Beam Avantgarde build thread

[rachel]

Good luck and if you need to call ref total g set up you have my number :-)
ps awesome heli very classy ;-)

[trillian]

I just did a little hover in the back garden and all is well so far. I'm always concerned when first testing a FBL unit but no dramas, it lifted into a steady hover and it seems to be working as it should. When I get a chance to fly it around a bit I can see how the cyclic gain feels. With the Total-G you can control the cyclic gain remotely from the TX and then of course you have expo and travel adjust in the TX to fine tune the feel (and more parameters in the software but those are at the defaults for now). For the setup I have the cyclic gain on the aux-2 switch so I can turn the gain off completely and I just had to try a brief hover in 'no bar' mode. It actually doesn't feel too strange (in a hover anyway).

I didn't really try to check the tracking but if it's out it isn't by much. It will be super easy to correct the tracking using the turnbuckles on the main grip links.

So now it's just a matter of what the weather is going to do as it looks pretty grim for the weekend right now.

Here's a pic I took with the orange canopy.

[wadders248]

Always good to know that the first hover has gone well! I have to build my faith in FBL units, after seeing a few tip on spool-up, thankfully not mine!

Not that it will affect the flying, though the canopy looks good. I was tempted to get one, though spent ages sanding, filing and drilling mine to get quick release canopy pins to fit.

[trillian]

Always good to know that the first hover has gone well! I have to build my faith in FBL units, after seeing a few tip on spool-up, thankfully not mine!

Not that it will affect the flying, though the canopy looks good. I was tempted to get one, though spent ages sanding, filing and drilling mine to get quick release canopy pins to fit.

This orange one was at a good price as it was slightly damaged. It has a crack on top that I have covered with a bit of orange sticky vinyl so it really doesn't show and the rest of it is fine. These are slightly fiddly canopies though it must be said, they don't just fall into place like some do but I'm sure I'll get the routine down as I go along.

[halo25]

Looks great, really nice looking heli - hopefully the weather will hold for further flights soon!

[trillian]

Maiden flights

I have now flown the Beam and so far I'm really liking it.

First I have to back up a bit because my first attempt at a maiden was on Sunday but that didn't go like I would have wanted. What happened was that the first time I did a pirouette to check the rudder response it just kept spinning madly and I had to hit TH and auto it from a fairly low height and get it level and with very little headspeed to work with. I did manage to auto it OK but even just the slight bumpy landing that resulted the skids just snapped (and I do mean slight, as in I have had bumpier landings on other helis and nowhere near breaking the skids).

So the stock skid struts are a known weak point even though they look sturdy apparently it's a brittle type of plastic. Both skid struts just snapped right off. This resulted in a slightly awkward flop over but not enough to break the blades or anything.

The cause of the tail failure was due to me not realising how the tail pulley is constructed and not having the grub screws seated against the tail shaft. The total damage was less than £20.00 as I already had some skids I could use. (damage was only skids, one tail bearing and the top bit of the one-way assembly but I replaced the tailrotor shaft and pulley even thought they were probably OK)

Parts ordered Monday and arrived on Tuesday (thanks FL ) So today I took it back out for a proper maiden and I was not dissapointed.

The thing about describing how a FBL heli flies is always going to owe a lot to the FBL unit it is fitted with. So since both the Beam and the Total-G are new to me I can only say that so far I am very impressed with the overall result. A little fine-tuning is probably still needed but the settings I used from a bit of reading and guessing are pretty darn close. The tail may not be quite as crisp as I'd like but I have yet to exceed the available gain so it may just be a matter of bumping the gain up a bit.

The Beam looks great on the ground and in the air and flies as good as it looks IMHO. After the shakey start I was a bit paranoid about the tail and about something coming loose etc. so I was taking it easy but the power to weight is excellent. The bare airframe is so light that it just feels really punchy and effortless. I don't even know what headspeeds I'm getting till I can get someone to tacho it next time out. I am starting at guesses for the throttle settings but it all just works very well so far.

Time will tell as to the reliability. So far several parts have been updated with newer versions, my kit came with a revised one-way assembly and gears and hopefully newer kits will also include the newest grip arms and anything else they make improvements to. The stock ali grip arms with the balls that thread into them are a potential failure point. For the moment I have Rave ENV link balls on it as they use a bolt that goes through from the other side but this turned out to be a pain in the proverbial due to the non-standard ball and link size the Beam uses. So I have ordered the improved grip arms and also the new turnbuckle links. ('speaking of the turnbuckles, I was thinking it's going to be so easy to adjust the tracking but I was pleasantly surprised to find the tracking was already spot-on).

Specs are;
Align 600MX 510KV motor, 13 tooth pinion
Kontronik 80 HV, using the internal Bec and a small eneloop buffer pack
Gens Ace 25C 2600s and 3300s (with the 2600s it balances perfectly and is just a little nose heavy with the 3300s but that's fine)
Futaba 9255s on the swash and MKS servo on the tail (I think it's a 980 or 890, something like that)
CY Total-G FBL controller with three Spektrum satellites.
So far my testing has been with TT 600mm carbons but will try some Rail 606s next time out.

[trillian]

This is probably the final post for this thread. Saturday I got in a bunch more flights and everything went well. I put a pair of Rail 606s on and was really liking the feel of it with those blades, they seem very stable and still plenty quick. It was very gusty down this way on Saturday so it was a good test in a way and even though the Beam is very light it handled the wind really well. The Total-G keeps it tracking completely straight with no pitching in FF flight, really smooth and precise feeling in general.

I still haven't been able to tach the headspeeds but it seems to do very well even quite low with no nodding and at a guess I'd say something like 2100 in idle-1 is more than enough for all the FAI type stuff.

As is the case with a lot of new kits there were a few minor niggles and some more major bits that have been upgraded. The new grip arms and turnbuckle links are really nice and will make those areas just that bit more bullet-proof.

I'd like to see it catch on a bit more and I sincerely hope it continues to be supported with spares.

I should probably mention a quick thanks to Fast Lads for swapping out the original canopy in my kit that was scratched and for substituting the original 12 tooth pinion for a 13 tooth.

So far I think the Beam is exactly what I had hoped it would be and I know I'll be flying it a lot.

[trillian]

Since Beam is completely unrepresented in the UK as far as I can tell and since this thread is now over a year old I'll add this little update. A year on and I'm still flying the Beam. Since then my heli fleet has changed a lot, helis have come and gone but every time I fly the Beam it is still just as spot-on as it ever was. A few months back I picked up a couple different painted canopies for it. This one looks much better in person, the photos don't do it justice.

Anyway, it's a bit of a shame this heli didn't catch on here and now the new Archon 500 is out and looks really nice as well.

This is from one of the latest flying days with the Beam and the all red canopy;


And another canopy design;

[cupracing]

Wow that last canopy is stunning!!!!

[Mike Sanders]

Excellent thread.

[trillian]

Wow that last canopy is stunning!!!!

Yeah it's pretty slick. I got two in Fast Lad's big canopy blowout.