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

[xviper]

OK, I'll try flight-model or zy hobby. Thanks.

[xviper]

Zy Hobby has this item (similar price to Roban directly but I can pay in CAN dollars). Flight-model doesn't. All of the suppliers are located in China (Not sure about Flight-model). We don't pay tariffs on hobby supplies from China.

[F106DeltaDart]

Zy Hobby has this item (similar price to Roban directly but I can pay in CAN dollars). Flight-model doesn't. All of the suppliers are located in China (Not sure about Flight-model). We don't pay tariffs on hobby supplies from China.

That helps! Other than interface (website vs ebay), flight model and ZY Hobby are the same people, just different store front. The thing that kills me here is that it isn't always just the tariff fee. There's usually some sort of brokerage cost added in particularly if the shipper uses UPS or Fedex and its anyone's guess what those come out to. Ironically, my direct from China orders through ebay, aliexpress and such, seem to not have this issue. Several guys have reported it on direct orders from Roban though..

[xviper]

That helps! Other than interface (website vs ebay), flight model and ZY Hobby are the same people, just different store front. The thing that kills me here is that it isn't always just the tariff fee. There's usually some sort of brokerage cost added in particularly if the shipper uses UPS or Fedex and its anyone's guess what those come out to. Ironically, my direct from China orders through ebay, aliexpress and such, seem to not have this issue. Several guys have reported it on direct orders from Roban though..

You are right about the brokerage. Zy ships these sorts of things by mail. Don't know about how Roban ships, probably also by mail. It also depends on the customs declaration on what the value is. Many sellers from China declare a fraction of the retail price. Eg, RC Castle declares about 25% and mails even big boxes like a 90mm EDF plane. When Canada Post gets it, they do the brokerage (which is a flat rate of $12.00 CAN) and assesses the tax at 5%. On a $1000.00CAN plane, the fees end up being $27.00CAN. This becomes over $100.00 if UPS or FedEx is used.

Sometimes, if the declared value is small, it just goes thru and bypasses customs. This only happens if postal service is used. I've had large boxes (RC plane) that somehow bypasses customs altogether - no extra charges at all.

I just received a VTOL plane that cost $1300.00CAN. The seller (Stirlingkit) sends it by YunExpress. eMileExpress takes it when it gets to Canada. There was no customs fees, brokerage, taxes, nothing. It just shows up at my door. This has happened several times last year. Same result. Not sure how this courier does things to avoid going through customs.

Anyway, I've got an email to both Zy and Roban on this rotor head kit. Will see what they say about availability and shipping. It's a fairly expensive mod on an already fairly pricey heli.

[xviper]

Anyway, I've got an email to both Zy and Roban on this rotor head kit. Will see what they say about availability and shipping. It's a fairly expensive mod on an already fairly pricey heli.

I won’t get a reply till they all come back from “holidays”. Shipping quotes have been added to both websites. By far, Roban’s direct price (with shipping) is significantly cheaper for me.

[xviper]

I never got a reply from either Roban or Zy. After reading some FaceBook responses about the 5-blade kit and the sellers, I just decided to take my chances and order from Roban directly. Arrived today. It took exactly 4 weeks. Shipped via UPS, so the package flew all over N. America before ending up here.
I'm very impressed with the precision manufacturing of this kit. Everything was a direct swap and very straight forward. Took me less than an hour to get it done, including balancing all the blades, which, as it turned out, didn't need anything. All blades were within 0.1 gram of each other. Hope to test fly it in a couple days if weather holds.

PS. Total brokerage and taxes ($4.00) were $16.00CAN, so no tariff (fancy word for duty - in Canada, we have no duty on hobby supplies). Considering this is UPS, I can live with 12 bucks brokerage.

[F106DeltaDart]

Glad to hear it, looking forward to the flight report!

[xviper]

Went to fly this morning but when it spooled up, the main rotor was spinning backwards. It shut itself down (good thing). I guess the new ESC has it programmed that way. I'll need to swap a couple of wires but it was too cold to mess with it at the field. Hope to get it fixed and try a re-maiden in a couple days. All I've got for now is a picture. Looks real good anyway.

[xviper]

Finally a day that wasn't too cold or too windy.
Short video of the re-maiden with the 5-bl rotor. New camera, haven't figured it all out yet. Also, very bright day with glare from snow and clouds. Video stopped unexpectedly. Don't know why.

Swapping out the rotor head and ESC was very simple and easy. Did it with the guts still in the heli. Tracking seemed to be just right. The heli flew about the same as it did with the stock 2-blade. To me, it didn't sound much different. When switching to "angle" mode, it dropped a fair bit more than before the swap. Not a big deal, just have to be ready for it. It looks a whole lot better - the way a Hughie 500 should look. It's my favorite heli now. I'm happy with this mod. I think Motion should stock a few of these kits.

[F106DeltaDart]

Looks good, and glad to hear it flew well! Is it also a slightly smaller diameter than the stock blades or is that just an optical illusion?

[xviper]

No optical illusion. The diameter of the rotor disc is indeed smaller. I'll take a measurement and post it here.

[xviper]

Rotor diameters (I don't have a metric ruler that long, so this is in inches) ...............................

2-bl diameter ........... 33-1/4" ............................ blade length from hole to tip ......... 14-3/4"
5-bl diameter ........... 29-1/8" .................................................. .................................. 12-3/4"

[xviper]

Flew it again yesterday when there was a break in the weather. A friend did a short video of the landing, which was missing from my previous posted video. It is so easy to do a controlled landing in a small area with this heli.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8XZvDN1gkR0

[Woohoo\o/]

So I just got mine and WOW. It’s a lot of fun to fly. I have a real concern about the ESC. It get REALLY hot. I mean you cannot touch it for 1 second. My laser temp gun read 172 degrees F. That is alarming. Are you guys not experiencing this issue? Or is this not an issue? I’m terrified the ESC will fail while in flight.

I own 4 rotor scale helis and the ESC’s get super hot. I’m at the point where I’m considering adding a cooling fan. Guys any advice/suggestions/tips?

[xviper]

So I just got mine and WOW. It’s a lot of fun to fly. I have a real concern about the ESC. It get REALLY hot. I mean you cannot touch it for 1 second. My laser temp gun read 172 degrees F. That is alarming. Are you guys not experiencing this issue? Or is this not an issue? I’m terrified the ESC will fail while in flight.

I own 4 rotor scale helis and the ESC’s get super hot. I’m at the point where I’m considering adding a cooling fan. Guys any advice/suggestions/tips?

I did NOT install any of the windows in my MD. The ESC seems OK. However, in my Flywing scale helis, the ESC does get hot due to fully enclosed shell. I stuck a "heat sink" on top of the ESC and it also seems OK.

https://www.amazon.ca/GeeekPi-Conductive-Raspberry-Transistor-Regulator/dp/B099DTH24X/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3CEM8Z2IHZVR3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.0fEoZcw4NbHEZ1vIkPvkMQQkx9d1Te8ifBdAnJMkQ1XKHdy8ifDBIkwqni9m8ooQ5mGuwBBllZ2ZqqRW99E8JiYqc1avjbWzlR-bX2plFL5w2NssMHe_Nd8rTxHSsRQVX6_agMPqG2dnfhj11Lq9XiDXdSyyCAJFfDkuF-tA76p9wE37dYri0-1gUnKlZtOijnTyUdmKAdu0sgbfaEaLHp6ktQMkwJ0GyyURlAEfOVhmauYCryxmQHkzmxtCx7MDwa8kdmbsbt4p0GEuVb_12587eLb-yebkdQkg1Df0e3A.aChDdhwMJ4mmOgIQiRrIfOsXwhrFXe2zakvSeH8RwOE&dib_tag=se&keywords=small+heat+sink&qid=1776442854&sprefix=small+heat+sink%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

[xviper]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8XZvDN1gkR0

[Woohoo\o/]

I did NOT install any of the windows in my MD. The ESC seems OK. However, in my Flywing scale helis, the ESC does get hot due to fully enclosed shell. I stuck a "heat sink" on top of the ESC and it also seems OK.
https://www.amazon.ca/GeeekPi-Conductive-Raspberry-Transistor-Regulator/dp/B099DTH24X/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3CEM8Z2IHZVR3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ 9.0fEoZcw4NbHEZ1vIkPvkMQQkx9d1Te8ifBdAnJMkQ1XKHdy8 ifDBIkwqni9m8ooQ5mGuwBBllZ2ZqqRW99E8JiYqc1avjbWzlR-bX2plFL5w2NssMHe_Nd8rTxHSsRQVX6_agMPqG2dnfhj11Lq9X iDXdSyyCAJFfDkuF-tA76p9wE37dYri0-1gUnKlZtOijnTyUdmKAdu0sgbfaEaLHp6ktQMkwJ0GyyURlAEf OVhmauYCryxmQHkzmxtCx7MDwa8kdmbsbt4p0GEuVb_12587eL b-yebkdQkg1Df0e3A.aChDdhwMJ4mmOgIQiRrIfOsXwhrFXe2zak vSeH8RwOE&dib_tag=se&keywords=small+heat+sink&qid= 1776442854&sprefix=small+heat+sink%2Caps%2C158&sr= 8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

That chopper in that snow looks amazing. Thanks viper. Also that brings me to another thing, you’re flying in a much more cooler biome than I am lol I’m in south Florida. Again thanks viper.

[xviper]

That chopper in that snow looks amazing. Thanks viper. Also that brings me to another thing, you’re flying in a much more cooler biome than I am lol I’m in south Florida. Again thanks viper.

Yes, it's still winter, but our summers can get up to 90*F, well over 100 in the sun. That's when I installed the heat sink in my Airwolf. I'll be keeping track of my other "enclosed" helis and install heat sinks in them as well if the ESC gets really hot. (Or I'll remove the windows.) Additionally, I don't hover much. I fly in the same pattern as the fixed wing planes, so my helis are almost always moving.