The Coast Guard Project (Notes and Flight Log Info)
This page is where I write whatever changes I may have made, how the helicopter was flying before and after a change, or any other misc info I want to store and share with you.
Basic Project Cost:
Fuselage - $240 on sale.
Scale 50 Mechanics w/electric motor conversion and two blade head - $270.
Century 650A+ 800Kv motor - $125.
Torque tube conversion setup - $78.
CCPM conversion kit - $90.
Rotor Blades 600mm (Rotor Tech) set of four - $120. Note: I have never used these before so I will see how well they work.
Four Blade Rotor Head - $180.
ESC ICE2 HV80 -
Helicommand flybarless control - $375. I bought this used from Doorman in AR. Only installed and never flown.
Retract servo - $50.
Winch servo - $40.
Pot for winch - $10.
Total cost so far is $1,578.
Current Flying Setup:
Battery - 10S1P 5000mA Lipo (Started testing with a 6S1P 2650mA Lipo)
Motor - Century 565Kv fan cooled (Started testing with a Century 800Kv fan cooled). Changed to an Align Trex 700 530Kv after the Century broke from something I did I think.
ESC - CC ICE HV80
RCVR - JR R921
Servos - Cyclic (3x) HiTec HS5685-MH, Tail is Align DS620
Gyro - N/A
FBL - Heli Command Rigid. This has been replaced with the NAZA H with GPS. Much better for scale type flying.
Flight Logs:
4/30/2012:
Started testing around Jan/Feb 2012. After fighting some issues with the tail servo being too slow I switched to the Align and the problem was gone. Just pays to use the fastest
servo you can for the tail. Ihave been doing all the testing using only two 600mm main blades and running 1700 rotor rpm. Ater everything seem to be working good I put the
other two main rotor blades on. Test flight started out great as all four blades tracked perfectly. I was amazed!!! Then about 2:20 into the flight the controls stopped responding.
I was coming out of a long decent from high up and moving pretty fast. It just kept decending all the way until impact. POOF!!!!! The shit flew everywhere. I did hit throttle hold
before it went in but it didn't help much. Total damage was $440 and change. At least the two new lipo's servived okay.
Now it is totally rebuilt and flying great. All I can figure is it was too cold, around 30 degrees when it crashed. I again have been flying around with just two blades, and now have
about four flights or so on it like that. On April 29, 2012 I put all four blades on (550mm) and did some test hovering in my yard. Once again the blades are tracking perfectly.
I am very pleased with that. Yesterday went to the flying field and put two nice flights on it. It is flying very well, even with a 8 - 10 mph wind. I also put the Helicommand into
position mode and held very well in the wind. I am impressed. A few more flights and it's ready to go into the fuselage.
The current draw with the four blades is 20 - 22 Amps, with power in the high 800 Watt range. I think a 500Kv motor would be about perfect for this setup.
2/15/2013:
I have flown this heli a few times in the fuselage and both times had less than good landings. Each time after flying for a minute or so the power would just fade away and the heli
would drop fast. The second tmie caused some damage to the fuselage, but nothing major. This all happened around May of 2012. I tried having someone tach the head speed once
at a flying event, but everyone's tach had dead batteries, including mine. What are the odds. So it sat all summer while I enjoyed flying my other helis.
Now the present time. I have installed a NAZA-H system and attempted a test flight, but like before, the heli just seems to not have enough power to lift off and fly. I have finally decided
that it has to bemy motor Kv is just too high. I have just installed a 510Kv motor and that should put the ESC in the low to mid 90's percent power range, and give me a head speed
around 1650 or so. This weekend I hope to test and see how it goes.
5/27/2013:
This project has been a real pain in the butt. Mostly because I am building lots of custom parts that don't always work as planned. I am currently preparing to test the new Align 530Kv motor
just installed. This time I have added an upper bearing block motor shaft support. This is all part of the Goblin type belt drive system I am working on.
12/25/2013:
This heli in fuselage form has been grounded. Last Sept 2013 while flying just the mechanics (did this because of strange fight behavior in Atti mode), the heli suffered a major crash and destroyed
itself completely. This happened while in Atti mode, the mode giving me problems. The heli rolled back and I was not able to get it to recover in time as it was too low. It has been rebuilt again as
this is the second crash with the mechanics, different controller the first time, and I think cold temps were to blame then. This time I was well with in temps specs of the NAZA. I sent the NAZA back
and DJI replaced it with a new one, but never said what they found wrong. That is one part that sucks from buying overseas, customer support on issues like this. Why did the NAZA roll the heli back??
I may never know. I have done one test flight with the rebuilt mechanics and new NAZA. I also went back to the nitro clutch on electric motor setup. I have modified the clutch so it should stay engaged
at lower motor speeds. Time will tell, but I will test the hell out of this thing come 2014 summer.