Raptor 50 V2, RC Helicopters

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-Raptor 50 V₂-
The BEST, MOST CONSISTENT helicopter I have EVER owned!

Join the Raptor Crazy, You Won't be Disappointed!

*** ORDER OF PAGE ***

- My Setup
- Likes and Dislikes
- My Mods
- First Crash & Fix
- OS 64th Flight Overhaul
- OS 110th Flight Overhaul
- Second Crash
- Flight Log

Check Out My Raptor Movie! Click here

Here is My Setup

Engine	O.S. Max .50 SXH w/crank mod (Beautiful, smooth, loves fuel!)
Muffler	Included with Raptor (Very nice! very shiny!)
Radio	JR 8103 FM, JR Receiver
Servos	Cyclic/ Collective: Futaba 9202 Throttle: Hitec 225
Gyro/Servo	Futaba GY-401/9253 combo (Awesome!)
Fuel	Wildcat 15% Heli (18% oil)
Governor	Throttle Jockey w/ Hitec 525 (Love it)
Battery	Fromeco 2400 Peerless with MPI regulator
Glowplug	O.S. #8
Main Blades	600 mm included with kit (beautiful) or FRP from HERE, unbelievable price $33! (go to online store and do a search for FRP)
Tail Blades	Heliproz Mavrrik sliver tail blades (around 90mm)
Paddles	Miniature Aircraft 3D 20g White paddles, awesome! Stock are great too.
Bought	December 15, 2003
First Crash

LIKES

-Love the new canopy and stickers, very nice.	-Very robust looking parts.
-Very good fit and finish of the overall kit.	-Good tail rotor setup and overall design.
-Love the direct drive of belt from the main mast (no extra gears).	-Tough landing gear.
-Gorgeous TT black and white carbon blades.	-Very nice linkage setup, smooth, slop free.
-Beautiful thin, slop free swashplate.	-VERY smooth tail belt drive.

DISLIKES

-Clutch bell in my kit was a piece of crap! Poor machining.	-Don't care for the grub screws holding the tail hubs but again no problems noted.
-Don't care for the Phillips screws, not that they are a problem.	-Bearing inserts have play due to the screws being to small.
-Ball links seem a little weak or brittle, but no problems noted.	-Don't like the header tank mounting system, cheap, difficult to keep still.
1
For excellent information on the Raptor heli check out Raptor Technique! Thank for a great site!

My Modifications and Such

Here is my Rappy! I love the canopy and many of the other feature of the heli.	As it's to cold to fly I have started adding things :) You can see the output supports for each servo.	Here is the other side with servo output supports.	I bought a new bell and it's 100% better. Here I am drilling 5 countersunk holes using the mill and rotary table. 1-2-04	I put in a frame brace to strengthen the lower frame. I love these machines!	Here is my senor placed for the Throttle Jockey. It was really quite straight forward and easy.
A quick view of the beautiful carbon fiber frame brace included with the kit.	It was much easier to cut carbon then I thought. I used a "fish tail" router... Excellent! 1-20-04	Here is the completed fin set! 1-20-04	Another picture of the fin set. For 1.58mm, the carbon weave is very stiff.	Another look at the fin set.	Here I am with the heli and my support gear ready to "tear up the sky." 3-5-04
Early days of inverted! 3-5-04	Betting braver, not better heheee:) About 8 feet off the deck! I love it! About 45 maintenance free flight so far 3-5-04	Here is the awesome Raptor with its little bro, the Hornet 2. Both helis fly very well. 4-1-04	Here is my modified tool box just for "heli support" :)	Raptor in a rolling nose dive! 5-16-04	Close up and personal inverted! It's about 20 feet off the deck. Check out the Movie. 5-16-04
					Almost down on this autorotation!
			Here I am at my first air show in Peoria! I am truly sad to say that the club decided to ban helicopters after I left. What a backward step for such a nice field. Lets continue to promote the hobby not hinder it.

Raptor Experiences Traumatic Earth Deceleration!
I Finally Dumb Thumbed it in! 8-21-04

Here is the full picture of the heli. Boom sliced at the base, belt lacerated but not broken, and most of the tail section in pieces. O yeah, and the usual stuff.

Here is the head. Not much damage up front luckily. My tail servo's gear stripped but not much else.

The tail case cracked in pieces and the boom slip. Surprisingly, the tail rotor portions stated intact.

Here is the tail section. Saddest part is the tail find broke that I made. Other parts I can replace.

Raptors Back Up! It's Fixed (about $110) and Back to Flying Condition. 8-29-04
Thank you to my bro, Zaig for these awesome pics!

My boom mounts exploded and I turned these pieces for homemade carbon boom supports. JB welded	My tail rotor pushrod and guides where demolished! I remade a carbon pushrod and here is how I connected the ends. JB weld and pinned.	Here you can see the entire pushrod. I just need to make a support for it in the middle by the rear fin.	The Raptor Flies again!!!

Low and fast, Zaig and the camera did an awesome job capturing the rappy.	I did not order the carbon tail blades (duh!) and used KSJ yellow ones. Overall the tail is still very impressive.	My bro got a picture of the rappy in an autorotation. Its flying just as well as before the crash.	Polycarbonate Fin Mount Click Here My Fin mount disintegrated in the crash. Instead of aluminum I made this out of polycarbonate! Butter!

OS .50 Engine Maintaince after 64 flights, 4 gallons
The engine started running a little rough so I decided to take a look at it. I first removed the glow plug and found some solid partials in the element!
O no, is my 50 eating bearings? Worried I decided to open her up. Here are pictures of what I found. 4-11-04

When I first bought the engine, I decided instead of grinding off the entire web, I would lathe .07mm in hopes to retain the rear bearings. What I found was a complete rust ring only on that part! I was disappointed with the results. Also, I always run my engine dry after the flying day.

Here is the crankshaft after just a little buffing. The rust was very superficial and easy to remove with fine steel wool. I decided to grind off 90% of the web in hopes to keep rust from returning.

Here is the rear bearing. Again, superficial rust. Mostly where I made the .07mm indentation on the crankshaft. Again, I found this rust odd.

A few wipes with a paper towel to clean the bearings. The bearing feels very smooth and I found no gritty spots. So far so good.

Here is the newly polished assembly ready for a short break in.

The only other part I found with a very small nick was this part of the cylinder. A quick scrap of a razor blade and the protrusion was gone. No scratches found in the engine. YEAH!

CONCLUSION: It was concluded the partial in the glow plug was burned mineral deposits as they where easily crushed. I found no traces of metal in the engine. Looking good. Some theories as to the rust; engine break in and flying was mostly done in the dead of winter. Excessive temperature changes caused more moisture to be sucked in then normal. Also, cutting off that part of the crankshaft removed any rust inhibiting protectants.

OS .50 Engine Maintaince after 110 flights, 7ish Gallons
The engine started running a little rougher and would speed in and out of aerobatics. I changed the glow plug, which had another small mineral deposit on the element as before and it helped quite a bit. Here is what I found when I opened the engine. 7-11-04

ABSOLUTELY CLEAN!
Not a speck of rust, dirt or scratch. This photo is untouched. The wildcat has done its job. I did find a sign of a lean run on the brass spacer on the head. I have turned the main needle out a few clicks.

Here is the inside. I did not remove the crank and piston as in the last breakdown since it looks so clean. No rust! I am please!

CONCLUSION:
Normal wear, small deposit on glow plug
maybe do to lean run, something stuck in
carb, etc. Prior rust mostly likely due to time of
break-in and flying (winter)

AT THIS TIME:
I have changed all of my fuel line tubes, new OS #8 plug and have "blown" out the carb/

OS 50 FINALLY BUST
It finally cracked and shut off. Luckily I was doing an auto when the I heard a POP....come to find out the cylinder and ring broke. Time for a new engine.
OS 50 Hyper! 6-6-2006

Battery Dies in flight, Sending it back for analysis.. 8-20-2006
I never worried about a battery pack dying on me in flight but, well, I guess there is always a first! 6 month old pack dies in flight and goes to 0 volts. Can you guess what happened next?

About $200+ dollars worth of damage!	I have written to Fromeco about this matter.
HELI FIXED AND SOLD... GREAT HELI, MOVING TO T-REX 600 NITRO

*Date*	*Flying Log*
Bought	December 15, 2003 and first flight January 3, 2003.
1-3	*SHE FLIES!!* It was very cold (36F) but I had to try her out. Even with the engine running very rich she has considerable power!
1-10	Did my first loop, can we say effortless. Just 8 flights to date. The Throttle Jockey is quite interesting as it "holds" the rotor rpm.
1-11	REAL inverted hovering and flying! Many loops and rolls at will! Getting better, total of 6 flights today (14 flights total). The OS loves fuel!
2-20	Staring to do nose over to inverted take offs! I love this helicopter! (28 flights).
3-6	Getting better at inverted hovering! Got it about 8 feet off the deck today! (45 flights).
3-31	*I did my first full down auto with the raptor today!* I then followed up with 33 more (52 flights and not one mechanical problem).
4-7	Awesome! Getting better at controlled inverted hover and flight. Doing more autos from left to right. Love the driven tail (59 flights, 4ish gallons).
4-11	5 more flights but the engine is not running as well. I found gritty material in the glow plug. Above is my engine overhaul after the 64th flights.
4-12	7 flights today after engine overhaul. I can't say it runs any better, worse or with more or less vibration. I am running it a little richer and find the same power. It also seem to flood easier on idle with the same low needle setting. Doing good so far. (71 flights with preventative maintenance.)
4-14	Great flights! 5 more today and another gallon gone. Working on precision flying and backward rolls! Took apart the head today and greased up the thrust bearings. Plan to check over the tailrotor and belt tomorrow. Preventative maintenance! (76 flights!)
4-17	Almost buried it twice today! Once, I got over my head and the second time I severally bogged the engine down after a crazy move (80 flights)
5-20	Well we had some bad weather but I am back up and running. 90 "maintenance free" flights! Check out my movie! click here
5-30	94th flight. *FIRST EVER (planned) engine off autorotation!!* And from the left to the right! Awesome!!!! My engine is starting to bog :(
6-6	98th flight. Inverted hovering down to 5-10 feet (nose in). Staring to attempt pirouetting flips but loosing badly :)
6-12	Raptor hits 100 flights without any crashes and minimal maintenance! It's one great consistent flying helicopter.
6-26	105 flights and still going strong! I almost buried it while getting crazy doing inverted. I am having a tough time with regular nose-in now!
7-11	110 flights and Really almost crashed it doing a tail slide. I held it too long and somehow managed to get out of it before burying the heli! WOW
7-31	My First Air show and what a blast! I was very nervous on my first flight but luckily did not crash. 116 flights so far. Getting vibrations.
8-16	Weathers getting cold and the heli ran wonderfully! Practicing 4-point rolls 10-15 feet off the ground :) 119 flights.
8-21	FIRST CRASH. The raptor experienced traumatic earth deceleration!! 120th flight dumb-thumbed it inverted and tail first!
8-29	BACK UP! The Raptor lives again! Got in 2 great flights with my bro Zaig with all the flips, loops, autos and inverted flight! 2 flights (122 total)
8-20-06	*SECOND CRASH!* The raptor loses all electronics as my new Fromeco Battery dies in flight!

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