Official RotorScale 470 Size MD-500E Super Scale GPS Stabilized Helicopter Thread

[F106DeltaDart]

I find it strange that the decals have a pink overlay. I tried to get rid of it and it just makes each character its own figure. Why do we have to use pink background decals. I just went to buy new ones because I tried to remove the pink overlay and of course the decals are out of stock....... :(

You might consider contacting Callie graphics and having her make some new markings. Her stuff is excellent quality! As an alternative, I saw this on the Roban Facebook group. Might be of some help:

[Tomk]

after the decals dry well enough the pink should start to separate from the white letters and almost fall off mine did and unfortunately some of the decal came off with it Give it time may take awhile

[SeanP]

It’s easy to remove the pink backing. After the decal has fully dried (say leave a couple of days) just moisten the decal with a baby wet wipe and the pink backing will peel right off, leaving the decal in place

[Lightmachine110]

Have been flying one for a while. Love it. Crashed it the other day. Pretty much the motor housing and electronics is all that are still good. Some of the new parts are starting to come in. Where can I find a complete installation manual to put it back together?

[ShapeShifter]

Does the transmitter that comes with the MD500 have the Circle and Figure 8 functions?

[xviper]

Does the transmitter that comes with the MD500 have the Circle and Figure 8 functions?

No.

[Eddie P]

Looking forward to MRC getting more MD-500e’s in stock. Anyone know of a new shipment is inbound?

Also.. can someone recommend a proper “preflight” inspection process (what items need lock tite, proper lubricant to use on shafts and fittings that need lubricant, other things to be more aware of on midsize helis? I’m moving up from the micro sized helis and want to be sure I am keeping up with preventative maintenance. I read the Roban manuals leave a bit to be desired.

[Eddie P]

I found a slew of information relating to my above questions. Head over to the FB “Roban RTF GPS helicopters” page. A lot of manuals and guides are listed under “files” on that page including FAQ PDF’s and full manuals for the Roban X2 controller. Among others.

I love flying this MD-500 heli. It looks amazing and flies really nicely. If I could change anything it would be to have a constant sped tail rotor for the nose. Let the main rotor do the talking and ditch the drone sound. But.. Big deal… anyhow. Compared to FlyWing, which have nice 450 and 470 arf’s… I think the Roban 470 “Rotor Scale” series is a little bit of a step up.

Has anyone else with a Roban MD-500 noticed essentially zero difference between “ATT” and “Manual” modes in the flight control software? Typically “ATT” mode would be expected to have an attitude leveler (like safe mode in a fixed wing trainer setup) and in fact, it does. But.. I sort of figured Manual would have not featured an “attitude leveler” but rather allowed full manual helicopter flights. So far it seems “ATT” and “Manual” behave identically in my setup.

In addition to the stock battery pack, the SMC regular volt 5200’s are a nice option that perform very well and are competitively priced. I’ve got about 25 flights on mine now with half being at the flying field and half at my back yard. A few guys have made some scale upgrades to theirs including 3d printed pilots, 4 blade rotors and upgraded light modules with 3w strobes for full daylight dazzle. For me I’m just going with custom graphics and the 3w high light kit and some pilots. I’ll keep the 2 blade rotor for the nice “whoop whoop” sound, lighter weight and to keep the motor cooler with good flight times.

I intend to use mission planner software to see if perhaps my X2 is simply set up with the wrong configuration in the settings page, to try to get manual mode (acro) capability. Anyhow… anyone else notice this?

[Eddie P]

Put a ton of flying on the MD-500 in the last few months. You guys will like it! She’s a great flyer.

[Eddie P]

I’ve been taking notes while operating and occasionally modifying (for fun) the MD-500. This is a link to my blog post about the model. Have fun!

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?4809911-Vertical-Takeoffs-and-Landings%21

[Kahmed]

Anyone in Michigan flying these awesome Helis?

[Eddie P]

I suspect a lot of peeps are flying these just not a lot of chatter. I’ve really enjoyed mine.

I did a custom scheme on mine vs the stock Sherrif decals. It pops nicely in flight. I also replaced the stock barely noticeable nav lights on the skids with much brighter LED lights I got from “lighthouse lighting”. An online LED supplier.

I noticed today my main shaft was making some growling noise and the vibration was up… compared to the normally smooth operation. Cut my last flight short and inspected. It almost seems like a bearing is going bad. I can’t tell if it might be a motor bearing or a main shaft bearing. I’ll be disassembling the innards to have a look in a few weeks when I have some free time to tinker.

To anyone flying these of any model - I suspect the innards are all fairly similar… Anyone else had an issue here with these belt driven motor to shaft components by chance causing vibration and noise? Care to share if so? I’m not too concerned. The components look replaceable and accessible. I will post what I see later.

[xviper]

Mine is my favorite of all my GPS helis in the 470 size. To date, I have no abnormal sounds coming from the innards. I do notice from day one, that at the beginning of spool up, the heli "shutters" momentarily as if it is going through a harmonic vibration. It lasts for about a second and as the rpm climbs, it's smooth. When shutting down, there is no shutter as it declines through the same rpm. As far as I can tell, the belt has not loosened since new and it flies beautifully every time.

[3D-Seth]

Mine is my favorite of all my GPS helis in the 470 size. To date, I have no abnormal sounds coming from the innards. I do notice from day one, that at the beginning of spool up, the heli "shutters" momentarily as if it is going through a harmonic vibration. It lasts for about a second and as the rpm climbs, it's smooth. When shutting down, there is no shutter as it declines through the same rpm. As far as I can tell, the belt has not loosened since new and it flies beautifully every time.

This little shutter can often be caused by the blades moving in their grips slightly during spool up, causing some initial imbalance before the heli gets to higher RPM and the blades are held at full extension from the higher RPM. That is often exacerbated by the tall "lanky" stance of the MD-500, as the vibrations have more landing gear length to resonate through. You may have already tried, but tightening the blades can often help this. Just a quick tip in case you didn't already know this.

Seth

[xviper]

This little shutter can often be caused by the blades moving in their grips slightly during spool up, causing some initial imbalance before the heli gets to higher RPM and the blades are held at full extension from the higher RPM. That is often exacerbated by the tall "lanky" stance of the MD-500, as the vibrations have more landing gear length to resonate through. You may have already tried, but tightening the blades can often help this. Just a quick tip in case you didn't already know this.

Seth

Thanks. I never know just how tight to make the blades on a heli. Some have said to tighten just to the point that the blades will still start to droop when the heli is held on its side. If they don't droop, they are too tight. I'll try to give the bolt just a little more "tweak" to see if anything changes. My 4 bladed rotors never seem to have this stutter.

[3D-Seth]

Thanks. I never know just how tight to make the blades on a heli. Some have said to tighten just to the point that the blades will still start to droop when the heli is held on its side. If they don't droop, they are too tight. I'll try to give the bolt just a little more "tweak" to see if anything changes. My 4 bladed rotors never seem to have this stutter.

No problem! I think most people typically run them too loose. They should be pretty snug. If I put the heli on its side, the blades will stay put, but if I give it a firm shake, the blades will move.

Many years ago when I was flying 700 size 3D helis, our friend group would try to do blade stops. We pretty quickly learned that if the blades are loose, they fold easily when the blades stop and the heli will never spool back up with the folded blades, resulting in a crash. So we started cranking the blades down crazy tight (a couple friends even went so far to CA the blades to the blade grips). We actually learned in the process that they can be pretty absurdly tight without too much ill effect. I obviously wouldn't recommend going as tight as we were back then, but I think we often run them too loose.

[xviper]

Good info, Seth.

[F106DeltaDart]

Hmm.. looks like a 5 blade option is finally coming: https://www.robanmodel.com/product-p...SqCejDXaX7L59Q

[xviper]

Hmm.. looks like a 5 blade option is finally coming: https://www.robanmodel.com/product-p...SqCejDXaX7L59Q

Oh my!!! I was thinking of the 4-blade set up this spring but that's originally meant for their 450 size helis. This one is by far the prefered choice. Curious why the bigger ESC is needed. Do you think there is that much more demand for power?

[F106DeltaDart]

Oh my!!! I was thinking of the 4-blade set up this spring but that's originally meant for their 450 size helis. This one is by far the prefered choice. Curious why the bigger ESC is needed. Do you think there is that much more demand for power?

It will definitely pull more current at the same headspeed. Normally I’d imagine you’d just dial it back either in governed headspeed or drop down the gearing.

As an aside, if you are interested, I’d order it by sending a message to flight-model or zy hobby. Ordering from Roban can be touch and go, and the tarrifs can be steep depending on the shipper they use.