...feat. GAUI (
note to self: figure out how to pronounce this word...)
While building the X7, I had this lingering feeling of doubt at having spent wayyyy too much money on yet another .90.
Well, not anymore, because it flies just great.
The LiPos date back to early 2010, so I decided not to abuse it and kept throttle at 80 % or lower. But even with (relatively) low headspeed, it flips and rolls like my dinosaur 700 screaming at 2000+ RPM.
With 3.65 V left in the 5Ah LiPos, I got about 7 minutes of smooth backyard 3D flying out of it: A couple of continued rolls and flips, otherwise avoiding excessive current draw to "break in" the LiPos after the long break. It's got lots of cyclic pitch, and blade flutter makes ominous noises even at the low headspeed (Align 690 blades, the cheapest ones with the diagonal black stripe). With more RPM, this will be outright scary.
The Scorpion HKIII 4035 appears to be a huge improvement over the "original" 4035, which was good as a handwarmer but scant little else...
BUT the heli requires a supersize-XXL motor shaft and uses (apparently) a non-standard mount pattern. I ordered the shaft from Scorpion directly and it was delivered rather quickly (Thursday Hong-Kong, today here, faster than most UK orders). But with $35! for the shaft, shipping and VAT this became a rather expensive motor. I'd consider some "boutique" motor instead, like the one used in the Goblin (reportedly same size, helidirect), which shouldn't be that more expensive. Or the stock motor, if it's any good, no idea.
I'd recommend to get a full-size V-bar instead of the mini. That's what I did, to my regret. Wiring it took an eternity. Mr. Mel said he puts the fullsize sensor to the bottom gyro mount, I'd also consider the front mount as an option.
What else, the "breakable" monkey-metal canopy mounts -do- break easily and spares are sold out (of course...). Fortunately, an Align 700 frame bolt can be cut to size and is much more durable. I never thought I'd say this about Align Hi-Pro cheesium...
BTW, I wrote some notes during the built over at
rcheliaddict.
Below a couple of pictures (you'll find better photos of the CNC bling elsewhere but maybe the installation is of interest, I spent more time over it than I would have liked. It never shows in the pictures but it's surprisingly clean - there -is- very little wiring to start with).
Heatsinks, no way, this heli won't get set up for exxtreme abusive smackdown 3D as long as whacking LiPos is as expensive as it is now.
And, the JST wire in the nose is to pre-charge the ESC caps to avoid sparks. Works smoothly.
Total weight: ~5.4 kg, mainly from the heavy 5Ah packs and the external Rx LiPo.
