Michael Roznick

Another project airworthy! Got the 500 size MH-53M Pave Low up in the air today for a few test flights. Cyclic gains still need some tuning, and the ramp servo needs replacement, but it’s close to complete. Has the most features I’ve tried to pack into a 500 size model before, including retracts, nose gear steering, working ramp, 3 retractable landing lights, nav lights, a searchlight, and interior lights.

After a lot of building and planning, I finally was able to take photos of the 500 size Sikorsky HO3S-1 performing a rescue mission of a pilot from a ditched F9F Panther today. This recreates a scene in the the beginning of the movie "The Bridges at Toko-Ri". To get everything in place for the shots, I converted a beat up RC Lander F9F Panther to a boat so that it could be steered into position on the lake (over 6 lbs of ballast was required to make it float at a reasonable displacement). Pilot and crew chief figures were 3D printed.

It is said that a scale project is never truly finished.. After flying my 500 sized Sikorsky HO3S-1 for a few years, I was finally able to address one of my primary gripes with the project, and add a correct 3 bladed tail rotor to replace the old Align 2 blade tail. To do this, I used a Gaui X3 tail unit, an aftermarket Trex 500 clone tail gearbox, and a bit of 3D printing.

The major issue was that the Gaui tail slider wasn’t compatible with stock Align parts, as it used a circular slider. I found this aftermarket unit and with a bit of re-engineering, was able to get it to work with the Gaui tail: .

The pitch links on the Gaui were also way too short. So, I designed 3D printed longer tail pitch links that fit the bushings from the stock parts (stock pitch link is the small black part in the final photo).

Tail blades were microhelis Blade 180 main blades cut down to size and reshaped. I completed a few test flights with the new tail and so far it’s worked great! No change to its excellent flight characteristics.

While working through my build of the Roban 600 “Superscale” Airwolf ARF with compactor mechanics, I was frustrated to see that the build manual was only available in German. I ended up translating it into English with a whole lot of help from word and google translate. It's still a work in progress, and I may make some updates/additions as I progress through my build. Here is some other important info that was not in the original manual for those building one:

Main gear ratio: 10.91:1
Tail ratio: 4.95:1

Motor Pinion: 17T
1st Stage Main Pulley: 60T
2nd Stage Pinion: 22T
2nd Stage Main gear: 68T
Main Bevel Gear: 32T
Tail Output Bevel: 20T

On a similar note, Roban recommended an 1100kv motor in the original flight manual, which would result in 1980rpm. That seemed overkill on a 600 to me. I'm planning on using a 790KV Egodrift motor to target 1400rpm.

Hopefully others find this helpful in building the kit!

Had a great time flying the 500 size Huey, UH-34, and HO3S (H-5), at Warbirds Over the Johnson Space Center 2 weeks ago. Was a fantastic opportunity to fly some helis at an awesome historic location! Winds were very high (18 gusting 35 mph) but it didn’t stop me from getting in a few flights. Unfortunately, a gust did catch the H-34 during spool down and scraped the blade tips. Blades have already been replaced and the aircraft returned to flight.