Updated – 8/19/2010 (New items in BLUE)

Below you will find information concerning the equipment I use, my personal rotor head setup, and some build tips.

• Main Blades – Curtis Youngblood Radix 600mm Stick Bangers
• Tail Blades – Curtis Youngblood Radix 92mm or 95mm Tail Blades
• Paddles – 600 carbon fiber flybar paddle
• Cyclic Servos – Futaba BLS252’s or BLS351’s
• Throttle Servo – Futaba 9257 or 9650
• Gyro – Futaba GY520
• Tail Servo – Futaba BLS251 or 9256 (both are 720us servos)
• Engine – OS55HZ
• Receiver Battery – Thunder Power TP900mah-2SPLRX(2 flights) – TP1800-2SPLRX(5 flights).

My rotor head setup is geared toward a balance between smooth tracking and quick cyclic response. Below are the mechanical settings I use on the N5 programmable head. Settings in the manual will give the novice to intermediate pilot a very nice and stable helicopter.

• Bell Mixer – Both Bell and Hiller on the inside position (illustration below)
• Seesaw/Flybar Carrier – Center Position (illustration below)

Main Shaft Pinch Collar -**CRITICAL**

Some of the Main Shaft Pinch Collars are tapped on both sides. This will cause the pinch collar to not grip the main shaft tight enough. Please check your pinch collars to make sure that the front side is a 2.5mm through hole and the back side is tapped. If not it is very easy to run a 2.5mm drill through the front side of the pinch collar.

Head Axle Sleeve

I’ve noticed quite a few people with low head speed wobbles and there are a few reasons for this. The stock dampers are very tight in the head as well as on the spindle. The main blade axle must be greased so that it can center properly during flight. I’ve found a few helis out there where the head button bolt was pressing against the main blade axle sleeve! If you are going to run the main blade axle sleeve make sure you do not over tighten the head button bolt, it will run into the sleeve if tightened too much. I personally have stopped running the sleeve because I didn’t see a difference in performance with the sleeve and it can actually hurt your performance if not centered properly. My suggestion….. ditch the sleeve!

Pitch Slider Lock Washer Tips-

The lock washer works very well if you follow these simple tips.

1. Flatten the lock washer in a vise or arbor press.
2. Press the lock washer on to brass pitch slider using a socket with the same outer diameter as the lock washer. Be careful not to press the lock washer on too far as it will make the bearings bind.
3. Apply medium CA in between the teeth of the lock washer.

Things to check if you have a high frequency tail vibration?

• If you’ve had a crash, check your tail hub and tail output shaft to see if they are bent.
• Check to make sure your bearings are tight in the vertical fin and opposing tail plate. If the are slightly loose, use CA to secure them.
• Do not over tighten the rear boom clamps. These clamps are very strong and the gap does not need to be closed.
• Tail output shaft should not have excessive play within the flange bearings. If you think there is too much play then I would recommend green or red loctite to secure the shaft within the bearings. Make sure you take the tension off the belt before securing the shaft into the bearings.
• Tail Blades – I can’t stress using quality tail blades enough. The N5 has a 4.66:1 ratio which means at 2150 on the head, the tail is spinning 10,000 RPM. If your tail blades are slightly out of balance or the CG is off, it will show up as a vibration in the tail.
• Through experimentation, I have found that slightly longer boom supports can make the tail rotor a bit less susceptible to high frequency tail vibrations. We will include these in future kits.

Plastic Main Blade Grips / Plastic Tail Blade Grips -

Both are discontinued! There were only 61 kits released with these plastic grips, if you have one them, throw them in the garbage! We would rather play it safe with metal main blade grips and tail blade grips.

Belt Tension -

Too much belt tension will create a lot of drag in the tail drive system. Too little tension will create belt slapping on the boom. The N5 does not need an ultra tight belt, try to achieve a medium belt tension that does not cause boom slapping or create excessive drag. The N5 belt has an XL tooth profile so skipping teeth and slipping should not happen. If the belt is setup correctly you will not even know you are flying a belt driven tail. After flying a belt driven tail on both my Logo 600 and my N5, I never want to go back to a torque tube. The simplicity and durability are unbeatable.

Engine & Clutch Stack Alignment-

Mount your engine and clutch stack into the frames as shown in the instructions. Leave all bolts lose at first. First tighten down the four engine mount tab screws. Next you will want to check your main gear mesh. You can rock the engine slightly toward or away from the main gear to achieve a slightly better mesh. Once you are happy with the main gear to pinion mesh, tighten down the eight motor mount bolts to the frame. Once the engine is secured you can now check the start shaft for free rotation. Move the clutch stack slightly fore or aft until you feel the start shaft is free within the one-way clutch bearing. Tighten down the four clutch stack bearing block screws are you are done.

Auto Hub-

Do not try to remove vertical play, this play was designed into the unit to allow the auto hub to float and spin freely. Removing this play will affect your auto-rotation performance. Also the auto hub can be installed as it appears in the manual or flipped upside down in case the one-way is installed in the opposite direction.

Auto Hub locking up – This is a known issue, some people are experiencing this and some are not. If you are experiencing this, here is a list of things to try.

• Clean all of the grease out of the one way and apply a light oil
• Lightly sand auto hub inner sleeve until OD is between 11.96-11.98mm
• Loctite inner sleeve to main shaft (helps close the gap between OD of main shaft and ID of auto hub sleeve).

Metal Bearing Blocks -

Be sure to thoroughly heat the bearing blocks before inserting the main shaft bearings. If properly heated the bearings will slide right into the blocks without any force. Once cool they will be perfectly seated.

Pivot Balls -

If you try to remove the pivot balls, please make sure to use some heat before attempting removal. The factory was using some very aggressive thread lock on the initial kits. In the future all balls will be screwed in two threads and left to the customer for securing.

Elevator control arm set screws -

Either use flat point set screws or grind a flat on the included cup point set screws that come in the kit. Cup point set screws may allow the elevator control arms to rotate slightly after an aggressive flight. I am working with the factory to make sure the correct set screws are included in the future.

Most recently I have started tapping my inner and outer elevator arms out to 4mm. The 3mm set screws will work but as soon as a blade touches the ground, you will notice the helicopter is out of trim on the elevator.

Clutch Liner Installation -

The factory did not install the clutch liner per instructions in the manual, this will be corrected in future kits. For those that have kits now, follow these installation steps -

1. Trim an 1/8 inch of clutch liner off the end of the material
2. Insert the clutch liner into the clutch bell to test the fit
3. Wrap the clutch with one layer of electrical tape
4. Use Medium CA or JBWeld to secure the liner
5. Insert clutch into the clutch bell
6. Let glue dry
7. Remove clutch from clutch bell
8. Sizing may be needed in order to allow the clutch bell to spin freely on the clutch. Use a Dremel tool with a large fine grit sanding drum to remove material. A lathe would be ideal but I know most people do not own a lathe.

Start Shaft Hex Adapter -

• Some of the start shaft hex adapters are a little tight on certain starting wands. If you have one of these, take a measurement with your calipers and send me the details.

Engine Removal -

1. Remove the muffler
2. Remove fan shroud
3. Remove four engine tab bolts
4. Drop motor down until it clears the clutch
5. Rotate motor left or right and remove from main frames.

Tail Pulley -

Please remember to Thread lock on the Black tail pulley set screws.

Note:

Some parts of the machine have been pre assembled at the factory to reduce any parts shortages, therefore we recommend some assemblies should be stripped and re assembled before flight. Use thread lock for screws into metal assemblies. Please note that heavy duty thread lock has been applied to swash plate balls. Check these for tightness, but you do not need to disassemble. If you wish to remove these then apply heat from a hairdryer in order to loosen the locking compound. Failure to do this may result in damage or breakage of the ball.

The sales goals which were set early in 2010 have been met and surpassed! With that said, I just wanted to send out a sincere thank you to all of the Synergy customers for supporting the new N5. Your support is helping to secure a bright new future for Synergy and I can’t thank you enough for making that possible. We have many new products slated for the future including 50 and 90 sized flybarless heads which will be compatible with multiple models.
If you are heading to IRCHA this weekend, stop by and see us in the Synergy booth. Bring your N5 or N9 as well, we would love to see your models!

Sincerely,
Matt Botos

I’ve been looking for a pocket size battery monitor for some time now for several reasons. Many times when I’m at the flying field or an event, I’ve been curious to know what the voltage of my packs are both before and after a flight without having to break out my charger as well as a DC power source. This last weekend I was in Seattle for an event and I met David Gray from Progressive RC he showed me the CellLog 8S and I had to have one. The CellLog 8S fits the bill perfectly for me. It’s tiny, well built, very accurate, and has a back lit LCD for those night flying pilots. Here are some of the features as well as some pictures of mine.

Specifications

• Lithium (LiPo/LiIo/LiFe) battery cell count: 2–8 series
• Pack voltage range: 4.0–43.0 V (with USB to 1.0 V)
• Alarm pack voltage range: 0.1–4.3 V
• Cell voltage range: 1.3–4.9 V
• Alarm cell voltage range: 1.3–4.9 V
• Voltage display resolution: 1 mV
• Voltage display resolution: 5  mV
• Current loading of test: 8mA
• Maximum voltage for alarm port: 50 V
• Current drain for alarm port: <500 mA
• Log Files storage: 16 Mbit (36 hours)
• PC Connect: USB port
• Weight: 18 g
• Dimensions (LxWxD): 62×39x12 mm [2.44”x1.53”x0.47”]

Features

• Accurate cell voltage monitoring and measurement to three decimal places
• Small size with many functions, backlight 128×64 LCD and tone alarm
• Simple, easy to use interface

Buy a FASST radio system and get a second receiver FREE!

No other 2.4GHz system provides you with the level of reliability and security that Futaba FASST does. Now, here is another reason to make a 3PK, 4PK, 7C, 8FG, 10C, 12FG, 12Z, or 14MZ your 2.4GHz choice. Buy any of these systems between now and July 31, and your retailer will give you a second receiver FREE. Hurry — offer lasts only through July 31, 2010!

Air systems will receive an R617FS receiver; surface systems will receive an R603FS receiver.

http://www.futaba-rc.com/promos/fut-free-rx-0210.html

My E9 might be one of the fastest electric helicopters I have ever flown! The speed of the E9 along with the Castle Creations Auto Rotation mode equals way too much fun! Check out the video.

I swear Nick has 25% more brain matter than the rest of us….. Check out Nick flying the N5 at the Mid America Fun Fly last weekend. Thanks goes out to Zack Hayes of AllMyRC.com for capturing this video.

I received one of the brand new Futaba GY701 (governor/gyro combo) two days before XFC. I was a little bit skeptical to change right before a competition but I am very pleased I did.

The Gyro portion of this unit works just as well as the GY520 if not slightly better. The sensor, believe it or not, is smaller than the GY520! The sensor also now has a special locking plug so that it cannot vibrate out of its slot. There are many programming options that allow you to fine tune the gyro but the stock settings worked excellent for me.

The Governor portion of this unit is very small and works amazingly well. Futaba fixed the old brittle sensor of from the GV-1 days and made a very nice solid case for the new sensor. I’m not 100% sure but I think there will also be a crank sensor available as well. I made a comment to my good friend Steve Helms of Futaba Corporation USA that it almost worked too well! I ended up turning the gain down a little bit just so I could get back the slight over speed I was use too.

Over all, I couldn’t be more pleased with Futaba’s new offering to the helicopter community. Thank you Futaba!

Zack Hayes from AllMyRC.com captured Nick Maxwell flying his new N5 on Memorial Day. Nick really puts the N5 through its paces! Check out the original post here -> http://www.allmyrc.com/articles/showentry.php?e=303&catid=5

In the haste to get kits out the door our factory forgot to place the mounting hardware into the metal upgrade package. Missing bolts in the upgrade package include, 2x M3×5 Socket Head Bolts, 2x M3×8 Socket Head Bolts, M4×30 Main Blade Bolts, and 2x 106-107 Pivot Balls. We have put together a hardware package to go along with the upgrade package and these packages are on their way to the States. If you received an upgrade package please contact your dealer.

Sincerely,

Matt

Just a few pictures of some excited new N5 owners at Joe Nall. Happy building Bill and Chad! Kits should be available at other dealers later this coming week.

Yesterday Zack Hayes from AllMyRC.com stopped by my place in Atlanta, Ga on his way to Joe Nall. We had some dinner, talked about good times, and shot some N5 in the swamp video. It had to be 90 degrees and 110% humidity at the lake near my house, perfect time to fly the N5 over the swamp! Make sure you watch it in HD, Zack has some really nice video equipment! You can check out the story at this link -> http://www.allmyrc.com/articles/showentry.php?e=271

Direct from the factory, here is a picture of how the N5 Canopy will look when you open the box.

Another paint job from my garage. Since I’m not an airbrush artist, I tend to keep the lines simple and clean.  The N5 canopy will come painted from the factory, I will post some pics of the factory paint job as soon as I have one. Picture updated from Caleb Philips at Huntsville, Thanks Caleb!

These guys helped a tremendous amount at the Birmingham Event. Thanks guys!

 If any of you have not been to the Birmingham event, it’s a great way to kick off the season. The weather was perfect and the people were in good spirits. The ditch definitely got its fair share of helicopter parts this year.