Glen first I want to congratulate. Your design is very interesting.

I wonder if KDS applied all concepts from your original project? Are you 100% happy with production version of Chase? Would you improve it in any way?

Sometimes production versions are worse than prototypes to reduce manufacturing costs etc.

 

Thanks @utrinque

KDS applied almost all my design concepts.
Let me start by saying KDS are awesome to work with, they Always listen to reason over design elements. We may not always agree but always listen and consider opinions on what options are best.
They approach from a marketing angle, were as i couldn't care less about marketing, I just design what I personally want.
So there are 4 things i would have done differently on a personal level.

1. Rear entry lipo ... I dont care about people needing mini tail servos , if they need mini they can mount it on the boom. I designed this heli for MAXIMUM performance, that means getting the mass centralized and up close to the blades. Any compromise on this means buy a different helicopter, if you need a mini tail servo this is not for you.. But that attitude doesn't work well from a marketing angle and it makes sense to provide both options. This means the lipo now comes up from underneath, so the canopy can still stay on for lipo changes.. and BOTH mini and micro tail servos can be used. this is a good compromise as the tail servo can still be mounted up high where i designed it. but lipo changes are not quite what I wanted. I also had an auto plug in setup designed as an option so when the lipo slides in it plugs in at the same time.. This cant happen now.
2. Threaded inserts in carbon cyclic servo mounts. Or at least thicker alloy brackets with threaded holes for the servo screws. (it requires nuts instead now. Its nit picking, but just makes it less convenient to work on and build.)
3. Lower rotor head. only a few mm were possible, but even without DFC i managed to achieve it. again this is nit picking as i doubt anyone could feel the difference flying it. It was all just part of my aim to keep the CG as close to the blades as i could. I cried one night during design when i had to lower the lipo slider tray 1mm! I ended up dropping it 3mm in the end to provide room for neater wiring option (this also did not make the final cut) so perhaps 5 things..... so raising the rotor head 3 or 4 mm was equally gut wrenching lol.
4. Alloy pulleys everywhere, both the front and the main tail pulley i would prefer to be alloy, as per belt manufacturers recommendations. 2 reasons for this, 1. Bling. and 2, more importantly, CNC alloy pulleys run true and give a constant belt tension as well as having no vibrations from any eccentricity. Plastic pulleys are very hard to make perfectly concentric, this results in varied belt tension with each revolution and potential vibes from this.

But only one or two thing I would have preferred to see on the production kit from a market perspective.

1. Threads on the cyclic servo mounts, as mentioned above.

The quality of KDS manufacturing is second to none! The production versions are actually better than the prototypes.

 

Glen thank you. You created piece of art. Getting pieces of your ideas is facinating. I want to share with you small piece of art I created. Please check: soundclick.com/utrinqueparatus

I hope moderator will not remove this link. It is not link to another heli forum.

I wonder if this music can provide the beckground to some flight videos. I know we prefer sound of blades farting but there are some awesome aerial videos like those recorded by Trappy doing FPV. Proximity flying was my favourite...

 

Just ordered the Full combo kit from kdsmodelsusa.com today!!!!!! UPS Ground from Houston to San Antonio is only 1 day (early Christmas for me)

They included main blades as well!!

I decided to go with the Ebar V2 as Allen and Kenny are awesome to talk to, offered excellent support, answered all my questions Straight up and made me feel at home. Actually, we swapped numbers-- i'm going to Houston,TX next weekend after my build to fly with them and hopefully learn a thing or two

They govern their headspeed at 4400?!?!?! 2mins of 3d LoL!

Thanks, @Glen for making a wonderful product.


I'll be sure to report back with some pictures of the final product.

Can you tell im excited?

 

Nice - you'll love it..

I've just finished building my airframe with servos - don't want to fly it now as it's too much a work of art to fly - lol

Still waiting for my motor and esc so no flying yet...

Unfortunately the only real downside to the build is the lack of manual - as you really need it for this build so i had to keep going to and fro from my workbench to PC to check things

Also - sorry to say, the plastic ball links are a POS.. not worthy of the kit in my opinion.. they lack the positive click and snappy feel of other manufacturers and seem to come off too easy for my comfort..

The metal thread links for the swash to servo links could be about 3mm shorter also as you have to wind the ball-links way past the thread finish to obtain the desired 31mm overall link length..

Also - not sure but the 18T gear at the front should have 2 lips on it like the pinion and not just one as the slightest lack of alignment may see the belt ride up to the larger plastic gear... I can't see how this will stop happening, especially when inverted as nothing is stopping the belt moving position as it has no guides and a perfectly aligned system will allow graverty to ride the belt upwards towards the larger plastic gear when inverted for extended periods of time.. a 2nd lip on the gear would be a nice "warm fuzzy" safety feature.

Hopefully glen can feed this back to KDS.

PS: This kit has a million loose screws - make sure you have a large desk to lay them all out neatly before the build - I didn't and they were all over the place - lol

 

Sounds promising @jockstrap! Please put up some pictures!

 

No manual?!

Uhhhh whaaat.

I dont trust my judgement on screw lengths and where they need to go. Bummer.

I hope this is an "obvious" build.

edit: Is the manual online?


Found it.

 

Here's the manual:
http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/kds/110889-chase-360-manual-available-download.html


Citizen #186

 

Do you all think this is too small of a lipo?

http://onlyfinehelis.com/batteries/giant-power/giant-power-6s-22.2v-1300mah-35c-lipo-battery

its the only thing I could find in stock in the US

 

It'll probably get you flying, but something like the GensAce 6S 1400mah would be better.


Citizen #186

 

Same deal. None in stock.

Probably should have purchased lipos first.

i'm settling with these for now: http://www.aligntrexstore.com/6S1P-222V-1450mAh45C-HBP14501_p_2597.html

Thank you @mr_squiggle !

 

You really need the manual - I'd print it off if I were you..

My KDE motor arrived today - Thanks Jeff!!!
The motor is sweets as - very well made, nice wires - very befitting the chase!!!!

Damn - only need my esc then i'm done...
Got to wait for the hobbywing... hmmm - unless I butcher another heli for the esc... muhaaaaaaa....

 

Do you all think the 1350mah and 1450mah lipos are too small? Or is it the nice sweet spot for weight savings/flight time?
The lipo sizes seem to jump from 1450mah to 2600mah industry standard...
The 2600mah lipos are also significantly more expensive than the 1350-1450mah lipos. Then again the 2600 im looking at is "50C"

Here are my choices:

http://www.aligntrexstore.com/PULSE...C--ULTRA-POWER-SERIES-PLU35-13506_p_2833.html @$38.99

http://www.aligntrexstore.com/6S1P-222V-1450mAh45C-HBP14501_p_2597.html @ $44.99

and

http://www.aligntrexstore.com/6S1P-222V-2600mAh50C-Lipo-HBP26004_p_2712.html @ $86.99 (!)

Getting pretty pricey for a 450!!

What would you guys do in my position? Trying to save as much as possible without stepping on optimal performance/flight times ( I know I can extend flight times with a lower HS)

 

I have the 1350 pulses aside for the chase

 

Where's you get em?


Citizen #186

 

Apparently the Gens 1400's are about another month away, so I'll need another 2 flight packs.


Citizen #186

 

Talk to Jay up at Revolution he may be able to source them

 

The pulse packs that are first on helladies list are the same size as my gensace 1400mah and mine fit nice..
So they are a great size to get.

 

Just ordered 6 of the pulse 1350s

 

Wow - 6, you're keen....