[Keyrigger]

Hi all:

Previously, I owned an MD8 all setup for F3C. Through an accident at a meet in Florida caused by the cataract in my left eye (no depth perception to speak of), I wrecked it but it was totally repairable. I chose not to pursue that direction (long and sorted story) and with my wife's blessing, got the go ahead to buy a new helicopter. I looked at the Goblin Urukay, Logo, and the Diabolo 800. I could not find an Urukay at the price level I wanted and most that were for sale were older models with lots of use. That left the Logo and the Diabolo.

The Logo was a front runner but with the lack of an up to date 800 (like the new700) model, the 800XXTreme was not in the cards. The replacement 800 is coming but so is Christmas and I needed to have my replacement up and running by last weekend and that didn't happen. However, Chuck at Peak Aircraft had a plan. I would give him 6 weeks lead time and he would have one ready for me to pick up at IRCHA 2019. Either later that day or the very next morning (it's still a foggy moment in time) he called me back with an offer that I couldn't refuse.

I picked up a slightly used (it didn't even have any dust on it) and according to the fellow that delivered it from Chuck, only had a very few minutes of flying done on it. I have set up many helicopters over the past 12 years and I didn't realize something about this helicopter until after I did my build in it and put it in the air. When I was setting up the gyro, not one single arm needed ANY adjustment for zero pitch. That included the tail rotor. It only needed to have the endpoints expanded to get full pitch travel. When I put the throttle stick at mid way, the pitch was zero on my Soko pitch gauge.

Who knew?

It came straight up in 28 to 33kmh winds this afternoon at Burlington and aside from the tilt to the wind, hovered like it was anchored in place. I have flown my MD8 fast and it boogied really nice but this one is a formula 1 racer in disguise. It will take a lot of getting used to and I am really looking forward to the challenge since I can now see it properly. I didn't take any pictures during the final setup but the specs are:

Motor - Quantum 4250 500kv 16t pinion
ESC - Castle 160HV with fan
Cyclic - MKS BL950
Tail - MKS BL980
BEC - Western Robotics Super BEC Pro
Gyro - iKON2 w/2 DSMX Spektrum Sats
Telemetry - TM1000 and Castle Spectrum Telemetry Link
Main Blades - Rotor Tech 760 3D for Competition, Rotor Tech 810 for big air.
Tail - Rotor Tech 105

Currently, there are some XBlades 807 mains and NHP tails that were on the helicopter when I took possession of it but will be coming off once the RT 105s get in. Here are some pictures of it as it sits now. Take care.

Don

[Dennis Pedersen]

Very nice machine you have Keyrigger. Now it is all on the pilot, practice- practice and have fun.

[Keyrigger]

Thanks. The hardest part for me is the setup of all the controls so that they have enough to do the control but not so much that it over does it and sends the helicopter flying. I need a lot less pitch control when in the hovering mode and even less elevator and aileron. I am sure that I can really lock in the tail so it stays put. I have the gain at 80% in the hover mode only, 65% everywhere else and in flying modes, it holds like it's on a steel rail. Makes my old MD8 look like a child's toy and yet both used the same motor, esc, gyro, and radio. The change was the servos and who built the helicopter. I did the setup on both and they are very nearly identical. Take care.

Don

[Keyrigger]

I've been doing some testing and the motor was not up to the task on this heli. It had been through 5 dirt naps when it was in the MD8 and it was also not a new motor. Time had caught up with it so time for a new power plant. After much gnashing back and forth, I decided on one of the XNova Temptation series. I went with the 4535 520kv motor with 6500 watts at full power (13000 peak). It is a far cry from the 5000 watts of the Quantum 4530 500kv motor that was in it. Torque is up and the blades at full pitch no longer bog the motor out. Some adjustments need to be tweaked with the tail precomp but that will take a few times out or better if I remember my notebook. I also did a bit of colour on the tail fin and boom so it is just a bit easier to spot if the lighting is optimum for the angle of vision. Hopefully, the weekend will be good enough to get some full blown F3C runs on it. Take care.

Don

[Freeskiken]

Beautiful Heli !!!!

[Keyrigger]

Thank you. I chatted with a few friends when I was at the Spring Fling in Virginia. They had mentioned the landing gear being angled as it is on this helicopter and a number of other new (and some old) helicopters can be a visual distraction when trying to set a helicopter into a level hover. I scrounged around the shop for some (ahem) other landing gear that could take the place of the originals. I have clearance at the tail from the bottom of the tail fin to the blades but I am sure that I will be chewing a lot more grass than I have been. I'll take a couple of shots when I next get out to the club. Take care.

Don

[Keyrigger]

Small update. I ended up going with a much more visible canopy and some very contrasting graphics. I also bought the second set of landing gear to make the "High" level gear more suited for F3C. Along with it, I also got the original tube skids as the CF skids just don't do much for me. The blades have been replaces with Rotor Tech 106mm Ultimate tail blades and Rotor Tech 760mm main blades. What a sound the make as the helicopter is very quiet. Take care.

Don

PS: I have christened it "the Great Pumpkin"

[Freeskiken]

Again it looks great!! I like the orange canopy. They are amazing looking helicopters.

[Keyrigger]

Thanks. The more I fly it, the more I realize that it was THE helicopter for my type of flying. I wonder what a top ranked F3C pilot could do with it?

Don

[Freeskiken]

Very nice helicopters. I had a Diabolo 550. I have always wanted to build a Diabolo 700 light version.