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ECO 8 - Customised Parts and Setup

Rationale

 

The ECO 8 originally attracted me because of its simplicity of construction and the fact that it is a complete assembly kit (I like to build things!). Its size also attracted me as I imagined it would make it easier to fly which is true.

As most people would I built the kit as standard with the exception of carbon frames as when I saw the standard frames in the shop I thought they looked awful.

Although I was pleased I have since realised that the basic helicopter needs several upgrades to make it a good 3D capable machine. The picture to the left shows a pretty standard ECO, below I have listed what I feel are the essential and desirable upgrades which culminate in my current ECO below. Of course the cost of all this needs to be considered (see the analysis page) and it may well be that an alternative helicopter (such as a Logo 10 or smaller TREX) be purchased from the start. However I enjoy upgrading and the cost is spread out over months which makes purchasing easier.

ESSENTIAL:

Carbon Side Frames - the stock plastic frames are pretty poor and flex considerably, from the outset I purchased Ikarus Carbon frames which are much better however in a light crash they fractured just ahead of the motor and the motor plate split in half causing a lot of damage. An alternative is aluminium frames but I didn't have any luck with these either as they split first of all adjacent to the landing gear then just below the upper bearing, this was without any crash!

So I decided to build my own which can be seen in the picture, full details are in Part 1. An excellent alternative to making your own is Russ Delaney's tried and tested frames which can be purchased from http://www.rchelibits.co.uk these are strong and light.

Autorotation Hub - I suffered stripped teeth on the main gear not long after purchasing the helicopter just simply by closing the throttle very quickly, the autorotation hub prevents this and makes for a much smoother DISC make sure you get the one with the metal hub.

Carbon Tail Boom - the stock tail boom will only survive one light crash. Replace with a rigid carbon boom, they still break in a crash but the rigidity helps. Be careful in fitting to ensure the tail housing is filed down correctly or the carbon will split, as a precaution I put two tiewraps around the end of the boom tightened as much as possible.

Rear Servo Tail Mount - mounting the tail servo at the front of the heli is just plain silly! if possible get the carbon link rod as well but the snake will do if set up correctly. This mod gives much better tail control.

Tail Boom Support - The tail moves visibly without this another essential upgrade if you want to have good tail performance

For a helicopter that flies well and does great circuits thats it, however if you want to get better performance then the following upgrades are available again in order of impact, this is my opinion of course!

DESIRABLE:

Power Train - the stock brushed motor can be replaced with upgraded brushed motors and a string of high capacity NiMH batteries (up to twelve cells can be used which in my view looks stupid and is very heavy). However to get true performance there is only one alternative, brushless and LiPo. I am not going to make any suggestions about which one as opinions vary, I am currently running a Hacker B50 11L and an 8000MAH battery controlled by a Castle Creations Pheonix 80 ESC this gives stunning rates of climb and 23 minute flights. If you intend to use LiPo batteries you will find that you have to move them much further forward in the frame due to their lighter weight. Use an old landing gear strut cut down and positioned at the front of the frame to hold the battery, you can see this in the picture above.

Heading Hold Gyro - if you are new to R/C Helicopters I think a decent HH Gyro is very desirable, tried and tested is the Futaba GY401 which if set up correctly takes care of the tail very nicely. This gives a beginner the opportunity to get used to the remaining axis controls before moving on to tail control. it is essential in my view to run the 401 with a digital servo like the 9253 or 9254, however if you are using the off the shelf tail servo mount you will find this range of servo too big, I ended up making my own mount from CF sheet which wasnt difficult.

Further Frame Bracing - the basic design of the ECO frame presents two longitudinal vertical members, two cross axial members (tail boom clamps) with two horizontal members. As the tail boom clamps are quite short there is not sufficient bracing in the frame construction to prevent flexing even with carbon frames. The construction can be beefed up by using the aluminium motor mount and a vertical brace placed just behind the motor and in front of the main shaft. These can be home made or purchased in aluminium which is a nice upgrade.

Carbon Fibre Main Blades - the stock woodies are actually quite good but carbon blades will make the helicopter feel much crisper. Sizes range between 440mm to 463mm, opinions differ but I have found SAB and MAH main and tail blades to be good value and perform well, my current setup is MAH463 for main and SAB 80mm with adaption to 2mm root hole. I didnt like the Ikarus Carbon blades.

This again would be about it for a shift upwards in performance in my opinion of course, notice that the head hasnt been touched! if the stock plastic head is setup correctly with all linkages moving freely then performance is very good, there is a lot of hype about 120' swash and Aluminium heads, these are only required if you are going to get serious, read on, again in order of importance -

SERIOUS - 3D FLYING:

HEAD UPGRADES -

Aluminium Head - to date I have only found one alternative aluminium head for the ECO made by Ikarus. This is actually quite nice, buy the complete head as a kit, dont be tempted to buy individual components as they arent interchangeable with the existing head parts and some of the components will be missing if you buy seperate. I havent as yet fitted the aluminium washout set but this too is probably worth having. Make sure all metal to metal fixings are secured with loctite.
 
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120' Swash conversion - the 120' swash plate is worth having as it is a much sturdier and smoother running item than the plastic 90' version, it also goes hand in hand with the aluminium head. You will also need to either make or buy 120' servo mounts for the aileron/pitch servos, you can just make these out in the picture above. 120' swash utilises the servos in a different manner spreading the load on them more evenly and bracing the swashplate more effectively during manouvers. The swashplate itself is much stronger, I have read lots of threads on broken plastic swashplate handles and had one break on me also.

Aluminium Flybar Arms - if you fit the aluminium head dont use the plastic flybar arms, I have fitted aluminium versions from fxaeromodels. You can see these in the picture to the left.
 
Click to View Full Size

Flybar Mods - the stock flybar is made of very soft steel and looks very pretty when wrapped around the head after a light crash! To get faster cyclic response and smooterh flying I use K&S paddles mounted on Raptor 30 flybar rods which are harder.

The rods are cut down to the same length as the ECO version and threaded with an M3 x 0.5 die to accept the paddles.

The picture to the left shows that the paddles have a much greater surface are than the stock version which gives a more responsive stick.

Hardened Mainshaft - it is possible for the stock mainshaft to bend just by spooling up sharply, this upgrade is a must if the other head elements listed are installed
 

Aliminium Top Bearing Block - acts as a frame stiffener and locates the top bearing more effectively. I have increased thd distance between top and bottom bearing by 4mm to aid true running.

Aluminium Anti Rotation Bracket - the stock plastic variety is very flimsy (although I personnaly never had one break) the item shown in the picture is very good and helps secure the canopy securely.

Thrust Bearings - for head speeds over 1700 rpm these are a must, the standard bearings are not designed to take high radial loads. There are several suppliers I got mine from fxaeromodels, BOCA bearings do a complete set of ceramic based bearings for the ECO but it is very expensive. In the UK modelfixings also do an upgrade kit.

TAIL UPGRADES -

80mm Carbon Tail Blades - I use SAB 80mm blades with a bush to adapt the 3mm mounting hole to 2mm. These blades are excellent and I wont go back to stock or any other carbon. They give a very responsive tail.

BOCA Thrust Washer / Bearing - forums are full of stories regarding sheared tail rotor bolts, the most commonly listed reason is the degree of force imposed by the centre race of the bearing causing stress on the bolts. Basically the type of bearing used is not designed for high radial load, a thrust bearing spreads the load across the entire bearing and reduces the stress on the bolt. BOCA stock the most common upgrade as part number F2-6, this is made up of a sandwhich of two thrust washers and the bearing itself which fits together with the original bearing via a longer bolt. I use stainless M2 x 12mm bolts trimmed down evenly to fit to about 10.5mm, make sure the bolts dont press up against the tail shaft.

Aluminium Tail Pitch Slider - the significant difference in this is that the aliminium slider uses two ball race bearings as opposed to the needle roller used in the standard set up. The needle roller introduces friction which has an effect on rotation speed but more importantly wears the brass bush as it bears directly on it. The ball bearings dont do this as the centre race spins with the brass spacer and the whole unit moves much easier along the shaft giving better tail control.

Aluminium Tail Pulley - standard ones wear down quickly, I use the Duzi aluminium version which is light and strong and doesnt wear down

Hardened Tail Shaft - not sure about this one but I have read of experiences with the stock shaft being very soft, I have bent hardened versions though!

All this reads like a sales pitch! I have tried to put in order what I feel and have read avidly are the best upgrades for the Eco, there are others that I havent listed, there are plenty of pilots who fly stock Eco's and get tremendous results so what I have written is only suggestions.

One of the problems in my view with the Eco is the cartel Ikarus have on upgrade parts which means that alternative components are not always readily available, I personally would prefer a little more choice.