Last week, I wrote about the Goblin 380 helicopter which I built and set up for a good friend of mine. I had the build finished for the most part, and was waiting for the tail servo and FBL unit to get to me so I could set it up.

They got here Thursday, September 3, and I got to work installing them and setting up the helicopter. It rained cats and dogs on Friday, so test flying it was a no go.

Yesterday, I was finally  able to take the little guy to the field for some exercise. The first two flights were spent tuning the Bavarian Demon and the Castle governor...both of which were very easy to tune. 

As I mentioned in my last blog post, we decided on the Bavarian Demon 3SX unit, with auto level and captain rescue. I had never used, or even flown a helicopter with either feature before, but they worked flawlessly.

It was actually a little spooky as to how well the auto level worked at keeping the helicopter upright with no inputs being applied. I also have to admit, that the rescue feature scared me a little when I flipped the switch to activate it for the first time. I got the helicopter up to about 100ft and into a weird attitude to try and simulate loss of control, then flipped the switch.  I was not prepared for how fast it would right itself, and I flinched a little when it happened.

After getting the tuning done, I started flying it around to make sure there were no issues I had missed before. But I also just wanted to have some fun with it as well.

Tomorrow, I get to deliver it to its owner, and see her face when she gets it in her hands for the first time. I really love to do things like this, and give back to the hobby. :)

Recently, I was given the opportunity to build a Goblin 380 helicopter for a friend who wants to surprise his wife with it over the Labor Day weekend. Since he could not keep it a secret by building it himself, he asked me to take the kit, and all the necessary components home and build it for him.

I have to say that it was a fun little build, and though I have not test flown it yet, it looks like its going to be a great little machine. The build went very well, and there were no issues with parts quality or fit. The machining on the metal parts is fantastic, and there were no sharp edges or burs on anything.

Since I had a could of weeks to get it ready for the big surprise, I really took my time and made it as clean of a build as I could possibly make it. I sanded all edges of the carbon fiber frames,  ( not just the areas the manual specified, but ALL edges) cleaned them up with alcohol to remove the sanding dust.

Then the fun began. I laid everything out on my table according to the order in which they would be needed, and started my build. I have to say, that for such a small helicopter, there are a lot of parts bags in this kit as you can see in the below photo.

The second night saw a little more progress, with the tail assembly, and most of the electronics being installed. I was still waiting for the Bavarian Demon 3SX, and the tail servo to be delivered, so I could not go much further until they arrived. The next day, I received the the Demon and tail servo, and finished the build.

Its all set up now, and ready for its maiden hover and setup flights now and I will get to do that this weekend. I can`t wait to get this little beast to the field to do the tuning flights.

The electronics which went into this little powerhouse are as follows:

Motor: KDE 500XF-925-G3

ESC: Castle Creations Talon 90

BK DS3001HV x3 cyclic servos

BK DS5005HV x1 tail servo

Bavarian Demon 3SX FBL controller with captain rescue.

Charity RC TATA packs 2200mAh 50C 6S batteries 

My TSA 600N Pro helicopter is in the process of being repaired. I worked on it for a few ours last night after work,( 7-29-15) and got everything cleaned and inspected. I changed the clutch liner, broken right side frame, landing gear, broken main blade grip and bent tail output shaft. I also installed the new YS 60SR engine and Hatori SB-1 pipe.

After all of that, it was moving toward 11PM, and I was too tired to continue. As testimony as to how tough and durable TSA helicopters really are, I removed the main shaft and spindle shaft as I was cleaning and inspecting for hidden damage. Neither shaft was bent. I rolled them on a glass table, and also chucked them in a cordless drill just to be sure and they were both as straight as an arrow.

The only gear on the entire helicopter which was damaged, was the front tail drive gear on the transmission. two teeth were slightly damaged, but not missing. The main bearings all felt good, but I changed them anyway, sine they have a couple hundred flights on them.

The tail output shaft was bent about 45 degrees, but that`s to be expected because it went in tail first from at least 50 feet up. All-in-all, I think my helicopter fared pretty well with how hard it went in. The damage was light, and the repair cost was low, so I`m happy.

I definitely won`t be switching brands anytime soon. As long as TSA Model is producing helicopters, I will be flying them.

A few weeks ago, I put my TSA Infusion 600N Pro helicopter in pretty hard. It was about 50 feet off the ground, and going backward at about 35-40 mph when the right side cyclic servo failed. I tried to save it, but I didn`t have enough control to do it.
So I hit throttle hold and watched it go in.

It hit the ground really hard and bounced a couple of times, and I thought that I was going to have a re-kit on my hands. I was wrong about that..and once again, TSA has proven that they are one of the toughest RC helicopters on the market.

Although I did manage to break a frame on this crash, the damage was very minimal considering the force of the impact. Other than the frame, the only other damage to the airframe was: Tail boom, tail boom supports, torque tube, main blades, landing skid struts, and one main blade grip.

I had all the parts to repair it in stock, but I had to order a frame side. I have never seen a TSA frame break since I have been flying them, so I didn`t think I needed to stock them in my parts bag.

As soon as the frame gets here, I`ll put it back together and have it ready to fly again. I have also decided to change the power plant while its down. I will be pulling the OS50SX Hyper engine and Hatori SAB-50 pipe out of it, and replacing them with a YS60SR engine and a Hatori 60NS-3D (same as the SB-1) pipe.

The nitro helicopters are not the only ones to get some new performance upgrades. My TSA 600E Pro, will be getting BK servos all around this weekend. I will be installing BK DS7001HVs on the cyclic and a BK DS7005HV on the tail. I have been happy with the performance of BK servos on the nitros, so I thought it might be best to put them on the electric as well.

If you guys have not tried Bert`s line of servos, you are really missing out. These servos are fast, reliable, and have insane amounts of torque. Plus an all aluminum case. All these features can cost $200 or more per servo in other brands, but you get them for only $100 each with BK. Lots of bang for the buck here.