RAPTOR NEWSLETTER #6 July 21, 2000 Hello Raptor owners: Here is our Raptor newsletter number 6. This is published by Thunder Tiger/Ace. The purpose is to keep Raptor owners updated on what's happening. We will be sending this out by email to everyone who is on our tthelihotline email list. It is also on our website at www.acehobby.com. Please pass it along to your Raptor friends. (1) The metal and carbon upgrades are finally here. A list of all the available upgrades are in our Newsletter #5 on the web at www.acehobby.com (2) We now offer two styles of 550 mm carbon graphite main rotor blades for the Raptor. The gorgeous black blades custom made to our spec by V-Blades and a new white gelcoated version from Thunder Tiger. These white carbon blades (part number PV0087, street price around $100) have ample lead weight at the leading edge and symmetrical airfoil to provide very stable hovering. They are great for learning 3-D or practicing hovering. (3) Thunder Tiger will be at the IRCHA Jamboree in Ohio from August 2 to august 6. Mr. Taya and the factory pilot, Mr. Yamaguchi will be there to reveal three new helicopters from Thunder: the Raptor 60, Raptor 46, and a 90-size Imperio powered by a 2-stroke 90 engine. Yamaguchi has been nick named “the Curtis Youngblood of Japan.” He won second place at the recent International air Meet Invitational 3-D Tournament. His Imperio 60 beat out other top 3-D pilots from around the world. He will at IRCHA to do some flight demo for the audience. Please come to our Ace/Thunder Tiger booth for a close look at our new aircraft. (4) We will be giving away a new Version II low speed needle for anyone who owns a TT36H engine. Obtain yours by coming to our booth at the IRCHA Jamboree, or send a self-addressed and self stamped envelop to: Request TT36H new Version II low speed needle Ace Hobby Distributor 116W 19th Street Higginsville, MO 64037 Please send the request after August 4 because that’s when the new version will arrive. All TT36H engines will now come with the new Version II low speed needle and a more refined carburetor. The new style carburetor has three ribs molded onto the body of the carburetor. (5) Would you like to have a free Raptor T-shirt? We have made a limited supply of Raptor T-shirt for distribution at the IRCHA Jamboree. Just bring your Raptor helicopter to the Ace Thunder Tiger booth at the Jamboree and you will get a free shirt. One per pilot. Of course, you will have to wear your T-shirt and bring your Raptor to our annual Raptor group picture. This year we will meet at 11 AM on Saturday on the concrete runway, at the end that is closest to the entrance road. To thank our wonderful customers, we will raffle off some surprise prizes to people who show up at the 11 AM picture gathering. They could be gyros, kits, or metal upgrades…. You have to come to find out. They will be given out by the Thunder Tiger president and Mr Taya in person. Plus, you will be in the next Rotory Modeler, Model Helicopter World and other magazines. (6) Remember, please inspect the silicone fuel tubing inside the fuel tank frequently. The line should be replaced if it become soggy. We recommend replacing them at least once every two months. More often if 30% nitro fuel are used. A simple way to remove the fuel tank is to remove only one screw that holds the rear landing gear. Then spread the sideframes out slight so the fuel tank can be pulled out from the rear. (7) Please inspect the glow plug routinely. Usually a plug will last 30 to 50 flights under good condition. But one hot, lean run can destroy a plug immediately. An old or damaged glow plug may still glow, but the engine will not idle or transition properly. Use a magnifying glass to examine the platinum filament. The filament should appear shinny. Any white powder coating or distortion means the plug should be replaced. The TT36H and OS 32 H SX engine, both work well with the following plugs: Enya #3, Enya #4, OS #8, and OS #A5. (8) We recommend using only helicopter blend fuel on RC helicopter engines because these fuel have the proper lubricant that helicopter engines need. We recommend either 15% or 30% nitro heli fuel from Coolpower, Powermaster, or other name brand. (8) Ace now has a new optional CNC machine aluminum tail pitch fork to replace the plastic BK0025 unit.. (9) In case you are unsure what needle valve setting to start at. Try 2-1/4 to 2-3/4 turns open for the main needle valve and 1/2 to 1 turns open for the idle mixture screw. The low speed mixture screw position must be checked when the throttle barrel is at the closed position. If your main needle is less than 2 turn open, then your engine will probably run too lean. It your needle is more than 3 turns open, then you are probably not getting pressure from the muffler pressure line. A properly setup engine should not run hot. Check it by touching with your finger at the crankcase where the crankshaft bearing is at. It should be very warm and not hot enough to burn you. Do this check right after you shut down the engine from flying. (10) On the first flight of the day, the engine may quite after the glow plug battery is removed. This is normal. Just pinch the fuel line with your finger for about two seconds before removing the glow plug battery. This will lean out the engine and burn off the excess fuel and allow you to throttle up without quitting. (11) Please use a fuel filter on the fuel line that runs between the fuel tank and the carburetor. (12) We recommend a hovering rotorspeed of 1550 rpm. Beginners can get our TTR-2000 tachometer to measure the hover rotorspeed. (13) For radical 3-D flying, try a set of after market light weight 3-D paddles from Century or KSJ. The Raptor 30 performs excellent death spin with these light weight paddles and our PV-0087 carbon blades. Use the mounting hole that’s closer to the leading edge of the paddle. The rear hole makes the model pitch sensitive in fast forward flight. (14) For 3-D flying we also recommend our new metal swashplate and metal washout-mixing arm unit. The new Thunder Tiger cut out 3-D carbon fins will improve high speed backward flight and make the Raptor look even cooler. (15) Here is the description of our new Raptor 60. It will be available at Christmas time and the street price of the kit version will be under $600 and the ARF version with the 61 engine and muffler will be under $700. Pictures of the Raptor 60 will be on the web at www.acehobby.com. Raptor 60 Press Release Foreword by Mr. Shegitada Taya, designer of the Raptors. In the last ten years, I have always dreamed about designing a new RC helicopter that is uniquely different from my previous designs, the Concept, Baron/Enforcer, and Nexus. I wanted a model that possesses extraordinary stability and agility to benefit the novices and challenges the 3-D fliers. I have achieved my ten-year dream after working closely with Thunder Tiger in the last two years. Thunder Tiger has made the Raptor 30 the most popular 30-size helicopter in the world. Through our cooperation, I have gained enormous respect for Thunder Tiger. I am extremely impressed by their high standard, modern manufacturing technology, and stringent quality control. These reasons have driven me to joint force with Thunder Tiger to develop the Raptor 60. Following the original ideology of the Raptor 30, we worked hard to retain the advantage of the 30-size Raptor, but incorporated the performance edge of a 60-size helicopter, and the result is a very refined state-of-the-art 60-size RC helicopter. The Raptor 60 will become the wave of the future. The wait will not be long. We promised that you will love it! The Raptor 60 uses the proven layout from the Raptor 30. The engine can be quickly removed from below the helicopter by unscrewing four bolts. The frames will be molded from the high strength fiber-filled material. The over all ready to fly weight at 8.87 pound will be one of the lowest of all the 60-size helicopters in the world. Many new features have also been added to make the Raptor 60 a hot 3-D machine. For example, torque tube drive and driven tail rotor are standard feature. The canopy shape has been streamlined. The successful floating axle design from the Raptor 30 is used to give smooth hovering and fast 3-D response. Another added feature is there will be a 50-size version to accept 50 class helicopter engines. The 50-size is economical to operate and docile to handle for the beginners. The photographs show the original mock up of the Raptor 60. Production will begin in the fall and kit shipments will start at around December 2000. This Raptor 60 is the best model I have created. The president of Thunder Tiger Corporation, Mr. Aling Lai, is personally spearheading the research and development of this project. We are confident that the modelers will be very impressed by the flight performance, quality, and customer service of the new Raptor 60. These world class models will be very attractively priced. Specification of the Raptor 60: Name: Raptor 60 Engine: .50~.60 Full Length of fuselage: 1370 mm / 53.94 in Full width of Fuselage: 190 mm / 7.48 in Total height : 465 mm / 18.3 in Main Rotor Dia: 1380 ~1540 mm (.50~.60) / 54.33~60.63 in Tail Rotor Dia: 260 mm / 10.24 in Gear Ratio : 1: (7.75~9.1) : 4.668 (.50~.60) Full equipped weight : 4015 g / 8.87 lb Have a great flying season Anyone who desires to stop receiving the Raptor newsletter please email us, and we will remove you from our list. Previous newsletters are on our web at www.acehobby.com. ===== Thank you for contacting us at Thunder Tiger Helicopter Hotline. Our goal is make sure that you enjoy your Raptor RC helicopter at anytime, all the time. Dr. Rap tthelihotline@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail – Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/