Raptor 30 Pro w/TT36 by Ace Hobby

It took awhile, but I finally worked up the nerve and gathered enough flight experience to feel worthy of an attempt at heli flight.  It wasn't nearly as difficult as I expected it to be.  Granted, I've not advanced to smooth forward flight yet but it took only a few gallons of fuel to become totally comfortable with hovering and mild translational flight - even in fairly windy conditions.  Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel and rehashing everything that's already out there about the Raptor 30 I've just posted some of what I consider the nicer links for this inexpensive yet nice flying bird.  Most of these sites have tons of other info above and beyond the Raptor 30.  Also, I have included a bit of info that I consider important or unique.

My Raptor 30:

It's a stock Raptor 30 Pro w/TT36 engine, Weston UK pipe, Telebee gyro, and Futaba UHPS w/S9202 servos except for the tail rotor servo which is a JR DS8417.  I'm using a homemade tail rotor boom servo mount.  (I'll probably get a commercial one eventually.)  I've also added a header tank.  I find W.S. Dean's antennae to be a great modification for any R/C craft.  Check out my Raptor 30 photo gallery to see things for yourself.

Modifications to Consider

• Tightening up the washout assembly is quite simple.  First, epoxy the mainshaft into the blade holder assembly.  Then, just put one or two set screws into the washout hub, tighten them down just right, lock them in place with some CA, and observe the loss of free play in your head by lightly twisting your flybar paddles.  I got this hint off a heli newsgroup.  Click on the thumbnail at right for a detailed pic of what to do.
• http://www.y-t-g.com/flutter/flutterfix.html - just what it says in the URL.
• http://members.home.net/meneer/rc/files/flutter.htm - more interesting info.

Some Other Things I Consider Important:

• Go with an aftermarket pipe.  I'm flying the Weston.  The stock pipe is total crap.
• I suffered from a severe woofing problem and solved it by tightening up the links in the rotor head (as per a recommendation from a newsgroup heli guru).  I'd go with Rocket City links.
• Feed your engine the highest quality fuel you can find of the correct nitro content.  Ask local rotorheads for their recommendations.
• Buy, read, and understand Ray's Heli Handbook.  I feel it's well worth the low price and a great reference.  More detail than you'll ever be able to fathom at first.
• Check out the links below.  They've got all the info you'll need for success with your Raptor 30.

The Infamous TT36 Low Speed Needle Valve Saga:

You've probably read all about the different versions of the TT36 low speed needle valve for the stock engine in the Raptor 30. Well, I've not actually seen an image of these needles posted so here's one for your viewing pleasure.  Perhaps the geometry of these needles will give you some feel for just what might be going on with each version and why one may be better than another.  The roman numeral is the version number of that needle.  (They are in chronological order.)  I'm currently flying with version III but others like earlier versions.  I may switch once I get more experience and am more capable of making a decision as to which I like better.  As you can see, the difference between versions II and III appear to be miniscule; however, version I must certainly result in a tremendous difference in engine behavior.

My Raptor Crashes:

• Ahhh . . . the first crash is under my belt.  What a feeling.  Actually, not so much a crash as a hard landing.  I'd never been happy with the TT36 up to this point and was just counting the days until it let me down.  So, I was getting comfy doing pirouettes and decided to see just how fast that dang Rappy could spin.  Flipped my T/R dual rate switch up to high and slammed the stick home to rotate opposite the mains so as to get the fastest spin possible by taking advantage of the counter torque.  Man did that thing spin!  Stopped the spinning after a few revolutions into a nice steady hover.  Moments later the engine began to sputter and cough and quickly died.  I wasn't in idle up so didn't have as much negative pitch available as might've been nice plus I immediately did a momentary panic flare up around 50 feet altitude which bled off a lot of my reserve head momentum.  I'd never practiced autorotations yet because I was always afraid the TT36 would die when I hit throttle hold.  Okay, I still had a fair amount of head momentum and yanked my collective stick to the floor.  The Raptor dropped fast and I flared when I deemed it appropriate.  She slowed down nicely but still hit hard enough to result in a boom strike on the ground.  Damage assessment:  stock Al boom supports bent but fixable, horizontal fin broken but fixable, T/R boom gone, one main badly dinged (may try to fix although that's likely a dangerous course of action), other barely scratched, flybar just slightly bent so salvageable, T/R blade paint job ruined but just a cosmetic thing so fixable, other very minor cosmetic damage.  That's all I found to date.
• Okay, I've switched to an OS32 and so far find it far superior to the TT36.  Also, upgraded to carbon fiber boom supports, a commercial T/R boom servo mount instead of my homemade one, and a frame stiffener that goes between the landing gear and the frame.  The OS carb seems light years ahead of the stock one on the TT36.  I only have a couple of tanks through it so far so can't say much more.  Oddly enough, it even sounds better though I'm using the same pipe.

Links:

• http://www.net-express.com/nexus/home.html - A wellspring of Raptor and other info.
• http://members.telocity.com/fritzthecat/ - In general, just a kick-butt site.
• http://www.heliproz.com/index.html - Great source of heli stuff.
• http://www.heliproz.com/novadvice.html - Good info for the novice (from above).
• http://www.y-t-g.com/helinews.html - Another interesting site.