Helipro-RC 450-EP PRO build thread

[Kiwi]

OH YES YES YES!!!!!!!!

The brown box arrived today from my new found friends in China. Last month I was browsing through my FLY RC magazine when I came across page 141 and a new 450 sized helicopter kit. I looked at what they were displaying in the photographs and thought there had to be some sort of error.

$99 for the basic version and $199.99 for the all metal. carbon fiber framed top of the line model with an aluminum carry case thrown in for good measure. Thats crazy cheap and as me being ever the pessimist I gave it no further thought. A few days later the image of those helis was still bugging me, it could not be true. A fully kited out 450 sized heli for $200 cant be right. It had to be a typo so to prove it I sent an email to the factory. Ten minutes later Mr Robert Tau replied assuring me that the kits were $200, they have been in the heli market for many years and Europe has been the biggest customer. Now they want to try the USA market and do it direct to the end user, no middle man, thus the price.

Well thank heavens for PAYPAL as ten minutes later I had the $99 and the $199 kits on the way. As Helipro-RC also sell the servos, motors, gyros and receivers I figured bugger it. In for a penny, in for a pound. So for a little over a $100 more I got the lot, less battery and receiver as I have a good supply of those and no need to add to my collection in that department.

Well they arrived today by TNT and those boys have not forgot how to charge. I will be looking for a better mail system than them next time, thats for sure. I think next time I will try China mail and see how things pan out but you should be able to ship one of these kits for around about $50 to $60 as the boxes are not too big.

So what arrives in the box. Money shot up first:

[Kiwi]

OK,

Before I get carried away with rushing to build this thing I am going to make some confessions. I cannot fly helicopters other than a full flying field hover zone. Anything other than tail in gets the sweat running off the brow faster than pee at one of Marks Trents after flying celebrations.

Programing a heli radio is like me trying to train for an astronauts position in NASA. Its possible but not likely if you know what I mean.

I can program a 14MZ for a plank with a zillion servos in ten minutes. Its been two weeks and I still cannot get my tail gyro to go in and out of normal mode. So gents while this a build thread its also a HELP KIWI thread if you see me deviating from the straight and narrow.

First close up observations.

The manual is one of the best I have ever seen either in planes or choppers. Its glossy finished color photos and it starts from the basics. The English is perfect, the photos are very high definition and the quality is outstanding. This heli has a high probability of spending its entire life in my display case as a trophy. Seriously its that good.

WHY????

Well look at the way the frame is assembled and the detail in the washers and screws. Yes I have put 450 sized kits together before but this one is an engineering marvel.

Look at the guide slot and the ball on the swash plate. There is not room to pass a human hair between the ball and the slot. The head is absolutely without any slop at all.

Its made to come apart in five minutes and fit inside that handy case for those away trips where you cant take a fully rigged foamy or even a heli as cabin baggage.

The servo layout is different, precise and very very easy to get at every ting little screw and nut.

[pitviper51]

thats a good looking heli just had to show off the glare of the metal eh..
mike

[Kiwi]

Mike.

Too good to keep hidden in the shed mate. Like SleepyC always says to me. Share the wealth. Still its an awesome little bugger and I think if I wanted to it would be flying in 2 or three hours easily. Its all sort of pre built in modules so there's very little to do to get it together.

As for the other bit. Flying?? well thats a stressful exercise at present but improving with practice.

[SleepyC]

Where's the wings?
Whats that big propeller doing on the top?!?!?
Is that a toaster?

AND are those servos digital? Metal cases!?!?
Fill us in! Whats ths specs... speed?

Also, don't ask me for help programming your heli. I had JeeUm , and Tank help me for at the Toledo Expo and My heli still dosen't work right.

[pitviper51]

when i got my belt cp all i did outa the box was install the blades and rx , the servos and gyro where in,, but some how it still took 3 weeks to get stuff moving in the right direction,, and im not sure it does now haha but it flys!! hahah i get the heli bug in rushs... so if i keep it up i may look at getting the metal head for mine that just looks so good haha
mike

[bosshoss]

I believe I saw either this exact Heli or a clone of it at the I Hobby Expo this past weekend. Yes, weird servo congfig.

Yup, 100 bucks for the reg and Show special of 175 for the bling bling ....

Can't wait to see one fly. Makes me ticked off that i bought a used MX400 Crappy for 100 bucks a few weeks ago.....should have waited for the show.

I fly my Helis like I fly a barnstorming plane...forward, fast and keep the tail behind it's forward motion....forget the flippy-flippy baloney....I am a planker. I do the occaisonal power loop....then check my shorts.

[Kiwi]

Hoss.

It well could be the same one. These guys also run under the name Night Hawk I think. For sure its a easy to build thing and I will back up a few notches tomorrow and start putting it together in order following the destructions.

As for checking the shorts after those power loops, geez mate, I'm checking mine just after getting it off the ground at present.

But as you can see by my photo here I am not addicted to this hobby, I have it under control and I can stop buying these things any time I want. I think???

[CSpaced]

The parts look great, how is it going together - any problems?

[Kiwi]

Cspaced,

Really I think if I threw all the parts in a hat and shook it hard enough it would come out assembled.

Seriously calling this a build thread is a bit of a rort on the use of the English language.

It comes pretty much pre assembled. If you consider the tail boom etc is fully assembled and just plugs in. The head slides in and you fit the gear and belt and one Jesus bolt and nut.

Four servos that fit perfectly, not a need to file, sand or twist and tweak. Install the links and the rest is just double sided tape for the gyro, ESC and batts. Then its ready to fly.

Tonight I will do some better pics of how it is delivered but tit really is just a matter follow the dotted lines.

[bosshoss]

I was considering buying another TRex for the dome...a cheapie. But this one looks great too.

I amde the mistake of buying a used MX400 from the LHS who took it back from a customer...big mistake...just not worth the hassle. This one looks like a winner.

SEtup is everything though. I bought my Raptor 50 V2 from the resident Heli expert at our field, WhirlySpud. It was built and setup up right, and I haven;t touched anything on it, and have been flying it since July 4. It helps to buy one from someone who knows the ropes.

I shook like a schoolgirl on prom night when I was learning on the Trex SE, now, I fly my Raptor like a demon planker.....fast, forward, screaming it's guts out, almost like a Quickie 500 with a rotary wing.

I leave the inverted flippy flippy stuff to the hotshots....I just want a speed fix.

[Kiwi]

All righty folks,

Were going to back a little and get this massive kit build thread on track and underway. First and foremost I fitted the landing gear skids to it as it just makes it easier to fiddle around with on my desk without the need for three pair of hands to fit stuff.

It took a little fiddling to get the front screws in as they tend to sit in under the chassis but they are in and done.

Task 1 finished, time for a celebratory beer.

[Kiwi]

Okey Dokey,

Now we are getting into the real technical stuff, fitting the head. Again it sort of just has to fit right as there is no other way but the only little trap might be if you get the swash plate guide ball wrong you could end up with the 120 degree ccpm linkage out of whack. I mean its plain as mud in your eye if you did do it wrong but I suppose if it can be it will be.

So heres how I fitted it. By rolling the swash plate hard forward and slightly off center there is enough flex in the guide to slip the ball in to the groove without the need to unscrew anything.

Here's how.


Whow I'm pretty proud of how I got that right first time so I might just sneak over to the fridge and see if I can find another celebratory amber fluid. Nothing like toasting success eh guys???

[Kiwi]

Ok

Thanks to the thousands of fans who are watching me progress through this massive project, your over whelming support is totally flattering, so while your all eyes and glued to the tele lets get on with this.

Next is the installation of the main gear and Jesus bolt. Apart from being pretty straight forward you guys need to imagine my fat thumbs in those little holes trying to stick nuts on bolts that are too small to see.

Good thing is you can put this bolt in from either side. The recessed hex is on both sides of the gear so its not a drama if you think you can get it wrong. You cant. Just stick it in and screw it up firm. OH I use a little loctite 248 that comes in a tube like some big Mommas lipstick. Less mess and it works just as good.

Wow, I never realized you could take so many photos of a plastic gear. Pretty cool so far don't you think. I reckon I deserve a cool ale to celebrate getting this far in one night. I'll be back guys, just off to the fridge to make sure I still got a few left for later!!!

[Kiwi]

Well well well.

You read about it in the papers but it never happens to you right???

Well the durn TNT post man had his way with my beauty and it looks like it gonna take some serious engineering to fix her up.

Seems like the little devils must have jumped on the tail rotor grip and shoved it down the shaft. Well I guess I'm going to have to break out my engineering skills. ( I was once told that if I tryed harrd I coold be one and now I are one you know) So its out with the serious tooling, a few reference books and hopefully I will be back in a jiffy with it fixed.

In the time being I might just idle over to the fridge and get something to quench the thirst (hic)