had to do it...

so anyways, i have recently acquired a hirobo shuttle zx, read about my story on how i got it at www.scoob-e.com

I am just progressing past hover stage, i am upgrading as i need to (crash) so far i have:
CSM 420 HH gyro
fiberglass mains
new OS 32 SX-H
I have quick uk boom supports in the mail, i will post pics soon. lets see. and hear about your hirobo!!!!

sean

You probably guessed that I'd be the first to reply ...

Got any pics of the newly painted canopy? I painted mine after some repair work to fix the huge hole in the top. Didn't turn out too bad. I'll have to post some pics of it later. I just put some carbon boom supports from HeliProz on mine last night. About 4" longer than stock ... made it nice and stiff back there. Need some good blades next. Are you using a sim? It has made a world of difference for me.

Also pulled my first loop this evening!! Actually, my first 5 or 6 loops! Along with some flips ... or at least as close as a ZX can come to a flip. I've been doing rolls for a while now. I've got KSJ paddles on it which makes the cyclic quick, but the roll (or flip) rate just isn't there. Gotta find away to get the cyclic up a couple more degrees!

Maybe we could start a 3D ZX Masters! ... Shuttles only!

Keith

No, no pics of my canopy yet. You can see it before i painted it at my website though, www.scoob-e.com . I still need to clear coat it too, dont want nitro to eat my paint job away! I can do some forward flight, close proximity though. I am not using a sim, i have been learning all on my own. I did have a little piccolo at the begging of the summer, that helped me get hovering down. I got this copter cheap, so i am not going to put much into aftermarket in it. I eventually want to get good with this one then upgrade to a sceadu 30 maybe at the beginning of next summer... maybe even the bigger sceadu....

sean

I mentioned on another thread (maybe on RR) that you can use polyurethane spray to clear coat the canopy to protect it from the fuel. Works great and if you're careful and take your time, you'll get great results. Your "before" pictures look a lot like what mine looked like when I bought it 12 years ago.

I started learning on my own after buying it and then ended up parking the Shuttle for 11 years; never got past basic hovering with the training wheels on. Then a friend that I fly planks with came across a used heli and I decided to get mine back out, so we've been learning together. I use the FMS simulator which is free and very realistic for basic forward flight and for rolls and loops. I've even found a Shuttle ZXX model for it that looks and acts perfect! I'm sure that you could tweak the parameter files around to make a good 3D flyer if you tried. I practiced nose-in for weeks on FMS and within 2 days on the real thing, I was hovering nose-in like I'd been doing it all my life. I think the sim is the reason I've progressed faster than my friend (he has it but doesn't practice nearly as much as me).

After I had the start belt on the ZX wrap itself around the pulley and pinion gear while in flight, I decided that rather than rebuild it, I'd move up the schedule to get the next heli and I bought a Quick 30 Pro (don't let anyone else see me write that on this forum! ). I have since put a 46 in it and have been fighting with a vibration problem for a couple months and as soon as I solved it, the muffler broke off from the previous stress. Needless to say, I couldn't leave the Shuttle to rust, so I put it back together and have been flying it while the Quick is still sitting under the bench waiting for the replacement muffler to show up! If not a scratch-built heli, my next bird will most likely be an X-Spec next year.

Keith

Yes, i did see your post on RR about the belt wrpping in the pinion and on the clearcoat. I am waiting for the clear to dry right now and i will post pics here and give a link to my site on RR since they only allow uploads on monday or something stupid.

sean

ok, pics are in. go to www.scoob-e.com/shuttle/

lemme know what you think!

sean

Excellent job! Looks great! If I might ask, why did you paint the windshield?

Here's a couple pics of my paint job. I still haven't added any decals yet, but gotta at least add some Hirobo or Shuttle decals!

(Not sure if I got the photo upload correct ... never done this before [sm=frown.gif])

Keith

sean looks great,far cry from what it looked like before, i'm trying to get george to get the raptor going so i can give it a try, looked like alot of fun the other day. I think i could handle a chopper.. nice job on yours as well okw

i painted the windsheild because i screwed it up while cleaning I was using a solvent to remove the sticker goo, called 3M adhesive remover. apparently whatever the windsheild is made out of didnt like it. it fogged all up and looked crappy, so i painted it. it looks great now!

Keith, that's a really nice job on the Shuttle canopy. Sean, yours looks good too.

Reading your story brought a smile to my face. I learned planks the same way; myself and a buddy, in a soy bean field, helping each other and learning the hard way. My hat is off to you guys who are basically self-taught on helicopters. There weren't any simulators back when I learned, and I waited for years before running across a fellow who knew what he was doing and was willing to teach me.

After twelve years and over two dozen different machines, I've settled on a Sceadu 50 with OS 46, and my old X-Cell 60. That Sceadu is, IMO, simply the best overall value in a model heli today. With 600mm blades, it flies like a 60; yet it is still a plastic helicopter; i.e., it won't break your wallet and/or take forever to repair if you dork it. Hirobo really got it right with this one; my only gripe is that the control geometry on the push-pull bellbranks is a bit bizarre, and tedious to assemble, but just follow the manual precisely and it works great.

I guess what I'm saying is that you might want to try one of these before jumping into a big-buck 60 or larger machine.

Thanks, Steve. I was actually kind of surprised at how well the canopy came out for my first attempt.

After I started 12 years ago, I found the Dave Brown simulator. Unfortunately, it wasn't much help since I was using a joystick. I'm thinking that I went about this whole RC thing from the wrong direction ... starting on heli's, then my first fixed wing was a combat plane with a roll rate of about 1500 degrees/second, then I finished building a 25 size trainer that someone gave me!

I still haven't quite figured out the aileron bellcrank on the Sceadu. It doesn't seem to follow the "90 degree" rule, so I can't help but think that there must be some differential there.[sm=confused.gif]

Keith