Getting Started With Helicopters - Part 3 (Setup for 3D)

This article is here to help anybody who is starting out in 3d flying. My experience has come from trial and error and also lots of help from many people. The problem with advice from others is that some has worked and some hasn’t but don’t worry I will tell you everything including all mistakes from building to flying.

Mike with his Raptor

When building a Raptor 30 for 3d here are some things you can get away with compared to the Raptor 60.

Servos don’t have to be the biggest, most powerful, most expensive available for the 30, but a high speed tail servo and a heading hold gyro are pretty much a must. I use on both machines a Futaba S9250. These servos are 'the dogs', and believe me I have had many problems in the past with servos which haven’t been up to the job. The expense of these servos is high (80 pound) but well worth the money in reliability and performance.

The Pitch Servo

A fast metal geared servo with medium torque does help but not really a must. Why metal geared you ask?

Basically you need as little slop or play in the servo as possible, doing this makes a much more responsive stable heli.

Check for slop in your head linkages and replace any badly worn parts, maybe this would be a good time to upgrade to metal parts by Thunder Tiger and Quick UK. I bet if you trace back any slop you will find it in the swash plate and the BEST upgrade you could give your raptor 30 would be the Quick UK metal swash plate!!!! The TT metal swash plate isn't as heavy duty as the Quick UK one.

Thunder Tiger metal washout arms and slider block
Quick UK swash plate

Again in both machines I use the CSM 400 gyros. These gyros have a function which CSM call auto setup routine. This means once the mechanical linkage is setup somewhere close you can toggle the auto setup and really fine tune the gyro.

Another great function this gyro has is its auto trim function. All us heli pilots know that setting up the mechanical linkage and the gyro to switch smoothly from normal to heading hold, keeping both modes in trim is fiddly, but this gyro does it all for you. Good for the lazy pilots (all heli pilots) - which is true isn't it?

We all know why we fly helis cos there's no stripping down and rigging up!!

CMS 400 gyro installed

The stock wooden blades just will not do for 3d!! Basically the profile isn't correct and the strength just isn't there throughout the blade. Don't get me wrong you can do basic aerobatics with stock blades but 3d flying could snap them at the root and it will only end in tears. Blades like NHP and SAB are so much stronger and have the correct profile to reach higher head speed, also the heli becomes instantly more responsive and quieter in hover. All good blades i.e., SAB,NHP,MODEL SPORT,QUICK UK are all balanced correctly as well as the CofG being spot on, just buy and bolt as I say. I have used all the above blades and I have found the SAB are the best closely followed by the NHP then MODEL SPORT and QUICK UK being the last. MODEL SPORT I found were a little to light and the QUICK UK blades were excellent for the price, quality and performance.

NHP blades on my raptor 60

Paddles will increase response and speed of response by 40% on the 30 but BEWARE I took off with some x-cell paddles for the first time and the response was so much that the heli nearly became unflyable!!!! With some more exponential punched in and the ATV's turned down it was a different machine altogether, wow what a difference. Flips, rolls and loops were so much faster. I can recommend X-CELL and K&S, both are very good.

K&S paddles for 60 size	X-CELL paddles for 30 size

I used to use the 4.8v until I found out the massive benefit you get from using a 6.v. Servos are more powerful, speed is increased and the servos have more holding power. On both machines I use SANYO five cell 2400mh 6.v, these batteries are nothing short of perfection with an instant increase in servo performance.

Superior performance from a 6v pack

I would highly recommend you buy the Quick UK header tank before you start any sort of 3d flying as it could quite easily save your model. This tank prevents any air bubbles that the main tank might pass through to the carb causing an engine cut or drop in revs just when you don't want it to. It sits on the side of your model on the same centre height as your carb or close as possible, passing air free fuel through only, no more engine problems!! I use header tanks on both my helis.

Raptor 30	Raptor 60

Basically the same as the 30 but better servos are most definitely needed. I use Hitec 625 metal geared on all control positions except the tail and also the throttle because I have had a servo failure on the throttle and I don't want it again!! These servos are superb - fast, very powerful and totally slop free. I highly recommend these in any heli.

TIP: carefully inspect the tail boom on the raptor 60 and check for any dents which could cause failure. Raptor 60 booms are very thin walled and are not that strong!!!! I have seen a raptor 60 do a fast 540 stall turn and the boom stopped but the body kept on going!!!!

Don't expect the 60 to fly like the 30 because it wont, the 30 is very nimble and very responsive with x-cell paddles on it unlike the 60 which is heavier, bigger and you cant throw it around like the 30. However the 60 handles wind so much better and is all-round much more stable and a lot faster. On the 30 you have to work hard for speed and momentum to get you through maneuvers, unlike the 60 where speed and power comes a little easier. The main point is cost after a crash, the 30 is cheaper to repair than the 60 so keep that in mind when trying new maneuvers with the 60!!

Pitch settings between a 60 and a 30 heli will vary a little. Following is my pitch setting for both helis which you can use but you will probably need to fine tune to your own helis specs and performance by trial and error.

Pitch setting and throttle percentage for raptor 30 with NHP blades

Mode	Low	Hover	High Stick Position
Normal	-4 0%	6 50%	11 100%
Idle 1	-6 65%	5 50%	10 100%
Idle 2	-9 100%	0 0%	9 100% (V Curve)
Invert Mode (If Used)	-4 65%	5 50%	10 100%
Throttle Hold	-5	6	12

Pitch setting and throttle percentage for raptor 60 with NHP razor blades

Mode	Low	Hover	High Stick Position
Normal	-3 0%	5.5 50%	10 100%
Idle 1	-6 60%	4 50%	10 100%
Idle 2	-9 100%	0 0%	10 100% (V Curve)
Invert Mode (If Used)	-4 65%	5 50%	10 100%
Throttle Hold	-6	6	13

Next Part -Learning basic aerobatic and 3D maneuvers

Article by Mike Duckering from Guisbrough Model Flying Club
30th October 2001