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Off Topics > **Century Heli Quality Issue: Potential Hawk Buyers Read This

SteveH
rrProfessor
Location: Texas

Ray,

One more thing, a while ago I was going to fly a camera ship for a friend that is trying to get into the aerial photography business here. I won't tell you the manufacturer, and it really doesn't matter, but it was not Century.

The heli was procured used over the internet, and when my friend received it, it was not in good condition. The helicopter was boxed up, sent to the manufacturer, and was rebuilt. One of the items that was replaced, among others, was the fly bar.

On the initial attempt at flying the heli, the flybar broke on runup, fortunately the heli had not gotten off the ground, and one of the flybar paddles just missed hitting us. When my friend called and talked to the owner of the company, the response he got was "Hm, we've never see that before". There was no offer to look at the broken part, let alone replace it.

On the second attempt to fly the helicopter, on initial spool up, one of the clutch pins broke, the motor turned sideways distorting the frames and locked up. Again, the manufacturer said basically, too bad.

Now being that the heli was purchased used, the owner really didn't have any recourse, however since it was sent back to the manufacturer for rebuild, and believe me it cost a tidy sum, you would think the manufacturer would have more interest than he did.

Not to beat a dead horse here, but all the maufacturers are not as good to stand behind their product as you say. And that is my opinion based on first hand experience.

By the way, the helicopter has since been resold and is out of the country.

SteveH
Magnum Fuel
AMA76186

02-08-2004 05:42 PM

Ray Fernandez
Elite Veteran
Location: Guam (U.S.A.)

Quote
By the way, the helicopter has since been resold and is out of the country.

I didn't buy it...............did I ???

SteveH,

As eloquently as you put it, there are 2 sides to every story. I have been reading this thread for sometime now but haven't heard a peep from the Century top. Maybe to put the issue to rest, Peter should say something in Century's defense, I would think.

Ray Fernandez - GUAM

02-08-2004 07:26 PM

felix62
Heliman
Location: Summit County

Corn_tortilla, I had a GPH in the 90's, it lost a main blade the first time out. Hirorbo replaced the entire kit. I also replaced my tail blades on a JR Venture. I put larger blades on(big mistake). The tail rotor blade grip broke in flight. JR replaced all the broken parts.
Century should replace the entire kit seeing it was there part that failed.
Ray

02-08-2004 08:54 PM

rp56
Senior Heliman
Location: Woodland, WA

as far as the 2 sides to the story. that is something that i said back 1 page or so. not to take or degrade corns word, but most of the posts on the hawk says that you should take apart and lock tite the bolts so on and so fourth. if that is the case was there a mistake on putting it back together? we will never know. \

also people look over this to. how many hawks are out there? is this the only one to have this problem? again, what about the end point settings? not that its ok that the ball was the wrong size, did it bind up in flight? theses are things that we do not know. stop trying to tear a company apart without the facts, it might be different if we knew the whole story.

Paul

02-08-2004 08:58 PM

rp56
Senior Heliman
Location: Woodland, WA

Ray
you are the special one here, most companies would not replace parts or kits for your mistakes, your situation is not normal, and you know it. so stop trying to make this sound bigger than it really is.

Paul

02-08-2004 09:02 PM

rickc
Elite Veteran
Location: Creve Coeur IL. (Peoria Area)

Quote
Ray you are the special one here, most companies would not replace parts or kits for your mistakes, your situation is not normal, and you know it. so stop trying to make this sound bigger than it really is. Paul

From what I read Ray was not the cause of the issues he discussed.

I had a JR servo fail on a CS and Horizon stood behind it 100%, didn't even want to see the heli and shipped me over 600.00 in replacement parts. That's top-notch customer service. I can't believe Century would try to pass the buck in this situation, but when they probably pay some guy 20 cents and hour to put heli's together they probably don't get the best help to build their econo heli's.

I would not own a Century product myself after hearing of the poor customer service in my opinion. I will also try to pass on to as many as possible the way they treat the darksiders that have already been drawn in. I have a friend who is a darksider, hat and all. So far I have to say he has had good luck but this pilot is also a very experienced modeler, one of those guys that just does everything right the first time. Except for his choice of flying Century, he has a Raptor 50 on the way. I hope I can convert him back from the darkside.

Rick

02-08-2004 09:25 PM

HOMEPAGE

Kaos2
Senior Heliman
Location: Tennessee

RP56

Obviously, you don't fly a Hawk. The swashplate is of the composit type. You don't loctite parts into plastic. Nothing, again I say nothing, in the instructions tells you to take apart the items they've already assembled and "glue" the parts back in. For the rest who miss the detail, Corn did not say this was an ARF. The swashplate comes preassembled in all Hawk kits and Century is responsible for correct assembly. If this was something purchased a Walmart, you'd take it back & demand a full refund. Century should do the same!

02-08-2004 09:29 PM

rp56
Senior Heliman
Location: Woodland, WA

koas2,
yah i have a hawk, yah the swash is composit, whats your point. i never said that you lock tite the swash, or did i?

most people are smart enough to know that plastic does not get lock tite. just in case, if you read the manual on the hawk it has blow up pic front to back. and it says DO NOT lock tite the plastic in several places. there are a lot of places that need to be taken apart to lock tite. i knew this before i bought the hawk just from looking on RR.

corn said that he did not buy the ARF. good point, all the more resaon to go over it before you fly. before you claim that century is at fault make sure that you know the facts. if century is wrong then replace it, but from all i read here does not say century is at fault. look at how many hawks are out there, how many have the same problem? answer that before you point and blame, if there is a few out there in the same state then Century should step up, but 1 NO. if century or anyone replaces stuff for free because the buyer claims that it was bad from the store after flight is going to be out of business shortly. it seems that you all want something for free, not corn, but all of you that run to his side. be responsible for your own actions. how many people would change parts on their heli if they could get new helis free after a crash?

Paul

02-08-2004 10:35 PM

the Wasp
rrProfessor
Location: Vt

I'm missing something here,,, was the ball a 2mm ball ??,,, or was the plastic rod end a 2mm end ??

Jim

Jim
Buzz Buzz Buzz

02-09-2004 12:08 AM

rp56
Senior Heliman
Location: Woodland, WA

ray,

i am sorry to mix up your post before. all i am trying to say is that there is a lot of beat up century here, thats fine, but at least base the beating on facts that are clear. if i where in corns shoes, i do not know what i would do. its easy to talk tough about what i would do or not do. i bought a few things awhile back from helihobby, (over one month ago) the tracking shows that i got it, i never did, i do not go around talking **** about that company, i will not buy there unless its a do or die, and maybe still, no.

i am looking at what corn started, if he is in the right century should step up, but i nor you know that. there are a lot of people that want to nail century to a cross, i am just trying to see where they think that its their right to say and do as they please on such a big network whith out knowing what really is the case. i work just as hard for corn or you for my money and the last thing i want is to give it away. i said this a few times before, if century is wrong they need to pay the price, but there is no prof here that says they are wrong, thats all.

Paul

02-09-2004 12:08 AM

Seaviper
Senior Heliman
Location: Ft Lauderdale

Corn....dude

I checked out your gallery...and it has nothing but crashed birds....doh!

I have flown Hawks for years and believe me all the posts I've seen on RR about hawk problems have been nothing other than newbie mistakes. Check all your linkages before EVERY flight. Ever heard of a preflight....do one. That loose ball could have been caught by wiggling the swash. It didn't loosen up from flying...it was loose before you left the deck.

Go get another Hawk or a Nexus, strap on a hoola hoop and go learn how to fly...

If you haven't crashed an RC model, then you probably have never flown one. I have lost a few due to mechanical problems, and some due to pilot error. The mechanical one was an F4U ARF and it was not my fault. But, That's part of it. Just do a really good preflight...believe me, that ball did not just come out while flying...it was damaged either by you or by them ..but in either case you could have caught it.

Every time I spool up, I do a control check...left right fwd back pitch up down..and look for erratic behavior. I have had throttle arms come off (alot of fun), starter adapters come off, fan/clutch nuts loosen, etc. Its all preventable...I just missed those items or forgot to loctite them. Those thing have only happened once...I check for them now. Try to learn from your mistakes.

And get back on the horse and go fly...

Patrick
O|||||||O

02-09-2004 12:10 AM

HOMEPAGE

rp56
Senior Heliman
Location: Woodland, WA

WAIT seaviper,

did you say mechanical problems? you just might be able to get a new heli kit

free of charge. i am sure that its not your fault they crashed.

Sorry i could not help myself on this one

Paul

02-09-2004 12:17 AM

corn_tortilla
Heliman
Location: Round Rock

SeaViper, Your right. My gallery has 3 crashes in it.

I laughed, I cried, and yelled at myself over every one

I actually crashed my Caliber 3 times total all in 1 month (All due to stupid newbie mistakes). The first one was because I tried doing a shart turn (?Knife's Edge?) and lost altitude to quickly. The second one, was setting the gyro up in Non-HH mode (repairing from the 1st crash). (It got to high and I over-corrected; thus making it worst etc... ) The third one was because I tried to do a loop (started at to low of altitude) and the it landed a little too-hard (Boom-Strike). All of those happened in first month of owning my heli (Heli-proz made some $$$ on shipping). But I've also put ~4 cases of fuel since then over the past 3-4 months w/o any incident on that bird since my last crash. I've learned my limitations & the heli's limitations
(Why I'm adding new toys to the collection.)

I think you may have missed the point, so I'll summarize:
*The swashplate was supposed to have qty(3) 3mm balllinks on it.
*The swashplate in my kit had qty(2) 3mm balllink + qty(1) 2mm balllink
*It wasn't an ARF
*I didn't dissamble the swashplate ("Some assemblies come pre-assembled" in instructions )
*I did do a preflight check and everything appeared fine (this was the heli's 5th small flight)
*The 2mm balllink is the one that came out.
*Century claims it's impossible that the swash came w/ 2mm balllink
*I'm out ~$160 in replacement parts (and 3 weeks time)
*If doing a climbout procedure is 3d, Curtis Youngblood is gonna have a run for his $money$

The Century reps have tried to help me out (Thanks Steve & Lift); but it's the (policy?/politics?/greed?/Something?) at the corporate office that doesn't care about keeping their customer base happy and as A RETURNING CUSTOMER.

~corn
PS. Still waiting on Century's Public Record....

02-09-2004 03:45 AM

rp56
Senior Heliman
Location: Woodland, WA

hi corn, i am not agaist you in any way, just do not agree with some peoples ideas.

did you buy all the parts to rebuild your hawk for 160? i hope that you didn't. look at this site www.dreamhobbies.com
for 159 you can buy the whole kit.

i hope that it saves you a little money. good luck on your outcome with your old hawk.

Paul

02-09-2004 06:22 AM

corn_tortilla
Heliman
Location: Round Rock

Thanks for the suggestion... However there are a couple of parts that are special to the Bell 222 kit. Ordering individually over the kit is cheaper. I should hopefully have my parts in this week though. Pitty the shell is done; but the mechs aren't (should work the other way).

~corn

02-09-2004 07:26 AM

Seaviper
Senior Heliman
Location: Ft Lauderdale

hey corn put up some photos of that 222.....I'm doing a ToysRUs AH-6 conversion myself(little doubtful but others have had luck doing it).

cya

btw...I learned how on a Nexus, then built a Miniature Xcell 60 ST. I really do like the Hawk better than either...dont laugh...its true.

Patrick
O|||||||O

02-09-2004 11:27 AM

HOMEPAGE

Steve Campbell
Elite Veteran
Location: Baton Rouge, LA

Goodness.

Well, I see nothing has changed.

Nobody seems concerned that (according to Century) the wrong size ball was on the swashplate. Again, according to Century, that could never happen at the factory. Right. Gee, where have I heard that before? Something about a snap ring...

So we are left to assume that Corn changed it out, won't admit to it, and that's what caused the disaster? Of course; certainly the product could not be at fault, so that leaves the dummy who built it and believed the stuff that was already done was up to snuff.

BTW, Corn, I hope you caught the sarcasm there. I was NOT truly calling you a dummy. You see, I've been where you are. Not as bad, my Hawk didn't crash. But when I posted my troubles (three separate problems), more out of annoyance than anything else, the litanies of "You must have done this or that wrong" began.

I'll say this about you guys (Century cheerleaders); you're all consistent...

02-09-2004 01:56 PM

pistole
Veteran
Location: Heli Land ....

Without getting into a brawl , SEAVIPER's comments about tugging on all your links as part of your preflight is a very good and valid comment.

If CORN had done that , it would have been difficult to miss a loose link.

There are so many variables in this hobby that for a manufacturer to take your word for it every time would make it real difficult to do business.

The other day , the covering on the stock-woodies of my Rap60 came off in flight. The thing flapped about and I lost lift , almost crashed too. Could I claim against TT for damage ? I think not.

Rap70. TT70.Rap50. TT50.RD8000.

02-09-2004 03:09 PM

Falcon SE
Senior Heliman
Location: College Station, TX

I am a little confused here. As I recall the initial contention was the ball link pulled out of the Swash. Ie... the screw pulled out of the aluminum/plastic body. Now from what I am reading its the swash ball coming off the plastic link because it was the wrong size?

02-09-2004 04:56 PM

SteveH
rrProfessor
Location: Texas

The ball pulled out of the outer ring of the swash because it was a ball with a 2mm stud in a hole designed for a 3mm stud. The thing that comes to mind to me is, I've been flying Century helis of all types, except electric, since 2000, and I don't recall ANY 2mm studed balls in ANY Century heli. Don't know if Century even has any 2mm balls, but I will check.

SteveH
Magnum Fuel
AMA76186

02-09-2004 05:05 PM

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