MY 2200 watt E-raven flys !

gjestico · Aug 22, 2004, 10:02 PM

Hey all,
Successfully completed my conversion of a Century Raven to E-power. I know I am not the first one to do this but mine is a little different. I designed my own CF sideframes to accommodate the motor mount and High mounting of the batt packs. Many thanks to Mark at MJP Carbon for cutting them for me.
Details:
10s2p Tanic 5000 packs
Tango 45-08 motor
Hacker 77-O-heli ESC
Futaba 9650 Digital servos
GY 401
Rotortech 615 main blades, 95 tails

On paper this combo should be good for 2200 watts. I will have to get the wattmeter on it to confirm. Total weight at this point is 8 Lbs 3 Oz. This is using a 1700 Nicd rcvr pack. I have a Sbec on the way that will allow me to lose the Rcvr pack and get the weight under 8 Lbs.
Flew it for the first time tonight. I also fly a glow powered raven so I have a good unit of comparison. Power is at least as good as the glow version. I am surpised at how much better it handles. I attribute this to the higher CG(compared to the glow version) from mounting the batt packs as high as possible. Rolls and flips require less collective input to maintain altitude. Just flew around for 5 mins to try it out , put 2800 mah back into the packs on recharge.
This is a great flying machine that builds on the good design of the head and tail sytem of the Raven.

Heres a link to a video I shot today.
http://www.rotorworks.net/viewtopic.php?p=3607#3607

Xnaron · Aug 22, 2004, 10:16 PM

Very nice! I love these conversions. You are running 2 5000mah 10 cell packs for a total of 10000mah hours correct? That should give you some nice flight time. What pinion gear are you running? Do you know what your head speed is? Be sure to post some video if you can. My eHawk is mostly Raven sized now and weighs about 8lbs all up. I think I pull somewhere around 700watts max at around 1750rpm headspeed. I find performance pretty good. This is with 20 cell gp3300 nimh. I am putting some lipos on it that weigh half the weight. That should make my performance quite a bit better.

Brendin

tabbytabb · Aug 22, 2004, 10:24 PM

Brendin, I believe he is running 2500 cells in parallel so that means 5000mah total. I use these same packs on my 9lb joker and they rock!

Tabb

ScotY · Aug 22, 2004, 10:51 PM

That's very cool! I'd like to see what it looks like with the batteries off. Looks kinda Joker-like...all you'd have to do is flip the motor upside down.

Looks like it might actually be possible.

gjestico · Aug 22, 2004, 11:50 PM

I had thought about flipping the motor up initially, but unless a fairly large pinion (>26 tooth) is used, the upper frames must be trimmed too much in the area where the ccpm brackets mount, to clear the motor. There is a structural frame member in that area that wouldnt take to too much trimming. A smaller OD motor (like a hacker)might let you get away with it, but they need an even smaller pinion than the 18 tooth used here.
Greg

CryHavoc · Aug 23, 2004, 12:40 AM

Greg,
Sweeeeet.......! What does a custom frame like that from Mark set you back if you don't mind me asking? I've got some similar work I'd like to do in mind.

Thanks,
Mike

gjestico · Aug 23, 2004, 12:55 AM

[QUOTE=CryHavoc]Greg,
Sweeeeet.......! What does a custom frame like that from Mark set you back if you don't mind me asking? I've got some similar work I'd like to do in mind.

Thanks,
Mike[/QUOTE

The price is very reasonable, but depends on a large part on the quality of your electronic drawing files. I have made my files in such a manner that Mark can import them into his CAM software with very little effort and start making tool paths right away. He tells me some oher files he recieves are not so clean requiring major work just to clean up the geometry before tool paths can be generated. A file may look good in your CAD softaware but may not export/import cleanly
Greg

jetkkman · Aug 23, 2004, 01:03 AM

I think one very effective way to cut more weight is to do some cutting work on the canopy! You can lost a hafl LB I think! Or just simily to get a EP sweet 16 conpy modified for Raven, it wieghts below 0.5 pound!

gjestico · Aug 23, 2004, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetkkman

I think one very effective way to cut more weight is to do some cutting work on the canopy! You can lost a hafl LB I think! Or just simily to get a EP sweet 16 conpy modified for Raven, it wieghts below 0.5 pound!

Be pretty hard to lose a half pound of this canopy. if i did I would have to tie it down to keep it from floating away

Hmm 6.5 oz, = .4 lb. sounds like this canopy might be a "lightweight upgrade" for your EP sweet hehe.

gjestico · Sep 26, 2004, 11:06 PM

Updated first post with video link.

Lv2Fly · Sep 26, 2004, 11:33 PM

Greg:
Your conversion looks perfect and seems to function perfectly.
That video was great, your 3d flying awesome.
Can you share your HM controller setting?
I'm interested in the mode your using?
Thanks
James

Ben74 · Sep 27, 2004, 05:14 PM

nice job, greg. 8lbs is pretty good for a 50 conversion. i have a predator, and i really like the way the century heads fly.

Fred Bronk · Sep 27, 2004, 05:29 PM

Very Nice Greg.

I like the Hawk gear (good for 4 oz off).

Where did you get the 18t pinion?

I don't think a diff canopy would do the Raven justice. I love the look of mine!

Fred

gjestico · Sep 27, 2004, 09:06 PM

James :
I can't remember exactly which setting I used on the Hacker ESC. I set it to what they recommended in the manual for timing and frequency for the tango motors. After I changed it, I noticed the 5 "beeps" it makes after arming are now each 3 beeps, as opposed to single beeps it made before.
The motor runs cool as cucumber. Thanks for the complements on flying. I usually go lower than that, I am still getting used to this machine. It is more nimble than the glow version so I have to adapt to that before I cut the grass during flips hehe.

Ben :
I got this thing on a postal scale the other day and it is exactly 8.2 Lbs all up. Same weight as a glow raven with tank half full

Yes I have Predators too, glow powered, they fly great. The Raven/Falcon head is identical in geometry to the Pred, just scaled down a little. Your conversion was one of the things that got me thinking about E-heli conversions.

Fred:
I had a hard time sourcing pinions. I finally found one with the right tooth count at SDP, but it had the wrong hub size. I bored out the hub, pressed the gear on my own hub to fit the tango shaft. I am a machinist and have made my own gears in the past, If I get some demand for a conversion kit I would probably just make the gears completely myself.
Yeah I really like the looks of the raven/falcon/hawk canopies. The glow version of the machine perorms so well I did the most of my daily flying with it. Now this machine has all the good points of the Raven and it handles better. If I just had a better field charging rig it might become my main machine.

Lost Horizon · Sep 27, 2004, 11:46 PM

welcome to the smokeless side, greg.. nice conversion.. are you bringing it to Victoria so I can (ahem) 'try' it??

Aug 22, 2004, 10:02 PM	#1
gjestico fortune favours the bold Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Vancouver Boundary, Canada Posts: 367	MY 2200 watt E-raven flys ! Hey all, Successfully completed my conversion of a Century Raven to E-power. I know I am not the first one to do this but mine is a little different. I designed my own CF sideframes to accommodate the motor mount and High mounting of the batt packs. Many thanks to Mark at MJP Carbon for cutting them for me. Details: 10s2p Tanic 5000 packs Tango 45-08 motor Hacker 77-O-heli ESC Futaba 9650 Digital servos GY 401 Rotortech 615 main blades, 95 tails On paper this combo should be good for 2200 watts. I will have to get the wattmeter on it to confirm. Total weight at this point is 8 Lbs 3 Oz. This is using a 1700 Nicd rcvr pack. I have a Sbec on the way that will allow me to lose the Rcvr pack and get the weight under 8 Lbs. Flew it for the first time tonight. I also fly a glow powered raven so I have a good unit of comparison. Power is at least as good as the glow version. I am surpised at how much better it handles. I attribute this to the higher CG(compared to the glow version) from mounting the batt packs as high as possible. Rolls and flips require less collective input to maintain altitude. Just flew around for 5 mins to try it out , put 2800 mah back into the packs on recharge. This is a great flying machine that builds on the good design of the head and tail sytem of the Raven. Heres a link to a video I shot today. http://www.rotorworks.net/viewtopic.php?p=3607#3607 Attached Thumbnails 60.8 KB · Views: 765 76.2 KB · Views: 843 75.2 KB · Views: 814 52.6 KB · Views: 793 Last edited by gjestico; Sep 27, 2004 at 12:08 AM.

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Aug 22, 2004, 10:16 PM	#2
Xnaron Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 2,776	Very nice! I love these conversions. You are running 2 5000mah 10 cell packs for a total of 10000mah hours correct? That should give you some nice flight time. What pinion gear are you running? Do you know what your head speed is? Be sure to post some video if you can. My eHawk is mostly Raven sized now and weighs about 8lbs all up. I think I pull somewhere around 700watts max at around 1750rpm headspeed. I find performance pretty good. This is with 20 cell gp3300 nimh. I am putting some lipos on it that weigh half the weight. That should make my performance quite a bit better. Brendin

Aug 22, 2004, 10:24 PM	#3
tabbytabb Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Seattle, Washington, United States Posts: 1,554	Brendin, I believe he is running 2500 cells in parallel so that means 5000mah total. I use these same packs on my 9lb joker and they rock! Tabb

Aug 22, 2004, 10:51 PM	#4
ScotY Registered User Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 2,135	That's very cool! I'd like to see what it looks like with the batteries off. Looks kinda Joker-like...all you'd have to do is flip the motor upside down. Looks like it might actually be possible.

Aug 22, 2004, 11:50 PM	#5
gjestico fortune favours the bold Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Vancouver Boundary, Canada Posts: 367	I had thought about flipping the motor up initially, but unless a fairly large pinion (>26 tooth) is used, the upper frames must be trimmed too much in the area where the ccpm brackets mount, to clear the motor. There is a structural frame member in that area that wouldnt take to too much trimming. A smaller OD motor (like a hacker)might let you get away with it, but they need an even smaller pinion than the 18 tooth used here. Greg

Aug 23, 2004, 12:40 AM	#6
CryHavoc UAV Pilot/Tech Instructor Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: San Diego, California, United States Posts: 738	Greg, Sweeeeet.......! What does a custom frame like that from Mark set you back if you don't mind me asking? I've got some similar work I'd like to do in mind. Thanks, Mike

Aug 23, 2004, 12:55 AM	#7
gjestico fortune favours the bold Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Vancouver Boundary, Canada Posts: 367	[QUOTE=CryHavoc]Greg, Sweeeeet.......! What does a custom frame like that from Mark set you back if you don't mind me asking? I've got some similar work I'd like to do in mind. Thanks, Mike[/QUOTE The price is very reasonable, but depends on a large part on the quality of your electronic drawing files. I have made my files in such a manner that Mark can import them into his CAM software with very little effort and start making tool paths right away. He tells me some oher files he recieves are not so clean requiring major work just to clean up the geometry before tool paths can be generated. A file may look good in your CAD softaware but may not export/import cleanly Greg

Aug 23, 2004, 01:03 AM	#8
jetkkman Registered User Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Taiwan Posts: 278	I think one very effective way to cut more weight is to do some cutting work on the canopy! You can lost a hafl LB I think! Or just simily to get a EP sweet 16 conpy modified for Raven, it wieghts below 0.5 pound!

Sep 26, 2004, 11:06 PM	#10
gjestico fortune favours the bold Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Vancouver Boundary, Canada Posts: 367	Updated first post with video link.

Sep 26, 2004, 11:33 PM	#11
Lv2Fly RC-Nut-Job! Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: New York Posts: 948	Greg: Your conversion looks perfect and seems to function perfectly. That video was great, your 3d flying awesome. Can you share your HM controller setting? I'm interested in the mode your using? Thanks James

Sep 27, 2004, 05:14 PM	#12
Ben74 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: San Francisco, CA, USA Posts: 2,748	nice job, greg. 8lbs is pretty good for a 50 conversion. i have a predator, and i really like the way the century heads fly.

Sep 27, 2004, 05:29 PM	#13
Fred Bronk Our Daddy and Heli Junkie Join Date: Aug 1999 Location: In Heli Wonderland Posts: 22,564	Very Nice Greg. I like the Hawk gear (good for 4 oz off). Where did you get the 18t pinion? I don't think a diff canopy would do the Raven justice. I love the look of mine! Fred

Sep 27, 2004, 09:06 PM	#14
gjestico fortune favours the bold Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Vancouver Boundary, Canada Posts: 367	James : I can't remember exactly which setting I used on the Hacker ESC. I set it to what they recommended in the manual for timing and frequency for the tango motors. After I changed it, I noticed the 5 "beeps" it makes after arming are now each 3 beeps, as opposed to single beeps it made before. The motor runs cool as cucumber. Thanks for the complements on flying. I usually go lower than that, I am still getting used to this machine. It is more nimble than the glow version so I have to adapt to that before I cut the grass during flips hehe. Ben : I got this thing on a postal scale the other day and it is exactly 8.2 Lbs all up. Same weight as a glow raven with tank half full Yes I have Predators too, glow powered, they fly great. The Raven/Falcon head is identical in geometry to the Pred, just scaled down a little. Your conversion was one of the things that got me thinking about E-heli conversions. Fred: I had a hard time sourcing pinions. I finally found one with the right tooth count at SDP, but it had the wrong hub size. I bored out the hub, pressed the gear on my own hub to fit the tango shaft. I am a machinist and have made my own gears in the past, If I get some demand for a conversion kit I would probably just make the gears completely myself. Yeah I really like the looks of the raven/falcon/hawk canopies. The glow version of the machine perorms so well I did the most of my daily flying with it. Now this machine has all the good points of the Raven and it handles better. If I just had a better field charging rig it might become my main machine.

Sep 27, 2004, 11:46 PM	#15
Lost Horizon in a fog ... Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Victoria BC Posts: 471	welcome to the smokeless side, greg.. nice conversion.. are you bringing it to Victoria so I can (ahem) 'try' it??