A final version of the Excellium 500 is in the USPS mail system, winging its way to my door. This is the final version with all fixes and updates incorporated from earlier reviews by myself, Danny at www.espritmodel.com and Fabien from E-Copter This kit will be the one you can buy in the USA from Danny's online shop.

This will be a build log and end with a flight report.

As soon as the big box arrives, I'll begin.

Cheers - Boyd
AMA 80393
IRCHA 3355
Major USAF
Retired

USPS delivered the Excellium goods. This kit is one of the first five production kits that have been released by the factory in China. Three of them are at A2Pro/e-Copter in France, one has gone to Danny Melnik who is the exclusive USA distibutor at EspritModel.com.

I'm told that I have they only customer kit in the field.

The outfit for this build will include the following:

Futaba S9650 Digital servos for cyclic (3)
Futaba 9257 Digital servo for the T/R (1)
Futaba GY520 Gyro w/Heading Hold
Castle Creations Phoenix ICE Lite 75SB Brushless ESC
Scorpion HK 3026 Series Motors HK 3026-1900kv
Spektrum AR6200 DSM2 Microlite 6Channel Rx, Ultralite Spectrum
4s 1p lipoly flight battery pack
Deans Ultra connectors

More to come, stay tuned.

Cheers - Boyd
AMA 80393
IRCHA 3355
Major USAF
Retired

Looking forward to following another of your build threads Boyd.

I am suprised that the kit did not come with motor and ESC. Do you know if there will be a kit with electrics available or is it always air-frame only ?

Are blades included in the kit and if so, FG or CF ?

Originally Posted by kgfly

Looking forward to following another of your build threads Boyd.

I am suprised that the kit did not come with motor and ESC. Do you know if there will be a kit with electrics available or is it always air-frame only ?

Are blades included in the kit and if so, FG or CF ?

Welcome aboard kgfly I am not sure how the kit will be offered in other markets. Here in the States, EspritModel.com is offering a propulsion bundle (motor and ESC) for a nominal discount. They offer 15 different brands of motors and 12 different brands of ESC's, so the choice is easily tailored by the customer.

http://www.espritmodel.com/index.asp...TS&Category=13

The blades are not included. Sometimes this is a good thing since pilots tend to have their favorite flavor for rotor blades.

Cheers - Boyd

Hi,

we have a full set of electronics for the heli including motor and esc.

As Boyd has his " favourites" electronics, we think it's better to let him do the build and test with his own hardware and then maybe he can make a comparison with ours later

Thanks for accepting to make the review Boyd, and i hope tha tthe anodised version will please to you

BEst regards,

Fabien

The production Excellium 500 shouild be exactly the refined product that I hoped we would get. Allowing a few of us to get a "preview" kit and then incorporating the changes that we, the field test pilots suggested, was an approach that I wished more manufacturers would follow. Can't wait to get this kit airborne. The "Preview" kit flew nicely so this should be a pleasant test flying experience also.

More later - Boyd

The kit includes a snappy fiberglass canopy with a great clear coat paint scheme. It's well packed in a box within a box. The CNC aluminum bits are all anodized with a very nice pewter gray finish. Sure beats the heck out those old purple and blue days

Even though some of the major assemblies are put together at the factory you need to disassemble and thread lock all fasteners. Do not try to short cut this step. It's something we all should be doing on any kit that claims to be ARTF or ARF. The Excellium boasts neither and clearly instructs you to check and thread lock all fasteners where it's a metal to metal junction.

Cheers - Boyd

Very minor point - I don't like the holes in the head button. They add to noise and drag and may not feel too good on the braking finger either.

Can't find it on Esprit's site. Is it still not available?

Originally Posted by ChrisMH

Can't find it on Esprit's site. Is it still not available?

Not in stock yet.

photos,info please

Originally Posted by NZ_Nitro

photos,info please

Do you have a specific question? If not, this build thread should have all the pics and info you need for the Excellium 500.

Cheers - Boyd
AMA 80393
IRCHA 3355
Major USAF
Retired

Assembly proceeding on the main frame. Here you can see the Scorpion 3026-1900 driving the belt to turn the main shaft and the T/R transmission, which is a shaft drive. A 1900kv motor is used to support the use of more affodable 4s Lithium Polymer flight packs. Servo installation is next.

Cheers - Boyd

Hi Boyd,

i can see on the picture, the frame reinforcement ( the alu part just in front of the servos mount location) is mounted inverted (front -> back)
The angled edge must be directed to the servo location, still top position, this helps to rotate and install the servos especially Futaba ones
I will make a zoom picture about that on the manual with more explanations for that thing.

BEst regards,
Fabien

Originally Posted by Bricobrac

Hi Boyd,

i can see on the picture, the frame reinforcement ( the alu part just in front of the servos mount location) is mounted inverted (front -> back)
The angled edge must be directed to the servo location, still top position, this helps to rotate and install the servos especially Futaba ones
I will make a zoom picture about that on the manual with more explanations for that thing.

BEst regards,
Fabien

Thanks for the catch Fabien.