Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

What items and where are available for the Corona 120, I know about Brushless and have seen Carbon Blades on Hoverup's Heli's but where are these items available at. and what's the recomended set-up used by all of you actual Corona Flyer's

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Don't forget darthdk's canopies - he's got a great range available now.

There's also Dave who's doing the belt drive and one-way mod.

However on the whole the Corona doesn't need much in the way of mods/hop-ups. One of the joys is that it's just a great heli right out of the box.

The ONLY bad thing about it is that the standard ElectroFusion motor is rubbish. Most people don't bother getting it in the first place or, if they do, the very soon replace with a $20 Atomic Force from Tower Hobbies though, in actual fact, most people just switch to brushless. Hacker C40 or (my choice) Mega 16/15/3 - you can get a motor+ESC combo for less than $150 if you shop around.

As for bits to add to the standard kit. Most people use the recommended HS81 servos (three). It's a good idea to get the "MG" (Metal Gear) ones for the cyclic otherwise you may strip gears the first time you plant it.

Gyro wise the gyro of choice is probaly the Futaba GY240 though some (me included) find the CSM HLG200 does a pretty good job anyway.

Battery wise I think almost everyone who's tried them prefers the Sanyo HRSC2600 NiCd cells - either 7 or 8 cell packs.

Cliff

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Cliff:

Excellent post ... all the god stuff!

Cliff / Zflyer:

I would add the JR E-Voyager landing gear to that list, though. It makes battery swapping a breeze, plus makes balancing the machine a snap. I have attached a pic, and you may notice that the battery pack is in the holder in the gear, and it is almost un-noticeable. I did cheat, though, and wrapped the 4 packs in a flat black sign making vinyl film, which makes them blend in with the gear. :D

Happy and Safe Choptering,

Russ :)

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Thanx for the info Guy's. I orderd the standard plus I guess they call it with the Fusion motor and ESC but was thinking of the Mega so I can get the longer flight times, As far as the Carbon Blades I've seen in some of the pic's where to you get those at?
for the Gyro I might spring for an HH but I did manage to set the Revo for my HBird with out to much fussing so a yaw is still an option. Miniboy is that a LI-Poly pack on your Corona

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Hi Zflyer:

No, that is a Sanyo HRSC 2600 NiMh pack. I am presently investigating LiPo's, but have to determine whether they will work with my present charger.

I have not heard of any availability of carbon or fiberglass blades for a Corona. My own opinion is that even if they were available, your hard earned dollars would be better spent on a brushless setup to get your flight times up, and eliminate the fiddling around with your present motor (which you probably haven't quite yet had the need to do). The stock blades are very specifically designed for the FP Corona 120, and really are efficient. They take a hell of a beating and do't break, and when you do break them, they are real inexpensive to replace. IIABDFI (if it ain't broke, don't fix it)!

Just my 2 cents, :)

Russ

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Thanx Mini Boy, It's just in your pic they aren't very noticeable so I guess they mount up quite well. Here's a link to some packs I'm gonna try out http://www.batteryspace.com/product....55&1=272&3=180 I figure they might work quite well except for the hump mount for the 7th cell but at 2 for 1 worth checking out, I've used some of their smaller packs in a picco stick with good results

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

No, don't get generic batteries... I mean, it'll probably be ok. and it is cheap but i'm sure you'll regret it in the near future, you want to get quality batteries especially for heli's because of the amperage draw...

Get the Sanyo Hrsc 2600s, in my opinion, the best sub c cells out, the hold their voltage really well so you get plenty of punch and they're durable and with my experience with them held anywhere from 2700-2900mah. Actually the hrsc's aren't that much more than what you're looking at, check out www.battlepacks.com or www.eflightpacks.com

I'd be surprised if those generic packs held over 2500mah initially and most likely hold less than 2400mah after a bunch of cycles...

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Thanx astronut30 I figure I'll give them a try if they don't give the proper power or times I'll get the good stuff , they'll get me into the air I expect as I pull together everything for the Corona, Still gotta get my servos etc. I only have sub-micros on hand since I was into small parkflyers before

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

That battery pack will probably work fine with the stock Fusion motor but you will be disappointed if used with the AF. The AF motor has less KV than the F7 motor and these batteries will drop in voltage much faster (slope) as they discharge. With the AF motor, after a couple of minutes the voltage will be just low enough to keep you on the ground at full throttle. It wasn't a problem for me at all with the F7 motor. The lower voltage was still enough. I recommend you spend your money on at least one GP3300 pack from battlepacks.com. The AF motor was fine with the GP3300 packs because the discharge curve is much flatter.

I'm still not that big a fan of the AF motor. At 17 turns, it just doesn't have the power or rpm of the stock motor at 13 turns. The best results I've had so far (aside from my new Astro 020 BL) is with a generic 15 turn mod motor: 9 minutes of flight time with some rather large training gear, 4/4 grips, stock 9 tooth pinion and the 7-cell GP3300 packs.

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Thanx Knimrod I'll be checking better packs as I do want to go brushless, I was just a little surprised at the price of packs as my only experience was with small 2/3 A and 4/5 AA packs quite a price jump when you get to sub-C

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Zflyer:

I think Astronaut, Knimrod and many others will agree with me on this thought:

You are going to get from this heli venture no more than you put into it. As soon as you start cutting corners, you will start to cost yourself more $$$ in the long run, and more aggravation than you can imagine.

This is not, and never was touted as being, a cheap hobby ... when that bargain battery takes a crap 3 minutes into the flight, and your bird comes down from fifty feet looking like it got shot with a shotgun, you maybe will have wished you hadn't been bargain hunting!

A WHOLE different thing with an airplane, that can glide a while!

Get the stuff these experienced guys have
used, and know it is RELIABLE.

For whatever it's worth to you,

Russ :)

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Yes I know it's never been a cheap Hobby Russ, as far as the cheap packs Knimrod suggested they might be fine with the Fussion wich will be the motor it will have till I go Brushless So I'll gamble on 2 packs as far as the rest of my set up I didn't cut corners on the Gyro I orderd an Ikarus Profi HH. the servos will be Hitec 81's couldn't find any Cirrus with the proper specs. RX will be the Cirrus MRX4 which I've used in planes and my HBird with no glitches my TX is an Airtronics RD6000 Super which is the first TX over 3 channels I've owned and I even figured out how to set up the Revo mix for my HBird (no HH Gyro and no mixer board) on it so as a Heli Newbie I'd recomend the RD6000 Super to any one as I could even figure it out. My charger on the other hand is all right an MRC 959 Super Brain not the biggest or best but it dose the job. I do take all this advice I've asked for on the post very seriously and thank you one and all for the information that has been given because without it I wouldn't have gotten this far. Zflyer

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Hitec hs 81's work out great in the corona. I'm not sure if you got metal gear ones, if not, when you get a chance order a couple of sets for your cyclic servos, they're about $12 each, a good crash and you'll strip one of the cyclic servo gears most likely, the plastic gears will not go to waste as you can use those for spares for your tail servo...

www.servocity.com has those mg's for the 81's at like $12.50/set with free US. shipping...

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Thanx Astronut30 I didn't order them yet but I've herd about the MG's for the cyclics also that some guys are using 85's for the cyclic instead of 81's ? is that a better choice or do the 81's do the job

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

The hs-81's do a great job, I've never had any problems at all with the metal gears and I definitely put it through some stress, lol.

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Hi Zflyer ... And Happy 4th of July to ya!! :)

Think about the battery thing this way:

The two "batteryspace.com" batteries will cost you $45 hard earned bucks. As KnimRod said, they will probably work O.K. with the Fusion 7 motor, but won't be too happy with the Atomic Force (which IS the brushed motor of choice for most). That also will be true if you go to a brushless at some point in time. You may not be aware of this, but after your 10th to 20th flight (2 hours flying time) that World Famous Fusion motor is going to start getting tired, and need to be cleaned, maybe new brushes, and then maybe re-timed. If you decide to keep "nursing" the Fusion motor, then the "hump" battery packs will still be O.K. BUT ... if at that time you want to eliminate screwing around with the Fusion and replace it with an Atomic force OR a brushless, the Sanyo HRSC 2600 NiMh packs (or something like those) would work great! Meanwhile your gonna be putting 2 hump packs on the shelf ($45.00 worth) that would have paid for 1 HRSC 2600 pack at $40.00 in the first place. Do you see my logic ... I HATE to buy stuff twice :mad: ... once is enough.

Also, I wonder if you plan to put the batteries on the right side of the crutch (in the stock location)? You may have an issue with balance, as the hump packs are 1 cell shorter and the hump cell may put a little more weight to the right side of the machine. I haven't heard of anyone using this setup, so I don't know how it would work. For sure, you'd never get the stock canopy on.

And, I agree with Astronut, the HS-81-MG servos are pretty much bullet-proof! I used three of them, as I managed to BACK into an obstruction (Ooops ... it's in the FIREPLACE ... Damn) and busted up the plastic tailrotor servo gears, so now is's simple ... they're ALL MG's.

A little side story ... I enjoy riding the Harley down to the "Olde Tymes" Restaraunt from time to time ... love those old sewing machines ... and other old antique stuff ... small world, eh??

Have a good and SAFE weekend ... 70 degrees here at 6:00 A.M. and the humidity is about 2 million percent!!

Russ :)

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Happy 4th to all and I hear ya Russ unfortunately I will have to nurse the Fussion for a while but it will get me in the air when I go Brushless then the better packs will be a must and the hump packs will have served their purpose getting me the stick time I need to progress as far as our local weather down hear not very promising it about 70 with moderate humitity and a whole lota clouds don't know if it's gonna be a lake day today

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

As far as the mounting that might pose a small problem might have to sling on the underside of the crutch ? we'll see any way as far as Olde Times I hate to admit for the 8 1/2 years I've lived hear I've never been there always go by it though. gotta be a nice cruise though on a Hog , I haven't riddin in 15+ years but remember the wind in the hair and the thump of a V twin although it was from the land of the Rising Sun LOL

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

I Hear Ya Barkin', Big Dawg!!

Yes, you could try to hang the pack under the landing gear, and I'll try to hunt up the post showing a cute little music wire arrangement someone has made to do that.

Also, for the first few (many) flights you are probably not going to put the canopy on anyway, so ... maybe put the battery pack where it's supposed to go and let 'er rip?!!? When you really come down to it, when the normal flat pack is in the recommended location, the heli is off balance to the right side anyway, and you can compensate with left cyclic trim ... so maybe the extra cell hanging out on that side won't make a significant difference??? ... Give it a try, and if it's a problem, then move the pack below.

Gettin' late, I gotta go outside and FRY!!!! :mad:

Russ

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

The only other question I have is about the amps for charging since I've only dealt with tiny packs, default on the 959 is 3.5 amps and is selectable to 4.5 or 5 is that enough for these sub C monsters or do I need to start lookin for another charger.
I will also be going out to fry since the sun's blazin now

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Hey, got some friendly advice for you speaking from actual experience with that Fusion, get yourself an atomic force motor which is about $20 from Tower or Roffee's as soon as you get a chance, the Fusion motor is a waste of time, seriously, you'll need to change the brushes probably after around 10-15 flights which is about $6or $7/pair, then after a couple of brush changes, you'll more than likely start to notice degredation of the motor and probably be tired of "messing" with it, at $20 for the atomic force, which is the cost for only about 2 or 3 pairs of brushes, it's a bargain and will give you probably at least 50-100 flights, maybe even more, I've heard of 200 before you need to change brushes...

OH yes, HAPPY 4th OF JULY!

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Hi Z, Hi Astro:

Yes ... I never even bothered to put the Fusion in my Corona. I went right to a Brushless.

Z ... As far as charging the hump packs, what do you have for a charger? ... does it self regulate? ... does it have a peak cutoff?? Does it tell you how many Ma the battery has taken, and voltage etc?? Can you discharge somehow??

I think the 5 amp charge rate should be O.K. Mine charges at between 5 and 5.5 amps, depending on the state of charge of the pack. You may want to take it easy on the first few cycles, and use the 3.5 amp rate, and check for excessive charger heat, battery heat etc. The packs will respond better to charging after a few cycles when they become acclimated to their job.

Hope you all had a good 4th ... gotta go watch the Boston Pops on the tube,

Chat Later,

Russ :D

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

Hi guys hope you all had a Great 4th . The charger I have is an MRC 959 Super Brain it has peak detect ajustable amps adjustable mvolts, time display and auto shutdown to trickle charge but no cycling or discharge only real gripe I've got about it is you have to power down for the next pack no reset. it'll handle up to an 8 cell pack and it's dual power AC plug and Battery for field use with LCD Display for status and settings

Pic of 959
 

Pic#1

Corona 120 Mods & Hop-ups
 

They have come out with a 969 Super Brain that has the Dischage feature and can also charge 2 packs at the same time, checking the specs again the 959 can chagre at 4.5 amps max. I got my 959 for under $50 new the 969 lists for about $120 and includes from what I can tell the Power Supply also