Discussion A not-so-typical new T-Rex Frame! (BELT DRIVE!)

[averen]

Today I received a new prototype T-Rex frame in the mail! I've been building on it for the past 4ish hours and wanted to share it with you.

I should have her up in the air in a couple of days. The build has been extremely fast and all the parts fit together nearly perfectly! And by the time it gets released the fit will be perfect The manual is well written and it's almost easy enough to construct that you don't even need to look at it with a few exceptions.

The kit comes with everything you need to convert a T-Rex.

Well, here are some pictures. I'll post some more in the next couple of days. If you have any questions please ask.

Jared

PS. - I'm not the designer...just a tester/parts-breaker/crasher. I'm sure the designer will chime in if you have questions I can't answer.

[jh4db536]

who is the designer and where do i get one of these. i want one Now.

[arclite5]

First and most important question.. Does it run with everything a regular Rex runs with? (Motor // batteries)? So we could just opt to use this frame in place of our regular frames?

And second, would the designer of this frame like another tester? I'll even buy it just to beta it.
(I've been looking for a belt drive frame ever since I started to fly. I fly mild/moderate 3D now so I'd love to run this heli frame through the gauntlet!)
-Kyle

[averen]

You can't order it yet...this is 1 of 1 at the moment. Once I'm done breaking as much of it as I can and seeing where improvements can be made they will go into production in small runs. The designer (Thomas) is just starting out but has an excellent design! He has a website up and going but doesn't have much on it at the moment.

He has seen this thread, so I'll let him post his information when he's ready

Jared

[averen]

Originally Posted by arclite5

First and most important question.. Does it run with everything a regular Rex runs with? (Motor // batteries)? So we could just opt to use this frame in place of our regular frames?

Yes, I'll be running this with my Align 430L, the only thing is that the motor needs to have a ~3mm output shaft for the pulleys and it needs to fit into one of a couple KV ratings to work well with the drive pulleys that are available. To be honest I don't know what he sent me...I told him what motor and he sent me the drive pulley, but he did say he had some other ones.

I'm running it with everything from my CDE. HS-65HBs, 3S 2250 pack, Titan 30A ESC, JR 770 RX, GY401 + 9650. So I have JUST replaced the frame. Everything else that you need is included in the kit...or comes on a T-Rex

And second, would the designer of this frame like another tester? I'll even buy it just to beta it.
(I've been looking for a belt drive frame ever since I started to fly. I fly mild/moderate 3D now so I'd love to run this heli frame through the gauntlet!)
-Kyle

He may, but that's his call. I did buy mine from him...so I will be honest since I spent the $$$ on it

Jared

[McDanger]

This could be an all time classic ,i feel the need for one already.


: oh,is it made of G10? and some kind of nylon for the servo tower and boom blocks?.

[arclite5]

Everything sounds just about right.

I hope Thomas considers having two people test out his new frame! From the looks of it (not only does it aesthetically please me..) it's a nicely built frame. Is that G10?

It's also good to know that you paid for it.. Unbiased reviews are important, or at least letting us know!

I'm very -very- eager to get my hands on this frame. I'd love to beta it, but if not I'll still be all over this thread like white on rice.

*Did you have to buy a special shaft for your 430L? I could've sworn the stock shaft was 3.2mm or so.*

-Kyle

[Orion_V]

The holy grail for the Trex ..."A Main Belt Drive"!! All I can say its about time...I'm buying one as soon as its available. No doubt

[averen]

You're right...the shaft is 3.2mm. That's why I said ~3mm, I was pretty sure it was either 3 or 3.2, but I couldn't remember (and was too lazy to check )...no special shaft. I did grind down a flat spot on it a while back though...but you don't have to do that, I just think it's a good idea (and would recommend it for either gears or the pulley setup)

The frame is made out of G10, with the plastic pieces being Derlin...essentially everything black is G10, everything white is Derlin. It makes for a VERY precise and rigid frame. Thomas mentioned making a Carbon frame, but hasn't decided on it for sure yet. G10 is pretty inexpensive, especially for prototyping, the majority of the cost in this frame (on a part by part basis) is the drive train...oh, and the 9 months that he's been working on it.

All of the derlin is tapped, which surprised me at first. I was putting in one of the bolts and it went in really smoothly...I then thought "Wow, if it goes in that easy, it's not going to hold". I didn't realize it was tapped it holds, VERY well. I torqued them down quite a ways, MUCH more than the CDE frame could handle and they didn't strip, much to my surprise and pleasure!

The construction is first rate. There are a couple of little things that need to be addressed, mainly a couple of holes being about .5mm off, which wouldn't be a big deal...but did I mention it's rigid?! Nothing major at least from the build perspective. The mounting of one of the parts changed when the tail belt guides were changed out and the spacing on one of the pieces wasn't adjusted. Thomas already has a new one in the mail for me...I told him about it around 3:00pm today and I should get it tomorrow

You can also rake the frame if that's your thing. Here's some shots with the ~5* rake setting on the landing gear...and one with the canopy and blades.

Jared

[averen]

Another thing to note is that the tail is no longer driven in autos, so this should make autos a little easier...I'll be taking the tri-flow to the one way and getting it SUPER smooth in hopes of shooting some autos where I don't have to drop it like a jet powered rock.

Jared

[borneobear]

WOW. Gawk.
Been thinking of doing a mod like this for a while. Nothing like seing it in actuallity. Again. Wow!

Those main gear looks kinda heavy though. Does it have the same number of teeth as the original gear (150)?

Thanks for sharing. Man. It IS about time this thing showed up!

[Keith43221]

Thomas, after you get this out and running. I'll buy one. Then you need to make a elevated tail after this. lol.

[ozace]

Love it,
Love G10, makes them affordable, paintable and reduces the chances of glitching
Not having a driven tail will put many off but for me it suites, i dont see a need to attempt auto's in a perfectly functional heli.

[arclite5]

Originally Posted by ozace

Love it,
Love G10, makes them affordable, paintable and reduces the chances of glitching
Not having a driven tail will put many off but for me it suites, i dont see a need to attempt auto's in a perfectly functional heli.

It does have a belt-driven tail though. Doesn't it? I see a tail servo on there, leading me to believe..

Also, there's another gear on top of the main gear which seems to be the tail drive gear. Yeah?

-Kyle

[megaglow_Z]

Ok man,this is awsome.
Please come through with a production run on these.
Put me down for one as well.