Funkey 600mm FG silver

I recently got another part to use as test blades after crash. Because the heli was running on the tt50 muffler, so it was already low on power. Coupled with the fact that I am so used to the rotor tech 610mm, I found this blade hard to manage w/o bogging.

At 2040rpm, this blade climbs real fast, however cyclic seems to be much slower than the rotor tech 610mm. Pop was almost non-existent and stops were very imprecise, as can be observed from push-overs and slappers. While it performs fine for 80% of what I can do, it really is lacking badly in the other 20% like tic-toc and slappers. My rolling stall turn looked nicer though. Overall, they feel SOFT. While it isn't as demanding on the engine like the GCT, it wasn't as stiff as the GCT. These are definately not the blades anyone want to be flying when doing things low, because they don't bite the air well. I set it up for +/-12.5 and 7.5cyclic.

Also, funkey changed the box-art again.

Boom Strike

Had a boom strike while pulling out from inverted flight. Really couldn't believe it wasn't a boom strike in something that I wasn't familiar with like a ugly piro flip or backward snake. Plus I was really gentle that flight because my landing gear was loose but guess it wasn't enough. This crash sent a shocking signal to me-I am really inconsistent. Totally changed my opinion of needing a 90size.

Damage wasn't that bad. Except everything on the boom broke and I do mean everything including the not so usual parts like tail case and rod guides. Belt broke and clutch went jammed, despite the fact that the engine died in the air and everything went dead before the heli touched ground. Heli just dropped at free-fall from eye level, which is another reason why sometimes being low is better than high. Dented the muffler and broke the skid because of the free-fall. It would have been much much more expensive if it wasn't a raptor. Suprisingly, the blades didn't break into pieces like my previous crashes, guess they are really strong.

The carnage

Got it fixed and had a few flights on it and as far as I can tell, the TT muffler is really LOUSY. While it will let the engine rev freely, I have to manage the collective very well for the slightest mistake will bog the engine. It isn't like the hatori which holds the rpm there when its loaded. I choose to reuse my 8.5 gearing and tbh, so far I am quite happy with it because I get more headspeed w/o reving my engine out of its life. My headspeed is now 1980rpm, 60rpm increase from before the crash. With the rotor tech 610mm, its very fast in pitch pumping. Have only done one flight with the new rotor tech 610mm.

This is how I choose to fly it for now, funkey fg 600mm and plastic tail blade, till I get back my confident...the funkey 600mm is miles behind in performance, but the plastic tail blade holds pretty well for now..

Post thoughts- This crash taught me 3 things.

1. I am not handling the collective too well.

2. The pilot can only be as good as the heli. I.E., no matter how good everything else is, if you have just 1 weak link in the heli(could be a muffler, blade or anything), you will only be as good as that weakest link.

3. I haven't improve at all for the past few years, its just my equipment getting better. The change back to the very basic stuffs that I started out with years ago is a huge difference compared to what I had prior to the crash.

Hatori #522

I was using this way before it became popular or even before many have heard about this muffler. At that time, the craze was the JK hatori and MP II, since I couldn't see myself throwing that much money on a JK hatori or MP II(it was expensive at my LHS), I got this. The first time I saw its performance was in a video by the hatori team and it was great, so I got it the moment it reached my LHS.

I can't comment too much on its power since I haven't tried the other expensive pipes, but it sure was miles ahead of my tt50 muffler. Very solid construction. Included in the box that the muffler came with was a sheet of paper that claims the muffler is tuned for increased torque in the 13000-17000rpm. Beyond 17000rpm, it is similar to a conventional muffler. The rpm range doesn't really bother me since I run my engine around 16800rpm so that it doesn't overspeed on fast "push over". The difference between a good tuned muffler and a lousy muffler is not in the rpm or punch, but rather, the ability to keep that rpm when you load the engine up bad.

I crashed the heli recently and dented the muffler badly, but its now almost repaired.

This is how exhaust in the #522 moves from the header to the outlet. The blue parts in the red/pink/purple region are the internal baffles.

Rotor Tech 95mm tail blade

Got them NIB cheap from a fellow flyer. 95mm long, 30mm wide, so its quite a bit larger than my current 92/26mm.

Feels about the same as the 92mm in most cases, but it does seem to have that extra bit of hold in demanding moments and the tail definately holds better when I bog the heli(due to my lousy skill) in something like a inverted tail down funnel.

Anyway, I have destroyed the 92mm in a recent boom strike, so I guess I am not left with much choices.

Rotor Tech, Carbon Tech, Funkey...they are all the same, just relabelled and different box art.

Left to right: Rotor Tech 95mm, Carbon Tech 92mm, NHP 85mm, stock raptor tail blades.