I have just been given ......

[PKNEC]

This...
its a twister 3d I have never heard of it,so can anyone shed some light on this Heli as to spares availability, fly-ability etc.
I know from having a quick check around that one of the servos has stripped gears,so can anyone recommend a replacement and possibly the main shaft is bent?
I don't mind spending a few quid on it and run it as a hack,but I would like to know what you folks think first?
Cheers,
Paul

19102012256.jpg19102012253.jpg

[johnsandywhite]

I learned to fly on a Twister 3D (see my Avatar). It is a COPY of the Blade 400 3D. All the Blade parts fit. Excellent and cheap model to learn on.

Just looked at your photos. Are you SURE it is a Twister 3D and NOT a Twister CP? Different animal.

This is a Twister 3D:- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6600090-Tw...item27bef523d1

[PKNEC]

Hi John how would I know the difference as I have just gone off the decals that are on the heli cano/tail fin

Here is a close up twister.jpg

[dogbiscuit]

I was about to say the same as the last post until looking at the pics......its definately not a twister 3d.

edit... sorry, stand corrected. confused with the 3dstorm

[royotr]

You can get replacement gears for the twister servos. If you decide to just change the servo for a new one choose exactly the same one. Don't mix analogue with digital or different makes even if they have the same apparent spec.

The standard servo is pretty basic whose price is a bit high compared to similar spec servos. Ie:-

http://www.giantshark.co.uk/towerpro...rvo-p-268.html
These are a lot cheaper are preffered by many and work well for the money. ( many buy in 4s for ccpm helis as it nice to have a spare.)

[royotr]

Yours is a twister 3d as opposed to the twister 3D Storm ,( the one that is almost identical to the blade 400). Yours is an earlier. Model and less popular, midland helicopter have spares on their website although some items have low stock level. :-
http://www.modelhelicopters.co.uk/he...wister-3d.html

It was made several years ago and is less durable than modern helis, usually equipped with brushed motors that have a very short life on 3s lipos , often less than a dozen flight before the motor brushes are shop.

[johnsandywhite]

Yep, thats the one above.

[PKNEC]

Thanks lads for your help and links.
Looks like I can get it flyable for a few quid,those servos are very cheap.
Got to be worth ago.

[PKNEC]

Just looked at the spares page and noticed the brushed can motor which is nothing like mine so it looks like the heli has a brushless outrunner

[royotr]

I see that the transmitter is 35 MHz. As opposed to 2.4ghz . This is a major problem with electric helis , electrical noise mainly from the motor( even worst if a brushed motor) causes lots of problems. At distance as little as 20 feet twitched in flight as indicative of " radio glitches" . Hours can be spent on measures to cancels out these problem , suppression devices, specialist receivers only make things slightly better. The end result is usually uncontrolled crashes once beyond that 20 -50 feet barrier. ( others and myself have flow electric aircraft , using same equipment to a dot in the sky without problem) friends and myself had the same problems on numerous helis with the same result. Most of our crashes were due to interference. The switch over to 2.4ghz was an immediate cure and save it's cost virtually straight away.
In a nutshell try it with the heli at a safe distance from yourself (eve none of these will hurt you) and keep it at that distance. If the thing starts to twitch or you see any of the cyclic servos move without an input from yourself beware. One an electric heli begins to glitch it's own gyrations can become self generating resulting in total loss of controller.

As it mainly due to the motor when it's running it isn't easy to test it on the ground. Without the motor running range will be good ,hundreds of metres. If you try to test it on the ground with the motor running at approaching flying revs then if it glitches , anything could happen and an uncontrolled crash results again.

Sorry to be so pessimistic , just be aware and be cautious. Good luck with it ,I had one years ago and found it to be a nice stable , gentle flier.

[royotr]

From your photos I though that it looked like a brushless motor but wasn't 100% sure . If there are three wires going to the motor it's brushless, if there are only 2 then it's brushed. Usually says brushless on the ESC ( speed controller). These days it is relatively cheap to convert to brushless less than £ 20 if you go online . Far less problems, greater performance , efficiency and more durability with brushless. Not to mention less radio interference.

[PKNEC]

Thanks Royotr, the ESC is 20amp brushless.
Thanks for the heads up on the 35mhz I do have plenty of 2.4 ghz options so I will install a spare RX I have.
Just changed the connections to xt60 from deans as all my batts are xt60.
Interesting point to note is the old 3s lipo has no balance lead was this common in the old days?

[nobbycopter]

Just seen this thread....I got given a box of heli bits from a club member and one of the items in it was a Twister 3D. Looks rather identical to yours...

I was going to look at getting it up and running again for a laugh and just because Mine is withour RX and battery. I have plenty of those however so should be able to get it up and running cheaply. Could be used to practice my inverted extreme hovering and backward circuits. Might have to replace the gyro as it is a really old CSM one by the look of it, got a spare 401.

IMG_0411.jpg

Close up of the canopy...

IMG_0412.jpg

My bell end cough I mean motor bell could do with a bit of a buff to get it shiny again

IMG_0418.jpg

[nobbycopter]

Just looked at the spares page and noticed the brushed can motor which is nothing like mine so it looks like the heli has a brushless outrunner

Yes it is, mine's the same...

[royotr]

Re the batteries and no balance leads.
Yes, it was quite common when they first came out , they must be 8yrs old or more. Though I know some people would cut them of because , they didn't have a balance charger or they got in the way when sliding into tight spaces an heli!!

Best of luck with it.