Eurocopter Ecureuil AS-350 (500 Size) Build Thread

[old_city_painter]

UPDATE....Working on the EXI kit, time permitting. I've been working lots of hours and most days I'm just too tired to work on it. The Turnigy motor (T3648-1450kv.) is installed and a test run has been completed. I installed a 13 tooth pinion for now, but may have to tone it down to a 12 or 11 tooth after test flying. The motor appears to have a ton of power! I have ordered the CNC washout and mixing arm assemblies, I just don't like the way the plastic ones function, they bind up and are sloppy at the bearing mounting points, especially the washout arm pivot points. I have decided to use the Align 510 servos for the cyclic instead of the Hitech HS-82 MG's. There is going to be more load on the servos with the added weight of the fuselage and I just want to make sure I have a good powerful servo on the cyclic controls. Tail servo is going to be the Align 520 with a GP780 gyro. Should be a good combo. I will be using my Hobbywing 80 Amp Opto ESC with a Castle BEC. Blades are Align 425mm CF. Battery will be my Enerland 2650 mAh 30C for now, but will probably buy a couple of Turnigy 3000 mAh 30C down the road. I will order servos, gyro, BEC at the end of this week. I will keep everyone updated.   

[Donnie D]

I know what you mean about finding time to work on things when you work full time. By the time I get home from work most days, I'm pretty wiped out.

Donnie D

[OneLeggedMAN125]

Great idea with the more powerful servos. I would have never thought of that!

[old_city_painter]

Yep! I just want to think this whole build through and head off any unforeseen issues in the beginning. After the mechanics are mounted in the fuselage it will be much harder to correct problems.!

[chief qm]

Thinking about the loctite and no grease issues. Do you think it's possible that they just put them together so that the buyer has an idea how it will be when finished? I don't think they provide manuals. At least my EXI 500 didn't come with one, possibly cheaper that way. But it is weird that 4 or 5 screws have loctite on them.
I read somewhere that if you have a loctited screw that is hard to remove, heat it with your soldering iron. That will release the loctite and less chance of stripping out the head.
Chief

[old_city_painter]

You know Chief, you may be correct about the buyer will get an idea of how it goes together, but common sense tells me that many of the buyers already have a very good knowledge of how the heli goes together, or have access to the info they need. Case in point, the EXI 500 is basiclly a REX 500 CF.  The CF manual will be a virtual step by step assembly manual for the EXI or CopterX 500 kits. I think that the CopterX and EXI kits are assembled on an assembly line of sorts and probably very quickly and items are not checked very well for proper assembly! Locktite or threadlocker comes in 2 basic types Red and Blue. Red is a permanent type and once cured is very hard to break loose, if at all. Blue cures in a sort of semi solid state, and the hardware can be removed with care once the blue type sets up.  You should never use Red threadlocker on any hardware that will ever need to be removed. Blue is best for R/C heli assembly where threadlocker is needed. The threadlocker I found that WAS used on my EXI kit was of the Red type, hence the snapped feathering shaft bolt. I never have tried the solder iron heat trick, did not know about it till just the other day! It should work..heat will soften the Red threadlocker or even the Blue type if needed. Just use caution on what you are heating up to avoid damage to parts!  PO1 OCP

[L PLATER]

Ahhhhh, I can see it now ocp,chief,donnie and me, a few old timers sitting around a campfire with a cold beer chatting about threadlocker,
ahhhhhh can't wait for those days to come rolling in.

cheers big ears.              

[old_city_painter]

I'll make sure to bring samples for all of us and demonstrate it's use on my Hoveround! Then after a few beers I'll attempt Hoveround piros!

[chief qm]

Can we bring marshmellows?
By the way are we hi jacking this thread?
 

[L PLATER]

This thread has been hijacked by me sorry for that but could not resist. My punisnment? hmmmmmm  As  mod I ban myself for 4 days. 

Keep this to yourslf but my broadband doesn't get installed for another week out on the farm and I'm heading out there for a few days anyway.


Cheers

[old_city_painter]

Sorry Chief, but we need a few funnies now and again! Yes, we'll let you bring marshmallows!

[old_city_painter]

UPDATE*** Parts still have not arrived for the EXI build! So I thought I would go ahead and build the mounting brackets for the skid steps and begin getting them installed. All I received was the steps themselves, no mounts or instructions for installation. I've been putting off making the mount brackets. It's been a LONG time since I scratch built any parts, was not sure if I could do a decent job or not. Anywho, some pics for your enjoyment. The mounts are made from .030" shim stock, a type of plastic material, but it is not styrene. You do not have to cut it completely through, just score it decently and it will break clean! Handy stuff! I made templates first from card stock, then transferred the dimensions over to the shim material. I have made the parts for both sides, but only one side is installed. They will still need final paint and Non-Skid detail.

Parts Detail

Completed Assembly after test fit

Another View

Left Side Installed less final paint

Another View of the installation

 

[Donnie D]

  Very nice work, OCP. Are those screws you are using for attachment?

Donnie D

[old_city_painter]

DD, No, they are not screws. I used an Industrial strength CA to bond the parts in place.  Those are heads off of straight pins CA'd in place!  I used a #71 drill bit to drill the holes and then cut the straight pins so they had about a 1/16 inch shank on them

[Donnie D]

Smart idea. They look great. That is one thing I like about scale. Taking everyday stuff you have around the house and figuring a way to use it for scale items.

Donnie D