Well, due to events outside of my control, I’ve decided to cut my Stacation short, and take more time off next month. Plans seldom survive first contact with enemy. This one did not.
My 2nd part of the vacation could have proceeded as normal, but I decided the increased cost (up 20% from last year!), lack of big factory demo truck support (only Kymco was going to appear) and what sounded like a very tentative offer by South Sound BMW to offer a few demos, and without my best friend there to share the roads with, the value proposition became inverted. The hundreds of dollars the event would have cost me are better spent elsewhere.
I hope Tom gets his rally sorted out soon. In the past it was THE EVENT of the year in the PNW, big name speakers, factory demo trucks, awesome food and t-shirts included (last year was the first where the t-shirt was an extra $$$$ add-on.). Pfffft. Plus the fair grounds re-did a bunch of the shower/camping facilities to make them a little *less* accessible to us.
Oh well. I’ll put together my own route for August, toss some camping into it and hit the things I want to hit. Mary Hills Loop Road. Been there, done that, and frankly, it’s not all THAT awesome to me. Others find it heavenly. To each our own.
Oh, and I won’t miss the every hour freight trains that keep the campers awake all night if you don’t sleep with ear plugs. :/
Another flight came in last night. Earlier this time, around 22:45. Still plenty dark.
Changed setup in camera to allow Expanded ISO (up to 6400). Set to ISO6400 and took a few shots. Most still too blurry, but there was at least one worth saving: AirLift Northwest A109 Agusta Helicopter
Last night, around 1:00 AM I popped outside to try some free-hand night shooting with the Canon 50D camera. Being so early in the morning, light was basically non-existent. I’ve never shot the camera at such and extreme ISO. It’s and experiment to see what noise levels are experienced at those speeds.
There are camera body options to push the ISO to an incredible 6400 and 12800! I have no idea what the noise level would be with those settings, but the next chance I get to photograph the helicopters at night, I’m giving it a try.
For this mornings experiment, I armed myself with the 5.6f 400mm lens and ISO set to a whopping 3200, I took my best shot(s) (so to speak).
Part of my latest toy delivery was a slightly larger heli than I’ve worked on before. Not wanting to get too far into this before I learned something about the 500’s, I purchases a basic intro kit.
The current plan is to build this kit, screws up, put together a full parts list and get a good estimate of what a real flying 500 will cost to build, with common spares, electronics, batteries etc.
So, onto the kit.
First, this kit arrived in a box smaller than my EXI-450 did. The way the packed the stuff in there was really something else. Here is what the array of parts look like once unpacked: Hobby King HK-T500 Helicopter Kit
So, just exactly how large is the main frame? Pretty big. Closer look at the 500 class alloy frame
Comparison to a fully assembled 450 behind it. Alloy frame and once piece landing skids. 450 Heli sits in background.
Landing gear is a one piece plastic affair. Checking the parts list on the higher-end HK-500GT shows that it uses a multi-piece gear assembly, more in line with 450 kit I have. A detraction, but one that can be solved with the purchase of a 500GT landing gear set (about $5.00). Once piece plastic skids in T500 kit.
Main rotor bearing block is plastic. I had a small issue on the plastic bearing block in my 450, and ended up replacing them with alloy. Checking parts I see that HobbyKing does sell an alloy block for the GT version, however it very clearly states that it DOES NOT fit the T500 model! That could be a major issue ongoing. When they say that it does not fit, I don’t know if that refers to locating pins only, or if the overall dimensions are different enough to prevent use. T500's plastic main bearing block.
The kit does arrive with a set of fiberglass main rotor blades (black / yellow). As you can see, these are not just a little larger than those of a 450 (middle) and more than twice the size of a 250 (bottom, shown for effect). These blades are not only big, but they are heavy! Fiberglass 450 blades I’m using come in at 18.5g each. These bruisers weighed in at 68.6g! Rotor blades, 500, 450 and 250 class.
Main gear set seems serviceable. Operation seems fairly smooth. The trail drive gear is a little wobbly, but that’s been the case on every gearset I’ve seen so far, including a factory Align unit. I’ll take it apart and re-oil the one-way bearing. I did notice that it has not ‘fan blade’ properties to move air like some of the other 450 gearsets I’ve purchased. Main gear set.
Tail boom, servo link, boom support rods and flybar are all in the next package. The tail boom support struts appear to be plastic with plastic ends. Tail boom is typical aluminum alloy. Flybar appears to be stainless steel and quite rugged. Tail boom parts package.
Servo link ends are plastic, but it does not look quite like the quality ball end links typically found in kits. Maybe it’s just the size of them. Closer inspection of boom parts.
Boom holder and tail gear set is a festival of plastic, right down to the cross tube/spacers that screws anchor into. Even on the cheapest of kits I’ve seen so far, that was metal (talking about the 4 bars near photo center). Is it ‘bad’, I don’t know, but I’d prefer to have seen some more metal in there, that’s for sure! Tail drive gear box.
Assembly looks pretty straight forward. Which is good, since they clone kits do not come with any sort of instructions. All the parts fit snug, and turn freely. The screws in the tail kit are allen-drive, but they are on the soft side. While test fitting the parts, without even torquing them down, one of the heads stripped out, requiring the application of a small vice-grip pliers to remove it. If it had been snugged down, it would have been a much more difficult task. I’m considering a trip to Tacoma Screw for a set of torx-drive replacements Tail drive gear box with gears and bearings test fitted.
The tail and tail boom fastening components are all in the next bag: Tail drive and boom fastening parts.
Tail gearbox, blade holders and pitch actuator arms are plastic. Bearbox is nearly completely enclosed, so I’m not able to see the tail drive pully gear, but it also appears to by a white nylon/plastic. Tail rotor drive and gearbox detail.
Knight head, tail rotor fin and tail servo holder are made of metal alloy. Tail boom yoke and servo boom holders are black plastic material. A lot of stamped alloy parts in this bag.
Probably the most important part of all, the main rotor head. One word comes to mind; PLASTIC!. Lots of it. First the overall shot: Main rotor head assembly.
Main head, it’s a beast. 132mm across (grip to grip) it’s 33% larger than the same part of a 450. And, aside from the feathering shaft and bearings, it’s all plastic. Having broken a plastic blade grip on a 450 recently, a similar crash might crack the entire fly head on this bad boy. Main rotor blade grip and feathering assembly.
Swash plate on this is part composite, part alloy. Linkages seems appropriately constructed on the head and swash. Pictures can be worth a few hundred words, so here is the picture. Main rotor head, swash plate detail.
Another of the links, washout arms and tracking links. Main rotor head details.
Flybar paddles. Plastic. I’m not sure what the deal is with the vents, and the pack of decals. Based on what I’ve seen on other photos, the decals are applied to the blades to cover the ‘vents’. Perhaps those are simply there to lighten the paddles, and the decals cover the holes to make the paddles work. I’ll have to look into this further. Flybar paddles and decals.
Anti-rotation bracket and canopy stays. Also….. (wait for it….. waaiiiiiiiiit). Plastic.
[PIC 20]
One last package of stuff. Hardware, blade holders and two different sized pairs of hook-and-loop straps. Also in the bag are two sizes of velcro adhesive pads, two bags of extra fastening hardware, servo horn accessories, balls and a pair of monster motor pinions. Of note in this bag, is also a bottle of purple 222 thread lock. I already have a monster bottle that I have used on all my kits. I just find it interesting because just about everyone is using the heavier duty blue which I’m certain is the WRONG type. Having more than a passing background in auto and motorcycle repair, you need to use the right locker for the right size fasteners. Blue (242) is really for much larger hardware. Purple (222) is the right stuff for small fasteners. Now I have a little validation (beyond what the TRex assembly manuals show) with the inclusion of 222 Purple in the kit. Good to know! Last general hardware parts bag, revealed.
Last is the canopy. And it’s BIG. The canopy stay holes also need to be enlarged to work with the supplied (white this time) rubber bushings. That is one of the first things I’m going to do, since I want to design at moderately nice looking canopy design for this monster.
It would be harder to send a cheaper canopy! It’s simple resin, like EXI-450 kit supplies, but in this case it does not have even have the ‘cockpit’ canopy detail on it. It’s just… all white. I put a spare 450 canopy in front, and my coffee mug in the photo to give some scale. T500 and 450 canopy scale comparison.
So, there you have it. Unpacking the HobbyKing HK-T500 electric R/C helicopter kit.
I recently complete reading this fascinating book. I’ve always been a big fan of Bob Hoover, having seen him fly at countless air shows. Over the last few decades, I’ve heard some pretty amazing stories about this guy and his life, including his direct involvement in the X-1 project (where we broke the sound barrier, for those non-aviation types). Most you have likely heard of Chuck Yeager. Well, Bob was his back-up guy, on the project. Had he not nearly lost his legs in a crash during the program, he’d have likely been the 2nd guy (maybe the first) to do it.
But, it turns out that was just the tip of this great man, this hero’s, incredible life in aviation. Bob basically tough himself how to fly, became one of a rare few enlisted that earned their wings during WWII, spent a lot of time flying Spitfires in Europe and Africa, received numerous flying medals.
I don’t want to spoil the read, and give away any of the amazing stories told in this book, a fair portion of it from the point of view of the pilots that flew with him. Excerpts from their diaries and letters home provide some very unique, and amusing perspectives on his incredible life in aviation.
Some of the most striking stories from the book:
Flying a bomber off a beach
Getting arrested in Russia, at the height of the Cold War
His first ‘dogfight’ with Chuck Yeager in the skies over Ohio
Test piloting the first jets developed by the United States
Flying the F-86 in combat over Korea, as a civilian
Being shot down and captured by the Germans in WWII
His amazing escape from Stalag I
If you are at all any sort of aviation nut, this is a MUST READ book. After reading it, I had visited the Boeing Museum of Flight (where I’ve been many times), except this time a lot of the ‘other’ displays about aviation greats were people I’d read about in his book. It’s impacts go beyond Bob himself. It just goes to show what an important part of US aviation he played.
My latest toy box (or box of toys) arrived during the conference this week. I’ve had a lot of time to work on building this machine, but I did manage to get some HXT-900 cyclic servers and a general test/fix mockup completed. ! I still have to order several parts before it will fly.
250 / 300 class ourunner motor (400 won’t fit.. bummer)
Bent tail boom after crashRepairs are underway, following my flight yesterday, where I ran out of altitude. Breaking things is seldom enjoyable.
But it’s the risk you have to take if you’re going to fly these things, especially when there are gusty winds. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing real helicopters having trouble with wind, sometimes with tragic results. I
In the grand scheme of things, a little bit of bent aluminum is hardly much to worry about. Being grounded with a busted helicopter is still not the ideal situation.
I noted yesterday that the Blade 400 tail tube turns out to be remarkably similar in dimension to the one used on the 450. I really would have thought that the ‘smaller’ 400 class model would have a shorter tail boom, but it turns out to be about 15mm longer. Comparison of Blade 400 tube (top) and EXI-450 tube (bent)
Easy enough to rectify. A little cutting, sanding and filing is all it took.
The new tail boom, and new Sport alloy tail case are now installed on the helicopter. One of the advantages of the new Sport tail case, is an alignment pin (the original did not have, it uses the hole seen in the blade 400 tube) that keeps the tail case from rotating. An issue I had a couple of times with the original part. New tail boom installed.
A closer look at the alloy tail case, new tail rotor blades also installed: New alloy sport tail case.
During lunch I’ll be able to finish mounting the tail servo, knight head and support bars.
UPDATE:
I just checked on the status of the replacement parts and some other fun stuff I ordered from China, using the ‘slow-boat 7-45 day shipping’ option. I regretted not spending the extra $20 for faster EMS 3-5 day shipping, until I checked the shipping status this morning!
For a slow boat from China (OK, it’s air post but the website said expect 7-45 days transit), it’s already here in the states. I just needs to clear customs. Not sure who long that will take but, you know I’m going to post here when it does! Slow boat from China my ***! 🙂
