Official RotorScale AS350 Alpine Yellow and Red 450 Size Helicopter Discussion Thread

[bpjacobsen]

So I just received the Airwolf model and I noticed that the belt is nice and snug with no play, but on this one, the A350, there is quite a bit of play. Does anyone know how to adjust the belt tension on this? The manual has no info on this.

[Bulldog]

So that is the specs of the stock motor I assume?

Those are the specs.

[F106DeltaDart]

Does anyone know if the stock motor on these RS helis can handle 6s lipos? I know the esc is 4s but I have a hobbywing V3 50amp esc from my old 470 which used a 6s and I'm wondering if I put that on in place of the stock esc if the stock motor will take a 6s? I know the originals came with a 6s esc but did they also change the motor to only handle 4s?

Yes, the motor is rated for 6S. The ESC was the only limitation,

[bpjacobsen]

GARTT HF450L-1800KV 600W 6S 22.2V 3.17mm Shaft Brushless Motor for Align T-Rex 450 RC Helicopter Specifications: Motor KV: 1800KV RPM/V Motor Resistance (RM): 0.0648 Ω Idle Current (Io/10V): 1.3A/10V Max Continuous Current: 28A Max Continuous Power: 600W Weight: ≈90g/3.17oz Configuration: 9N6P LiPo Cell: 4S to 6S Motor Diameter: 30.2mm/1.19in Motor Body Length: 35mm/1.38in Overall Shaft Length: 51mm/2.01in Shaft Diameter: 3.17mm/0.12in Bolt holes spacing: 16mm/0.63in Bolt thread: M2.5×6/M3×6 Motor Timing: 5 deg Drive Frequency: 8 kHz

So that is the specs of the stock motor I assume?

[Bulldog]

Does anyone know if the stock motor on these RS helis can handle 6s lipos? I know the esc is 4s but I have a hobbywing V3 50amp esc from my old 470 which used a 6s and I'm wondering if I put that on in place of the stock esc if the stock motor will take a 6s? I know the originals came with a 6s esc but did they also change the motor to only handle 4s?

GARTT HF450L-1800KV 600W 6S 22.2V 3.17mm Shaft Brushless Motor for Align T-Rex 450 RC Helicopter Specifications: Motor KV: 1800KV RPM/V Motor Resistance (RM): 0.0648 Ω Idle Current (Io/10V): 1.3A/10V Max Continuous Current: 28A Max Continuous Power: 600W Weight: ≈90g/3.17oz Configuration: 9N6P LiPo Cell: 4S to 6S Motor Diameter: 30.2mm/1.19in Motor Body Length: 35mm/1.38in Overall Shaft Length: 51mm/2.01in Shaft Diameter: 3.17mm/0.12in Bolt holes spacing: 16mm/0.63in Bolt thread: M2.5×6/M3×6 Motor Timing: 5 deg Drive Frequency: 8 kHz

[bpjacobsen]

Does anyone know if the stock motor on these RS helis can handle 6s lipos? I know the esc is 4s but I have a hobbywing V3 50amp esc from my old 470 which used a 6s and I'm wondering if I put that on in place of the stock esc if the stock motor will take a 6s? I know the originals came with a 6s esc but did they also change the motor to only handle 4s?

[DCORSAIR]

Hey, hope you are over the virus and feeling better. Yes I do remember about the blade balancing. Watched a couple of vids and tried their methods and honestly it was a big PITA. These blades are not flat on one side so they roll all over the place. So I set out to find a set where the seller says they are balanced with regard to weight and CG. What I found was kind of pricey but no others made any statement about that. Found Ridgerunners post a minute after I paid for these on Ebay. Good info from him so I will get a set of the Tarots next.
Did put in a new main rotor shaft and checked for straightness. New Tarot rotor head so did not check feathering shaft, assumed it was OK since this heli has not even been airborne yet. I did not check tail rotor shaft or meshing of the pinion to main gear so I will do that this coming week.
Did another spool up while holding in my hand above my head with blades on. Hugh improvement and there appears to be many positions where there is hardly any vibrations. I was keen on putting an Oxy 4 in this fuse and scraping the mechanics it came with. At this point my opinion is the main frame and tail boom are pretty solid. This thing needs a few new upgrades especially a new rotor head. Also believe the one piece main bearing block I installed a couple of days ago is responsible for eliminating most of the vibration and shaking issue. If a guy is willing to do that I think the supplied mechanics is a solid basis to begin. Not much point in buying to replace the mechanic, just buy a fuse and put in your own mech.
Good talking with you on the phone. Have you in my contacts so you may be getting a text from time to time. Take care.

Thank you for asking, yes I made it through it, it was a battle, I was on my knees a few times that's for sure. Glad you decided to give those mechanics a try, just get the bugs worked out of it and you will have a good flyer I'm sure, I hate to see MRC sell these helis or advertise them as ready to go when we all know there is no such thing, a plane is one thing but helicopters are a balance of parts trying to work together at the same time, all it takes is one part not put together right or unbalanced and you got trouble, so keep at it and buying a good set of balanced blades should help too.,

[Bulldog]

Remember what I said on the phone, good blades make scale so much better to fly and fun, but a not so good set of blades can be balanced and usable if you spend the time doing the balance, if they are to far off then it's not worth it, tracking the blades is one of the most important things along with balancing, they will smooth out a heli like butter as long as your main shaft, feathering shaft and tail shaft are straight, so if you got straight shafts, good quality main and tail blades and balanced CG wise and weight wise, tracking is spot on, and making sure the motor pinion and main gear are meshed just right, all these things need to be addressed if your fighting vibrations and head speed plays a big part when your flying scale.

Hey, hope you are over the virus and feeling better. Yes I do remember about the blade balancing. Watched a couple of vids and tried their methods and honestly it was a big PITA. These blades are not flat on one side so they roll all over the place. So I set out to find a set where the seller says they are balanced with regard to weight and CG. What I found was kind of pricey but no others made any statement about that. Found Ridgerunners post a minute after I paid for these on Ebay. Good info from him so I will get a set of the Tarots next.
Did put in a new main rotor shaft and checked for straightness. New Tarot rotor head so did not check feathering shaft, assumed it was OK since this heli has not even been airborne yet. I did not check tail rotor shaft or meshing of the pinion to main gear so I will do that this coming week.
Did another spool up while holding in my hand above my head with blades on. Hugh improvement and there appears to be many positions where there is hardly any vibrations. I was keen on putting an Oxy 4 in this fuse and scraping the mechanics it came with. At this point my opinion is the main frame and tail boom are pretty solid. This thing needs a few new upgrades especially a new rotor head. Also believe the one piece main bearing block I installed a couple of days ago is responsible for eliminating most of the vibration and shaking issue. If a guy is willing to do that I think the supplied mechanics is a solid basis to begin. Not much point in buying to replace the mechanic, just buy a fuse and put in your own mech.
Good talking with you on the phone. Have you in my contacts so you may be getting a text from time to time. Take care.

[DCORSAIR]

Just notified of your post here a minute ago as I finished purchasing a set of blades on ebay for 35.50. Thanks for letting me know about these, seen them and they look good. I like Tarot stuff and have four of their items on my heli.

Remember what I said on the phone, good blades make scale so much better to fly and fun, but a not so good set of blades can be balanced and usable if you spend the time doing the balance, if they are to far off then it's not worth it, tracking the blades is one of the most important things along with balancing, they will smooth out a heli like butter as long as your main shaft, feathering shaft and tail shaft are straight, so if you got straight shafts, good quality main and tail blades and balanced CG wise and weight wise, tracking is spot on, and making sure the motor pinion and main gear are meshed just right, all these things need to be addressed if your fighting vibrations and head speed plays a big part when your flying scale.

[Bulldog]

I've been using the Tarot Carbon blades from GoGoRC. They are high quality, balanced and inexpensive. I bought a dozen sets and each pair was matched to within 0.1 gram. Highly recommended!

Tarot Black 325mm Carbon Rotor Blade / 3K For Trex T-REX 450 Helicopter RHS2332

GoGoRC is a small operation based out of Hong Kong. The shipping is not free but he gets the stuff out pretty quickly and is well packaged.

Just notified of your post here a minute ago as I finished purchasing a set of blades on ebay for 35.50. Thanks for letting me know about these, seen them and they look good. I like Tarot stuff and have four of their items on my heli.

[ridgerunner]

... With main rotor blades on there is noticeable vibration so need to balance blades or get some that come balanced. Getting close to having a good flying as350.

I've been using the Tarot Carbon blades from GoGoRC. They are high quality, balanced and inexpensive. I bought a dozen sets and each pair was matched to within 0.1 gram. Highly recommended!

Tarot Black 325mm Carbon Rotor Blade / 3K For Trex T-REX 450 Helicopter RHS2332

GoGoRC is a small operation based out of Hong Kong. The shipping is not free but he gets the stuff out pretty quickly and is well packaged.

[Bulldog]

Replaced main rotor shaft bearing with a Tarot single piece bearing block. Cost was $18.60 delivered. Had a couple of new shafts that I checked for straightness on a 1 2 3 block. Replaced the shaft with one of these new ones. Without the main rotor blades the vibration was all but eliminated even at 100 percent throttle with the mechanics mounted back in the fuse and tail rotor on. With main rotor blades on there is noticeable vibration so need to balance blades or get some that come balanced. Getting close to having a good flying as350.

[bpjacobsen]

Seems like a lot of work and money to dump into this but just my opinion. There are a lot of mixed opinions out there on the zip tie method but it seemed to work fine for me but perhaps I can see if the leveler I have from the 470 trex might fit. dunno. just seems unnecessary. I dont' like having to take everything apart. Perhaps if I eventually have to replace the gear and shaft etc. then it might be worth re-leveling. for now, it flies pretty decent, good enough for me.

[Bulldog]

Yes I leveled the swash plate but I used the zip tie method. I used the digital guage for the tracking

Not a fan of the zip tie method, I would use a cnc machined leveler and also assuming you set all servos to 90 first. Since I'm here got to say not a big fan of those ultra cheap servos. Going to replace them with KSTs. Yesterday I ordered a tarot one piece main bearing unit. Should result in main bearings being coaxial. Am going to attempt to somehow fasten the upper frame around the main rotor shaft to the fuselage as there is movement towards the top. Would also like to add a third bearing at the bottom of the main gear if possible, will have to see about that.
I will continue to post my progress or lack of here in hopes it will benefit others.

[bpjacobsen]

Im assuming you leveled the swashplate with a leveler?

Yes I leveled the swash plate but I used the zip tie method. I used the digital guage for the tracking

[Bulldog]

Has anyone else experienced this helicopter sorta rocking a bit especially when applying elevator? Is this normal for scale helicopters? Or might it be a balancing issue. I'm flying it with a 4s 1500mah + a piece of steel for added weight in the front, but it still wants to drift backwards a bit and rocks a bit when flying which kinda takes away from the scale appeal.

Im assuming you leveled the swashplate with a leveler?

[bpjacobsen]

Has anyone else experienced this helicopter sorta rocking a bit especially when applying elevator? Is this normal for scale helicopters? Or might it be a balancing issue. I'm flying it with a 4s 1500mah + a piece of steel for added weight in the front, but it still wants to drift backwards a bit and rocks a bit when flying which kinda takes away from the scale appeal.

[bpjacobsen]

Just as an FYI, discovered several scale 450 size fuselages on Amazon and from what I can tell they are the same as the Rotorscales minus the mechanics. Average price is $139. A quick search on Amazon scale 450 size helicopter fuselages will bring them up.

except they are charging like $34 shipping. so it ends up being more like $160. I guess that's still not too bad but where are you going to get a trex 450 with electronics for $200 bucks unless you buy it used?

[Bulldog]

Just as an FYI, discovered several scale 450 size fuselages on Amazon and from what I can tell they are the same as the Rotorscales minus the mechanics. Average price is $139. A quick search on Amazon scale 450 size helicopter fuselages will bring them up.

[bpjacobsen]

There are two sides to this in my opinon:

1. Yer getting a quality scale fiberglass body AND pretty much everything you need to fly it for a fraction of the price you would pay anywhere else.
2. You get what you pay for. I think the whole premise of this rotorscale line was to have something affordable and be able to sell a bunch of them. But you can only make it so cheap without putting in sub-par mechanics.

It flies pretty darn good for that price point. I think this is partially my fault b/c I forgot to connect the grounding wire from the tail boom to one of the rotor head screws to one of the motor mounting plate screws. So I guess it finally after a few flights built up enough static from the belt and caused the brown out or whatever you call it that made me lose power momentarily. I had this same issue on the Trex 470lp and running the wired solved it. I'm so pissed at myself for forgetting to do this and now I have to figure out how to fix the broken landing gear since the skid kit is not in stock and we all know that parts these days are scarce. I guess I can CA glue the pieces that broke and wrap in some electric tape then duct tape on the inside of the body. Hopefully that will get me by until parts become available. If anyone knows of another source or an alternate skid for this, let me know.