Vario 1/4 scale Bell 47-G3

It seems like a lifetime ago that I was flying sightseeing rides in an old Bell 47 over the Great Smoky Mountains. That was my first paying commercial job and that faithful old Bell 47 gave me many enjoyable experiences including an engine failure from one thousand feet above the city of Pigeon Forge, TN. I have been a big fan of the 47 ever since. My first RC Bell 47 was an old Hirobo gasoline version and I later built a Vario “nitro” and then a Vario gasoline version.

Four years ago I built one with electric power with all three being 1/6th scale. Vario introduced the 1/4 scale version and I had to have one. I ordered this one with the Benzine mechanics and converted it to electric using a Kontronik Pyro 700 and installed a Darrell Sprayberry Clutch conversion to allow a nice slow spool up of the main rotor. I coupled this with a Bell 47 sound system from ModelSoundsInc and this combination gave me a very realistic sounding Bell 47. I removed a small area from the main frames to allow the installation of a full scale cockpit without any of the mechanics protruding into the cabin. All the 47 kits that I have built came with the “Utility Gear” but I am a big fan of the “Arched Gear” with the rounded crosstubes (you can see the difference in the pictures). I ordered the correct size aluminum tubing and bent the tubes around a plywood form I made from one inch ply.

Time to start the airframe. Once the mechanics were installed I had to step back and see what I wanted to add to get a more realistic looking Bell 47. I first added the plastic “dummy” engine cyclinders. I had been chatting with Carlos Cugino, owner of Vario Argentina who was building the same model. He had designed a few of the parts around the engine of the 47 giving it a fantastic scale appearance. He was gracious enough to send me all those needed parts and they are what gave this Bell 47 such a realistic look. I used a “Black & Decker” Shop-Light hose fro the breather hose, lol. I also added three more carrier bearings to the tail rotor drive shaft for a much better appearance. I also added the “dummy” tail rotor “push-pull” cable that controls the pitch change to the tail rotor. Nothing like using your imagination and sratch-building !!!

I did not care for the Vario cockpit for this model as it was not scale looking and certainly not acceptable. Time for some serious “scratch-building”. With the introduction of 3D printed parts the old school scratch-building talent is slowly fading and there are not many of us left. I dont have a desire to learn 3D printing but certainly admire the guys that do. I use a lot of 3D printed parts when its needed. I still feel that there are some areas such as these tail rotor pedals that still look much better than printed parts, they have much “cleaner” looking details and dont require a lot of sanding and smoothing the rough finish found on most printed parts. My helicopter, my decision.

I wanted the cockpit to be one unit and easily removeable. I built the floor, seats, firewall and instrument panel out of liteply and sheet plastic. The tail rotor pedals were made from plastic and aluminum tubing as was the collective control. The cyclic was carved out of wood as close to the full size as I could get it. The cyclic on the old 47 that I flew did not have the nice cyclic grip as you see on most helicopters. It had a trigger for the aircraft radio and a button on top for the intercom.

I wanted the Bell logo on the pedals and found these plastic letters from “Plastruct” and it gave me exactly what I wanted. The battery was 3D printed by Mark Burks at Micro Designs. I found the “smiling” pilot at Premier Pilots. I wanted that pilot because if you have ever taken a ride in a Bell 47 you will know what the smile is all about, lol.

I kept finding things that needed attention. I was not happy with the look of the “saddle tanks”, they needed the stainless straps that hold them in place. It took a little time but I was very happy with the results. The model flew great with the flybared head just as all Varios models fly BUT i was not happy with the looks. It needed a more scale looking head. I had a good friend in the club David Shealey who is a retired machinest, he made the necessay parts to convert the 47 to a flybarless head with the “dummy” items for a more scale appearance. I installed a Barvarian 3X and it flew great while looking more like a full size Bell 47. It was a very enjoyable build and I certainly will not be giving up my fondness of scratch-building !!!