Diabolo Canopies...?

[Mvcg]

Does anyone know where to find painted Diabolo canopies? The Fusuno website gives me an error and Ive not been able to locate any canopies anywhere?

[trillian]

Aside from Minicopter themselves, there's Canomod: CanoMod

I would imagine some shops in Germany might still have some Fusunos.

Are you looking for something specific? I have a Fusuno I might sell :-)

[Mvcg]

Thanks! At the moment Im prospecting, I haven't even got the Heli yet, come to think of it, might be a little bit ahead of myself A consequence of owning a 700xxtreme with limited parts availability. Im assuming this isn't the case with Minicopter though...

[trillian]

Yeah, parts are no problem, the company is going strong (as far as I can tell) and stock all the spares. Peak aircraft in the USA also stocks Minicopter.

I'm not sure what has happened with Fusuno, they were always quite similar to Canomod and may have some relationship with them, I've never looked into it.

[Mvcg]

WARNING, OFF-THREAD ALERT!

You have a very interesting hangar! Which is your favourite and why may I ask?

[trillian]

WARNING, OFF-THREAD ALERT!

You have a very interesting hangar! Which is your favourite and why may I ask?

I think part of the reason I have too many helis is that I find it difficult to pick a favourite.

Last year I wanted to try an 800 and wanted something different so I got the Shape, which I like a lot.

Then, I finally got the Suzi Laos finished, after some hesitation (due to being concerned about some custom one-off parts. And I like the lighter 800
even more. As I was saying in another thread a while back, I think there's some kind of 'sweet spot' that happens with the 800 class because it's
fairly easy to have very low disc loading and yet you still have the inertia of that overall mass. You can get a similar effect with a 700 but it has to be
very light. (and at low ish headspeeds, the power requirements are not any greater than a 700)

So this year I'll see how it goes as I get in more flying time (weather permitting).

[Mvcg]

Can I ask your opinion between the Diabolo and Henseleit? I was in two minds between them and still am...

[trillian]

Can I ask your opinion between the Diabolo and Henseleit? I was in two minds between them and still am...

I have the original TDR, and obviously there are a lot of visible similarities. Some of the great things about the TDR are the simplicity, the two stage drive which allows a really wide range of gearing.

Minicopter have stuck with this design because it just works so well. The big 30mm boom is great for visibility and everything about it is very sturdy and rigid.

Henseleit discontinued the TDR and the TDR2 departs from that ethos entirely in the interest of being super aerodynamic, high power handling etc. It's complicated and bears little resemblance to the TDR.

The TDF, which basically replaces the TDR, keeps the linear rack and pinion servo setup from the TDR2, which on the one hand has the feature of being very linear in geometry, but to me the added complexity doesn't justify it because the tried and true direct-to-swash layout works so well and is so much simpler.

I have never liked it when an airframe design dictates a very specific motor or servos, instead of something more standard. So the TDF requires a totally smooth motor shaft, which is a bit of a hassle IMHO. The TDSF is very restrictive on both motor and servos, which OK I can appreciate the goal of an uncompromising lightweight design, but... a little compromise, just a little, would sure make a big difference in practicality and still be crazy light.

I really applaud Jan's efforts to make something unique. But, IMHO, he killed a lot of potential appeal by designing them to be so restrictive on motors, servos, etc.

Obviously a lot of this is personal preference, we all gravitate to different things for our own reasons. So I wouldn't want to bias anyone. There are cool things about the TDF and TDSF. And you could think of the Diabolo as a bit like a beefier TDR with some mods and updates.

For me the Triabolo flies so good that I cannot fault it in any way, and I think it looks great, so for me it's a keeper I wish I could do the 30mm boom mod on the TDR like they're doing with the TDF - I may have a look at that later at some point. (although, it's possible the TDR could become surplus to requirements if the 800s take over )

[Mvcg]

Thank you for that analysis and comparison Trillian!!! Some truly deep and knowledgeable insight there!!! Thanks again!