Model helicopter world october 2015

REVIEWS + EVENTS + TECH www.modelheliworld.com October 2015

DIABOLO 550

Minicopter designed it to be light, strong and very aerobatic

MICROBEAST PLUS

From the outside BeastX’s new FBL unit looks very similar, however internally a lot has changed…

Zone 2015

Once again International pilots competed at the Fleet Air Arm Museum

Red Lodge Scale Fly-in

Small Rotors

REGULARS...

9

Issue 303

● USA HELI SCENE ● SCALE BY SCALE ● IDLING UP

770953 788072

US

10>

An updated big coaxial – the Sovereign CTX-5

£4.50•

Returning to where it all started

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OCTOBER 2015 ISSUE: 304

COVER

Diabolo 550 Small enough to fit easily in the car yet can have a ‘big model’ feel in the air and 6S LiPo power provides plenty of power

REGULARS 8 Collectively Speaking Editorial Musings

by Jon Tanner

9 What’s On

Dates for your diary

12 Sales Pitch New Items

by Richard Morris

16 From the Ground Up

The Heart Of England Aero Modellers put on their first scale fly-in

by Richard Morris

24 Scale by Scale

An exceptional CH-113 Labrador by Heli-Fisherman

by Raimund Zimmermann

28

Comparing full size and model helicopters

by James Wang

28 TECHNICAL Small Rotors

An updated big coaxial – the Sovereign CTX-5

by Nigel Cartwright

58 Readers Write

by Richard Morris

This month we continue to advance your skills by venturing into full circuit flying

by Duncan Osbourn

64 Classified Adverts Good Buys!

65 Shopper’s Directory Shops in your area

66 In the Next Issue

44

20 REVIEW MICROBEAST PLUS

From the outside BeastX’s new FBL unit looks very similar, however internally a lot has changed …

by Kevin Targett

48 USA Heli Scene

60 Idling Up

FEATURES

60

34 REVIEW Diabolo 550

Minicopter designed their 550 Diabolo to be light, strong and very aerobatic all with 6S LiPo power

by Jon Tanner and Kevin Targett

44 EVENT Zone 2015

Once again International pilots competed at the Fleet Air Arm Museum

by Duncan Osbourn

54 EVENT Red Lodge Scale Fly-In Returning to where it all started

By Richard Morris

54

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NO EQUAL BLADE 180 CFX

MICRO HELI PERFORMANCE,

REDEFINED

PERFORMANCE FEATURES • Optimised servo geometry • AS3X™ flybarless technology with piro-compensation • Rigid carbon fibre side frames • Spektrum® AR6335 AS3X nanolite receiver and rotary servos • Powerful 5800Kv brushless outrunner motor • High-output 450mAh 3S 11.1V 30C LiPo battery • Torque tube drive tail, aluminium boom and one-piece tail case

WEIGHT: 190 g

Never before has a micro-class heli been made so capable.

Never before has a highperformance 3D heli been so easy to enjoy.

horizonhobby.co.uk

From the masters of micro-heli innovation is a 3D machine that breaks all the rules of performance. That’s because the Blade® 180 CFX packs everything you’d expect from a 700-size, pro-class electric heli into a ballistic machine you can 3D just about anywhere.

Digital, rotary servos are mounted inside carbon fibre frames with optimised servo geometry. Our Spektrum® AS3X™ flybarless system now includes piro-compensation to offer control that’s kinetic in every orientation. Because performance is nothing without power, a high-speed outrunner, ESC and 3S LiPo battery deliver incredible authority to both the flybarless head and torque-tube driven tail rotor.

Find Your Local Store Online

at horizonhobby.co.uk/shopfinder

SERIOUS FUN™.

Blade products are available from all good model shops. For details of your nearest dealer look on our website horizonhobby.co.uk, contact us by telephone: 44(0)1279 641097, or by email: sales@horizonhobby.co.uk. ©2014 Horizon Hobby, LLC. Blade, AS3X, DSMX, Serious Fun and the Horizon Hobby logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Horizon Hobby, LLC. The Spektrum trademark is used with permission of Bachmann Industries, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks and logos are property of their respective owners. Patents Pending. Actual product may vary slightly from photos shown. 45715

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01/10/2014 16:27 18/8/15 16:06:26

REVIEW words/PICTURES: Jon Tanner

Diabolo 550

Minicopter designed their 550 Diabolo to be light, strong, very aerobatic all with 6S LiPo power

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50-size models are so very convenient being small enough to fit easily in the car yet can have a ‘big model’ feel in the air and 6S LiPo power provides plenty of power at reasonable cost – that’s a winning formulae that Minicopter’s Diabolo 550 exemplifies!

Minicopter has been manufacturing top quality helicopters for many years, its owner, Gerd Guzicki is a terrific engineer and original thinker, for example he pioneered the Moving Flybar concept in the Minicopter Joker patenting the design with Jan Henseleit who was working on the same idea at the same time in his Three Dee NT. I well remember the 60-sized Joker that I

reviewed in 2002, this was powered by a 1.4 kW motor running on 30-32 NiCad cells, how things have changed… I converted this Joker to be one of my first LiPo powered models using 2 x 5S packs and putting it into an A109 body resulting in 20+ minute flights!

More recently in 2010, Minicopter started the Diabolo range of flybarless models with the specific aim of producing top quality 3D/speed models but retaining the ability to be flown sedately at lower rotor rpm. The Diabolo range is a development of the Joker retaining the 2-stage drive train and belt drive tail rotor etc. but is taller and narrower making it more aerodynamic.

The Diabolo started with a 700-size model able to run 690 – 750 mm rotor blades, it was later stretched to the Diabolo 800 Plus, turning 750 to 830 mm main blades. The Diabolo S is the limited production (50 units) speed version that Miles Dunkel used to win the 2014 IRCHA Speed Cup (unlimited) with an average speed of 270 kph/167 mph. Then there is the Triabolo, introduced in 2014, which, not surprisingly, has a 3 blade rotor head…

2015 now sees the introduction of the Diabolo 550 and Gerd is rightfully proud that it follows the Diabolo line and as with all his models, is of all German manufacture with much of the machining performed in his own workshop.

The box contains all the parts; you choose the boom colour and canopy

All nicely packaged – I got a present of an adjustable spanner!

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Diabolo 550 Machined main gear with spiral cut teeth – the faint ‘X’ is uppermost – that is a 10 mm main shaft

The Diabolo 550

Ordering a Diabolo is an experience in itself because when you start to place your order you have to specify your choice of the basic #5000 kit, the #5010 Combo Set 1 that includes the X-Nova 4020-1000 ‘Diabolo Edition’ motor and Zeal 80 or 85 mm tail rotor blades, or the #5020 Combo Set 2 that adds a pair of Zeal ‘Energy’ 550 main blades. You are then able to personalise your kit by choosing the canopy colour, a flat or glossy black windshield that can be factory attached, choose your decal sheet and then your choice of tailboom that can be black anodised or wrapped in white, yellow, orange or green. In addition there are some special canopies available – one of which you see here. So already you have a personalised model that makes it a bit special…

I chose the basic kit with the black boom and initially ordered the white canopy with carbon look screen and ‘Stripes’ decals. Gerd then advised me that he had a short run of their ‘show’ canopy, so I quickly swapped to one of those, which you’ll see from the photos was an excellent decision! I subsequently ordered the X-Nova 4020-1000 ‘Diabolo Edition’ motor that is ideal with a special shaft and shorter wires plus a 20T pinion to fit to it. A Kontronik Jive 100+ LV ESC completed the drive system.

The model uses mini size servos with MKS9767 or Futaba BLS173SV for cyclics and a MKS9780 or Futaba BLS 251/256 for the tail being listed.

I chose the MKS that is available as a Combo Pack making them a good value choice. The full spec of the model is as follows.

The model spec: Rotor diameter: 1.25 m (blade length: 550 mm) Weight completed without battery: from 2.1 kg Tail rotor diameter: 2 40 mm (blade length: 80 mm) Length with hood: 106 cm Length without hood: 99 cm Height: 32 cm Rail width 18 cm Battery compartment: 54 mm high, 52 mm wide Rotor rotation: right Two-stage with quiet helical gearbox Smooth-running belt drive the tail rotor Easy battery installation with ‘O’ ring fixing for high centre of gravity

X-Nova 4020-1000 ‘Diabolo Edition’ with the Kontronik Jive 100+ LV ESC

The layshaft is also 10 mm, note the spiral cut gears and tail belt pulley

First job is screwing the two bearing blocks to the 2 mm carbon sideframes, which introduces you to the precision of the Diabolo… The holes for the M3 screws are precisely 3 mm so the M3 screws are a snug fit in them and hence the bearing blocks are precisely positioned. Note that the sideframes are handed… Next we have the first of the gears, which is a machined 62T spiral cut gear; it’s 11 mm deep and so is very strong.

The gear is screwed to the aluminium hub and an ‘X’ marks the top side. The main shaft is 10 mm and a spacer tube sits above the gear hub; thin shim washers are included to eliminate any endplay in the shaft.

Everything is so precise; the gear mesh is not adjustable and doesn’t need to be

Building

A small booklet is included showing the construction pictures, while the Minicopter website has the full manual as a download, which I did and printed out the English text section to use with the booklet.

The combo pack of MKS servos even included a tube of grease!

Servos need to be fitted before joining the frames, note the plastic spacers to position them

Elevator servo secures to the upper bearing block with a spacer block at the bottom 35

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