Roban UH1 600 Build Summary
12-23-2021, 09:00 PM
#1
Roban UH1 600 Build Summary
I purchased a Roban UH-1 from MRC awhile back and finally got around to building it several months ago. Here's my impressions followed by a Youtube video of the first full up test flight.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
1. The fiberglass work is great! The shell has really nice details and the finish is nice. The fuse goes together relatively easily and you'll have to do some cutting, grinding and sanding to get the mechanics to fit.
2. Unfortunately that's where the good stops. Too bad that I actually bought this to fly and not just to look at the pretty exterior. The kludged together mechanics was a mishmash of 47 mm and 54 mm Roban / Phoenixtech (knockoff "Align" 600 esp) parts for a 54mm frame. When I opened up the Phoenixtech mechanics that was supplied by MRC as part of their deluxe combo I was shocked. Not only were there wrong parts there were also plenty of missing parts and parts that I was told needed to be replaced or the gears would shear within seconds of the first flight. I tried to get MRC to pony up the parts, but no luck since I was outside their 30 day "fogettabout" it window.
Spacers included for the tail drive bearing block were too narrow. How difficult is it to subtract the 7mm difference of the 54 mm and 47 mm blocks and take that missing 7mm and divide it into two 3.5mm spacers? I also ended up buying over $250 of parts early on that were either wrong or missing. Some parts of this less than stellar mechanical design don't even exist... i.e. be ready to machine your own parts such as the correct 3.5mm spacers and a self lubricating bushing for the tail drive shaft.
I'm sure there are exceptions to everything but I've only ever seen heli bearing blocks where the bearing was either a press fit or held in by retainer rings. This model included bearing blocks where all bearings fell out of the blocks.
Easy for replacement, but terrible for building a reliable and safe model heli.
The new MotionRC / Roban knockoff thrust bearings were total trash! Weird thing about thrust bearings is that they can feel just fine but when you fly them they basically try to lock up and create a slow tail wag that NO controller can deal with. The Phoenixtech tail assembly was a disaster. I've never seen so much slop. I had to replace the entire tail assembly with a genuine Align tail assembly that included the upgraded tail bevel gears. MotionRC told me that the gears that they supplied me would shear in seconds of the first flight. No big deal it's just another $125.
There are plenty of other problems but since pictures speak 1000 words I'll just throw in some pics and Youtube links for your viewing pleasure...
Take care and stay safe out there!
Youtube link to my full up maiden prefaced by images showing some of the "challenges" of this model:
Another Youtube link where the owner/pilot used the wrong spacers supplied with the combo kit. NOT my heli. The heli tail drive shaft broke and the heli crashed during the maiden flight:
Mix of 54mm and 47mm parts supplied by MRC
Assembled side frame complete with the REQUIRED third main bearing block which I also had to buy.
Pitted thrust bearings. Looks like someone at the factory filed down the bearing races.
Another mix of 54 and 47mm parts
The kludged tail drive design used a 5.5mm extended drive shaft. Problem is you can't buy a 5.5mm ID bearing. The solution is to machine your own self lubricating bushing.
The finished UH-1 just in time for Christmas! It fought me all the way, but I managed to beat it into submission.
Get your dremel and file out. None of the holes fit the parts.
My new 3.5mm correctly sized spacer blocks that I had to machine.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
1. The fiberglass work is great! The shell has really nice details and the finish is nice. The fuse goes together relatively easily and you'll have to do some cutting, grinding and sanding to get the mechanics to fit.
2. Unfortunately that's where the good stops. Too bad that I actually bought this to fly and not just to look at the pretty exterior. The kludged together mechanics was a mishmash of 47 mm and 54 mm Roban / Phoenixtech (knockoff "Align" 600 esp) parts for a 54mm frame. When I opened up the Phoenixtech mechanics that was supplied by MRC as part of their deluxe combo I was shocked. Not only were there wrong parts there were also plenty of missing parts and parts that I was told needed to be replaced or the gears would shear within seconds of the first flight. I tried to get MRC to pony up the parts, but no luck since I was outside their 30 day "fogettabout" it window.
Spacers included for the tail drive bearing block were too narrow. How difficult is it to subtract the 7mm difference of the 54 mm and 47 mm blocks and take that missing 7mm and divide it into two 3.5mm spacers? I also ended up buying over $250 of parts early on that were either wrong or missing. Some parts of this less than stellar mechanical design don't even exist... i.e. be ready to machine your own parts such as the correct 3.5mm spacers and a self lubricating bushing for the tail drive shaft.
I'm sure there are exceptions to everything but I've only ever seen heli bearing blocks where the bearing was either a press fit or held in by retainer rings. This model included bearing blocks where all bearings fell out of the blocks.
Easy for replacement, but terrible for building a reliable and safe model heli.The new MotionRC / Roban knockoff thrust bearings were total trash! Weird thing about thrust bearings is that they can feel just fine but when you fly them they basically try to lock up and create a slow tail wag that NO controller can deal with. The Phoenixtech tail assembly was a disaster. I've never seen so much slop. I had to replace the entire tail assembly with a genuine Align tail assembly that included the upgraded tail bevel gears. MotionRC told me that the gears that they supplied me would shear in seconds of the first flight. No big deal it's just another $125.
There are plenty of other problems but since pictures speak 1000 words I'll just throw in some pics and Youtube links for your viewing pleasure...
Take care and stay safe out there!
Youtube link to my full up maiden prefaced by images showing some of the "challenges" of this model:
Another Youtube link where the owner/pilot used the wrong spacers supplied with the combo kit. NOT my heli. The heli tail drive shaft broke and the heli crashed during the maiden flight:
Mix of 54mm and 47mm parts supplied by MRC
Assembled side frame complete with the REQUIRED third main bearing block which I also had to buy.
Pitted thrust bearings. Looks like someone at the factory filed down the bearing races.
Another mix of 54 and 47mm parts
The kludged tail drive design used a 5.5mm extended drive shaft. Problem is you can't buy a 5.5mm ID bearing. The solution is to machine your own self lubricating bushing.
The finished UH-1 just in time for Christmas! It fought me all the way, but I managed to beat it into submission.
Get your dremel and file out. None of the holes fit the parts.
My new 3.5mm correctly sized spacer blocks that I had to machine.
12-27-2021, 09:06 AM
#2
Another MotionRC Roban UH-1 helicopter explodes before its maiden flight!
As the owner/pilot put it:
"It got light on the gear and I heard a loud bang."
Here's what the MRC UH-1 looked like after it exploded on the ground...
As the owner/pilot put it:
"It got light on the gear and I heard a loud bang."
Here's what the MRC UH-1 looked like after it exploded on the ground...
