Been out of heli flying for a few years now.... well 12 actually, and have just bought a mint second hander...

Its an X-Cell Pro, with full Pro-2K conversions except tail rotor, Full SAB & FG carbon Blades, JR5000 Gyro and Matching Servo (JR 2700 Super) Header Tank, JR591 Servos, 1400mah Battery, OS61SX-HWC engine.

That cost me £850 (coulda had JR digital servos for another £250 but took me over budget)

Then added a JR X-8310 ADT and Tru Flight Simulator and a few ancilliary bits and bobs (starter, battery, glow stick, wildcat 15 fuel, hand pump etc)

The X-Cell is mint except for a bit of dust, as it hasnt been flown for 5 months, all the ball joints are solid and slop free and the servos are brand new except for the tail rotor...

Engine starts like a dream and idles solid as a rock

Heres a piccie....



Wotcha think?

heres some links to some close up pics

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark.fa...3/jr2700ss.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark.fa...20Assembly.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark.fa...dio%20tray.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark.fa.../mechanics.jpg

After 2 years of flying Heims (lockheed 286 and robbe Avantgarde) I wonder how different this will be?

Had a few lessons with a TT Raptor 50 yesterday to get my hand in, I am very rusty, gonna have a few more I think....

come on, someone must have an opinion?

Looks like its ready for the knackers yard.

Ah well I'll scrap it then

Its an Xcell - well known over here for quality and design and pricey crash repairs. What more
are you looking for? You have a nice machine there. Certainly its not ready for the knackers yard but it might be if your flying skills don't return quickly.

hehe, it crashed today, radio failure...

But, I am used to heim repairs.... this is no more costly... both darn pricey...

Gotta say tho, it looked like it has potential...

New main mast, blades, flybar, 2 servos (stripped gears on Ail/elev) stripped pinnion drive gear, broken tie rod....

Nout major.... coulda been saved by a better inspection by me tho, the battery plug had a dodgy pin on it

ah well

Ooopps - sorry. I hope I did not jinx your Heli?

nah, was poor prep.... and a duff battery pack with the heli...

when it flew it was fine, was just painful to watch it turn tail, and nose dive into the dirt....

why does it always happen in slow motion????

Its kinda like, any minute its gonna pull up... on **** no it isnt....

ah well, when it stops raining I can have another go...

Hated to see it happen, I have got the feeling at times something I felt I missed would cause a failure. I once checked an older ZXX felt had a lot of good flights on it and sure enough a 4131 went out right while checking it on the ground (pre-flight).

I usually check & test-range check a lot more these days..it eventually happens (mishaps) to most all of us..

YAY she flew today, no mishaps....

Then it pee'd down with rain and had to cut it short...

I have a starting point

I was flying with a friend from Blighty yesterday. He is the club nutter Heli flyer - our resident Curtis Youngblood more or less. I think he singlehandedly keeps Xcell in business. I happened to mention your thread here on RCU and he explained to me that Northants
was the abbreviation for Northamptonshire. Thats one I'll never understand but then again
I have trouble even thinking about eating a bacon buttie or black/white pudding.

He also mentioned he thought it would be cheaper and faster mailordering Xcell parts from a few of the discount mailorder heli shops we have here.

I do believe after all these posts I am begining to see a better you, LOL

Oy mate, canya giz a bita history azte where the term Blighty cums frum ?

First you go down the apples and pears, then put on your berkeley hunt and then your dickey dirt or did I say that backwards?

UK vs USA - Two countries divided by a common language.

Edge - I have no idea where the term Blighty came from. Could it be a reference to the weather there?

having just got back on Friday I would have to say I got a kick out of that Shemp. It rained and rained until it could flood no more so it snowed.
Chucked it down it did in bucket loads.

How about this translaction :It's a relic of British India. It comes from a Hindi word bilayati, foreign, which is related to the Arabic wilayat, a kingdom or province. Sir Henry Yule and Arthur C Burnell explained in their Anglo-Indian dictionary, Hobson-Jobson, published in 1886, that the word was used in the names of several kinds of exotic foreign things, especially those that the British had brought into the country, such as the tomato (bilayati baingan) and especially to soda-water, which was commonly called bilayati pani, or foreign water.
Blighty was the inevitable British soldier's corruption of it. But it only came into common use as a term for Britain at the beginning of the First World War in France about 1915. It turns up in popular songs There's a ship that's bound for Blighty, We wish we were in Blighty, and Take me back to dear old Blighty, put me on the train for London town, and in Wilfred Owen's poems, as well as many other places.

In modern Australian usage, Old has been added, as in Old Country and Old Dart, as a sentimental reference to Britain.

Thanks for the info guys...

I am back to nice stable hovering again, ran 4 tanks thru her at the weekend (only -3 degrees)

Been having some intermittent tail wag problems which I think might be rich mix (see my other thread)...

Parts are not a major issue as we have a model shop on site at the flying field, and I'd rather grab em there than wait a few weeks to save a few quid...(bucks) (thats dollars not buckinghamshire)

I dont believe english divides the UK and USA its just that english is such a mish mash of other languages (german french etc etc) that once it became common in the US it was no surprise that another spin got added...

I think one needs to look in the chambers dictionary for the correct pronunciations.... anything else is just a coloquialism....

Galifrey,
The X-Cells are second to none. They set a standard for the rest of the heli industry. I fly an X-Cell Fury and think very highly of it. That P2 you got is a very sweet ship. It's funny how X-Cells from three years ago are still better ships than most of what is coming from the manufacturers today.

If you would like a nice 50 size addition that flies similiar and has alot of parts support then take a look at the Falcon 50 SE V2 or Raven 50(CCPM) from Century. I find these helis with the same rotor head to be a lower cost platform for growing.

Anyhow, you got a sweet machine there. Don't let nobody fool ya!

Thanks Lift,

I think so too... X-Cells were just becoming popular when I gave up 14 odd years ago... they were imported to the UK by a guy called Vago Nordiggen (he used to be an ace flyer) along with Heim helicopters which I used to fly then...

A lot of guys fly Fury's at my club Century unfortunately hasnt got a lot of support near me, but the shop owner rates them, so maybe I can convince him to stock some

Quite fancy a falcon 50 to buzz about with and save the X-Cell for best

Now Century really makes Knackers yard candidates in all sizes. I think you'd be hard pressed to disagree if you saw them up close and flew them plus parts support comes from my part of the world which might make things a bit difficult for you in the long term. If you want something to practice on without too much fear of costly repairs then perhaps a Raptor 50 V2 would do it - they are light years ahead of Century.

Really? Maybe you should take a look at this. UK looks pretty well covered to me:
Century Intl. Dealers

That is quite debateable. I had a Raptor 30 & 50 and they don't come close to the quality of the Falcon 50 SE or Raven 50. Try these features on for size:
4mm flybar
10mm mainshaft
6mm spindle
Carbon Fiber Torque Tube
Slipper Clutch
CNC Swashplate
Triple bearing tail rotor grips(2 radials, 1 thrust per grip)
Oil-Lite bushed washout hub
One-piece Flybar Control arm
Low Profile Tuff Struts Landing gear
600mm CF/Glass blades
CNC Metal Headblock
and on.......

For $399 US I have yet to find a better built low maintenance flutter free heli. Replacement parts are almost spot on with the Raptor despite all the 60 size equipment. This machine is a purpose built 50 and not a converted 30 to 50. I have beat mine up learning 3D and after 4 cases it's still as tight as new. Not something I have observed in the Raptor and Sceadu products.

Like I said I flew the plastic fantastics and if you can appreciate a quality ship like an X-Cell then Century's revamped lineup is right up your alley. They are'nt the same company most of think of. If you think the Hawk and scale is all they got to offer then you're behind the times. Wait till the Predator 60/90 comes out at the end of the month. There is alot of Century doubters that will get a wake-up call.............................

My point was to let Mr. Galifrey know of a good lower cost option for learning new stuff to compliment his top quality X-Cell.

I have np with parts for century mail order...

I have flown a raptor 50 (my trainer uses them as they are cheap) but tbh I prefer the century ccpm models...