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I have been an avid admirer of Heli-Factory models for several years as well as a very big fan of the Bell HUEY. I have several thousand hours in helicopter aviation and had the opportunity to fly the Huey and have been "hooked" ever since. With Heli-Factory introducing the 1/5th scale Bell 205 last year I had to have one and it is one of my most prized models. I have an acquaintance who flew for Air America in the sixties and I wanted to build this 205 to represent a 205 flown by the "CIA" covert airline. This model is about 96 inches in length. This is the first Heli-Factory Bell 205 using electric for power. The mechanics are designed and geared for turbine use so I reached out to Vincent Offenbeck at Egodrift with the necessary information and he recommended the 5040HS-385 using a Kontronik 210ESC and running on 14S. All Spektrum electronics, Bavarian 3X. I have added a BEIER-ELECTRONIC.DE sound system.
The cockpit and exterior detailing are a product of Scale-Print, the pilot is from PremierPilots and detailed with the necessary Air America clothing and patches. With the mechanics hidden I had lots of room for scale accessories. Air America was famous for "across the border" operations that were not allowed by the U.S. Military in Vietnam. They flew a lot of cargo resupply ( among other things, lol ) and that is what I wanted to represent. The model is painted in Air America colors of silver and blue and this one is highly weathered to represent a well used helicopter. The 205 has a RTF gross weight of 54 pounds and flys GREAT.

I was lucky enough to get an early production version with the 10T pinion. I relocated the packs and use a pair of 3300 batteries for 7 minutes at 7.5kg and a head speed of 1100 rpm. A low kV motor is recommended like the Egodrift 4230EC-370kV. Stock 630mm look like symmetrical and fly great ONCE balanced. The mechanics fit perfectly well inside the frp. The fuselage is built for a tail belt riser and it works perfectly. It's very sturdy with a 15mm main mast.

Sorry I haven’t posted anything on this site. But now I have some experience with Flybarless systems which is new for me. The things I am trying to understand is the difference between the flight systems and what works on some and not with other Helicopters. I have mostly Flybar Helicopters 12-15 years old. Converting to FBL systems. Also old transmitter. The thing is getting harder to understand how can I stay using older technology with new and what other people have found what works good on one Helicopter but not the other. I would like to get a new radio but I don’t know if I can learn how to use it. Now back to flights systems I like microbeast other people don’t but it won’t work on my nitro helicopter for some reason a lot of things come into play with that. On my electric 600 size I was trying to use the Icon 2 on one of the electric 600 size and it wouldn’t work setting were good. So I tried it on my other 600 size Helicopters and it works great. That is what so funny about it. Micro Beast works great on both. This is some of the things I experienced in my Hughes MD 500E build going to electric mechanics . So if I have someone to go and share things with older things and newer stuff.

Starting my first scale Heli.
Finishing up an Align 550X super combo kit.
Have a Funkey Bell222 (not Airwolf scheme).
50/600 size. Most things are straight forward except how ill mount the battery. If stock mount, I’ll have to get access from front or improvise a mount.
Next foreseen problem is mechanical retracts that came with kit. Servo sync etc. I’ll be using either a DX7 G2 or JR XG8 DMSS
Question is are they worth messing with or suggest electric or air that will fit well. Could someone recommend a set of servos for the supplied retracts. Better yet, a reasonably priced set of electric or air retracts
I guess the first question should be is the 550X a good setup for the Funkey 222.
Any comments and help is appreciated..

I found the Nimbus 550 a very suitable donor in scale conversions from 550 to 700. Because it's using belts it also makes for a very smooth running heli. It's not as expensive as SAB because of its single-stage reduction gear but is very high-quality nonetheless. Its modular side frame makes it a great candidate for dog house installation. It has a decent motor ratio of 10.6 to 1 using a 10T MOD 1 slanted pinion and stock adjustable motor mount. And all-new from Ra a 12T tail pulley to bring tail to head ratio to 5 to 1. Last fall I installed one stretched to 580 in my old Fun-key AStar using a Goblin 570 tail belt (yes same GT3 x6mm as SAB). It shares the 27mm diameter tail boom from the Specter V1 so anything between 550 and 700 is fair game. Because, unlike Align, its main shaft is plain 10mm, longer main shafts are easy to cut at minimal costs. I installed the new tail pulley this week and it's RFT. Just waiting for warmer temps for a test flight. I flew it first in December and loved it. New this year is 12s with Aureus 105 and Egodrift 4030HT-400kV from you pick your own kv Beta series.

So I was able to get a Roban 500 size MD500 from MotionRC. I have a TREX 500 for mechanics in it and was able to get a couple flights on it before our field closed for the winter.

If I was to replace the head with a 5 blade head, do I stay with the same blade length or go smaller to keep the load on the esc and motor manageable? For all practice purpose, it is an older TREX, pretty much stock with a HW 100a v3 esc.

New from XXL Helicopter

Black Magic Mechanics

In the pictures you can see the latest development of the 'black magic' dome mechanics. By popular demand, there is now tail rotor RPM’s from under 4000 to 10,000 rpm (Fenestron) are now possible.
The mechanics can also be rotated 180 degrees (motor front / rear) installed because the rear rotor drive can also be turned.
The gears are built up closed as far as possible and are very strong.
Ratio’s from 12:1 to 21:1 are possible . For e motors with a maximum diameter of 65 mm and 30 mm hole circle up to 10 Kw . No limit on engine length .
This is light industrial mechanics which was built modularly, the direct use of main shafts with 12/15/and 20 mm is possible.
Each mechanical kit is individually manufactured by XXL and adapted to your desired requirements.
Due to the relatively light weight and the robustness of the components, this full metal mechanics is universal for all XXL models from 2 m or can be adjusted.
The main difference to the 'blue magic mechanics' is the stern drive. This one is missing from the blue one, where the rear is driven with a separate electric motor.