Not being totally happy with the coreless motor upgrade I did to get past the stock motors from Walkera, I set out to go brushless with this little heli, as I believe it is a great little flyer and only lacking a reliable prime mover.

After searching the host of inrunners and outrunner motors that would be in an acceptable weight and rpm/volt range, I decided to go with a MEDUSAProducts 12mm inrunner Afterburner BL motor. It got the nod because of fit, form and function. It is light @ 16g. It offers an rpm/voltdc capability that will give a good head speed on 2 cell Lipoly packs with a 12t pinion. It has a 1.5mm shaft that is longer than the 12mm motors made by Feigao allowing the pinion to mesh with the spur gear properly and last but not least it is nearly a bolt in installation on the #52's chassis. Pinions with a compatible 1.5mm centerbore and the correct 0.05 module pitch are available by WesTek from www.homefly.com For those wanting to run their own calculations on head speed the main spur has 104 teeth.

I wanted to go with a 2s Lipoly battery for weight reasons and the fact that it should give the little T/R motor a longer life expectancy. The 4 in 1 electronics module on the #52 has an unused channel 3 marked for throttle and I guessed that Walkera has a plan to do a BL conversion for this helicopter the same as was done for the 22 series and the Venom NightRanger 3D (a.k.a the Walkera 322E). I plugged in the BL ESC and crossed my fingers and luck was with me it worked like a champ.

You must understand that if you do this conversion,you do so at your own risk. If you are not really good at soldering it might be better to wait for Walkera to offer their upgrade and buy from them. If you are a tinkerer like me then press on and enjoy creating something.

Here's a list of the goodies I bought to do the upgrade:

CastleCreations Phoenix10 ESC
MEDUSA Products 12mm inrunner BL 4000kv motor
Brass pinion assortment (pinions with 1.5mm centerbore and 0.5 module pitch)
Deans 3 pin non-polarized micro connectors
Deans 2r micro connectors for batteries
GWS 12mm heat sink


Pics show most, if not all, of what you need to know to do this conversion, but if there are questions, please post them here for all to see.

Enjoy - Boyd
AMA 80393
Major USAF
Retired

Excellent Hoverup! Guess you know what I'm going to ask next?...

When do we see the vid?

By the weekend I hope.

I have done the same with a feigao kv5300 and the original pinion on 2s ( I changed the motor shaft to3/ 2mm instead of 3/1.5).
Using the original T/R motor didīnt work very good. Next I use a normal b2c motor(higherKV) and still fighting wag .
With 350 2s is not so powerfull , I must try bigger packs or 3s with the original T/r motor.Now is about 2800 rpms only , Iīm suspecting something is wrong here or there

Do you realize how sturdy are those submicros , I did a mishap and the heli ended with iddle up into the ground and 2 or 3 seconds like this , only the main shaft needs straightening (better than new now) and the blades only loose the very tip ends (discarded anyway).

My bl conversion using separates.

What's your weight without the batteries?

Good morning sir, If I remember correctly 142gr with 2s350 so 120gr I think, tomorrow I will confirm it.Here is almost bed time.

Have you flown it with bl ? please comments, we are here for that.

Thanks for an extremely useful reference. It couldn't be more clear or precise. Its value is the many hours of work saved for others. That is one reference I shall be logging!

Whilst this thread is up on the 52, I wonder if I might ask about the blade shaft and allowable angles of freedom. I am hoping that this might help me get a little more acustomed to the heli. It appears to me that a lot of freedom of movement exists here, and a large angle shift can occur. Is this actually correct? From the 'o' ring in the main shaft housing I have a collared spacer which butts up to the inner blade housing bearing and thats it. (both sides of course). It would be good to have it confirmed that there are no more spacers here.
Thanks......

First of all, thanks for the kind words roffey.

Starting at the main shaft and working out toward the blade grip you have the following pieces:
1. rubber "O" ring
2. stepped washer with small raised area toward the grip inner bearing
3. blade grip inner ball bearing
4. blade grip outer ball bearing
5. phillips head fastener that screws into the spindle shaft

HTH - Boyd

Thanks Hoverup... Thats what I've got.. I was just checking.. anything to shorten that hill that I have climb. There's no more excuses, just the input I have to make and the lessons I have to learn along the way. I shall probably be needing to do that BL mod! The tip about the longer shaft on the MEDUSA motor is pretty handy.

At least I have at least one flyer for inspiration...

A few updates/revisions as the experiment continues.........The 2s pack provided a gentle flyer, but bodacious climb outs and good tail control were not to be had. I changed the main motor pinion to a 9t 0.05module. I also moved from 2s back to a 3s battery as originally configured from Walkera and the #52 came to life. I now have a solid tail and power that is unbelievable.

The head speed is close to 3000rpm and I must caution you that the stock foam blades will not take this speed. I watched as both mains departed the blade grips and shoot across my back garden.

I am now using the Gaui light wood blades sold for the Mini-Zap/Zoom. I used two 2mm washers top and bottom on each blade as spacers and CA'd them in place to strengthen the root area. They work wonderfully well and actually fly much better than the stock foamies.

Flight times are only a little shorter than with the lighter 2s setup and the motors and all electronics are barely warm to the touch. I think we have found the elusive sweet spot for this little heli.

Enjoy - Boyd
AMA 80393
Major USAF
Retired

That's great news. I have just been fired up by having used a lazy susan I made from a shaded pole motor and ali scroll fan base. This sorted the tail problem I was having difficulty holding whilst trying to hover it. No great shakes as far as flyers go, but good enough reward for me, and an insight into the future joys of this little heli. I was, this very minute about to order up the BL etc. Just thought I'd check though!
What capacity battery are you using with this setup?

3s 360mah and 3s 300mah, both are 20c capable packs.

Thanks for the info hoverup... been thinking of maybe also modding for bell-hiller, similar to the MS Hornet upgrade. Any thoughts on that? Mind you, you probably don't need to do it!