Raptor 30 & 50

by David
(Dubbo, NSW, Australia)

Raptor 30 & 50

I've flown rc planes for years now and have only ventured into the Heli field in the last 2 years. From a simple start with LAMA V4 Coaxial and the smaller 2 and 3 channel Infra Red Micro's, I developed a determination to learn how to fly helicopters.
I have recently purchased 2 Raptor 30's and 2 50's and yes I know that’s seems a tad greedy but I got them all at the right price and the way I see it, it is cheaper to by used heli's rather than buying spare parts in most cases as we all know how expensive that can be.

The 2 50's and 1 30 are stock standard other than the carbon fibre blades I got with them as spares. I did say they were used but to be quite honest the engines and pipe were all spotless and looked brand new to me and I think I found why, I went through the manuals and reset all the linkages to factory specs and seriously the way they were before I reset them I very much doubt whether they would have made it off the ground, plus the carby inlet jets had been adjusted to the point where the engines were starving for fuel and stalled every go.
The one I am still training on is a 30 with a full alloy main rotor upgrade and a Curtis Youngblood tuned pipe. I have changed a few things on it since I've been training, namely the old JR transmitter and servo's etc for a Spektrum DX7 2.4Ghz Handset and AR7100 Receiver. It's great not having an antennas hanging out the bottom of the Helicopter. I also changed the Hitec tail servo as they just don't have the holding power like the high torque JR servo’s, and finally the gyro to a JR 420T Gyro as it was some cheap brand that I think was designed for something a lot smaller as the head lock just wasn’t doing it’s job.

My flying has improved dramatically with the fine tuning and I’m at the stage where I need to push past my fear of smashing my baby into a million pieces and venture outside my comfort zone.
I’ve always pushed outside my comfort zone and we all need to if we want to improve but it can be quite daunting as I’m sure your all aware.

I live on a property out in the country and for that I’m grateful and lucky but there are a lot of obstacles to try and avoid namely trees, bushes, high grass, fences and my children. I have learnt to fly in confined spaces and don’t have a problem with that but I was flying in a clearing the other day and really opened it up and my god these things can move. Very difficult to watch trees and everything else when it’s belting along.

Haven’t had a nasty crash yet so wish me luck...