Radio Controlled Helicopters

Free Web Hosting Provider - Web Hosting - E-commerce - High Speed Internet - Free Web Page

My Radio Controlled Helicopters

continued

After I stopped flying R/C helis, my interest drifted to computers and it led to my having a full-time job as a computer programmer. In the meantime, working on full-size cars became my hobby. However, the challenges and satisfactions of building and flying R/C helis never go away. Recently (May 2001), I decided to give electric helis a try. It'd be interesting to see if electric helis will gain popularity, especially as brushless motor technology matures. By the way, even after 10 years out of the hobby, I was able to hover the EP Concept right away, both tail-in and nose-in. I guess flying RC heli is like riding a bicycle - difficult at first, but hard to forget.

Kyosho EP Concept Schweizer 300C & Futaba FP-T7FGH

I bought this heli on eBay in November 2000. I used the transmitter and receiver from the Hirobo Shuttle I crashed years ago and bought a speed controller and micro servos to get it flying. Slop in the design of the stock tail rotor linkage made this very difficult to fly it gyroless, so I bought a solid state (piezo) gyro for it. This heli has collective pitch, unlike the fixed-pitch "Sport" version.

K-speed Heli Motor (stock)
Futaba FP-T7FGH Helicopter radio
Futaba MC114H Speed Controller
Hitec HS-81 micro servos
Century Picco Piezo Gyro

see the projects page for the brushless motor conversion.

EZ Jet Ranger & Schweizer 300C

You can see in the photo the size difference between the "small" .30 size EZ Jet Ranger and even smaller electric Schweizer 300C. I don't recommend electric helis for beginners, as it gets tossed around in breezes and its short flight duration doesn't allow enough practice time. However, you can avoid the hassles of piston-engined helis - no need for fuel, glow plugs, starter, or other support equipments.

Back | Next