Just following on from my introduction thread really.

I have wanted to get into RC Heli flying since I was a kid, but never had the oportunity until now.

I have made my first purchase of an old Heli to restore as a project. I purchased a complete Kalt Cyclone II setup from that auction site and below is the description.

• A Kalt Cyclone II radio controlled helicopter (with Enya Super Sport 50 Heli GM engine)
• The radio gear, including a dedicated helicopter transmitter - Japan Radio Propo Apex 5H with charger
• 12V starter motor – boxed (helicopter is belt started)
• All of the original documentation:
  • Kalt Cyclone II Semi-Finished Kit Assembly Manual
  • Kalt Cyclone II Instruction Manual (detailed set up information)
  • Kalt K-5 Rotor Head instructions
  • Main blade instructions, safety notes and parts list
  • JR Propo Apex 5H Owners Manual
  • Quest Gyro instructions
  • Enya Super Sport 50 Heli GM Operating Instructions
  • Enya TN Type Carburettors Instructions

I bought this in 1990 as an ideal starter/intermediate helicopter.  It’s a large helicopter (Nose to tail of 130cm ,a main rotor diameter of 140cm and weighs around 4.5kg in flight ready condition), which means it is stable and relatively easy to fly, and with the 0.5 cubic inch engine it has enough power to move around the sky quickly.  If you then upgrade to a 0.6 cubic inch engine, it becomes a serious piece of kit (fully capable of stunts and all).

I only ever flew this helicopter for about 10 or so hours (only hovering and gentle forward flight) and it has never been heavily crashed - the chassis, tail boom, main rotor, etc are all fine.  There’s a few bits of minor cosmetic damage to replaceable parts, namely the vertical tail fin and the ‘pod’, but these are minor and do not impact the flight.

This really is an incredible piece of kit, but the arrival of kids meant that I no longer had time to play, hence in got put in the loft where it has been gathering dust for over 10 years.

It does need a few hours work to get it air worthy again (mainly because it was put in the loft without being properly cleaned and the nitro fuel is sticky, dirty stuff).  The main tasks that need doing are:

• Removal and restoration/replacement of the engine – the engine and carburettor are very, very gummed up.  There are also a couple of knackered bolts that need to be removed and replaced.
• A new silencer needs to be installed

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·        <!--[endif]-->The inside of the fuel tank and the fuel lines need to be cleaned out

• It all needs a good clean, especially the main rotor head and tail rotor.
• All settings need to be checked (all provided in documentation)

The radio gear is all specialist helicopter stuff.  This means that lots of gubbins can be controlled from the transmitter, for example:

• The relationship between the throttle and collective pitch
• The relationship between the throttle and the tail rotor pitch
• The total permissible movement of the cyclic controls
• Independent trim control of the throttle and the collective pitch

The radio gear is all working, but may need new batteries as I don’t know how long it will keep a charge for.  The helicopter is also equipped with a gyro stabiliser made by Quest Gyro System.

SAFETY NOTICE: I am not qualified to vouch for the air worthiness of this kit (even after restoration), so if you do restore it I strongly suggest you get it checked out by an expert before taking to the sky.  As such, this is all sold as seen, but I have tried to describe it as carefully as possible.

If you’ve used the small, electric helicopters before and fancy taking a step up, this could be a cheap way for you to start (even if you end up only flying this for a while and using the radio gear for a brand new one).  Compared to the electric ones, this is orders of magnitude more exciting and impressive (quite frankly, it scared the hell out of me).

The whole set up must weigh around 10kg and will require careful packing.  Therefore, I suggest that this is really only suitable for pick up (or drop off if we can strike a deal).  However, if you request, I can work out what it would cost to send.

Oh, and I’ll also throw in a few spare parts and tools and a model engine starting panel.  This thing basically can act as a pump to get fuel in and out on the tank, it can power up the glow plug and can power up the starter motor and it’s all run from a 12V car battery.  Problem is that I’ve no way of testing it and I’m guessing that the pump elements may be gummed up.  There’s no reason the rest shouldn’t work though – this is boxed with instructions.

 The whole lot was purchased for 100 quid

Any thoughts/comments/guidance welcome