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Graupner Koala-Bell 230-Elektro Skaler > Woo Hoooo, got my new 230 kit back

Scott Reed
Senior Heliman
Location: Southern California

Just got my brand spankin new 230 kit BACK .

What a SWEEET fuse, the white gellcoat is smooth and straight, and the parts fit between the main fuse and the topcap is near perfect.

The wood parts just fall out of the diecut wood board . my instruction manual came in only german, but I will try to work that out with Sandy .
In keeping true to my obsession with Hirobo heli's, the 230 will get Eagle mechanics, with the Rx./batt. tray removed to give me the most room upfront for a detailed cockpit area .

Rx. and batt. will be relocated, to hide them best as possible .

regards, Scott Reed

08-14-2003 Over year old.

SkidDo
Heliman
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Sweet

Sounds sweet Skypilot, good luck with the fuse and let us all know how its coming on.You might even show us some pics,and to all you graupner heim/vario guys WAKE UP ! there just has to be more of you hiding out there in the woods.

08-29-2003 Over year old.

HOMEPAGE

89X-CELL60
Heliman
Location: Denver, Colorado

Woo Hooo Toooo :)

Just ordered mine yesterday from Sandy.

I too will be using different mechanics than the Graupner/Heim. I will be installing my 10 year old X-Cell 60. The only hard part I can see is the tail rotor drive, I will need to drill a hole in the tail to get to the set screws. Good thing I kept my old wire drive components when I went to the torque tube.

I HATE

to paint, and cutting fiberglass is not my cup of tea. I am surprised that not more people are using these fuselages. I may do mine in a Mercy Medical style.

Can't wait

David

08-29-2003 Over year old.

Scott Reed
Senior Heliman
Location: Southern California

HUH ?

hi David,

congrats on joining me in the 230 project, come on guys !, lets see some more guys jump into Groupner fuse kits .

what holes are you talking about drilling ?, and why would you not run a torque tube ?.

I'm going with Hirobo Eagle mechanics in my 230, and WILL use the torque tube drive .

I just finished a 50 size long ranger for a friend, and we installed a bitchin carbon torque tube drive, it's easy, and WAY more reliable, and substantialy smoother, lastly, no unsightly holes in a beautiful fuse

regards, Scott Reed

08-30-2003 Over year old.

Naomi
Elite Veteran
Location: Ontario, Canada

wire drive?.. oh dear.. David , you spends lots on that nice fuselage and you're going use wire drive in a graupner.. put a torque tube in in much better. Don't the graupner fuselage comes with tube drive?.. My vario airwolf does.

Naomi

08-30-2003 Over year old.

HOMEPAGE

89X-CELL60
Heliman
Location: Denver, Colorado

Holes and Torque tubes

Hello SKYPILOT and Heli_Gal,

I'm using the wire drive on the suggestion from Sandy. Sandy said if I wanted to run the torque tube, I would have to get with MA to get a special ordered shaft. I have the 30" boom, and this fuselage can run up to 710 mm blades, it is not long enough. If there is a proper sized torque drive that I can use I would be willing to try it. But, I did read on V-Eastonline that Wolfgang Simon recommends the wire drive as well. It is lighter, witch will only help my OS 61 SFN

The hole I mentioned will be at the back of the tail boom so I can get to the grub screws to tighten down the 2 mm wire drive. I cannot use the loop end drive wire that comes with the 230, I will have to use the old style MA wire drive output shafts with a 2 mm wire that will fit between the output drive of the mechanics and the input drive to the tail rotor.

Heli_Gal, the 230 does not come with a torque tube drive, just the wire drive.

Thanks for any input,
David

08-31-2003 Over year old.

Scott Reed
Senior Heliman
Location: Southern California

230 with wire drive

hey david

Sandy and Wolfgang are certainly some of the best in this hobby/buessness, and they have got the wire drive thing working for them .

but in this hobby, you have to stay with what work for YOU, and the drive shaft (torque tube) works for me, so that will continue to be my choice for driving the tail .

so if you did decide to give the driveshaft a shot, it would be very simple to adapt to your use, heres how, use the end pieces from your current driveshaft, by simply heating the JB Weld (if that was used to glue on the ends) to remove them from the current driveshaft, next look up a arrowshaft dealer in your area, archery stores work great for this, then bring your arrowshaft and a caliper with you to the archery store, and match up a new one in the length you need plus a little, just to be sure, and the caliper is to get the same outer diameter, so the new shaft will fit in your bearing/or bearing's as it were .

when you find the one you want roll it on the glass counter, again, just to be sure, and thats it, take it home and put it back together, like the old one was, only at the new length

, simple, it probably took longer to explain this then it would actually take to do the whole deal

that's just what works for me, if this does'nt sound like your vibe, by all means, don't hesitate to do the wire, if you get with Sandy for help, you can't lose

regards, Scott Reed

08-31-2003 Over year old.

89X-CELL60
Heliman
Location: Denver, Colorado

Tail Boom?

Scott,

Do you use the tail boom as well? I have one of MA's old style single walled CF booms, it is very light and thin. I used in my Black Shark fuselage, nice thing about it was I did not need to add nose weight. But, it too is 30 inches, cannot use it as is.

Thanks for your help,

David

09-05-2003 Over year old.

optikaman
Veteran
Location: EnglishTown N.J.

xcell tail drive

SKYPILOT , you can try to use the fury extreme torque tube it is 33 inches long. will that be long enough for the 230? if you use the fury drive you will need to change the drive bearings as well. the new shaft is larger in diameter.

if you have the old type torque tube then it is a beaman hunter arrow shaft and you should be able to get a replacement blank shaft from a hunting-sporting goods shop. ask for a 80/100 shaft and i beleve they are 36 inches long. jb weld on some new ends and you are set to go

Alan...

09-10-2003 Over year old.

Scott Reed
Senior Heliman
Location: Southern California

sorry about the delay in replying

hi guys,

its been a busy time around here, anyway,

89x-cell60, yes I am using "part" of the torque tube, i'm only using a small section of the tube to locate the center bearing in a former that i'll scratch build, since mine is an aluminum tube, I, like you am concerned about weight in the tail, and the fuse is plenty strong enough to not need a full length tube.

if you deside to run a full length boom, than DO go with a carbon one to help save weight.

optikaman,

your advise is right on the money for 89x-cell60, and i'm sure thats who it was meant for, as my 230 will get Hirobo Eagle mechanics.

stay in this thread though, as your MA knowlage can help 89x-cell60. I'm just not that familier with MA so i'm reluctent to advise in that area

regards, Scott Reed

09-10-2003 Over year old.

89X-CELL60
Heliman
Location: Denver, Colorado

A BIG THANK YOU

Thanks Scott and Alan,

I ordered the Graupner Bell 230 2-weeks ago and still do not have it. But when I do, I will dry fit everything and then use the 2 mm wire drive to figure out the torque tube length, might as well get some use out of it

I will check my local Sporting Goods for the arrow shafts, I read on RR to use good thick CA on the ends not the JB Weld, never mind I think that was for the boom supports

Where the heck is that fuselage

Thanks again,
David

09-10-2003 Over year old.

Scott Reed
Senior Heliman
Location: Southern California

don't use c a for this

use only JB weld or Aeropoxy to bond the ends, and you want to ruff up the ends just a bit, and alcohol everything before mixing

and I AM going to use a full length carbon boom afterall, as the weight of a carbon boom is negligible, but it will stiffen up the scale boom area, so it's worth it .

regards, Scott Reed

09-11-2003 Over year old.

Gyroflyer
Heliman
Location: Billings, Montana

V-East

My wife and I went to Florida for our vacation in September and made a special trip to see Sandy at V-East. When we finally got there, we were welcomed beyond belief by Sandy and his wife. They really went out of their way for us. Sandy even flew his jet NH 90 for us. Being from Montana, you don't see RC jet helicopters.

After dealing with brand X, I decided to look into another scale brand. I had looked into Graupner and found V-East. The selling point was his building site for pretty much every helicopter he sells plus most of the windows and openings are already cut out. I ended up getting the BO-105 and what a beautiful bird it is.

Sandy is very good at what he does and has an honest and professional attitude toward this hobby. From what I have seen, I plan to do more business with Sandy (I want the Bell 230 next) as long as I can keep the wife from finding out.

Mark

10-09-2003 Over year old.

Scott Reed
Senior Heliman
Location: Southern California

UPDATE ! edited original thread to reflect some changes

see original thread for update

regards, Scott Reed

11-09-2003 Over year old.

89X-CELL60
Heliman
Location: Denver, Colorado

You came back!

Here I thought you were going to Vario only for the 230!

The Gas 230 should be real Sick! I think that means Cool

But anyway, I will be starting mine hopefully in December. I decided to complete my CFI before working on the 230.

Do you, or anyone for that matter, have any ideas for me on doing a cheap (LEDs) Navigation and Anti-Collision lights? Radio Shack has very limited choices on their LEDs. I wanted to get a JR Match Box for the landing gear and use the extra channel for the Navigation lights. I wanted to get all the LEDs to handle 4.8 to 5.5 Volts and hook them up in parallel, but it might be in series at 9 Volts because the LEDs are in the 2 Volts area. The stinky thing about putting them in series is having to use some kind of switch to turn them on and off with one of the landing gear servos.

Glad to see you back! We should do a step by step so people can see what it takes to do a Graupner 230 with different mechanics.

Keep us up to date,

David

11-10-2003 Over year old.

Scott Reed
Senior Heliman
Location: Southern California

Never really left

Hi David,

I sorta never really left, I had sold it to my boss, (who also happens to be one of my flying buddies), and was going to be commissioned to build it anyway.

But a couple things happened at the same time !, he decided to sell the Groupner 230 kit to help finance a new motorcycle, and I had no luck in trying to sell my Hirobo Eagle, or Hirobo Dauphin to help finance my Vario 230 project.

I really like both versions, but I can't go forward on the Vario 230 until something changes financially, and I could'nt bear the thought of the Groupner 230 leaving the family (as it were), so I bought it back, and am moving forward on it.

By using my Hirobo Eagle as mechanics (already a flyer), i'm able to do this one relatively inexpensively.

A couple weeks ago I got a chance to fly a BRAND NEW Vario Benzine trainer, and it was TRUELY SICK

, it was the smoothest gasser i'v ever flown, it ran and flew like a Rolex, so as soon as I can afford it, i'll move forward on it as well.

I guess the coolest thing is, I get to experience BOTH versions

regards, Scott Reed

11-10-2003 Over year old.

skycom
Senior Heliman
Location: Shropshire, UK

As you're building your Graupner with Eagle mechanics, is it correct to assume that Freya mechanics would also fit the 109 fuselage?

http://www.smhc.org.uk/
QUK Team Pilot

12-10-2003 Over year old.

Scott Reed
Senior Heliman
Location: Southern California

Intresting Question

Hello,

good question, a friend of mine is working on a private buy on a Groupner A-109 for an elect. conversion.

when and if he gets it, i'll drop my Freya in it for a trial fit.

he's in the middle of closing escrow on his townhome, and plans to do the 109 deal upon closing escrow in a week or so..........

regards, Scott Reed

12-10-2003 Over year old.

doorman
Elite Veteran
Location: E.Berne, NY

Freya fitting in Graupner Fuse??

Please add me to the list when you try this. I have the Freya and have been looking towards the Graupner line of fuselages.
And Skypilot mentioned flying the Vario Benzin. I have to say he is without a doubt correct about his feelings on the way it flies. You cannot put enough oooo's in smooth to explain it. Thanks and Merry Christmas

12-24-2003 Over year old.

Scott Reed
Senior Heliman
Location: Southern California

Update, Measurements made

Hi Guys,

My boss took delivery of a shiney new Groupner Agusta A-109 kit, so I promply took my trusty Hirobo Freya to work to take measurments for us all.

Well, the news is not good

, the boom mount is about 2" too high for the Agusta fuse, and the front top of the Freya servo tray, as well as the collective pitch arm foul the Agusta's top hatch

.

The latter two problems could be fixed, but the boom would somehow have to be lowered apx. 2"s, and then angled up at the same angle as the Agusta's boom, so thats dead.

The GOOD news is, the Freya and Eagle DOES FIT inside the Groupner Bell 230 fuse. I test fitted BOTH and they fit about the same.

Both will need to be raised between 1/4 -1/2" to allow their booms a straight shot through the 230s boom, and the stock belt drive on the Freya is about 1/4 -1/2 too short to be located in the "Exact Scale location", this would not matter to most, as you can just route a notch in the body, and have the tailrotor "slightly forward of scale", it would be so slight, most would'nt notice unless pointed out

.

So, my plan is still to run the Eagle in the 230, BUT, I may end up with the Freya in it instead if i'm unable to aquire a Benzine trainer for the Vario Bell 230, then the Eagle would need to go in there instead.

WSHOOOO, so many projects, TOO many choices for each project, it makes my brain hurt alot

regards, Scott Reed

12-25-2003 Over year old.

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Graupner Koala-Bell 230-Elektro Skaler > Woo Hoooo, got my new 230 kit back

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