My first heli was DuBro's Whirlybird. No gyro, learned to hover, never any forward flight. I've still got it, only issue is the cracked cowl/canopy. Next was DuBro's Hughes 300. Still no gyro, more hovering, forward flight. Sold that one. Next was the GMP Competitor. This time a gyro and and some limited aerobatics. The damage was more than a new one so quit for a long, long time. My primary interest is 1/2A so naturally, when LM came along I had to have one. Good little machine, quality excellent. No collective though and mostly only forward flight. Not flown for a few years. Now we have electrics that can be quite spectacular in the right hands. Not my skill level ever but full collective, solid control and quality has got me interested again. But the cost for converting to electric anything can be daunting. I have 40 years worth of hobby stuff, radios etc and even a GWS gyro I used on the LM.

So, now I'm interested again in a small, very nimble heli but don't want to go electric. I have lathe and milling tools. I make mods to get perfect throttle control on 1/2A engines. My thought is to start with a Shogun and convert to glow. Looks doable especially the tail shaft drive version.

Why, when it's a done deal electric? Partly cost, partly because I love engines, noise and smoke. Well, not a lot of noise, I mufflerize them pretty good. Partly because it's a challenge to do. Creative instincts and all.

Has it been done before? I did a search and not so far, it seems.

Don't know anything about the new machinery. With glow, I'm sure I'd need auto-rotation. Seems unnecessary with electric but is a one way bearing part of the package? Everything else looks adaptable except for this one item.

Actually, an auto gear IS nescesary with electric, especially if you're using brushless motors. Not using one is a great way to chew out spur gear teeth.. .

As for the rather rare electric to glow conversions (Who'da thought we'd see the day, eh?) there was one fellow a while back I remember seeing who did a glow conversion of a t-rex. To be honest, while i'm sure it's doable, it would not only require alot of modification, but in the end, the performance may only be medicore at best. The power to weight ratio of a brushless motor (especially if it's an outrunner) compared to a nitro engine is enourmous. In short, you may get only ho-hum performance because of the weight of the motor and fuel (and) receiver battery pack, as opposed to using a light weight lipo, bec board and brushless motor.

Of course, it would be an interesting build to see. If you do go with it, a mod/build thread would be nice . I believe the shogun comes with an auto gear by default so you have no worries there.

Good luck with your project, should prove interesting. [8D]

Credence,

Thanks for the info on auto gear. And yes, it occurred to me that power to weight may be an issue but a good brushless comes in at 3 ounces, a Norvel .06 comes in at 2 and a bit. And with a 250 Nimh pack, I think I could be in the right ball park. Don;t want to 3D or anything just fly around do some rolls and loops.

The Norvel Revlites have amazing power to weight. And they're tough. On a 6 X 3 Grish prop, I get 19K and down to 5K with excellent throttling. Not to mention LMs version with their exhaust throttle that works very well. I'd use LMs clutch and main gear. I guess if the Shogun's gear is metric, its gear would be unusable. In that case, I'd have to install the one way bearing into the LM's main gear. Doable with my equipment.

Yes, If I go for it, I'll be taking many pics and get a thread started. Winter project though with test flying in the spring.

Thanks again.