make various tests with different ESC's and motors. Once all tests are done.

I am used to put my ESC on the bottom for 2 reasons: Ease of wiring and wires staying away from the rotation cage of the motor, and also because i did ot want to have the ESC close to the receiver even if there is a frame between them. It also allows me to split the power wires on left and right and have them guided in the small tie wrap locations, which i prefer personally.

The amount of wires behind the Beast X is still a bit messy, i'll rework that after the first flights by installing a small carbon plate and a velcro strap to retain all this little guys away from the elevator servo / belt pulleys / belt, and i'll also add some heatschrink protections where the tie wrap are located and on the sharp edges of the frames + add a small heatschrink on each motor connector at the separation between the male and female connectors ( you can see on the pciture there is a mini gap and this is not good to fly like that lol..)

I'll fit the tail servo horn screw back before flying as i need to fine adjust my tail pitch rod before.

Batteries are charged, Beast X is setup with basic values for the moment and i'll make the videos for the BEast X setup the next few days. Tomorrow is planned to make a few test flights, gentle, to check for vibrations & fine tune the setup, then i'll ask a friend to give it some 3D if everything is going fine, and after, back to the workbench to clean up the wires mess, check everything and make the Beast X setup video...

[Fabien]

HI,

i finally could swap the engine, and rewired the whole thing.

If the weather is good tomorrow, i should be able to make a small video

Best regards,
Fabien

[Fabien]

Hi,

i could not go to the field today but i could not resist to give a little go to the AvantGarde in the garden ( the heli could not go away anyway, there are trees over the garden lol)..

I have setup the CC Ice 2 Hv in Set RPM mode, 1800, 2000 and 2200 Rpm's.

First spool up, blade get in track, hover, and nothing particular. It's very quiet, the engine is the thing that is the most heard ( i guess like on MIkado helicopters).

2 mn of gentle hovering at 1800 Rpm's, rise tail gain at 57%, fast pitch up ok, damn it's light and fast...

Then i switch to 2000 RPm. The heli seems smooth and gentle, but a quick pitch of cyclc input tells you the opposite hehe..

Then 2200 Rpm, it seems still quiet except higher rpm'"s but this is a bullet. Not serious to test at this rotor RPM ( i do nto want to clim in the trees to get back the heli lol ), so i finish hovering between 2000 and 2200 and setting up my transmitter EPA's to adjust the feel of the heli as i like it..

After landing, a quick inspection shows that the battery / motor / esc temp is not hot at all, the quasar low voltage has made it's job and started blinking red a few seconds before the CC reduces the RPM's (good to now, i won't need to adjust the low voltage alarm on the Quasar) and everything is perfect.

I'll go to the field tomorrow to make a additional setup flight, then we will push the machine and make a small video.

Once all is done, i'll put back all factory settings back on the Beast X ( after removing the servo leads ...) and wil make pictures or video of the setup of the BEast X.

The Outrage 4125-560Kv has plenty of power and i do not now what was the flight time at all ( i did not check) but it seemed quite confortable.

I'll pull the logs out of the Ice 2 Hv and will post them

Best Regards,

Fabien

[Fabien]

Hi,

here is the log,

the log at 24V was when i connected only 6 cells to calibrate the end points and check the beast x setup ( i always use a separate battery on te receiver for the bench setups).

Best regards,
Fabien

This was gentle check flight with just a few quick pitch inputs so i believe next log wil be a bit more... trash )))))

[Fabien]

A few pics of the heli with it's canopy and blades after the maiden flight

[dpelletier]

Originally Posted by Fabien

A few pics of the heli with it's canopy and blades after the maiden flight

Salut Fab.... vos liens pour les images ne sont pas correct... vous avez indiquer le repertoire step1, je crois que vous vouliez dire step7?

[Fabien]

Bonsoir,

c'est corrigé, merci beaucoup

Cordialement,
Fabien
Ps: l'AvantGarde sera dispo en France en janvier, je proposerai les pré commandes mi ou fin décembre pour les intéressés