Century Swift Questions

[Neogenesis]

Hey all.....

I just picked up a Century Swift for myself....but have a few questions for you. Keep in mind I'm just using this to learn on at this point.

#1 There are no servo suggestions listed anywhere is the documentation. What kind of torque and speed is required. I generally only use hitec servos.....but if needed....I'll look at the Futaba 9254 or 9256.

#2 Gyro's.......since I fly a Futaba 9c....I figured that I would stick with their line of gyro's unless there is another brand that really stands out. What do I really need to make it fly nice. Will the GY240 be enough....should I get the GY401 or even the GY611?

I'm looking for some guidance here......what do I need to buy to make this a nice heli to learn with.....have it feel locked in....but not something that's blinged out in terms of main components. I'm buying it second heand....got a great deal on it....it already has the Century Lightning 600 Plus brushless, elctron 55/70 SC and CF blades. I"m planning on running 4s1p packs to learn on....and then move up when ready.

Any and all input is appreciated.


Thanks for your time,

Neo

[CSpaced]

Hey there, congrats on your new heli! I believe Nitrohuffer has a swift that he ejected a battery from recently :197: , so maybe he can chime in.

The GY-401 would certainly be the way to go, it has great holding power and is really easy to setup on the 9c and hassle free. As for servos, I would recommend getting the best you can afford at this point as they will be useful going onto whatever other helicopters you end up with or as your flying progresses. A good fast digital servo, such as the Futaba S9252 is a good choice in my opinion.

Good luck with your new bird and let us know how it goes! :198:

[Flyinfool]

The Futaba 9252 is a good servo to start with.
My preference at this time is the HiTec HS6965 servo.
It can be used in any position on the heli including the tail.
The 401 gyro is the best option till you get to the very hardest of 3D flight.

[Nitrohuffer]

I just got a swift a couple of weeks ago myself. I'm running a 401/9254 and 9001's that get the job done on 6v. You won't need massive torque as it is ccpm so they work together, but speed is more important. I've got a tango 45-10 on 6s 5000's and it's a rocket. Just make sure you strap them batteries in tight. Don't ask me how I know:)

[Neogenesis]

Thanks for the help guys. I'll be using the GY401 gyro for sure then.....but haven't decided what to do for servos yet. How do they hold up in a crash? Are you guys finding that you are tearing them up often or do they come out unscathed most of the time? I'm trying to decide go with high end servos or not. Also....what head speed should I be running and how can I calculate what pinon to use to get that head speed?

Thanks Again,


Neo

[CSpaced]

The servos seem to hold up fine in crashes, but then it all depends on the severity of the crash! I had written something for my club newsletter about pinion gears ad gear ratios, I'll paste it in below - hope it helps!

There is a basic way of figuring out what head speed to run, using the gear ratio you have to get the engine rpm that you require for your style of flying. You need to take your gear ratio, and divide the engine rpm by that ratio to get the ideal head speed you need to run. To figure out what gear ratio you have, divide the number of teeth on your main gear by the number of teeth on your pinion gear (on the engine). If, for example, you have a 95 tooth main gear and a 12 tooth pinion gear – 95/12=7.91. 7.91 is your gear ratio. Now let’s say that your engine’s peak performance rpm is around 15000 (usually found in the manual). To figure out your head speed take your engine’s rpm and divide it by your gear ratio – 15000/7.91=1896. This gives us an ideal head speed of 1896 (which can be rounded out to 1900).

Another example is a gear ratio of 8.45:1. If you have a 93t main gear and an 11t pinion gear that gives us 8.45:1. Again, if the engine’s peak performance rpm is 15000 then we need to divide 15000 by the gear ratio 8.45 which will give us a head speed of 1775. So that means that anywhere between 1750 to 1800 would be a good place to start.

[Nitrohuffer]

I've crashed mine twice already and the parts are very cheap. On almost every good crash you will need new blades, a main shaft, flybar, and spindle. My crash average so far with the swift has been about $40 without blades. Here is an excellent calculator for figuring out the head speed. http://www.swift-tuning.com/motors.php

[Neogenesis]

Thanks for that link Nitro. Here a few pics of the unit I picked up. I got a heck of a deal on everything seen here. I put the woodies on for learning. The rest of the components should be here by the end of the week except for the Fromeco Arizona Reg and Lith pack. Lead time is 2 weeks on their products now. I can't wait to get her in the air. I've been brushing up on the sim and with a little help on setup....I'll have her hovering in no time.


Neo

[Nitrohuffer]

Nice score! It looks brand new!

[Neogenesis]

Best part......$250 for all that plus a nice set of CF blades.



Neo

[Neogenesis]

ok guys....I have been slowly putting this thing back together...but had some questions about placement of things. First off....will the SC survive being tucked underneath the frame where it's shown in the pictures? I had read to keep it as far from the Rx as possible....and this is the best I could think of. The Fromeco Arizona Regulator and Rx are going on top. My only other worry was routing the servo and gyro wires through the inside of the frame? They are zip tied in place and are not rubbing anything......Any thoughts?


Thanks,

Neo

[Nitrohuffer]

That looks good.

[Neogenesis]

ok....well I made my first hops with it today....and it's still in one piece...but a few more questions came up. How hot do these big outrunners get on 6 cells? The reason I ask is because after I ran the pack through it.....and it was hotter than I wanted to touch? I've also got some other little issues to sort out....but I think I can get those on my own.

Thanks for the insight guys,

Neo

[Nitrohuffer]

The motors get pretty warm, but should not get hot hot.

[Neogenesis]

hmmmmm....any idea's as to why the motor would get hotter than I want to hold? I'm not sure where to start looking first. I've run 3 packs through it now.....slowly getting it dialed in.


I also get a shutter in the tail at times.....could it possibly be that the gyro sensitivity is set too high?


Thanks,

Neo

[Nitrohuffer]

what pinion are you running? As far as the tail goes drop the gain to see if it stops. The gain should be just below the point of wagging, but still hold on full collective power climbs. Also keep an eye on the belt tension. Mine likes to loosen up and that can cause an occational wiggle.

[Neogenesis]

ok.....seems like I got the tail twitchyness dialed out....it was the gain causing it. She is as smooth as butter now.

As far as my gearing goes.....I did a lot of reading and am finally starting to understand electrics a bit more. I am overloading my packs......and have ordered new pinion gears to play with. It came with the Lightning 600 "715 KV" motor and a 14 tooth pinion. That combined with my 6S1P 4000 mah 15C packs just don't have enough oomph to push the head speeds up to 2000rpm or so. I'm going to regear and drop the head speed to see if that help my temps and flight times any.


My next question is this......I've read that 2000 RPM seems to be the favored head speed, but for learning.....how low can the head speed be dropped without the heli getting too mushy"?

Keep in mind I'm training here.....I've got the nose out hover down find....starting to play with getting my fingers trained in all the other attitudes.


Thanks for your time and input,

Neo