Got Shogun, will fly.

[Error401]

Well, I recently got back into R/C, and have resurected an old passion (flying helicopters). I used to fly nitro and had a Century Falcon 46SE, Hawk 30 and an X-Cell Gas. Thankfully I still have the X-Cell, but the Falcon was totaled due to a misjudgement in plugs and learning autos on the first flameout (due to said plug). The Hawk was parted out, but can be resurected fairly easily. The X-Cell is in mothballs awaiting me and some improved flying skills.

At any rate, I recently acquired 2 electric helis. 1) an E-Flight Blade CP, and 2) an Evo Flight Shogun 400. The Blade is pretty cool, being a CCPM electric, but the tail has a motor and is not driven by the main motor. It has it's quirks, but is still a blast to fart arround in.

The Shogun is a whole other beast. It's a tad larger than the blade, but has a driven tail and has a normal swash plate control setup. I have also started upgrading it. It now has an EF Mega 15 brushless motor with an Align esc. The main shaft is now a steel one, as opposed to the stock aluminum one. I replaced the main blades with wood (the stock ones flex too much), And I have modified all of the control linkages to use ball links instead of Z-bends. Control is via JR 10X heli radio and power comes from a 3 cell 1320mAh Li-Po pack.

Once I got it trimmed and the T/P curves dialed in, it will hover hands off for about 5 to 10 seconds if the wind is dead.

Click here for pix of the current setup.

I know Ed had gotten one, but haven't seen any posts on how he was doing with it. Anyone else flying a Shogun (or one of the clones)?

 

[NCNitro]

Error buddy, great to see you on again! Welcome back man!!!

 

[Error401]

Thnx bro. I kind of dropped off the edge of the world there for a while. Too many irons in the fire (most of them relate to working on computers). Trying to get the F**k out of the house and away from the confusionators. Still doing a video or two now and again, helping my dad with his hobbies and taking computer tests. I do seem to doze off from time to time also, though I still do give Mr. Coffee hell on a regular basis.

I did join another forum that caters to helis (runryder), but that place is beat. Tons of members, but most of the posts are mostly bs. Newcomers are treated with indifference at best and alot of noob questions go literally unanswered. As time goes on, it seems to be very cliqueish (sp?). I'll probably be posting more in this section since I'd rather fly than drive on any given day (more flying than driving in my sorid history), but it's good to see you guys again.

 

[Revo Rancher]

I am pretty heavy into the nitro R/C cars and MT, buit about 2 months ago picked up the Sabre. I got pretty good at it fairly quick as I practiced about 2 charges per day for about 5-6 days. I really like the Blade; saw one fly 3D at RCX. Considering the purchase.

 

[FastEddy]

Mine is still alive. I take it out in the drive and practice with it only when there is no wind. I'm still a noob and the wind gets me every time. We have a content breeze here 7 months of the year.

I moved the rear servo and mounted it on the boom. The tail is the weak link in the Shogun lots of slop. Shortening the linkage by moving the servo helps a lot.

Great to see you flying again.

 

[Error401]

The only real problem I have with the Blade is the 4 in 1 control unit and the funky gyro. I'm flying it with Great Planes 3c 640 mAh packs, so it's light and has a ton of power. But (and here's the catch), the tail wags if it's hovering in a cross wind, or flying forwards, or it gets a bug up it's ass (which happens quite regularly). The main blades I can not get tracked totally, so it vibrates a bit. Flying it fast seems to lessen the wag thing, but transitioning back to a hover often results in a pretty heafty wag. Out of the box you have to reassemble the blade grips, otherwise it binds. Seems that the factory assembles two parts (4 total) in the wrong order on most Blades. Mine was like that. The blade grip bearings would bind on a spacer and cause the grips to stick at a very low pitch until you got to about 3/4 throttle, then the servos would get enough torque to "pop" the pitch to about 5 degrees and the thing would take off like a model rocket. Swapping the washer with the spacer on each end of the spindle fixes this. Still, the Blade is not a heli that flys well in wind over about 5 or so mph.

Going from the Blade to the Shogun is like going from a tricycle to a Porsche. The Shogun is very stable and the tail is rock solid (though the parts could have been a bit better in design). Ed, my stock tail setup was a ton tighter than the cyclic. I think my next hopup will be a metal tail box and tail rotor. Along with that will be a new (and straiter) carbon tail drive shaft and blue gears. If you're having vibration problems, pull the tail and check the drive shaft. I did on mine and it is definately not strait. The stock white tail drive gears will wear out pretty quick, and I've heard that the blue ones are very good. I'll try to post on the upgrades as I get them.