|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JR Venture CP CCPM
|
Last year I've begun to fly model airplanes, this year I plan to fly model helicopters. This is a natural
step up for me because as much fun as planes are, the challenge has somewhat worn off. Now flying a helicopter is
nothing like flying an airplane. The helicopter is MUCH less forgiving for errors and crashes can be extremely costly.
To imagine what it is like to fly a helicopter, imagine a convex mirror with a steel ball on top. Try to balance that
ball to stay always in the center. That's pretty much what flying a helicopter is all about. Last year I have invested
into a flying model simulator called RealFlight G2 to teach me to fly helicopters. I must have crashed
at least few hundred times before I got the hang of hovering. It's the best $500 (CAD) i've ever spent as a typical "real-life"TM
crash can cost anywhere from $100 to a complete wreck which could run up to $1500 CAD. Mind you even with the
training program flying in "real life"TM is much different as you have to account for wind gusts and
various other variables.
Enter the JR Venture CP, an beginner level helicopter that can be modified to do mild 3D after the training
level is complete. JR sure knows how to design a heli. The Venture comes as an ARF and apparently can be assembled in
less than 8 hours. I'm taking my time building the Venture as it is still early winter and I won't be flying until
the temperature reaches at least 12-15 degrees and it's nice and calm outside.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Product Stats |
| Length |
44.60" |
| Height |
17.20" |
| Weight (no engine) |
7.5 lbs |
| Engine Size |
.32 |
| Main Rotor Diameter |
49.50" |
| Servos Required |
5 |
|
| Cost Breakdown |
| JR Venture CP Heli Kit |
$475 CAD |
| O.S. Max 32 FX Heli Engine |
$185 CAD |
| JR Flight Pack (4 servos, RX) |
$150 CAD |
| High Speed Tail Servo |
$100 CAD |
| 4 Ni-Mh Batteries |
$23 CAD |
| Muffler (tuned pipe) |
$55 CAD |
| JR Heading Hold Gyro |
$220 CAD |
| Training Gear |
$10 CAD |
| Receiver Crystal |
$FREE |
| Engine Stiffener |
$25 CAD |
| Header Tank |
$20 CAD |
| Fuel Filter |
Optional (Est. $5 CAD) |
| Fibreglass Blades |
$80 CAD |
| Governor |
Optional (Est. $180 CAD) |
| Thrust Bearing Set |
$40 CAD |
| 3D Head Dampeners |
$20 CAD |
| Tools (ball link pliers, blue threadlock etc...) |
$50 CAD |
| O.S. Max #8 Glow Plug |
$FREE |
| Rubber Skid Stops |
$10 CAD |
| Grand Total |
$1463 CAD |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Now for some building pictures
|
This picture was taken the same day I brought the heli home. It's an enormous box, it didn't actually fit into the trunk
of my cadillac but that's partly because of the subwoofer in there. I had to put this sucker in the back seat.
|
|
My "workbench" all ready to go. The manual for this helicopter is suprisingly extremely comprehensive. With almost
80 pages to it's content only the first 15 actually detail the "assembly" part of the helicopter. Turns out that
construction is only 20% and setup is the other 80%.
|
|
All the parts to the heli are laid out on the workspace. The JR Venture is actually much bigger than I anticipated.
Turns out that the pictures JR offers on their web site or even on the box are somewhat "squished" and the
canopy "fish head" is actually much longer. I have to commend JR for an excellent packing job they did with the
Venture CP. All screws come in sets of individual bags so it's almost impossible to mess it up. All bulk items
individually wrapped. Really an excellent job.
|
|
I've taken off the "fish head" canopy to reveal the composite plastic frame. I was actually surprised to find
that almost all parts of the heli are made out of plastic save for some heavy duty parts. A rather beefy fuel tank
protrudes from the front of the heli. I've read that the as you fly the Venture and the fuel gets used up
the CG (center of gravity) changes slightly and you have to adjust the trim on the transmitter to keep it
nice and steady.
|
|
What surprised me even more is that the the mechanics around the swashplate were also made of plastic. I hope that
this is some durable plastic as I'd imagine that during heavy maneuvers there would be a lot of stress on these parts.
The JR Venture CP comes with 120° CCPM. Meaning that it's driven by 3 servos for all actions and that
the linkages are extremely short. This should technically relieve a lot of stress from the components as you're no
longer required to use high torque/high speed servos.
|
|
The boom and boom support installed. This was the very first step of assembly of the Venture. One major issue to keep in mind
when working on this helicopter. Work in a VERY well lit area. It's really hard to peer into holes made out of black plastic.
I found myself using a flashlight to closely inspect the Venture on many occasions.
|
|
Installation of the belt drive for the tail rotor was relatively painless. I wasn't sure how I'm supposed to tension the
belt so I tensioned it by slightly pulling out the boom from the frame. If there is a screw or a mechanism to do this elsewhere
I've missed it.
|
|
The vertical tail rotor fin installed. I found that the pre-drilled holes were too small for the screws so I used
a driven screwdriver to secure the fin as the "hand technique" didn't want to work.
|
|
The tail rotor control line attached to the ball link. Running the line was another relatively painless process.
The link guides were pretty easy to install, although the guide holders seemed a little flimsy for me and when I wrapped
them around the boom I was pretty sure that it would break. And because the screws used to tighten the guides are the
self-tapping kind, I'm afraid they might come loose if too much vibration is encountered during flight.
|
|
I've bought an O.S. Max 32 heli engine to power the JR Venture CP. I've read very good reviews about this engine and its power
output. I have to remember to break this engine in before engaging in serious flying. I've installed the fan on the
engine and used blue threadlock to keep it secure. The fan cools the engine as it runs because unlike planes that cool the engine
in flight, this one does not have a prop to keep it cool.
|
|
The centrifugal clutch secured to the engine, I've added more blue threadlock to keep it secured. I've never seen
a centrifugal clutch before or how it works, It's actually amazing the simplicity of it. It also seems awfully
hard to move so even tho I'm sure it works perfectly, I'm currently skeptical that it will work.
|
|
The horizontal tail fin installed, it was a much more painless installation than the horizontal one.
|
|
I've reattached the canopy over the frame as I'm done for now. I can't proceed until I get the rest of the parts which
will probably happen early February. Till then...
|
|
It's February now so I can purchase more parts for the heli and continue construction...
Once again I've decided to build my own battery to replace the lousy 600mAh battery that came with the flight pack.
I've also decided to use the wiring harness from my old 600mAh battery in the new 2100mAh Ni-Mh battery. The
soldering is a no brainer and I've already done this twice before, it was only a few minutes to solder
the batteries together. I've used my remaining shrink-wrap casing to secure the batteries and with a quick burst of
the heat gun wrapped it all nicely in a package.
|
|
I've received a free Glow Plug from my LHS (Local Hobby Store) where I purchased the parts for the heli. Installing
it into the engine was a snap.
|
|
Installing the hex starter adapter was pretty tricky simply because the area I work in, is not lighted very well.
I used blue locktite to secure it in place.
|
|
After a lot of wiggling I finally got the engine to snap in place and get properly aligned. There is a really fine
line of getting the engine to be perfectly inline with the clutch.
|
|
The official JR Flight Pack contains 5 servos, a receiver and a battery. I had lowered the price of the flight pack by
ditching the battery (was gonna build my own) and one of the servos which I swapped for a JR NES-810G Super Servo. It can rotate
180° in only 0.3 seconds! This speed is vital when using a heading hold gyro.
|
|
I've prepared the servos by inserting the rubber grommets into the holding slots.
|
|
It took me quite a while to get all the servos secured. Except as it turns out I didn't use the proper screws in mounting these
servos so they were not as secure as I thought.
|
|
Second time around I've re-installed the servos, painstakingly making sure that all screws make perfect contact with the
frame. I've also noticed that in my previous installation one of the servos was installed backwards. I've corrected this
when I used the proper screws.
|
|
Installing the switch harness was a breeze. The only obstacle I came upon is that the switch is much smaller than the
cut-out provided for it. I find this interesting as both the switch and the heli are both made by JR. You'd figure they
would make it fit their own product.
|
|
The "fish head" canopy needs a window cut-out. The kit came with a dark-tinted plastic "bubble" that can be cut-out to fit
the canopy's opening. I've always sucked at cutting shapes so the fit is on exact, especially on the top. The canopy
looks kind of boring bleach white like this. The kit did come with some stickers you can put on the canopy, but maybe if
my darling fiancee is not busy, she can airbrush something nice on it.
|
|
The servo control arms had to be trimmed but they're still very large. I snipped one end of each and installed them on
centered servos. I had to wait for this step the next day because I had to charge the battery I built in order to
properly center the servos.
|
|
Installing the linkages was pretty easy, especially with the ball-link pliers. I did find one "oopsie" that JR did
in their manual. One of the servos on the manual is rotated 90° so that the measurements for the swashplate
alignment are way off. It took me some time to set the proper link length but I eventually got it close enough (for now).
|
|
I've labeled some servo wires to make it easier to connect them to the receiver.
|
|
I've bought a Revolution muffler for the OS engine. I've only had to loosen the engine a bit to install the screws through
the engine. The installation was very easy, just tighten the screws and that's it.
|
|
The final part, the JR 500t Ring Gyro, this new gyro model is much smaller than most gyros.
|
|
Construction part is DONE! Now all that is left is setting up the balancing, levels and final checks. Till next month...
|
| Update |
|
I had to take the engine out after the first flight attempt due to the fact that the fan got loose from the shaft,
so while the engine was out I've had installed (with much help from my LHS) an SGp Engine Stiffener. It removes much vibration from the engine
making it quieter and giving it more power.
|
|
It was a real pain getting the glow plug in through the behind of the Venture, especially since the tail support rod
is right in the middle of it, so instead I've added a glow plug remote making it very easy to start the heli.
|
Crash Log
| Crash #1 |
|
Well it was bound to happen, my first heli crash. Tho I wish it didn't happen the way it did.
The cause of the crash was a faulty CCPM servo, the victim was Spidey when the heli flew into him.
Spidey was ok except for some nasty bruising, the damage list to the heli is as follows:
|
| Part Damaged |
Replacement Cost |
| Tail Boom |
$17.50 |
| Blade Spindle Shaft |
$8.50 |
| Main Rotor Shaft |
$12.95 |
| Landing Gear Dampeners |
$20.00 |
| Blade Holders |
$16.00 |
| Tail Output Shaft |
$11.95 |
| Seesaw Arm Set |
$21.50 |
| Joint Balls /w Screws |
$9.95 |
| Short Ball Links |
$5.50 |
| Ball links and various other items |
$30.00
|
| Pro Sport 550mm Wood Blades |
$43.50 |
| Tail Case Set |
$17.59 |
| Total |
$214.94 + taxes |
|
|
Some shots of the damage done. As bad as it sounds, the damage is not extensive due to the heli hitting a soft target
rather than hard ground.
|
|
The first item on repair list are the rubber landing gear dampeners, all four got torned off when the heli hit the ground.
I had to make this my priority because the heli kept tipping over.
|
|
The tail support rod was bent during the crash, this was easily repairable as it only involved bending
the rod back into shape. The end result isn't perfect but it's good enough for hover. I'll be replacing
this rod with two carbon fibre rods once I get into 3D.
|
|
The tail boom was hit also, not only it was dented, it was also broken off inside the heli, I had to remove the boom
and the leftover pieces in the main frame.
|
|
Had to remove the entire head assembly to replace the main shaft which got slightly bent. I've decided to replace it
completely because I didn't want any wobbling once the repair is complete.
|
|
The engine and muffler were undamaged, I had to remove the muffler to get to one of the landing dampeners, and
it also made it easier to work on the heli. The muffler was full of fuel when I first took it off.
|
|
I've re-assembled the main shaft. The swashplate seems undamaged but will definitely get it inspected before the
Venture's next flight.
|
|
Because of the second JR servo failure, all JR NES-537 servos were pulled from the Venture and replaced with Expert servos. The great folks at Flite Craft
replaced the servos for free. Hopefully the problem was a batch of faulty servos and not another unforseen problem.
I really don't want to crash again of servo failure during hover.
|
|
The old fly bar was finally removed and replaced with the shorter 3d fly bar. Seems the old one was threadlocked
into semi-permanent position.
|
|
The old blade holders broke off at the ball join and had to be replaced, I had to replace one of the ball bearings
because I poked a nice hole through the bearing.
|
|
The head has been re-assembled, I never even imagined that the head assembly has so many bearings.
This crash has definitely taught me a lot about the inner workings on the CCPM, Heli control system.
|
|
I've re-assembled the seesaw arms which also broke off during the crash.
|
|
The head has been fully re-assembled and all the links have been re-attached, except for the servo links which I'll
do last. I noticed something yesterday that made me think that the failed servo wasn't the real reason for the crash.
When I hooked up the new servo to the receiver for the first time, it went to one extreme and did not respond to commands.
Something tells me that the culprit could be the receiver or even the radio.
|
|
The tail assembly has been reconstructed. The tail does not have as many moving parts as the main rotor head so it only
took a couple of hours to fully assemble.
|
|
The JR Venture has now been fully re-assembled. Although it wasn't a good thing the crash occured, it gave me
an amazing insight on the inner workings of the helicopter. I never imagined how many ball bearings this heli has, or
how many screws hold everything together. Tho I hope, I won't have to do this again anytime soon.
Apr 2, 2004
|
| Videos |
| Date |
Link |
Description |
| March 25, 2004 |
JR 01 11MB WMV
|
It was a VERY rough start. A friend of mine and I went to the field at around noon to
catch some footage of my first flight. Once I got the heli fueled up, range checked and had the gear installed
it was time to start it up. First thing was that getting the short glow plug driver connected to the glow
plug at the back of the heli was an incredible hassle, it took me several tries to get it to stay on the glow plug.
Once the engine got started we went out to the flight line to go up, unfortunately the engine died after I took the
glow plug off. Back to the pits, except now the crankshaft screw from the engine has come loose and the starter
would not crank the engine over. Back to the hobby store for me... Did I also mention that my field battery somehow
managed to fully discharge itself in a week and a half? Had to borrow someone elses...
|
| March 25, 2004 |
JR 02 15MB WMV
|
Later that day, we back at the field, with some heli modifications, the engine stiffener
and the glow plug remote installed. Fire up the engine, and try again. Except, someone at the hobby
store almost completely unscrewed the high speed needle on the engine making it run slobbering rich.
The heli didn't have enough power to get the head speed up enough for takeoff. After few tries I've finally
leaned the engine enough to get my power boost.
I've started with tiny baby hops, trying to figure out the weight/power of the heli. Eventually took off into
a 1-2 foot hover, I think I did pretty good with that, there was a lot of updrafts that kept the JR Venture
bobbing up and down, but eventually I got the hang of it. This was my first ever heli flight and I think I did pretty
good once I got going. I hovered in all directions keeping it pretty steady. Real Flight Simulator prepared me
very well for this day.
|
| March 25, 2004 |
JR 03 9MB WMV
|
I've finally got the heli straightened out, this flight was all about touchdowns so I can get preprepared for my
next flight, without the training gear. This flight was pretty uneventful, hovered pretty well for my second tank
and had the Venture (almost) full under control.
|
| March 25, 2004 |
JR 04 13MB WMV
|
My third tank and the training gear was off. It's a good thing I didn't get the $100 RotoPod gear and built my own
for $10 because It didn't last that long. I was a little bit more nervous flying without the gear but got used to it
after a few touchdowns. Overall I was nowhere near as nervous flying the heli than I was when I first took my
Sig Somethin' Extra for a test flight.
I've tried some mild forward flight and some pirouettes. A lot of nose in hover which is very easy at this point.
If noticed though that when the heli is across the field it's orientation was a bit confusing at certain times, a very dangerous
situation. A few more tanks of this and I'll be ready to take on 3D :)
|
| April 23, 2004 |
JR 3D 01 26MB WMV
|
Less than a month since the maiden voyage and I've started into the world of 3D flying.
Even tho my loops and rolls are pretty inconsistent, I get a pretty good one occasionaly.
I noticed tho that the Venture does not want to climb inverted which makes for a bit of a problem
as far as hovering inverted is concerned, I would have no "escape velocity" in case of an oops.
Other than that the heli performs VERY well and I'm having a blast flying.
|
| Flight Log |
| March 27, 2004 |
So, there I was having a blast hovering, on my 4th tank of the day, 8th tank since I started flying (Last Thursday)
and suddenly the helicopter starts accelerating forward. I pull back on the stick but it kept just going.
I tried not to panic and attempted to land it like an airplane, with some success, although the heli started to
tip forward with the rotor blades less than an inch away from the ground, I quickly pull down on the throttle
and kill the engine. Luckily the blades did not strike the ground. After I calmed my nerves down
and upon closer inspection of the CCPM system, I noticed that the front servo (Elevator connection)
was not moving and was stuck in one position. I suspected a stripped servo and took it apart, I was right,
one of the gears was missing some teeth. It was a JR NES-537 servo, the heli almost new with only 9 flights under
it belt. What could possibly cause a servo to be stripped like that so soon? No idea, I suspect that the
heli was turned on at some point while the blades were locked for storage. But can't really confirm this.
I would really hate for this to repeat, especially if I'm doing 3D or FF. It's one thing to crash because of stupidity,
another to crash because of an unforseen mechanical failure.
|
| March 29, 2004 |
It happened again, the servo gave out and I lost control of the heli. Except this time with both human and
mechanical casualties. There we were, Spidey and I on the field hovering the heli when
suddenly out of nowhere the heli decided to start moving backwards, I immediately recognized the symptom, the same damn
servo that controls fore/aft movement stopped responding. When I realized that the heli is heading right for us I yelled "run"
and started to quickly back away from the flight station, constantly trying to recover control of the heli, unfortunately
for Spidey he stopped to look around for a second and that's when it hit him. The thick leather jacket took most of the hit
but Spidey brought his hand up and the wooden blade hit him in the palm and just below the wrist, instantly shattering the
blades. At first we thought that the wrist might be broken so we went to the hospital, after few hours, some x-rays turns
out that Spidey has very strong bones and not even a crack on the bones themselves, however his skin definitely got bruised bad.
I haven't analyzed the heli for damage thoroughly yet, few things I know that are gone are: tail boom, blades, rotor head, paddles, skids,
skid mounts and probably most of the servos are gone. The canopy was undamaged so the electronics should be intact but I'll know for sure
when I'll visit FliteCraft today.
|
| April 8, 2004 |
Took the Venture out for the first time after the crash. It flies better than it did before the crash. A lot less
vibration and the metallic vibration noise is gone too. Today the wind was pretty calm and I was able to
hover pretty steady even with the sports paddles on. I only flew 3 flights today because it was getting too
cold outside. Hopefully there will be a nice enough weather tommorow so I can go fly again, and maybe I'll also
be able to bring out my Somethin' Extra.
|
| April 20, 2004 |
I've flown 3D today! After only 30 flights and less than 2 gallons of fuel. Flew 5 flights today, four of them involved a lot of loops and rolls.
Now I need to upgrade my Venture for 3D. Need stiff 3D dampeners and thrust bearings and of course
Fibre-glass blades. Maybe even mod the engine for 30% nitro. Will see first how well it performs
without the engine mod as I'm not really too keen on running 30% as it's expensive as hell.
Will drop by my LHS tommorow to discuss "bling" options...
|
| April 22, 2004 |
The heli performs AWESOME with the new mods. I actually had to lower the headspeed on the heli
because of the new blades. And with the paddle adjustments the Venture does a complete 360deg roll in under 2 seconds.
Flies at least 50% faster with the new hard dampeners.
The engine hardly bogs down when doing loops and rolls. Tho today my muffler came loose twice, the second time I tried to
fasten the screw too tight and stripped the thread. So now I got threadlock and bolts on the screws. Hopefully this will hold
for a while.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
