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E-flite . Next D . Fast Lad Performance

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Century Hawk - Falcon - Raven - Predator > Jeez..Century must have had a newbie working on my SE
 
 
SJN
Senior Heliman
Location: Denmark EKCH

Hmmmmmm.......... I was looking closely at my Hawk 30 SE ARF rotor head and comparig it with pics and the manual.... And jeez What do I see. My rotor head has been built completely wrong!

I couldn`t understand why my radius link was brushing up against the stationary swashplate each time it passed one of the stationary balls.. (this was with the transmitter sticks at end points)
THEY HAD PUT THE RADIUS LINK ON THE LONG BALL LINKS ON THE ROTARY PART OF THE SWASH, INSTAED OF THE SHORT ONES!.

And further....THE WASHOUT ARMS WERE TURNED 180 DEGREES!

And the last bit, mY WASHOUT TO FLYBAR RODS WERE TOO LONG!.

Im a newbie at his heli thing........Im lucky I found out by myself.
Century must have had a new dude build my Hawk, I wonder how many he has built before he noticed the flaws.

I have hovered mine about 20 times before I found the flaw. So it will fly, but Its just not the right setup. If I would have given full fore/aft throw, My radius link would have snaped......and god knows what would happen.

SJ.
04-19-2002 Over year old.
 
 
whrlybrd
Senior Heliman
Location: Little Rock, AR

Glad you found the errors. It is why I reccommend to new fliers a kit instead of an ARF. If you do acquire an ARF then take it apart and get to know it piece by piece. IMO it makes you a better flier. You are ahead of the game by taking the time to look at the setup and correct the mistakes, way to go!
04-20-2002 Over year old.
 
 
SJN
Senior Heliman
Location: Denmark EKCH

heh...flys much better now...more responsive.....go figure

SJ
04-22-2002 Over year old.
 
 
Hughes500Pilot
Key Veteran
Location: Anaheim, CA

No Surprise Here...

You get what you pay for. Why do you think century has the "cheapest" helis out there.

As I have stated in several posts in the past, I have seen too many problems with the Century line. You think this problem is bad, just wait until your tail rotor wire fatigues and breaks from "tail rotor windup". You are going to wind up crashing your heli. Just what Century is hoping you do (so you can buy new parts). -Steve
04-22-2002 Over year old.
 
 
scotter
Senior Heliman
Location: Elkton, MD

Have you had this happen?

Are you saying you've had the tail drive wire fatigue and break on you? I've been flying my Hawk for a couple of seasons now and haven't had any problems, other than my own dumb thumbs. However, I'm interested to hear your experience.
04-22-2002 Over year old.
 
 
SJN
Senior Heliman
Location: Denmark EKCH

Hmm...well, I dont like the way mine was put together, but hey...stuff happens.
Other than that, Im pleased with it. The mechanics look sturdy, and sound good. Flys realy well too....now anyway
And I like the way it is designed. Verry easy to pull apart without having to unscrew all other stuff to get to the part you have to replace.

Also, I have learnt that setup of the heli is crucial of making it fly from ok to great. This probably goes for all helis.

Im going to buy their 60 size when it comes out.......if the price is right, and if it is as well designed as the hawk series.

SJ.
04-22-2002 Over year old.
 
 
Hughes500Pilot
Key Veteran
Location: Anaheim, CA

Yes, I have heard of it happening several times and I have seen it happen twice. -Steve
04-23-2002 Over year old.
 
 
the Wasp
rrProfessor
Location: Vt

Hughes500Pilot

Hey Steve,,, if you have a Hawk or Falcon, SE or not, and you want to give it to me I'll take it !!

the Wasp
04-23-2002 Over year old.
 
 
E2C_Mech
Heliman
Location: Round Hill, VA

Steve,

I purchased the Hawk IV kit at the beginning of the year. The manual was from (August) I believe. There was a few mistakes in the manual that would make it hard for a newbie to build this heli right. Most of what I saw was the parts that have been changed in the kit that there manual did not support, no big deal to figure it out, but it could be for a newbie. The push rod lengths were wrong in the manual. One other mistake is the position of the main shaft washer. They have corrected the lengths and the washer position in there latest version of the manual but the parts mistakes are still there. Also the way they tell you to load the head. We have emailed them with this question and have not received and answer. My buddy has a Falcon SE and it gives the same description.

I loved the way this heli flies. It was very responsive. I had about 30 flights on it when I was going into a turn and the tail twitched. Coming out of the turn the heli starts into uncontrollable spins. I did not have any tail control. It went in pretty hard. I have a CSM 540 with the Futaba 9253. Gyro and servo are working fine. What I found to be the problem I believe was the wire drive spun at the tail where the tail gear mounts. At first I thought that the set screw might have loosened up but with the screw being lock tited in place, I had to break the seal as normal to remove this. I have kept the wire drive, and is very easy to see how the set screw spun on the wire. I want to personally show this to Peter as I go to all the trade shows and want to know what he thinks. Because I love the way this heli flies, I have bought another kit. I will keep a close eye on this screw. I also added a second screw this time on the shaft. I hope that it was just an isolated case. I hope I have better luck this time. Howie
04-23-2002 Over year old.
 
 
scotter
Senior Heliman
Location: Elkton, MD

Screw spun on shaft

Did you grind a flat on the wire before installing and tightening the screw? This is an essential step, and I could understand how someone could miss this step in the instructions.
04-23-2002 Over year old.
 
 
SJN
Senior Heliman
Location: Denmark EKCH

hmm..there is no grind on my wire either on my ARF kit, but I have also put a second screw on it. Should hold up..

SJ
04-23-2002 Over year old.
 
 
the Wasp
rrProfessor
Location: Vt

I have just finished building a Hawk4 SEV2,,, I will be flying this weekend,,, my wire tail drive already had the flat ground into it,,, I truly don't know how the Raptor guys can slam the Centurys,,, you can planly see it's a superior product !!!!!

the Wasp
04-23-2002 Over year old.
 
 
ESchmidt
Senior Heliman
Location: Salem, NH

the Wasp,

"I truly don't know how the Raptor guys can slam the Centurys,,, you can planly see it's a superior product !!!!! "

You're joking...right? Obviously you have never seen or built a quality heli.

I am in the process of building a Hawk 3 for my latest scale project and I can say without hesitation that it is the biggest POS I have ever put my hands on. The control layout is a mess, the counter gear off of the clutch bell is warped, the flybar control arms had no threads in them for the set screws, the elevator pushrod has no threads cut on it, the scale muffler that THEY make for THEIR mechanics doesn't fit or allow for setting the idle mixture screw, getting the engine in and out is pure torture, and there is slop everywhere. I haven't even flown it yet and I can say that the Raptor is a much better machine, and I don't even like those.

The whole time I was building it I had to keep repeating to myself..."It's just a Century...It's just a Century."

All I'm going to say is "Never again will I buy or recommend any Century helis to anyone."

Eric
04-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
driftrider
Veteran
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA. (In my own little world)

Other than my fan breaking fiasco, which was mostly my fault since I didn't check the engine alignment in both directions, my Raven 50 has been a really good heli. It has no slop at all, it set up very easily, and it flys great.

One thing I'm starting to realize is that, no matter what kind of heli you own, whether it be a bone stock Rappy, or a tricked out Vigor CS with all the fixin's, there is no such thing as a problem-free heli. These machines consist of dozens of parts that each must fit just so for the bird to be perfect. If one screw hole is machined/molded 1/2mm off, it can throw the whole thing out of whack.

But isn't that part of the fun of R/C modeling? If every heli built and flew perfectly every time, how much fun would that be? I for one enjoy problem solving when something gets screwed up.

No ARF's for me, thank you...I'll build it myself, then there's only me to blame when it self-destructs.

Mike
04-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
ESchmidt
Senior Heliman
Location: Salem, NH

I totally agree with you Mike, but there is no excuse for having to re-engineer a machine just because it was designed by a bunch of mentally retarded 3rd graders.

Maybe it's just the Hawk 3 that is the problem. One of the guys I fly with has a Raven and he seems to like it alot. Or maybe I'm just spoiled with the quality of my Robbes.

Can you tell I'm frustrated?

Eric
04-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
the Wasp
rrProfessor
Location: Vt

I had no problems with my Hawk4 SE2, not one,,, and I had no problems with the linkage, not one !!!,,, would you like me to build you Hawks for you guy's ?

the Wasp
04-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
E2C_Mech
Heliman
Location: Round Hill, VA

Scotter,

There is a flat spot on the 2mm drive wire when you get it. I will check the set screws before each flight. My Nexus has the same system, and have not had any problems. I think this might be an isolated case. Howie
04-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
scotter
Senior Heliman
Location: Elkton, MD

Flat spot

Howie, the one end of the tail drive wire is flattened to plug into the drive gear at the front. The other end, however, (at the tail) needs to have a flat ground into it so the set screw has some area to bear upon. This is in the instructions, step 34A. This is not done by Century, you have to do it.
SJ, I would highly urge for you to add this flat if you do not have it. The drive wire is somewhat hardened, and, as a result, the set screws won't get much 'bite' into it. It only takes five minutes with a dremel. Just counting on the small area of contact on the outer diameter of the drive wire is asking for trouble, IMHO.
04-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
Phoenix-IT
Senior Heliman
Location: Dallas, TX

Don't kill me for making the suggestion..... but you can buy the shaft driven tail kit for less than $60.... why not just do that?

Chad
04-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
driftrider
Veteran
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA. (In my own little world)

Phoenix,

I think that crash cost is the biggest reason most don't go to the torque tube tail drive. $60 isn't alot until you spend it several times after every crash. My Raven 50 came with the torque tube drive which is really nice, but I haven't crashed it yet. (1 gallon and going good...knock on wood).

Mike
04-24-2002 Over year old.
 
 
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Century Hawk - Falcon - Raven - Predator > Jeez..Century must have had a newbie working on my SE
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