Update 2/19/2013 --------The thread also includes the larger Qs8006 helicopter and the new huge Qs8008 helicopter (66 inch long)

Hi,

I have the 3.5channel 42” long G.T Model Qs8005 helicopter that I’ve been flying since last winter (2010) and I was wondering if anyone else out there has been flying this big, easy to fly coaxial helicopter. Over the past year I have put around 150 flights on my Qs8005 helicopter and the Qs8005 helicopter has been very interesting and fun to fly.
I have learned a lot about my 8005 helicopter this past year and wanted to post on the RC forum to see if anyone else has been flying the Qs8005 helicopter. Although I’m just a private RC flyer who really likes flying the Qs8005 helicopter (and RC airplanes), I thought I would try this post about the Qs8005 helicopter. It would be great to hear from other Qs8005 flyers about their Qs8005 helicopter experiences, modifications tried, camera mounting ideas, upgrade ideas, etc..

Ray

PS. I was thinking about posting a kind of mini review and a list of some tips and suggestions on the 8005 helicopter (also have a couple of modifications for the 8005), but I didn’t want to create a long post up front right at this time. I wanted to wait to see if my initial post generates any interest on the Qs8005 first. If the thread generates some interest, I will try to add them here too. I don’t plan on posting a lot, but I will check back occasionally and post whenever I can.

Below is some technical information I compiled on the 3.5 channel 42” GT Model Qs8005 helicopter.
Note; The information below should be pretty accurate, but if anything needs changed or updated, I will update the information as it comes along.

Helicopter name --------------------------------- Qs8005 helicopter (2011 model)
Helicopter type ---------------------------------- Fixed pitch, coaxial type (dual counter rotating main blades). The helicopter has a horizontal type tail rotor (blade).
Helicopter manufacture ------------------------- G.T Model toy factory
Number of control channel ---------------------- 3.5 channel (the ½ channel is used to control the LED lights)
Manufacture Website --------------------------- http://www.gt-model.cn/Eng/product.asp?page=2&qst=18
Helicopter’s flying weight ------------------------- 930g or 32.8 ounces (2.05 lbs.) (This is factory rated weight and I believe this weight does includes the Li-Po battery, but I will change the flying weight specification if I hear otherwise)
Helicopter length -------------------------------- 105cm or 41.3 inches (referred to as 42 inch helicopter in USA)
Helicopter height -------------------------------- 36cm or 14.1 inches
Helicopter main blade rotating diameter -------- 59cm or 23.2 inches diameter, (Note; There are some new G.T. blades sold on eBay that are 5mm longer per blade and increase blade rotating diameter to around 23.6 inches)
Helicopter main motors ------------------------- (2) powerful 380 brush type motors
Helicopter tail motor ----------------------------- brush type (size currently not known)
Helicopter rear tail blade rotating diameter ----- around 5.75 inches
Helicopter Battery --------------------------------11.1 volt 1500 mah Li-Po battery
Average Run time -------------------------------- around 8 minutes.
Battery charger ----------------------------------- Balanced type battery charger (will charge depleted battery in 4 hours)
LED lights ----------------------------------------- (12) led in canopy/ body shell and (2) led on tail of helicopter
Gyro type ------------------------------------------ Gyro is electronic type and is on receiver board, (works great)
Types of bearing used on rotor shafts ------------ (4) micro ball bearing, (Very friction free and reliable)
Main gears ----------------------------------------- made of plastic (very durable and is wear resistant)
Main frame ----------------------------------------- made of aluminum (Nice quality aluminum)
Body shell ------------------------------------------ made of very strong hard plastic (Body shell can withstand heavy crashes extremely well)
Frame blocks, blade grips (holders), connector buckles, etc, ------------------- made of strong durable plastic
Main Blades -------------------------------------- made of strong, flexible plastic. Resists chipping and breakage very well considering the forces involved.
Tail Rotor Blade ----------------------------------- made of plastic (pretty durable)
Tail Boom and support tubes ---------------------- made of aluminum (Nice quality aluminum)
Transmitter ----------------------------------------- 27 mhz AM frequency (transmitter uses (8) AA batteries)
Transmitter channels ------------------------------ 3.5 channel (The ½ channel is used for turning the LED lights on and off. The LED lights are controlled with a press button that is located at the top (right side) of the transmitter).
Transmitter control distance ---------------------- Factory rated up to 100 meter, or 328 feet
Transmitter control Height ------------------------ Factory rated up to 50 meter, or 164 feet
Number of trim buttons on transmitter ----------- (1) working trim button only - the trim button is used to adjust gyro of which helps keep the helicopter straight while hovering. Once adjusted while flying, the gyro works very well and does a pretty nice job of keeping helicopter pointed straight.
Note; The transmitter also has (1) slider button under the left side joystick (throttle) that is used for selecting lower power and high power for controlling full motor power of the helicopter. The lower power setting is used to limit the power and speed of the helicopter while learning to fly the helicopter. Once familiar with flying the helicopter, the higher power setting should be used for best flying results.
Transmitter Joysticks ------------------------- The left side joystick is used for throttle control > (has true progressive modulation and works great).
The right side joystick is used for turning left / right and for going forwards / backwards > (does not use true progressive modulation like the throttle control, but rather is controlled by 5 or 6 independent different speed setting through out the joystick’s full range movement).
8005’s Total Main blade thrust ------------------ (no factory listed specification) Rough estimate - about 48 ounces (3lbs). Please see more information in the next paragraph down
8005’s useable flying thrust --------------- (no factory listed specification). Rough estimate - around 12 to 16 ounces
(Note; I got these figures by seeing if the 8005 could lift an 11 ounce payload off the ground, and it did, but not with a lot of power left in reserve. By doing this test I was able to make a rough guess on the helicopter’s actual usable flying thrust and I figured a good guess on the helicopter’s usable flying thrust would be somewhere around 12 to 16 ounces. In simple terms, this means it would take somewhere around 12 to 16 ounces of weight to stall the helicopter and keep it from lifting from the ground. Please note though that these numbers do not include the overall total thrust that is actually lifting the 2.05 lb helicopter off the ground, so the overall total main blade thrust is probably around 48 ounces (3 lbs) of total thrust).
I want to mention too that the thrust figures I have listed here should only be used to give a basic idea of the helicopter’s total thrust and lifting power. In the future I can readjust these numbers better as more precise testing is done.
Payload weight I tested with my Qs8005 ---------------- 5.5 ounces
I did several flights with my Qs8005 helicopter carrying a 5.5 ounce payload weight and found that the Qs8005 was able to handle this heavier payload weight rather easily. The 8005 could lift and fly around with this payload weight using around 50 to 60 percent throttle. It should be noted that I kept the flights much shorter when flying with this extra payload weight so as to keep from excessively heating up the motors on the helicopter.
8005’s wind flying capabilities ---------------------- Calm air is best. The Qs8005 can also be flown in slight air movements once familiar with the helicopter. The 8005 has excellent stability and pretty good handling even in stronger moving air or slight breezes, but it should be noted though that with stock tail rotor setup, The 8005’s forward moving power is a bit tame and anything stronger than a very light breeze can stall the helicopter’s forward movement.
8005’s average top speed ---------------------- around 15 mph in calm air. (Speed is estimated, but should be pretty close)

Hi Ray,
I've got the "bigger" brother to this one - the 8006 which claims a 53" length. Not quite - it's 48 from tip to tail, but I imagine that it shares quite a bit with the '05. I also have a Yahoo group started for these big heli's since they don't seem to be quite accepted here. It's just started, so it's just me and one other fellow. Regardless, here are my observations on the '06 that should be transferable to the '05..

Bear in mind that I've had this thing since January and am still learning the flight characteristics of it. Wind of any kind is a deal killer even though I've been able to hover it (almost) in one spot in 5 to 6 mph winds, with the canopy pointed into the wind. Initially it had poor forward thrust until I did a tail rotor mod (see other threads) that seemed to let it gather a little steam. These big birds will never be aerobatic by any stretch; it's all I can do to get it going in one direction and have it turn without having the rotor blades tangle with the balance bar. And that seems to be the single issue with this heli - the blades are so large that any sudden turn or even a quick drop in altitude results in a tangle and the resulting crash. I'll be experimenting with some "blade rigidity" trials in the near future - at the moment the heli is shelved due to the control board shorting out... for no apparent reason.

Overall flight impressions: well.. this is my first big three channel, so I really didn't have anything to compare it to before I bought a 9100 - and that really doesn't count since it's a single rotor. But.. lots of space - lots of space- is needed to really get all you can out of these birds. My flying arena is fairly confined so I'm a little prejudiced to it's performance. If I can figure out how to have it turn quickly and perform in this smaller area I'll feel more confident in going to a large open field and letting it run. Just fooling around with it generates quite a bit of attention just from the noise, and overall I'm pleased with it's quality for what it is. The only mods I've made are to the tail rotor and getting rid of the extraneous LED lights. Not that I'm going for a "real" heli look, I just wanted something a little different at dusk. The blades as you noted are pretty durable, but do tend to break easily in cooler weather. I think I've gone through some 12 sets of blades since February! Other than the control board shorting I can't complain about the heli. It's a fun toy for those that have the room for it!

Rick

Hi Rick,

I’ve actually been planning on buying a Qs8006 since last October and will be buying one as soon as I can. By the way, the newest release version of the 8006 comes in two pieces. I’m not sure, if anything is changed much other than to make the box smaller for easier shipping. I do like that GT model uses a plug-in connector for the wires at front of tail boom on the 8006 helicopter (I wished the 8005 had those wire connectors in that area).
I have lots of tips and things that can help these helicopters fly better. One example is that the 8005 helicopter (and maybe the 8006) can some times have a mysterious electrical sputter (power cuts out) while flying and the fix is real simple. I have it typed up in my tips and suggestions list of which I was thinking about posting soon.
Another thing, I have really increased the forward moving power and speed on my 8005 (doubled the speed on my 8005) by making a special larger diameter tail rotor blade of which I will explain more about in another post when I have time. I increased the tail blade diameter from stock size of 5 5/8” to new blade size of 8 3/8”. It should be noted though that rotor speed control is more critical now and I have to go easier with joy stick control when applying power to the tail rotor when starting to accelerate from a hover, otherwise the extra tail rotor thrust can over lift and stand the up helicopter on its nose. When using my bigger tail blade, my 8005 now has the forward moving power to go against as much breeze as I can handle, but I try to avoid any breeze, so there isn‘t much to right home about there. After trying to fly a couple of times in about a 5 mph breeze with the larger tail blade, I think the 8005 now has enough forward moving power to handle a 10 mph wind, but I have no plans of trying to fly in that much wind any time soon. I must say though that I am amazed that the little brush motor on the tail rotor can handle the much larger blade, and it does so very easily and without getting very hot. I think this bigger size blade modification could work great on 8006’s too.
Also, before trying to increase the speed on these helicopters, you should check the main blade’s for excessive play at their ends and shim the blade pivot’s tighter to eliminate looseness in the pivots, since any play there can cause the blades to move up and down excessively whenever backing off the throttle quickly of which can cause blade hitting. I have an easy way to make shims to eliminate the blade pivot play and can post that soon, too.
About your 8006 blades hitting the fly bar (also same for 8005), actually what is really happening is that the B blades are lifting up whenever the throttle is backed off quickly causing them to flex up and hit the upper A blades. This blade hitting can especially happen when flying fast forward and then trying to turn quickly and at the same time reducing throttle. This can also happen when backing off the throttle quickly in breezy conditions too. A modification I mention further down in my post really helps eliminate this. Even shimming the blade pivot’s tighter does help some in itself. The blades hitting the fly bar is more than likely happening after the fact, like when tipping over or after the helicopter’s main blades have already started hitting each other as mentioned above causing them to bounce off each other and deflect around a bit, and that can send the A blades upwards to hit the fly bar. But I must say, like you said, the 8006 does have some big looking main blades that probably create some pretty impressive big wind whopping noise.
I do want to mention though, that whenever flying the 8005 helicopter in stock form and in calm air (and applying the controls as smooth as possible), the 8005 isn’t real prone to blade strikes in casual flying, other than if the blade are still turning in a tip over. I pretty much eliminated most of the tip over’s on my 8005 by making and using horizontal landing stabilizer rods mounted onto the landing skids. It doesn’t look real cool, but sure saves the main blades from a lot of ground abuse.

A main modification that I did to my 8005 and it probably should be done whenever increasing the speed on the 8005 (looks like it will work on the 8006 too), is that I lowered the B blade’s hub down 10mm (moved blade hub down 1 screw hole lower on 8005 outer shaft, requires drilling and a couple other things). This allows 8005 to fly fast and to maneuver as fast as I want without the risk of any blade hitting when trying more aerobatic type flying. This modification will also limit the blade hitting during real hard landings or tip over. From what I can see in photos of the 8006, my blade lowering modification looks like it could be done even easier on the 8006. Note though that there are a couple other little things that need to be done to make it work on both helicopter‘s, and I will explain more about that soon.

About your control board shorting out, I have one idea, but its just a guess. Make sure that the battery wire at the Dean connector doesn't touch the frame. On my 8005 the Dean connector has about a 1 or 2 mm of brass or copper wire showing where the wire goes to the Dean connector. Since I keep the battery further forward on my 8005, I find that Dean connector gets pulled kind of close to touching the edge of the aluminum frame (I should tape it), but it does look like the Dean connector on the 8006 is further away in photos that I’ve seen though. Also, make sure nothing metal is loose and touching on the circuit board.

Almost forgot, about the lengths of these helicopters. I guess the manufactures include the swing out length of the tail blade in the overall size length, and then when converted from mm to inches, I guess the sellers round the length of the helicopter up to the next biggest inch number. If I don’t include the blade swing out measurement on my 8005, the helicopter is just a tad over 39 inches long. If I include the swing out with my new larger tail blade, my 8005 now measures 43.1 inches long.

I have a big list of tips and suggestions, trouble shooting suggestions that I was thinking about posting, but I wanted to see if the thread goes a little first.

Also, one last thing, I tried attaching a photo of my helicopter on my first post (by trying to uploading it), but I couldn’t get it to work for some reason. Hopefully I can figure out the problem since it will be hard to explain the modification’s I did without photo’s.

Ray

Hi Ray,
Interesting tips. Posting photos is easy - you have to choose the advanced post option and click the paper clip icon at the top. That'll bring up a dialog box that you can upload photos to from your computer. Once they're uploaded you can click the paper clip icon again and insert your photos from there.

Anyway, I haven't gotten into modifying the rear blade yet other than to change the pitch to make it a little more aggressive. I have enough beat up main blades I'm sure I can trim an end off and glue to the rear rotor to make work! As is the increased pitch moves the copter pretty well.

The main blade strike: You might be right with the A and B hitting and not B hitting the balance bar (though there are tell-tale semi-circular dents). If I can minimize any blade strike it'll be a good thing - I'll have to look again at the shaft to see if I can indeed drop the blade holder any distance.. even if I have to drill a hole to do it. My initial thought was to glue a thin (2mm) carbon fiber tube under the leading edge of the blades to keep them from kicking up so easily, but if I can drop the blade holder I'll try that first.
EDIT: Since it's late on a Sunday night I decided to have a look-see on the blade holder. It seems that flipping the holder is easy - remove the upper blade holder and drive bar and loosen four screws holding the lower holder to the drive tube:

The blade holder is held in place by these four screws, with a metal collar underneath to provide the clearance between the drive gears (there's that much play in that main shaft):

So.. if I basically cut that collar in half (or better, make a low friction collar) and flip the blade holder I'll gain nearly a half inch or 12.7mm in overall space between the blades:

It will probably also mean I'll need to clearance the canopy as well, as the lower blades in the standard position were already scraping the canopy when they slowed. Modifications, modifications!

The circuit board: I'm beginning to believe that the Chinese circuit boards are somewhat faulty just in manufacturer. There was no reason for this one to short out - all the connections were solid and none were near metal. I have (had) 2 9100 Double Horse single rotors and both of those control boards burned out after a heavy crash. Very strange, but I digress... With the new board coming in probably this week I'm going to encase it in foam padding or at least the mounting points (don't want to overheat the board, either) and see if that helps. This heli always had a weird vibration since I had it that I have not been able to track down at all. I'm thinking that may have had something to do with the failure.

As for shipping.. yeah, mine was tail boom separate so the box was a little smaller, but still impressive! The overall measurement was from the tip of the canopy to the tip of the (unmodified) tail rotor laid longitudinally, and it certainly wasn't 53"! But that's ok... it's far large enough as is.

If the thread doesn't go anywhere but with the two of us, that's fine. You can always email me direct or hit the Yahoo group. I just had a guy sign up today for a total of 3! Oh boy!

Rick

Hi large 3ch heli fans!

I have the slightly smaller MJX-T23 which is a 3 channel but with a swashplate and elevator servo. I have removed some trim, put in a higher C battery, and installed some cut down DH-9101 blades and 9101 canopy. It is now much lighter and very fast but with the reduced weight, it can be a bit squirrely to control.

Speed into the wind is improved but overall control is much more sensitive. Still fun though.

With these big 3ch's the challenge of flying in a breeze is to not allow it to get sideways. And without the aileron channel it can be difficult to get away from trees and such. Obstacles attract these big birds like a magnet!
.

Hi Rick,

I finally got the a photo of my Qs8005 posted into my 1st post. I edited my last post just a bit, had a couple of things that didn’t read quit right for how I was trying to explain it.

About your 8006 blades, Last summer I had thought the same as you about putting carbon fiber on my 8005’s blades. I actually wanted to use long, narrow width, thin plate type of solid carbon fiber under some of the leading edge and thought of trying to run the carbon fiber back into the pivot area. I even had the idea of trying to groove out the under side of the blade to inlay the carbon fiber, but I didn’t want to get that involved and there wasn‘t much blade thickness to work with anyhow. I then decided to try the shimming the blade holder pivot tighter (the manufacture calls it the blade grip). By shimming the blades pivots to be snugger, that helped some. And then a couple of months ago figured I would try the lowering of the B blade hub (lower B blade grip) of which really helped a lot.
Here’s a little bend test to try on main blade, just use your fingers and lightly lift the main blades up at their end tips (with them on the helicopter and looking at them head on from the side) and you will notice that the main blades do bend the most mainly real close to the pivot area (at the narrow root part of the blade). If the blades were made wider in the root area and if part or all of the main blade were made a hair thicker, the blades would be lots stiffer and wouldn’t add much weight at all.

Last summer I tried a couple of times to send emails to G.T model toy factory about some update ideas that I had of which included that they should beef the main blades a wee bit, especially around the root area, but I didn’t get a reply. I figured that by trying to start a 8005 thread, maybe G.T Model toy factory will see the thread and see some good ideas for future helicopter updates.
About lowering the B blade holder, I have put a better explanation below of what I had to do on the 8005 to make them lower. I saw in your above photos that the 8006 will have to be done a bit differently, but the final results should be close to the 8005. I will post photos of how mine looks in a day or so.

Here’s what I did; On my 8005 helicopter I lowered the B blade holder down so that the upper screw of the blade holder’s hub lines up to the lower hole on the outer shaft tube. This equaled to10 mm lower on the 8005 on the outer shaft tube. Then what I did was used a spare outer rotor shaft tube and lined its upper most hole up to the lower hole on the outer rotor shaft tube I was using and then clamped them together. I used this extra outer rotor shaft tube as a template to carefully drill the lower hole into the outer rotor shaft tube I was using. Once that hole was drilled, I re-clamped the extra outer rotor shaft tube to the other side of the outer rotor shaft tube I was using and then carefully drilled the other lower hole.
Next, on the 8005 I had to machine a new lower nylon spacer. The spacer is what holds the outer shaft tube up and keeps the outer shaft tube a snug fit on the bearings. While I was at it, I also machined a lightly press fit nylon tube sleeve about 1 1/8” long to cover the old now exposed screw hole on the upper part of the outer rotor shaft tube, and I also figured it would strengthen the shaft some up higher. I probably really didn’t need to use the sleeve, but it looks better though and will strengthen the shaft a bit.
Now, the next thing I did, was I did lower the body shell of the 8005. I didn’t do it at first since the 8005 blades had good clearance, but then when flying I noticed that the helicopter would sometimes tend to drift backwards when hovering (only after lowering B blade holder). After a couple of flights I quickly realized what was happening. I figure out that since the lower blade was spinning closer to the body shell, the upper part of the body shell / canopy area was deflecting a bit of the main blade thrust forward causing the helicopter to slightly drift back some times, especially when coming to a stop from forward movement to hover the helicopter, and the helicopter would have a tendency to drift or spring back a little like it was on the end of a very weak gum band.
At first I wasn’t sure how to lower the body shell of the helicopter without remaking the pin holder when all of a sudden an easy solution idea occurred to me. On the 8005, due to the upward shape of the plastic pins that screw to the frame, it was simple as unscrewing and taking the plastic holding pins (they hold the body shell to the frame) off the frame, and then just swap their sides around (put left one on the right side, and right one onto the left side) and the body shell was instantly lowered around 12 mm. By doing this, the helicopter actually looks sportier (I think), made the body shell point straighter ahead since it now rests lower down on the angled front part of the landing struts. Also the motors will get stronger air cooling, and to top it off, the helicopter seems smoother flying with the lower center of gravity.

Rick, from what I can see in your photos, it looks like your 8006 will be easier to lower the blade holder. On my 8005 I wasn’t able to flip my blade holder around due to the odd blade holder shape. If the way your going to try lowering the blade holder will work, that will be great since no drilling will need to be done. It still looks like you will still need to shim the outer shaft tube between the blade holder and main bearing with a small spacer (maybe a little piece of PVC pipe) or small washers to hold the shaft up.
About your body shell, I noticed a while back that all the 8006 helicopter’s body shell seems to sits up a little high and are close to the B blades. Hopefully you can lower it to compensate for the B blade holder being lowered and maybe even lower it a little bit extra. It will help lower the center of gravity some and may help the helicopter fly smoother.

One last thing, I was curios about the 8006 helicopter’s total length and figured I would check out the G.T Model website. I saw that the 8006 is listed on their website as being 134 cm long (52.75 inches long).

I will explain about the tail blade modification I did in a day or two. You will find interesting on what I used for the blade and it does involve gluing. I found a glue that works great for that (also works very well on the other plastic) and will explain more then. By the way, you might have the idea that my helicopter probably looks like a military Chinook type helicopter now with the larger tail blade on it, but actually my 8005 helicopter looks better and more proportional in blade sizes now. When doing modification to my RC airplane stuff, I actually try to limit modification to just minor stuff if possible and try to keep everything as original as possible. Cheaper that way.

Ray

Hi gordonzo,
Nice smaller helicopter. I know what you mean about obstacles being like magnets. One day I was trying to hover about 2 feet away from a small tree, and the upper blade vortex side vacuum caused the 8005 to drift in before I had a chance to respond and my 8005 actually chopped off a bunch of leaves and a couple small twigs before tipping side ways and falling about 6 feet to the ground. I can only imagine what the 8006 would of done to that tree. Didn’t hurt the helicopter that much other than the body shell popping loose. It clips right back on though.

Ray

G'day Fella's

I've got a QS8006 that I've modified quite a bit. I've carefully ground the flybar weights to about half their original size, cut 10cm off the tail boom, flipped the bottom blade grips, glued and screwed "twister scale" blades to the tail rotor, stiffened the lower blades with contact on the bottom side, moved the canopy back and down, dumped the silly side lights and I still manage to crash nearly every time I fly.

I would love to see this heli fly well but we need an extended inner shaft!
I have made a holder for my digital camera and this heli has so much grunt that it doesn't even feel it. The videos are great quality and the camera pics up the sound of the blades beating the air like a real heli.
I've just joined this forum to post on this blog and will put some pics up if anyone is interested and if I can work out how to post pics.
Keep trying different mods and with all our heads together we might be able to get a bit of performance out of these big coaxials.
Hope this thread keeps going.

Hi Darren,

I was just wondering, did you try flying your 8006 when the air was 100 perfectly calm to see how it flies in that situation. I know with the 8005, the level of difficulty increases (for keeping the helicopter in one spot and maneuvering the helicopter to go exactly where I want it) for about every mph of moving air increase, when flying in moving air.
Also, some of the modification you did sounds like they could make the helicopter more harder to handle. I noticed that the 8005’s actually have large fly bar weights for their size when compared to the 8006, and my 8005 handles very well. Also, shortening the tail boom on the helicopter will make the helicopter lift its back end even faster (quicker responding and twitchier) when initially applying the tail rotor power, but at the same time will cause the tail rotor to have less leverage over the main rotor system (will result in less tilting of the main rotor for pulling the helicopter through the air) resulting in the helicopter possibly loosing some of its forward moving power and speed. It also will steer faster and may cause the helicopter to over steer more even when lightly applying the joystick I know on the 8005, the turning is already fast and sensitive (easy to over steer with the transmitter joystick).
I don’t have the 8006 yet, so I can’t really compare the two, and they do look quite a bit different in build.
About using an extended inner shaft, I think that would be the better solution. It would be great if G.T Model offered them on their upgrade part of their website. They show an upgrade section, but never added anything to it.
Also, just curious, what size was your digital camera and where did you mount your digital camera on your helicopter. I see that the super small #16 key chain cameras (big thread else where on the forum) work great on the RC airplane’s and was just wondering how you mounted your digital camera.

Ray

Welcome Darren and Gordonzo!
Interesting to hear the mods being done to these heli's. Ray, it never occurred to me that the blades were actually bending from the pivot side.. but they are - you're right. On the '06 there isn't a whole lotta room to add any kind of stiffener to the blade grip; Darren, I'd be interested to see what you did with your blades. See my post above on how to post photos here.
It sounds like our canopies are held on differently as well. I like the "pop-on" stand-off's used by the 9100 and the 8005; the 8006 canopy is held on by four screws right into the frame. I've trimmed the top 1/2" from the canopy to clear the lowered blades as I don't feel like re-drilling for the mounting screws. I'm lazy that way. We'll see if that provides enough space in the coming weeks. I had ordered a new control board which came in yesterday and.. I had ordered the wrong frequency. Oops. Apparently there is a frequency tag on the back of the transmitter which mine is missing and I took a 50/50 gamble on the correct one. I lost :-).
Darren, I know what you mean by the blade "thump". When I first got this thing I was able to keep it in a steady hover and walk around and under it, and the downwash was something else! It also gave me a chance to see any obvious issues with the drivetrain - things out of round or whatever. At some point when I feel more confident in letting this thing go higher than rooftop level I'll buy a cheap video camera and mount it.. but I still have to track down this shake it's had since new. Everything seems to be in balance and the rotor shafts don't appear damaged or bent... and it only appears to be the top rotor that's moving (i.e. instead of spinning in a perfect circle the rotor hub seems to be wobbling in a very small circle). I've changed the shaft twice and same thing.. so I'm thinking there might be a bad bearing somewhere. Guess I should order some while I'm waiting for the other parts!

Gday Ray

We don't get any days here without at least a breeze, I'll start recording the wind speed from now on so you blokes can compare. At the moment it's averaging 3.1kph and gusting to 7, the only thing I would attemp to fly with at the moment is my lama.
Your dead right about shortening the tail, it's exactly the effect I was trying for and it works, the lack of leverage isn't obvious because it's moved the COG forward. With the "twister" blades on the tail, it will nearly flip the heli over while it's sitting on the ground, I think the airfoil section of the twister blades are more efficient than flat blades.
One of my biggest problems is the lack of flying space due to trees, a sudden gust of wind and the bloody thing is sixty feet in the air chewing up gum leaves, thus the need to make it respond quickly. Another problem is that my other helis are mode1 and my brain starts to overheat in a situation with mode2 and my thumbs go stupid!
All my mods have been done one at a time and tested and I can assure you this heli is twice as windproof as stock (still not that good). The big problem is sideways in the wind, I can have this thing hammering downwind and as soon as I think about turning "Deathroll".
Anyway here's some pics, I hope they're clear enough and feel free to ask any questions.
Oh I should add that I had to bend the lower blades slightly to clear the top of the frame after flipping the blade grips.
Ok the pics didn't upload, I'll try again.

Ok I'm getting it sorted out.
The first is the tail blade mode.
The last one is showing how I've bent the lower blades near the root, to clear the frame.

Ah for christ sakes, wheres the pics??????????

Try one pic at a time.
I think I've got it now!

This message is too short.

Should say thanks Rick for welcoming us to the thread.

All I tried with my lower blades only was to add some "adhesive laminating sheet" to the underside to stiffen them up a bit, it does work to an extent but they bend more at the root!
I had the same problem with shake from new but it came good after a blade balance and mucking around with thin plastic shims in the grip's to make them a bit stiffer. It still has a small shake!
Here's some pics of my camera mounting for Ray.
I used foam packing from pc components and marked it all out with a pen and cut it with a sharp knife. I've crashed the heli a few times with the camera and the camera hasn't moved and is well protected by the high density foam, mind you I wouldn't use the wifes cannon for the job either!
Something that might help is thread locking compound, I started to notice missing screws on mine and when I went over every single screw, I found that every second one was loose. Now I "Locktight" every screw on all my helis.