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

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  • Originally posted by bpjacobsen View Post
    Been flying my AS350 since yesterday and really enjoying it. It so cool looking up in the air. Even did some inverted, though I don't plan to do much more than scale/sport flying. Afterall it's a scale model, no point in beating it to death and risking a catastrophic crash. Anyway, I was wondering if this heli would work with a 1550 5s battery or an 1800 mah 6s? The listing on M r/c says 4s but the begininng of this thread says 6s. Is the motor and esc capable of handling 5 and 6s? right now I'm flying it with a 1500 4s and it's a little tail heavy since it drifts backwards when I leave it in a hover.
    To my understanding, the second batch came with ESCs that are 4S. My ESC says 4S on the side. I think the original batch was 6S.

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    • Hmm, why would they downgrade the esc?

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      • Originally posted by bpjacobsen View Post
        Been flying my AS350 since yesterday and really enjoying it. It so cool looking up in the air. Even did some inverted, though I don't plan to do much more than scale/sport flying. Afterall it's a scale model, no point in beating it to death and risking a catastrophic crash. Anyway, I was wondering if this heli would work with a 1550 5s battery or an 1800 mah 6s? The listing on M r/c says 4s but the begininng of this thread says 6s. Is the motor and esc capable of handling 5 and 6s? right now I'm flying it with a 1500 4s and it's a little tail heavy since it drifts backwards when I leave it in a hover.
        Someone at MRC told me not to fly this heli with anything greater than 4S. He said to trust him as he knew what he was talking about. Anyhow happy to hear you are flying yours and I hope to get mine up as well. From the couple of vids I've watched of this AS350 they do look awesome in flight. That one of the reasons I wanted one.

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        • Originally posted by bpjacobsen View Post
          Hmm, why would they downgrade the esc?
          The first batch of RotorScale 450s came fitted with the older version of the HobbyWing Platinum 40A 6S ESC. The newer batches come with the newer version of the HobbyWing Platinum Pro 4S ESC, which cannot handle a 6S battery (4S max). The older 6S version is no longer available, so that is the reason for the change. However, they kept the 6S motor (1800kV) so the head speed on the newer ones is now limited to just over 2000 rpm with a 4S battery which is too low for a heavy 450 IMO (it just barely gets off the ground and has very poor tail performance - it easily blows out with any large collective input). When I brought this to the attention of MRC, they shrugged it off saying it flies fine on 4S.

          My recommendation is to replace the ESC with a ZTW Mantis 35A 6S ESC and use 1100mAh 6S batteries (thats what I did). The Mantis ESC is inexpensive, has a governor and works very well. Or you could replace the motor with a 3600kV unit and run that on a 2200mAh 3S battery.

          MRC really needs to hire a heli expert to sort these things out before bringing them to market. A 450 running 325mm blades really needs 3000 rpm to fly right (especially with the low tail ratios used by Align and their clones - the mechanics in the RotorScale 450s uses a clone of the original Align 450 Sport). Note that I own all six variations of the RotorScales, but have only flown two of them so far - (the other four are still in boxes - yeah, I'm slow!)

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          • Originally posted by bpjacobsen View Post
            Hmm, why would they downgrade the esc?
            I didn’t consider it a downgrade. The Governor is much better on the newer V4 ESC, and the Huey at least flies excellent on 4S. Instead of switching the ESC, you could probably just get higher tooth count pinion to bring up the headspeed more if desired.

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            • OK so the tail blow out is not just me then. Yeah, it definitely lacks power for sure. I can just about do inverted but it requires almost full down collective stick. Not as concerned about that though since it is a scale heli. I just got back from the field and I lost power close to the ground and busted the skids. some cracking on the fuse where the skid goes in but minimal damage otherwise. Wonder if I need to run a ground wire from the boom like I did on my old 470? did anyone else experience this?the fail safe is set to no pulses so I'm pretty sure that kicked in causing the hard landing. Fortunately minimal damage and no gear damage since I was close to the ground. sux either way but whatever. I'm used to it.

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              • FYI, in case anyone plans to purchase the tail grip/rotor assembly from the spare parts page, it shows metal arm and ball joint but it's not metal. it's exactly the same as what comes stock. I told them that and they said the photo was from the manufacturer. Well, do you not check these things? Apparently not. This is not the service I was accustomed to years ago. Or quality for that matter. Frankly, the mechanics on this are subpar. the rotor head sux and needs to be a dfc. I had to trim the fuse around the head to keep it from rubbing.

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                • Originally posted by bpjacobsen View Post
                  FYI, in case anyone plans to purchase the tail grip/rotor assembly from the spare parts page, it shows metal arm and ball joint but it's not metal. it's exactly the same as what comes stock. I told them that and they said the photo was from the manufacturer. Well, do you not check these things? Apparently not. This is not the service I was accustomed to years ago. Or quality for that matter. Frankly, the mechanics on this are subpar. the rotor head sux and needs to be a dfc. I had to trim the fuse around the head to keep it from rubbing.
                  Agree with everything here especially about the subpar mechanics. Been saying that for a year. If you read some of the reviews on MRC others mention this too. I just received a metal control arm and all metal slider unit tor the tail rotor assembly made by Tarot from Banggood. Have not installed it yet but am going to put the whole as350 project on the back burner. I also suspect a high frequency resonance issue as well. At this point I feel this thing will require a lot of time to get it right for lack of a better term. Got this in early July and would do it again. Love the looks of it and will get back to it someday with a solution. Ran into another guy in Wales who has the MD500. Issues with it and he solved them all by replacing the mechanics with an Align Trex 450.

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                  • Originally posted by Bulldog View Post

                    Agree with everything here especially about the subpar mechanics. Been saying that for a year. If you read some of the reviews on MRC others mention this too. I just received a metal control arm and all metal slider unit tor the tail rotor assembly made by Tarot from Banggood. Have not installed it yet but am going to put the whole as350 project on the back burner. I also suspect a high frequency resonance issue as well. At this point I feel this thing will require a lot of time to get it right for lack of a better term. Got this in early July and would do it again. Love the looks of it and will get back to it someday with a solution. Ran into another guy in Wales who has the MD500. Issues with it and he solved them all by replacing the mechanics with an Align Trex 450.
                    Like what is the point of even buying this then trashing the whole mechanics for another one? seems like a total waste of money. I would have gladly paid 500 bucks for this if they built it with superior mechanics. seems more like a money pit to me.

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                    • I’m surprised at all of the trouble with the stock mechs. Maybe mine are an anomaly, but I’ve one had 2 issues. I had a bad tail shaft that was slightly bent. And caused a lot of vibration. Replaced it with an align part, everything was smooth. I also had a very stiff pushrod on the Huey and had to redo the pushrod mechanism. But otherwise my Huey, AS-350, and Airwolf were pretty much free of trouble outside of periodic belt tension adjustment. I did eventually get tired of that on the Airwolf and switched to torque tube mechs.

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                      • Originally posted by bpjacobsen View Post

                        Like what is the point of even buying this then trashing the whole mechanics for another one? seems like a total waste of money. I would have gladly paid 500 bucks for this if they built it with superior mechanics. seems more like a money pit to me.
                        I went into this with the attitude that I was willing to take a gamble. May get it flying well or worst case have a nice shelf queen. A couple of weeks ago I was close to buying another AS350 and the MD500 but told myself to at least get this one up and flying before dumping any more money into them. Now very glad I held off. I discovered Viaro Helicopters I believe made in Germany. They sell scale fuselages and you buy the mechanics separately. Looked over their mechanics very well and there is a night and day difference. Became clear that scale helis are a whole different animal IMO. These helis cost multiples more than these Rotorscales.

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                        • That's why I'm sticking with my scale Roban helis, not the best but at least they fly great and they fit my budget, Vario may be top of the line and all that, just way to expensive for my taste, yeah if your a builder and have deep pockets, Vario is for you, show up to a scale meet with Roban and you might get a hand shake, show up with a Vario and you they will roll out the red carpet, show up with a Rotor scale and you might be asked to leave...........

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                          • Originally posted by F106DeltaDart View Post
                            I’m surprised at all of the trouble with the stock mechs. Maybe mine are an anomaly, but I’ve one had 2 issues. I had a bad tail shaft that was slightly bent. And caused a lot of vibration. Replaced it with an align part, everything was smooth. I also had a very stiff pushrod on the Huey and had to redo the pushrod mechanism. But otherwise my Huey, AS-350, and Airwolf were pretty much free of trouble outside of periodic belt tension adjustment. I did eventually get tired of that on the Airwolf and switched to torque tube mechs.
                            Pulled mechanics out , removed main rotor blades and removed tail rotor and shaft. Pulled belt out from around pully so I could spool it up and not have the tail belt engaged. Still a whole lot of heavy vibration. Pulled main rotor head off and checked the upper exposed shaft with a 1 2 3 block. Shaft appeared to be true and straight. Had a good phone conversation with another member from here who said I covered all the bases he could think of. I keep looking at it and say how the hell complicated can this be? Will just keep at it as I don't give up easily. I can tell you one thing, that motor is a source of bad vibration. I have a spare and spooled it up on my bench and then spooled up a 2820 XNova. The XNova you can hardly feel and the one in the Rotorscale will make your fingers num. This is where I'm at, if I get this all straightened out will post again. Would love to get these things flying good as I know they would be a real show stopper.

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                            • 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.

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                              • 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.

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                                • Originally posted by Bulldog View Post
                                  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?

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                                  • 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.

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                                    • Originally posted by bpjacobsen View Post
                                      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?

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                                      • Originally posted by Bulldog View Post

                                        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

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                                        • Originally posted by bpjacobsen View Post

                                          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.

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