Vibe 90

[3Dheliflyer]

pick your poison :)

[Goto]

Back on the original question, the Vibe 90 3D is a superb flying helicopter if built with the usual care and attentiion. It can be set up as a top quality F3C machine with the right choice of engine, paddles and blades.

Make sure you get the 120 degree swash balls (140 is a bit of a gimmick) and I'd be inclined to use a CSM cyclock to get a perfect ccpm setup.

On the negative side, some spares are getting harder to find, so you might need to spin around the internet shops to get everything you need following an arrival. Certainly in the UK some spares are frighteningly pricey.

I bought a used one cheap, flew it for 6 months, suffered a lockout due to a dodgy radi obattery connector and have the remains in the loft as I refused to pay the asking price for some of the spares, which may just make me a tightwad. I did fly great, smooth, agile, proper presence in the air.

Just my ten pence worth.

[antsis]

Thanks for all the info and advice. I looked at the prices of spares and they were scary. A friend of mine has offered me his spare trex 700, but I found it wasn't as smooth as the aurora although I'm sure with some tweeking, different dampers, blades and paddles, I could get it to F3C spec. Untimately, I need to sell the aurora first.

[robgt]

Hi Ant,
You know that Mark Christy competed with an Aurora in F3C competitions, right? :D
It might be worth getting in touch with him for some pointers on setup etc.
You can reach him over on [URL="http://www.allmyrc.com"]allMYrc.com[/URL].

Cheers,
Rob

[antsis]

Rob

Thanks. I have had some comms with Mark. He did quite a lot of work on his aurora, but did not really get the preferred setup he needed. This was essentially down to the aurora's head. I have mine setup pretty well, but need to spend a lot of time tweaking it to try and get it better. (The main area needing to be refined is the hovering).

However, I would prefer to get a model designed more towards F3C as opposed to trying to set one up which is designed for 3D. To be honest, I hadn't planned on keeping the aurora as a friend made me a good offer for it just after I bought it. However, after flying the model, I really loved it.

[NEAGRON]

choice

Hi, It may be proudent to go with a model thay the FAI boys are flying,maybe second hand for the first season as you gain two things firstly they know there machines and secondly you get to find out what you and said machine are looking for,Its like starting out your first machine is great untill some one sets it up then wow?wow.
The Very Best,
Marty.:cheers2:

[Steve]

Depending on your budget Antsis, there are some very competent FAI helis out there which wouldn't break the bank brand new - consider the JR Airskipper 90 and the Hirobo Freya. A bit further up the price range gets you into Miniature Aircraft Stratus territory which can be bought with the dedicated FAI head (rather than the standard 3D Extreme head) if you shop around, maybe abroad USA. I've got the Tempest head on my Fury which is a fully adjustable half way house between the 3D Extreme head and the FAI version. I've also made some simple adjustments with different size ball spacers etc to make it even more FAIish.

Making a 700 F3Cish isn't all that hard - I've tried all sorts of things on mine with various degrees of success. With the recent release of the FAI lecky version, there are now some alternative mixing arms and dampers available from Align that will plonk straight onto the standard nitro head with ease and very cheaply. Add to it some Hirobo Freya paddles and Radix FAI blades and you'll be well away.

The JR spares prices are heavy going for sure, but have you checked out the price of a Vibe 90 main gear? Surprisingly cheap I seem to remember. :)