700N maiden flight photos

[Ashley Davis]

http://www.trextuning.com/blog/?p=436

[Smoothound]

Spartan Gyro, nice bit of product placement Angelo

[robgt]

Looking good
Cheers,
Rob

[moonmanflyer]

Do i need to say more, oh yeh i forgot

[moyesboy]

Thats a big fuel thank they emptied there....

I like the NFG and anchor on the muffler. Presumably its no ****ing good and too heavy.

I wonder if that is an uprated (more than 6A) 2 in 1 they have on that beast!

[fatmantom]

i dooo rather like the look of that canopy....very cool

[JeromeF]

i dooo rather like the look of that canopy....very cool

You can get the same one for the T-Rex 500... I've got it.

[Tim Procter]

This heli really does look nice, if it fly's as well as it looks then they have a winner..

[barney]

It doesn't look good at all so far!!!



That Machine is currently a Gyro's worst nightmare, Just look a little closer

There are more screws holding on the front Radio tray than the whole rear gearbox and boom mount combined...wibbly wobbly flexi, floppy.

Then the boom stays are mounted to the unsupported rear frames just behind the tank..(less than ideal as is the 600N's design there)

The only hope for it is possibly strong X-members just above the U/C combined with a seriousiouly strong base plate assy

Mainshaft.. no 3rd lower bearing..big mistake..try shaking a 10lb monster on the end of a little metal rod held by 4 screws with minimial mounting support (the current blocks)..Its very likely to twist round and bite you up the Ar$e...

Send it round to the boys and we will soon have it sorted out for ya Jason

[robgt]

Hey Barney,
I'm looking but not seeing what you're seeing...
I see possibly 4 securing bolts either side of the radio tray (nose piece) - could be 3 if the front canopy mounting post doesn't secure it on too?
How many do you see?

Not sure about the boom stay issue either - the frames are probably 2mm thick, and there's an aluminium cross member in there too. It does look like a large area is unsupported behind the tank - but maybe it's not needed?

I'm now wondering if your gyro comment is a pre-cursor to saying how great the Spartan gyro must be when the video comes out showing it to be locked solid

I think 3 bearing blocks are a good idea too - we'll have to see how this one plays out...
Cheers,
Rob

[moonmanflyer]

Barney/Rob
Most of the rigidity of the boom will be from the boom itself, a hollow tube is stronger than a solid bar as it has 2 surfaces of which to bend. One compressing as one is in tension.
Carbon is also stiffer than aluminium, so it would be stiffer than bolting the boom supports to aluminium and since in the pics there is an aluminium post between the frames to stop the frames flexing i am not quite sure what is wrong with that
I can see at least 4 bolts holding the boom structure in the frames in 4 corners, i don't see any others but to be honest as long as the unit between the frames has been designed to transfer the loads correctly, why would you need more, 4 bigger screws is better for stress than 6 smaller ones.

[JeromeF]

Isn't the boom going to be made of Aluminium with CF wrapped around it anyway?

[moonmanflyer]

Isn't the boom going to be made of Aluminium with CF wrapped around it anyway?

There would be no real need to do that, unless it would be to offload any static build up. Aluminium and carbon can clash and cause galvanic corrosion so you have to be carefull putting the 2 together. The aluminium would have to be treated.
It is an easy way to manufacture the boom, boeing make there fusalages for the new dreamliner plane a similar method, but then the tool is removed after curing, so i would not be surprised if that what happened.

[robgt]

James,
I think the issue is that if the frames are not rigid enough, a long 90 size boom with a powerful tail rotor at the end could force the back end of the frames to flex.

I was actually saying that I don't think this will be the case if the frames are 2mm carbon and have cross members in place

I think there are 4 bolts holding the boom assembly in place as you say. I wonder why not 6 as there are on the 600?

I understand the hollow tube principal
I guess that's why they plan on having hollow feathering shafts on this heli too... just stronger again!

I'll be reserving judgement on this heli for quite a while.
Cheers,
Rob

[JeromeF]

There would be no real need to do that, unless it would be to offload any static build up. Aluminium and carbon can clash and cause galvanic corrosion so you have to be carefull putting the 2 together. The aluminium would have to be treated.

I see...

Let's hope Align know this too! It was on their video about the 700N where they mentioned the boom will be made from Alum with CF wrapped around it.