MA Furion6 Flybarless

Minature Aircraft Furion6 Flybarless version

last updated 1-1-2011

Configuration - the components used in mine. Also contains my DX8 and CC ICE 80HV files.
Construction Tips - suppliment to the assembly manual.
Wiring - this shows where I ran the servo, vbar, and receiver wires.
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Notes:
1-1-2011 <here> added tip on battery wire keeper.
1-1-2011 <here> added picture of motor pinion bearing in the correct orientation.

Manual available here: http://www.miniatureaircraftusa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=97&Itemid=74
The kit comes with a flybar manual and a single page listing the differences for the flybarless kit. As you see in the picture of the box, they show the flybar version but just put a sticker on the box to indicate the contents are for the flybarless version. The direct link to the manual is <here> and the single page with the flybarless instructions is <here>.

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Equipment:
Scorpion 4035-560
12 tooth pinion (kit includes a 12t and 13t pinion)
Castle ICE 80HV <configuration file HERE>
Vbar v5 - 2yrs old, black sensor version files: Norm, FM1, FM2, Hold
Spektrum DX8 file <HERE>
AR8000 receiver
TM1000 telemetry
2- Zippy 5000mah 5S 25C (also have Zippy 4000mah 5S 20C)
Connectors on ESC and Batteries: Hobby King XT60
Edge 603mm
KBDD 92mm tail blades
3- Hitec 6965HB 1-Futaba 9253
A123 2S rx batt. 1100mah
No governor, throttle curve Norm: 0,64,70,80,85 ___ Filght Mode 1: 76,74,72,74,76
Cyclic mixing of 15%
pitch curve Norm: 33,inh,60,inh,91 ___ Flight Mode 1: 0,25,50,75,100
Weight: AUW-batteries 6lbs 2oz, AUW+5000's 9lbs 1oz, AUW+4000's 8lbs 8oz
Rotor head: center of main grip bolt to center of bolt 160.5mm

Flight Time: For a 9 minute flight the 5000mah batteries charge back right at 3000mah (60% of the battery). The 2S LIFE A123 receiver pack chargers back 170mah per flight.
Castle Data Log <ICE_80HV_9-29-2010.csv> Right click and save to your computer. View using the Castle Graph Viewer that is part of the installation of the <Castle Link> I did not find a direct link just for the viewer. You can install the Castle link software without the need for the hardware. If you want to see a picture of the graph click <here>.
10-22-2010 I now have a 4000mah 5S 20C packs and at 9 minutes the charger puts back 3000mah (75% of the battery).
10-24-2010 YouTube video of my Furion6

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Building Tips:
First off the manual is very well done. The only times I got in trouble while building the heli was when I did not finish reading a long sentence. This kit is very easy to build. It has a low parts count.
This manual is one of the two best manufacture provided manuals that I have used. They really did do a great job and there are only a few things I can add or point out to help with this build.

Read page 7 - One of the tips is to clean the bolts you use. I use a paper towel and wrap it around the threads of the bolt and turn the bolt to wipe off the oil. If you do not do this the loctite will not have a reliable bond.

another view of the right frame plate with bearing brackets and frame post

page 12 - make sure you use the round head bolts to attach the battery tray rails. Also take note on this page that the bearing blocks and tail boom brackets are NOT loctited at this time. You do that later. Also on this page is the motor counter bearing bracket 129-64. Make sure the flange of this bearing is on the top. The bearing should come pre-installed and the curved side of the bracket will be pointed down.
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NOTE: 12-3-2010 I just found out that my bearing was installed backwards from the factory. In the pictures you will see that the curved side of the bracket is on the same side as the flange of the bearing. This is incorrect. The curved side should be opposite of the flange of the bearing. The reason is the curved side should be toward the belt so that no sharp edges would be facing the belt.

Correct orientation of motor counter bearing

click <here> for tips on correcting the bearing

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Here are a couple of pictures to help you see the orientation of the bearing brackets. Click on the pictures on the right to see a larger version.
NOTE: The manual does show a M3x6 bolt will go in the middle of the front tail boom clamp. The tail boom has a notch in the front that needs to align with this bolt you install.

Page 13 - When building the gyro plate it is hard to tell from the maual but the gyro plate has one side that is made for flush mount bolts. This side will be pointed down and toward the main shaft.

Page 17 - The servo plates are a little confusing. Make sure the blocks go on the inside of the frameset. You can see in the two pictures on the right that I circled the metal block that connects the servo plates to the frame. Also note that the servo plates should be placed so the PEM nuts are on the front. BTW: PEM nuts are those pre-installed threads that are in the servo mounting plates and the anti-rotation plate The anti-rotation plate is placed on the back side of the servo plates with the PEM nuts toward the back.

Page 19 - Look at the orientation of the main gear. The flat side will be pointed up.

Page 21 - I mounted my motor on the plate so the wires exit the back-center of the motor plate. Also note the flat side of the motor plate will be against the motor as well as pointed up. Also note the pinion should be positioned on the motor shaft so that the shaft extends past the pinion by 6mm. What I did to find the right amount was place the motor in the helicopter and position the pinion to align with the main gear then tighten on of the set screws in the pinion. I also wanted a flat spot on the shaft so after I took the motor back out, I removed one set screw then marked the spot on the shaft using a permanent marker poked through the set screw hole in the pinion. I removed the pinion and used a dremel with a cutting disk to make a small flat area at the position I marked. I then put the pinion back on with a set screw against the one flat spot then marked the second set screw hole and made a flat spot there.

Page 22 - I used the 12 tooth pinion and found I could not get the gear mesh close enough. I ended up elongating the slots for the motor plate and counter bearing bracket by 2mm.

Page 25 - Make sure the notch in the tail boom locks in the bolt you put in the center of the front tail bracket.

Page 27 - The two bolts in the diagram to the right of the vertical tail fin need to align with the two holes in the side of the tail boom. So make sure the tail case (128-155 on page 26) is aligned with these two holes.

Page 28 - Make sure you install the tail boom support rods so the dots on the tail boom support ends are facing outward at the back. They will be inward up front.

Flybarless suppliment page
The radial bearings went in one grip just fine but the other was too tight. It was pre-loading the bearing too much causing it to not rotate freely. It was crude but I used a dremel to expand the inside of the grip a couple of thousands. If the bearings are not in all the way, the grips will have a notchy feel as you rotate them. To know you have the inside radial bearing in all the way, use a caliper. With the thrust bearings in place you need to have a reading of 40.53mm. And on the backside of the main blade grip the radial bearing needs to have a 1.00mm spacing to the outside edge.

Links:
Two links from swash to head: 48mm (exposed rod) 84mm (ball to ball)
Three links from swash to servos: 19mm (exposed rod) 55mm (ball to ball)
One link from tail to servo: 718mm (ball to ball)
Alignment - the alignment plate that comes with the kit worked best for me with the top of the ball just under this plate as seen in this picture:

It might be because of the servo I used but when I centered the ball with the bottom edge of this plate, the arm was not 90 degrees to the main shaft. However when I aligned the top of the ball to the bottom edge of this plate, then it looked correct. Also note that I had to shorten the links to the servos to 19mm. The links going to the blade grips were sized to what the manual said to use.

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Wiring
As you see in these three pictures, I made a plate and zip tied it to the two frame post. I then put velcro on the plate and on the battery pack and put a velcro strap around the plate and battery. In the third picture you see the two individual A123 cells. This picture was taken before I made the battery pack. I bought the 1100mah cells with solder tabs. I wired a balance connector and a mini-Deans to it.

Here you can see the wire I made to go from mini-Deans to two servo plugs. One I connected to the Vbar and the other I connected to the receiver.

In this picture you see I used Goop to hold the servo wire in place on the frame.Notice the satellite receiver wire goes up to the right of the gyro plate. This is where I mounted the remote receiver.

Here you can see the Vbar is attached with a strip of automotive trim tape. The stuff is stong so be carefull removing the Vbar. Slide a flat blade screwdriver between the case and the frame. If you just pull on the Vbar case you might break it.

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Tip: battery wire keeper
As you can see in this picture the ESC wire often will fall down. Not really a problem but I like the heli to look good and it is better for the wire to stay in place instead of flopping around. So I came up with an easy wire keeper.

I just took a right angle piece of aluminum that I had and cut it down to size. Then I filed the sharp edges off. I drilled a hole on one end for a 3mm bolt and found a bolt that was m3x8 to replace the m3x6 that is in the frameset. Another thing I did that is hard to tell in the picture is I coated this metal piece with epoxy. If you have some plastic dip that would be better. I rounded all edges but I still wanted it coated so the wire would not be cut.

Here you see the final result. The keeper is positioned so that it just slightly squeezes the red wire between it and the frame post.

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Tip: correct the pinion bearing orientation
First step is to remove the original flanged bearing without damaging it. I had a 15mm bearing that I used. Make sure that whatever you use only presses against the outside rim of the flanged bearing so you do not damage the bearing shield. And do not push the bearing out using the inside race. This could put too much pressure on the balls and cause flat spot. A notchy bearing will cause high frequency vibrations that will mess with the flybarless unit.

Here you see I placed the 15mm bearing under the flanged bearing then pushed down on the bearing block.

This pushed the bearing out just enough that I was then able to use a flat blade screwdriver to lift the bearing out.

Next apply a thin coat of bearing retainer loctite on the outside race of the bearing. Something like 603 or if you do not have that then some red loctite will do. Make sure you do not let any loctite get inside the bearing. Press the bearing all the way down until the flange is against the bearing block.