Setting Up A Scale Helicopter- A Few Things To Consider
Posted on March 20, 2010 by aaronredbaron
Scale model helicopters offer exciting realism, but with the pretty body on board the same airframe that could be a wild aerobatic machine needs to be treated gently to operate well as a scale rig. Although most model helicopters can be adapted for scale use, it could be a disaster to use extreme headspeeds and wild travels with the fuse on. Scale models are prone to more vibration at high headspeeds, and they should be set up tame and gentle anyway to make the flight look realistic. I recently had the opportunity to help a friend set up his Hughes 500 with Sceadu 50 mechanics (his helicopter and Lamborghini are pictured) and during the project I went through many steps to ensure the Sceadu would fly well after adding the Hughes 500 body.
Converting from a 3D Heli to Scale
The Sceadu 50 we used for the Hughes 500 had been well dialed in as a 3D heli. It was outfitted with a CY ATG v3 governor holding a 2000 RPM headspeed. It had most of the metal parts offered from Hirobo for the head, and the cyclic travel had been maxed out to get the most agility. When I began the conversion, the first thing I did was tear it all apart and clean everything, and change the ratios in the head to far more conservative settings. I replaced the dampers with new lower durometer ones to offer a smoother head, and set the governor for a 1600 RPM headspeed to begin. Before I installed the Sceadu back in the fuse I put it all back together and test flew it, this step is critical to ensure you don’t get ahead of yourself and install mechanics with issues into a new fuselage. Once the mechanics are installed in the fuselage its much more difficult to access them. With this particular Sceadu the installation was a snap because it was outfitted with Hirobo’s metal clamping tail case. The upgrade tailcase allowed the belt tension to easily be set and adjusted from the tail, greatly simplifying the overall installation. Along with all the other upgrade this model was set up with the upgraded delrin gear set and sprag bearing, making it very quiet. After completing the installation, the test hover indicated the headspeed was still a little high. We settled for 1500 RPM, and at that speed the heli hovers smooth, stable, quiet, and is very realistic!
Things to remember for your Scale heli
-It should be set up with minimal travel for both cyclic and collective. The collective pitch range only needs to be something like -3 to +10.
-Headspeed will need to be much less than the same heli without the body.
-Be sure to go through it and work out any kinks or bugs BEFORE you install it in a new scale body. Even if you only make a few changes to adapt a machine for scale, do a short flight in the configuration you intend to use in the body before you proceed with installing the mechanics.
