FAI starter bird

[GMONEY]

OK, Now that you have my brain in high mode. I have been looking into this whole precesion helo flying. Precesion has helped my fixed wing flying by leaps and bounds so it could only help with my helo abilities.. REalizing I can practice with just about any helo but because of my inssane nature I need a bird that is dedicated to this pursuit of perect flyig capabilities. All of my fixed wing planes run on gas So I really want to get the whole one fuel jug thing going on. What would you recomend as a first machine? I really want a gasser but if you all say it has to be glow then so be it!! All the componets are identical gyro, servos, batts its just the bird.. No fuse for the first attempt. I have a trusted friend at the local hobby shop and he recomends the Evolution 90. I love RAPTOR. I really want to try my hand at gas.. Alright enough from me. What do you guys think??

GMONEY

[blax1]

Morning!! :)
Catch up with Td, he's the gas man!! :cool:

Check this out, :cool: :cool:

http://www.centuryheli.com/products/helikits/cn1100Predator/CN1307/index.htm?currentid=335

[AaronS]

you could do a MA spectra gasser with an FAI head, that would be great for a FAI practice bird. you are right that FAI flying will help with all of your other heli skills. and there is no reason a gasser would not be fine for the job. they are a bit heavier, which will actually make it a bit more stable in hover, and the extra weight will not be a major hindrance for the rest of the flight. The Raptor 90, Evo 90, JR Vibe, basically any machine can be dialed in for FAI. get yourself some paddle weights, set up some tame cyclic throws, set your headspeed moderately low, and get the ball rolling. :D

[ErichF]

When considering what heli to use for AMA/FAI contest flying, you should look at what the current crop of pilots are flying. While nearly any helicopter can be setup for precision flight, some have better designs for precision. There are a lot of things involved with an FAI setup, such as flybar Hiller ratios, Delta mix, Damper design, etc.

Right now the best entry level FAI bird would be the Hirobo EVO 90. The Evo comes from a long lineage of contest machines, such as the Eagle 98, WCII, and the current WC3.

The head on the EVO is more configurable than most, allowing adjustments to be made to Flybar ratio, Bell/Hiller mix, Delta, and dampers. If you were to upgrade the head to the SSZ-III, the full metal version of the Evo 90 FFZ-III head, you will enjoy much more accuracy in your setup and flying.

The price for the EVO 90 is very hard to beat, even if you buy the upgraded head (available from www.rcpowersupply.com for $380). Parts are also cheap, however, you won't need them much since you won't be crashing much doing this type of flying. You will end up wearing out bearings, links, and engines, most likely.

Gassers in FAI flying are rare. Craig Bradley did compete in Class I at the Nats for a few years, but he is the only gasser flyer I have seen in any contests. While they do fine for the hovering manuevers, they just don't have the grunt needed to pull off the huge loops and long vertical lines needed to present manuevers well. The predominant propulsion in contest flying is the venurable YS91ST. Some pilots are using OS with success, now that the PS has finally come about. It seems the YS is just smoother, and is obviously much more easy to tune.

Raptor helis are fine for the first few classes, but generally have limited adjustability and are designed primarily 3D flying.

While you're in the market, consider is good, heavy set of purpose-built FAI blades. This will make your life much easier. Blades are probably the most important ingredient in an FAI setup. Stable in hover, as well as very fast forward flight, heavy (205g+) blades that have a forward CG are ideal. Rotortech FAI 700-710s are good for the EVO 90. Radix also has a sweet blade for precision work.

Look into a good gyro with purpose designd servos, like the Futaba 611 or JR 7000GT. GY401 will work fine initially, but as your flying improves, you will begine to see it's deficiencies.

I guess that's about it. Ask if you got more!

Cheers,

Erich