dragonus

[hook2233]

anyone have a dragonus heli--it was a choice between that and a t rex 450 se--was told this one was newer and better--am just learning to hover! thanks guys

[eddiemoth]

I found a couple videos here. It looks good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA7A69Rtajg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4NQQtCc2NE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTWK6cWiXKQ

[hook2233]

thx for time to find vids 4 me--

[eddiemoth]

hook2233,
You are welcome. It seems to be a good heli with alum parts etc. and the price is not much different with Align XL. There seem not much info on this heli. Now it seems Flying-Hobby sells it here http://www.flying-hobby.com/productShow.asp?id=1318 and here are the specs from the flying-hobby website:
Specification:
Length :660mm
Height :210mm
Width :100mm
Weight :344g
Main Blade Length :325mm
Tail Diameter :146mm
Motor Pinion :13t.14t.15t
Main Gear :150t
Tail Belt drive gear :51t
Gear Ratio 1:11.5:4.6/1:10.7:4.6/1:10:4.6



If I have choose between this heli and Trex XL or SE, I would go with a Trex. For one many people know about it and it is easy to find parts and upgrades. Not sure where you live but I don't see this heli in any one of my LHSs. However, if you go for it, I appreciate if you can share with us what you think.

[hook2233]

Thanks again-i should get it fri-9/29--ive in nyc--i was told its a newer model has more cf parts-flyes better etc. the price was the same--will let you knowe but do not have a se to compare it too -check this link--it explains it more--this is what i got

http://www.rc-expert.com/product-package.php?pid=339

[Sleepstalker]

Hi Hook and welcome..I checked out the package that you bought it looks like a decent heli the only thing I would recommend would be to update your servos to something a little more robust than the hs-55's....something with metal or karbonite gears and ball bearing...3 matched for the swash and a FAST digital servo for the rudder...tail rotor.. :)
Good luck and keep us posted......Sleepster... 8)

[hook2233]

thx bud--after learning on it--thought it would be better with the radio and heli then the walkera 36 i have now-want to get to the t rex 600 in the future-wil keep you up to date--read everyhing on friday--go to work--play with it on sunday-lol--thx again

[hook2233]

found another forum -said the dragonus was god

http://www.runryder.com/helicopter/t270997p1/ (edited)

about 3 or 4 down from top--thanks again

[hook2233]

Dragonus - Thanks for all the info--getting better with flying - dragonus seems to be a very good machine- ordered rtf -came with 2 batteries, rd8000 tx -airtronics rx - all chargers -set up for me-- service from rc expert is excellent. have not crashed the walkera 36 or dragonus. i just keep practicing.

[eddiemoth]

share some pictures.
Eddie

[hook2233]

pics will follow soon-also have a raptor g2 (aka walkera36) had a problem with tail--never stable etc--was going to junk it--well-its the tail boom - went into body-belt got loose - no tail control-epoxy boom all fixed - guess the couple of crashes into chair did it-anyway--practice with it--dragonus is great-stable-getting very close to a stable hover--will keep you guys posted-thanks for advice etc

[xodarap1]

It's a shame that this thread died.. well, wait a minute.. maybe it hasn't! :)

..I mean, it can't die if I keep posting here lol. :)

I never had a Dragonus.. but the Dragonus II Elite is a great heli. I have the Dragonus II Elite with the plastic head and tail, wooden main blades and plastic tail blades. I've logged 23 flights with it over the last few days and I must say that i'm very impressed with it. I've flown several 450's and i'd put this up against any of them, even the ones with upgraded metal head and tails. The plastic is rugged and in my opinion is as tough as some metal parts i've seen on helis costing much more.

The build was easy and the instructions were easy to follow. Adding hex head bolts would have been a nice touch to the kit, but that is easy to change for those that want them.

The heli is fantastic in the air and i can do everything that i do with my larger helis except tic tocs because i'm afraid that i might have a boom strike due to the wooden blades. But the heli will do them with ease i'm sure. I do plan on upgrading the blades soon and will continue to run them with the plastic head.

I'm surprised that this heli has been overlooked by so many but i'm glad that i didn't pass it up..and at $140 for the kit, it's a steal compared to other 450's.

If I had to sum up the Dragonus II in one word it would be "Crisp".

Here are some pics of it next to my honey bee king2 (the king2 has a 450 canopy on it). I'll post some you tube video of the Dragonus II soon (i finally got a decent video camera!) :)

[Sonex128]

Glad you like the Dragonus. I love mine. I don't think I will ever get rid of it if possible. How do you like the King 2? I was wondering how the size compared to the Dragonus. Thanks for the pics. I am considering getting one to fly at work during lunch and breaks. Its smaller size would be great for flying in the hangar at work on midnights.

[xodarap1]

The King2 is a good little copter and it has done well considering all the hours i have on it.

It does have much more tail vibration than the Dragonus and since it is smaller, it's more "twitchy". The tail on the King2 is weak compared to the Dragonus and the King2 frame and motor mount area are not as strong.

It isn't that much smaller than the Dragonus and I'd honestly feel more comfortable hovering/flying a Dragonus in a nice sized indoor area instead of a King2.

They are close enough in price that there would be no reason for me to buy another King2. The Dragonus is a smooth flying machine and I feel it's pretty hard to beat in this class for the performance and money.

[Sonex128]

You can buy King 2 with everything for the price of the Dragonus kit. I would also like to leave it at work so that I didn( have to transport it back and forth. Pobably the only thing on the King that I wold change is the receiver so that I could use me DX7. Wouldn't be too bad just carrying the transmitter back and forth to work.

[eddiemoth]

I like the look. The canopy looks cool. It seems to be a good heli. This guy seems to have a good flight with it.

xmFQkq9SChY

[Roto Rob]

Yes, I like my Dragonus II. It is now over a year and a half old. Only have had to replace the main rotor blades due to a crash. I fly it on a Align 430L motor, with 13 tooth pinion. So the power is not great for serious 3D, peaks around 2800rpm. But it will stay close with most of my high powered 450 size helicopters, and fly for 10 minutes on a 2200mah 3 cell.

[eddiemoth]

I always like the look of the Dragonus.

[swatson144]

HL has them in the clearance section (http://www.hobby-lobby.com/dragonus-arf.htm) for 200$ with ESC and motor, but I need another mini like I need a hole in the head.

Steve

[Roto Rob]

The kit is $40 cheaper than the ARF. I don't think they included the ESC for the sale.

[swatson144]

Says so The included 3300 Kv brushless motor comes packaged with a 35 Amp controller and two pinions. :D

Steve

[Roto Rob]

Yes, Includes the ESC. I must need eye glasses.

[xodarap1]

I've been flying the Dragonus II quite a bit since building it up and the main weak point i've found has been the hollow main shaft. I'm going to be making some solid custom main shafts for it so that will no longer be a weak point. The rest of the heli has held up very well and i'm still amazed at how well it handles compared to other 450's i've flown. I'm considering buying another one, but it would be another plastic version (the metal version is too heavier and parts are much more expensive) in kit form so I can select the motor and esc that i want. On a 1 to 10 scale with 10 being the best rating, i would give it a 9.

[swatson144]

Does the shaft bend in hard flight or just during crashes?

I don't know of any 5mm MS on a mini that survives a crash well. I have even thought of getting some hypo tube from macmaster and making hollow shafts for my x400s, well in the mean time I've been using Trex shafts.

Steve

[xodarap1]

I can bend it in flight. I can put in a new shaft and it's smooth on spool up, hover and flight and sport flying is OK, but if i push it harder and load it up doing snap maneuvers, hard roll exits etc, the shaft will have a wobble to it. When i come in to land, i can see the vibration in the entire heli. Get home, tear it down, roll the shaft and it wobbles. Put in a new shaft and it is smooth as silk again. It's not quite as bad with the woodies, but the CF blades do a number on it at speed. I'm going to make some solid shafts to fit it because these hollow mains are c#$p. The rest of the heli is solid/sound, and i've been impressed.. but the main shafts.. uhg! :roll:

[Roto Rob]

They sell a hardened main shaft upgrade for the Dragonus.
My one Dragonus crash was teaching a friend to fly. It broke the blades with a boom strike, put a small dent in the boom, and bent the lower frames. Installed new blades, bent the frame straight, and it still is smooth a year later.
Maybe my plastic head, and only 2800 rpm takes some stress off the main shaft.

[swatson144]

Yuck.

You really have to watch making your own shafts. It's been my finding that any material you can drill is too soft without hardening later. M2 is about as hard as I've been able to drill with cobalt bits. I can bend M2 tool steel in flight. Without proper ovens it's very difficult to harden them without warping them. In my experience they don't bend a little when they go they usually keep bending and it looks like the heli explodes in midair. So take care.

I could see a hollow shaft perhaps bending a little as one side stretched

I made all my Corona MS as there is no drilling required so I could use a much harder material.

Steve

[xodarap1]

Rob, I'm running the plastic head with the hardened main shafts already.. and can't say how well it holds up in a hard crash because i haven't done any major damage to it yet. But bending a main in flight isn't a good sign to me and it plays hell on the gyro/servo combo when it vibrates like that until you can get her back on the ground.

Steve, I should have mentioned that I'm not planning to make the entire shafts on my own from scratch.. just drill one hole where it's needed on a stock T-Rex 450 shaft (the other hole lines up fine) and a little dremel work on the bottom for the set screws to grab. I know the T-Rex 450 mains are solid and they hold up well in my Shark 450 and the T-Rex's so they should work fine.

The only thing that concerns me is what you mentioned.. being able to hold the main steady enough and drill the hole true because it's tough stuff. I don't have a vise so it will be a challenge.

I may end up having to take it to a local metal shop and have them do one, then if it tests out ok, take 5 or 6 back to have them make up some more.

[xodarap1]

Howdy,

I wanted to post this as soon as it was figured out and tested. The problem that I was having with the main shafts bending in flight was caused my me not having the programmable head set up correctly. I was on the phone with Rusty and he was telling me about another friend of his that pushes the Dragonus hard and hasn't had a problem with the main shafts bending in flight.. so.. i'm thinking "well, what the h$#%"? We went over the programmable head settings one by one and sure enough, mine was off by one. I made the correction and then flew the heli hard again and couldn't bend the shaft in flight anymore.

http://www.helidirect.com/product_info.php?cPath=29_231&products_id=4000

(If you scroll down to the middle of the page to the "Adjustable Bell-Hiller Ratio for Different Types of Flying Pleasures" area.. for the 3D setup, I had one link going to A1 instead of A2.)

I wanted to apologize for my statements about the main shafts being a weak spot on the Dragonus. The real weak spot was me not setting up the heli properly. I'm very sorry for any negative feedback that I gave about the main shafts. The Dragonus is still much more enjoyable to fly than any T-Rex 450 I've flown and is an awesome bargain and I would not hesitate to buy another when I finally wear this one out.
Steve

[xodarap1]

My latest video clip flying the Dragonus 450 heli:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmypLSByvP4

[Skytrek]

Wow Dude!! You can fly your butt off!! Nice 3d and awesome video!!

How much practice did you do??? Sim Time per week?? What's is the secret? :roll:

Thanks for the post!

[FlyGuy]

I have to agree with Skytrek. Great flying there.
But, being a picky veteran video guy, I thought the quality was not awsome.
Sorry...
Although, I must say your flying skills made it worth watching.
Great Job! I hope to see more of it in the future.

[xodarap1]

Hi. I fly the helis and sim a lot most days the weather is decent.. Yeah, sorry for the poor video quality.. the reason i shot the videos in the first place was just to test out the video quality of some $30 video sunglasses that i had picked up on ebay. I really wasn't expecting them to record much at all and didn't think it would come out viewable at all lol. I was just looking for a cheap way to get some video of my flights since i rarely have a video person to use my better video camera setup.. and with that, i've been forced to use it mostly as a stationary camera. :(

I previously tested the the video glasses on my hurricane 500 flight and it seemed to come out a little bit better when shooting the bigger heli and the clip seemed to play better on my iphone instead of on my slower internet connection and laptop.

Hey, I appreciate the feedback though. Here's that other clip testing out the same video sunglasses on my hurri 500:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqZ2ZzKtPmY

These are older clips, but were taken with my better video cam setup (back in the good ole days when i had a camera person lol):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LPaSYY75cw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eoYxwaahs4