pariah Senior Heliman Location: West Valley City, UT - United States of America
| I'm almost finished with the build of my N9. Here are my thoughts: * I went with the HyperDrive & HyperHub. These are, if nothing else wonderfully fast to build - removing many steps from the build process, and removing opportunities to make mistakes. I was about to put together many of the tail drive components when I realized that the HyperDrive made it unnecessary... * I also started out with quite a few SE parts. I figured I'd start out with no place to "upgrade". * I used a torque wrench to tighten all bolts. It makes it a lot easier to not strip out any threads... especially the aluminum parts which are really easy to strip threads (or bolt heads) with. * The SE anti-rotation guide: I'm not sure if it's pure bling or if the stock part wears quickly. Either way, I do need to take a Dremel to it. The long control rod that reaches past it ends up touching the guide at the endpoints of travel. The metal-on-metal and its accompanying RF interference isn't something I want to deal with. It's a pity too; it's a beautiful piece, and there's no way it's going to be as pretty when I'm done grinding it.
Now I have the task of figuring out how to get all of the radio gear installed, routed, and installed...
I couldn't help but think of how tough the heli has got to be - stock, it's got a T/R diameter & heavier flybar & paddles I've seen on turbines weighing almost twice as much.
It may not beat the ground, but at least the ground will know it was in a fight.
In the process of building, I decided that a HyperCollar would be a better idea than the stock part; a solid clamp will no doubt get more friction & not slide around.
Now I have to wait for my painted canopy from <foo>... meanwhile I'll be painting the same design on a second canopy. After doing the math, it seems pretty apparent that it's a good deal on materials alone - I spent $80+ on paint, primer and masking materials - clearcoat and labor isn't even accounted for.
Suddenly the various pro painters are looking much more reasonable in their costs. Though I won't touch the guys who don't do custom jobs; I appreciate the people who can take a drawing and turn it into a reality.
-- Helicopters & Women: The last thing I want is one whose head has a few loose screws. |