Quick and Dirty Falcon SE V-2 Improvements

The Century Falcon SE is a great little machine but can be customized for the particular modeler into 3-D or quality aerobatics. If you are just hacking or hovering around the sky don’t bother with any alterations. Some alterations are made to make modifications work correctly. This is because one change often affects the helicopter as a whole and there by must be compensated for, otherwise you are wasting your time.

Our goal is to make the reliable and tuff Century Falcon fly like our agile Raptors. We like our Raptors very much and like the Falcon power train structure respectively. The Falcon needs the control system modified to meet Raptor specifications. This is done at the rotating controls. Two components are needed to do this. First is two new standoff balls connecting the flybar cradle to the short control rods at the mixers. The mixers are the short levers attached to the blade grips. Notice the small washers moving the mixers more outboard for better clearance. To take full advantage of the new ratios a higher throw swashplate is needed. We used a Vario swashplate unit which is vastly overpriced at 140 dollars but fit the design parameters very well. The ball standoffs mentioned for the flybar cradle can now be procured through Century or Leisure Tech Products and are from their Preditor 60 helicopter. We carried out the mods prior to the introduction of the Preditor and so made our own ball standoffs. To fine tune the system we used Raptor 60 paddles with the inboard section omitted.

 

Picture Depicts the High Throw Vario Swashplate. Note That the Linkages are Straighter From the Roll Belcranks

We attacked the tail rotor system with the same tenacity as the main rotor. A relatively cheap plastic Vario tailboom mount for the servo was installed for about 20 dollars. A rear gyro mount was fabricated from some thin sheet aluminum. The additions and relocation alters the fore/aft C of G so we added a longer battery tray up front. The tray is longer than the stock plastic but it is also lighter and stiffer. We were able to remove all previous ballast using an 1800mah battery.

Picture Depicts Longer Battery Tray for Improved Fore/Aft C of G. If You Look Closely one can see the Raptor 60 Paddles

Picture Depicts Rear Mounted Gyro and Servo.

The tail rotor blade grips were drilled our for the ball stand-offs to increase throw and tail authority. The modification required we use longer ball stand-offs for it to function. Again we used the Vario stuff. The reason for using the Vario stuff is because we have a local supplier and the catalog gives exacting dimensions needed in some cases for making engineering decisions. You may presently use the cheaper parts from the Century Preditor machine since it now has the blade grips drilled at the same positions.

Picture Depicts Longer Ball Stand-off on the Relocated Tail Rotor Blade Grip Hole

Look Closely and You Will see a Raptor Pitch Fork attached to the Century Pitch plate

The header tank speaks for itself and is attached with an “L” shaped bracket fitted to the right forward landing gear hard point. It uses “Dave Brovn tuned pipe hush mount” and a round Sulivan Tank.

Picture Depicts Header Tank

Last but not least is lower sideframe reinforcement for the 50 installation. This makes all the difference in the world and will allow the machine to stand up structurally to extreme usage over the long term. These go between the landing gear and the sideframes. The spacers are flat stock aluminum and are bolted to the sideframe flanges. The four round plastic spacers between landing gear and the sideframes need to be drilled out so the nuts can be recessed.

Picture Depicts Lower Frame Spacers Between the Landing Gear Struts and the sideframe flanges. A Third round Spacer is Also shown at the Middle Rear of the Fuel Tank.

The Falcon fins can be cut out to increase the yaw power and reduce the adverse airflow effects in fast sideways flight. The horizontal fin is cut up to match the looks and more importantly to remove tail weight.

Cut Out Vertical Tail Fin to Improve Yaw Performance

Cut Out Horizontal Stabilizer to Improve Looks and Reduce Weight

Completing these mods entails a certain amount of self reliance and common sense. The washout arms will need to be reworked with a bevel at the forked end as an example. If you do not have the time to reason the smaller details to their rightful conclusion, then please buy made to order upgrades. This brief is just that…a starting point for modifications that have been pre-tested.