700 Lighter Than Tdr

Discussion in 'HobbyKing' started by utrinque, May 31, 2015.

By utrinque on May 31, 2015 at 7:44 AM
  1. utrinque

    utrinque Well-Known Member

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    I want to share with you details regarding my old project and provide recipe for building 700 lighter than TDR.

    It:
    - is reliable - I fly it since 2012, it has 3 main shaft bearings blocks (more than Align 600 PRO)
    - is proven - I build 3 or 4 of them
    - is cheap - it is Frankenstein heli built around HK600GT frame with some Align parts in key areas
    - it can use 4Ah lipos in 12S setup providing 5 minutes flights.
    - floats great on low RPM, on high RPM becomes a rocket.
    - recently I succeded to convert it to night flight rig and will share details how cheap this can cost
    - it is quiet due to low RPM and low disk load if main shaft bearings are in good condition
    - offers most convenient front battery mounting - I will show how to secure lipos safely and I bet weight vertical distribution is better than in lipo tray mount design.

    List of components I use and recommend:
    - HK600GT CF frame halves - cheap as dirt and stiff enough for 700
    - RJX 50 (600 class for 10mm main shaft) FBL head
    - Align 600 PRO rear "tail cage" with double support slider
    - Two Align main shaft blocks and one "third" alu block from HK600GT
    - HK600GT main shaft - fits third bearing block (can be shortened for better performance and lowering the FBL head, more details later)
    - Align mod 1.0 slant gear used in Trekker "unbreakable" in low weight 700. It offers wide range of pinions and gearings having 112-118T
    - Align 600 PRO OWB block (recommended OWB is from HK600GT, it is much stronger than Align OWB)
    - Align 600 PRO slant autorotation gear
    - Align or cheaper Assault tail boom and (have to be shortenned by 40mm to fit TT lenght) and TT
    - Align front plastic tail boom mount from 600 ESP (PRO version is wider and does not fit directly)
    - Align 600 PRO front umbrella gears
    - HK600GT alu frame parts or plastic version from Align
    - wide range of landing gear options starting from HK600GT, Align 600 PRO, Assault 700 or Align 700 (F3C version is lower than others)
    - galantery (HK600GT or Align: motor mount, pushrods, tail supports, boom tail supports mount, etc.)

    Recommended electronics (cheap but proven and very reliable):
    - Kbar gyro
    - Power HD servos (or rebranded TGY)
    - my favourite servos I use in 800: TGY 805 and 815 (BL, titanium gears) - those are rebranded KST BL 805 and 815
    - SK3 700 480kV motor - lower weight than Gartt motor but les reliable due to weaker bearings
    - my favourite Gartt 4.2kW or newer 4.5kW 530kV motor
    - YEP 120A HV
    - I use FrSky Taranis radio with or without telemetry
    - YEP 20A SBEC - powers my 800 electronics
    - $30 Turnigy 700mm blades - newer failed on me for years
    - alternatively RJX 690 or 700mm blades

    ADVANTAGES:
    - very cheap 700
    - cheap parts available everywhere including clones, upgrades from KDE, Quick etc. cheap tail boom and TT from Assault/Gartt 700 etc.
    - uncomparable feel of low weight 700
    - direct to swash setup (not possible in 600 ESP frame without modification of the frame, but posisible)
    - adjustable motor mout with wide range of possible gearings to fit your motors kV
    - can use my favourite $4 white, plastic HK600GT canopy
    - keep in mind you can put any fancy electronics in this airframe but it is not always good idea if you want to keep low weight

    WEAKNES:
    - at very high RPM front umbrella gears can fail. It never happened to me in flight and I will show you solution to solve this problem. I will provide more details. For smack heavy setup Assault 700 is better option if you put some Align parts.

    I plan to add photos and videos in folowing posts and describe in more detail build process with detailed recomendations how to setup this heli. Stay tuned.

    (Original thread is available on HF. Google: "for me Align wins" In 2013 $1000 700 was relatively cheap. Now you can build it cheaper with better electronics and motor.):

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2015
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Comments

Discussion in 'HobbyKing' started by utrinque, May 31, 2015.

    1. utrinque

      utrinque Well-Known Member

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      Videos:







      Please keep in mind those are pretty old videos. I assume my skills improved and now I fly it much much harder and at higher RPMs.
       
      Last edited: Jun 1, 2015
    2. Min

      Min Well-Known Member

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      A synergy E5 with a E7 boom slapped onto it will be pretty close as well! The E5 uses Mod 1.25 delrin TT gears so you won't get the tail problems either.
       
    3. utrinque

      utrinque Well-Known Member

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      Great idea. Thank you. I wonder if E5 TT gears will fit Align 600 CF/ESP/PRO front tail case.

      Can you provide some dimensions please?

      This looks promising:
      http://mattbotos.com/store/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=1906

      This one can require some work but effort is worth it:
      http://mattbotos.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_32&products_id=1905

      Such discoveries are priceless. My coleague Szelma discovered simple way to use 700 main gear in old Align 600 frames. We use T--Rex 500 heads in Gaui X5 to get rotor lower etc.
       
    4. utrinque

      utrinque Well-Known Member

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      I hear all the time opinions underlining advantages of:
      - belt transmission
      - "monoblock" design
      - double stage transmission
      - "innovation" in frame design

      Do we really need all of the above?

      Watch this video:


      Now lets have a closer look at Gaui X7 design:
      - no belt
      - no monoblock
      - single pinion and main gear

      [​IMG]
      [​IMG]
      [​IMG]

      Any conclusions?

      I do prefer:
      - low weight (narrow frame, no monoblock)
      - simplicity (single stage)
      - less friction (no belts, no double stage gears)

      Now look at this poll:
      [​IMG]
       
    5. utrinque

      utrinque Well-Known Member

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      [​IMG]
      Please look close at those frames.

      Starting from the left:
      - Gartt GT700 (for size comparison)
      - HK600GT
      - HK600GT modified to fit 700 class motor, push-pull bearing removed (I use this one)
      - Align 600 GF
      - Align 600 ESP (direct to swash setup requires cutting holes for servos closer to the main shaft)

      HK600GT is based on Align 600 CF frame. It is older design than Align ESP. Advantage over ESP is no need for modification for direct to swash setup.

      $51.30:
      [​IMG]
      If you want to get one above keep in mind we will replace two upper main shaft bearing bloks with Align 600ESP and boom hoder because this one supports only belt.

      [​IMG]

      Direct to swash:
      [​IMG]

      Three main shaft bearings:
      [​IMG]

      I do have Align 600 EFL PRO. You can wonder why I prefered to stretch HK600GT. There are three simple reasons:
      - 600 PRO will not accept bigger motors. Lack of space.
      - 600 PRO motor mount is not adjustable
      - HK600GT frame is extremely cheap

      [​IMG]

      Stay tuned... more surprises to come. ;)
       
      Last edited: Jun 1, 2015
    6. Min

      Min Well-Known Member

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      You might not need a 2 stage transmission and all those fancy features but then you think do I need a helicopter at all?
      Thin frames means the packs will need to be mounted on the side which will give them very little protection in a crash and puts more stress on the frames in aileron movements, belt setups are almost always lighter than a TT setup, 2 stage transmission adds very little friction but when designed correctly will be lighter than a single stage, offer much more gearing options and potentially reduce the moment of inertia for much better rotation.
       
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    7. utrinque

      utrinque Well-Known Member

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      @Min sure you are right. I do agree with you. Just watch again Dunkan video, please. :)
       
    8. Min

      Min Well-Known Member

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      Not quite sure what your point is...
       
    9. utrinque

      utrinque Well-Known Member

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      I will give you example. When we look at different 700 class helis most of them have 12mm main shafts.

      Not all of them. Question is: "Do we really need 12mm main shaft in 700 for smack?"

      Look at Compass 7HV video, it has 10mm main shaft:


      This video was recorded in 2011!

      When I look at "innovative" 700 helis with 12mm main shafts I wonder why they are so heavy? Not all of them. Protos Max seems to be an exception.
       
    10. Min

      Min Well-Known Member

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      If you hollow out a 12mm shaft to the same weight as a 10mm shaft it will be stronger, if you make a 12mm shaft the same strength as a 10mm shaft it will be lighter. Using a 12mm shaft also means bigger mainshaft bearings so of course you can smack a 10mm shaft hard but you'll be replacing those bearings more often than a 12mm shaft setup or if you smack into the ground those 10mm shaft bearings will be notchy when the 12mm shaft bearings may be ok. Most designers do things for a reason and designing a heli is always a compromise between many factors.
      7HV isn't known for being light BTW
       
    11. utrinque

      utrinque Well-Known Member

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      HK600GT main shaft is hollow.
       
    12. Min

      Min Well-Known Member

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      Sure, now model up that shaft in solidworks and do a simple bearing load test on it, then increase the outer diameter by 2mm and hollow out the inside more to keep the weight the same and do another bearing load test. You will find the larger diameter and more hollowed out mainshaft will show less strain and have a higher factor of safety than the smaller diameter shaft for the same weight and length.
       
    13. utrinque

      utrinque Well-Known Member

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      700 DFC:
      [​IMG]

      600:
      [​IMG]

      Low weight 700 can use much lighter lipos. 4Ah vs 5Ah to get around 5.5 min flights.

      Additional weight with the same 700mm blades requires in heavy weight setup:
      - higher RPM
      - bigger heavier lipos
      - stronger ESC
      - stronger heavier motor

      Heavy weight and higher RPM put much stronger stress not only on bearings.

      Bearings in stretched HK600GT were not replaced for over two years.

      After hundreds of flights they start to make more noise but who cares? I did not crash often so this helis are smooth like butter. After landing rotor rotates by innertia much longer than in any belted setup.
       
      Last edited: Jun 2, 2015
    14. Min

      Min Well-Known Member

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      I have attached 2 reports that I have generated on some FEA that I conducted. Have a look though and take note of the max stress and weights on the 2 shafts. I have made the scales for stress identical for both models with the max being 710 megapascals can minimum being 0. The material is AISI 4030 normalised steel. Identical fixtures and loads were applied.
       

      Attached Files:

    15. Min

      Min Well-Known Member

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      Addressing your weight problem, there is a thing call disk loading which is very important in making a well flying helicopter. Not enough disk loading will cause the helicopter to feel unstable and floaty while excessive disk loading will cause the helicopter to feel unresponsive and sluggish. I have first hand experience regarding disk loading. A long time ago I was testing the 12S Chase 380 which is the same weight ready to fly as a Goblin 380 empty (no battery). This to you may sound great as its super light but when I tried to do piro flips the helicopter will not stay in the same spot and do piro loops instead. This was because the helicopter was way too light. After batteries of double the original capacity were installed the helicopter flew much better and was much easier to control. Lighter isn't always better but a lighter airframe will allow more weight for packs which gives a longer flight time.
       
    16. utrinque

      utrinque Well-Known Member

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      Olivion was designed to have "Low disc-load of around 1.36kg/m2":



      Author wrote:
      "The design goal is a 300ish size helicopter that would lock in nicely on pitch and provides full 3D capabilities – all at 2.200 RPM. This results in less mechanical wear, lower noise level and light-footed flight characteristics. You will dare more with the Oblivion than you will with other models."

      As you noticed we do not put larger lipos to have longer flights because they make our helis to heavy.

      It is rediculous that for hard smack 2-3 minutes flights became a norm nowadays.

      Anything heavier than air is not too light.



      FBL gyros make our helis very wind resistant. I can fly Nano CP X in quite strong winds for its size. It is only 28g.

      I was flying low weight 700 from this thread in serious winds taking basaball hat off my head without any problems.

      Same story with my Gartt 800 (3.75kg without lipos). Listen to the sound of wind on this video:
       
      Last edited: Jun 2, 2015
    17. Min

      Min Well-Known Member

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      Note the calm conditions in the clips you have provided, you may be able to hover and do circuits your light disk loading helis but doing complex set moves in wind is a different story. When any noticeable deviation has the potential to penalise and further deductions are made for corrections to the deviations I hope you can understand why a decent disk loading is preferable in 3D flying.
       
    18. Min

      Min Well-Known Member

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      Also this would be considered a heavy helicopter as its running 2X1400 mah 6S pack when helis this size would normally run 1.

      Note the flight time keeping in mind that this is 4000 rpm headspeed on a heli thats all belt and has a 2 stage transmission.
       
    19. Min

      Min Well-Known Member

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      Also note the power difference in the tic tocs and the cyclic response compared to the super light heli.
       

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