Randy Rivers 600 size Hughes 500E with Phoenix Tech 600
My long time friend Randy Rivers had been gathering parts for a Hughes 500E build but but didnt really have the time needed to put it all together. I had some free time available waiting on a model from Heli-Factory and offered to build the little Hughes 500. It had been a very long time since I had built a small helicoptetr and it did not take long to figure out why I like building “big”, lol. Randy had chosen a Phoenix Tech 600 which is a clone of the Align 600 ESP which is a most sought after set of mechanics for building scale as it will allow a full cockpit without intruding into the cabin. Randy had pretty much ordered everything needed to make a great build which included all Spektrum electronics ( my much prefered brand ), Motor, Unilight scale lighting, ModelSoundsInc sound system and pilot and cockpit. Time to build !!!!
I like to start with the cockpit and pilots as this keeps me modivated with the build. Randy had ordered the Roban cockpit kit which was a very nice starting point with a good scale looking instrument panel and seats. The pilots looked very “toy like” and would definitely NOT be going in this build but more on pilots later. I started with the cockpit floor and getting it positioned properly. I had to add some wood using 1/8th inch “lite-ply”. once I was happr with the proper position of the cockpit floor I could add the seats and pilots. Randy had chosen two ten inch pilots from WarbirdPilots which would look one hundred percent better than the Roban pilots. I added a fine set of four-point harness from Micro Designs which really add realism of the pilots. As I have stated in my other Roban builds I like for my pilots to look “seated” in a natural position and not sitting on top of the seats. The pilot needs to look like he is sitting “in” the seat and I accomplish this by removing material from the seats. This little bit of attention will make your cockpit and pilots look much better.
Next was to assemble the mechanics. Randy chose the Phoenix Tech 600 which is a clone of the popular Align 600 ESP, very popular design which allowed installation of a cockpit. Not a lot of modifications needed to the mechanics except relocating the tail rotor servo. The kits comes with the tail rotor on the right side which is wrounf for the Hughes 500. Flipping it to the left side was pretty simple except doing so put the tail rotor pitch slider on the top instead of the bottom. Not a big problem but did require the tail rotor servo to be placed on top of the mechanice instead of the bottom of the tail boom. Then came the placement of the horizontal tail fin, the stock configuration had the tail rotor much too far behind the tail fin and would also mean removing too much of the fuselage tail boom. I moved the tail fin back to the correct position and mounted it directly to the tail rotor gearbox. Having that end cured the mechanics had to be raised about one half inch from the plywood floor to get the proper alignment in the tail boom. Randy will run a 12S set-up with one 4000mah battery on each side of the mechanics right at the center of gravity ( CG ).
