Swashplate
NHM540ST Motor
Drive train
Main assembly
On the May 1999 Shizuoka show, JR debut an electric helicopter named Voyager E. It is an electric powered helicopter the size of Kyosho EP Concept, and is targeted at the mini size EP market that has been dominated by the EP Concept. Electric helicopter has its selling points, especially in Asia, mainly due to its small in size and it projects an image that its cleaner and easier to maintain and fly than their nitro burning counterparts (Not necessary true). A lot of people regard EP helicopter as a first step into the door of r/c helicopter from cars. In addition, the simple notion of "flying in the parking lot" attracts a lot of r/c helicopter pilots to get these EP helicopters. However, Japanese manufacturers' interpretation of EP helicopters in the past, before the Voyager E, has been regarded more as a toy than a full-blown r/c helicopter that could do aerobatics. Most of the parts of these EP helicopters are flimsy (e.g. the foam main blades as in the EP Concept), flight times are limited and their flying capabilities left much to be desired. JR's interpretation of its EP helicopter is based on its Ergo series, and copies Ergo designs like 3 servo 120 degree ECCPM control mechanism, belt driven tail, and rotorhead and mixing design, and this gives the EP Voyager a base that could perform aerobatic maneuvers right off the bat.
On September, 1999, JR finally released the Voyager E to the market. There are two packages of the Voyager E, one in a kit form that comes with the helicopter, motor, electronic speed control, and a JR G400 single rate piezo gyro. The other package comes included with a JR Max 66 II radio, two 8.4V battery packs, a Ni-Cd charger, a "how to" tape on setup and even training gears in addition to the first package. Price for the kit is listed around US$600-, while the second one with radio list for around US$900-. When JR released the Voyager to the Japanese market, my Japanese store keeper friends said the kit package (the one without radio) sells like hotcakes and they had very hard time to push JR to produce more kits to satisfy customer demands. They also said the design of the Voyager gives a "professional" look, and together with the packaging of the kit it attracted a lot of people who already are into r/c helicopters to get the Voyager E. Compare with other EP helicopters like the Kyosho EP Concept, all the necessary items unique to a EP helicopter (Things like motor, ESC, and mini gyro) has been included in the package of a Voyager E. For people who are already r/c helicopter pilots all they need is just to throw in servos and a Ni-Cd pack to make the Voyager E fly. (Of course, the pilot will need a radio that is 3 servo 120 degree ECCPM capable, but most radio on sale nowadays come with this function in Japan).
On the September, 1999 Tokyo Hobby Fair, I saw a demonstration flight of the Voyager E, and it displayed very well flying characteristics that is not seen in other EP helicopters of the same range. I talked with JR officials present at the show and they said they have no plans yet to take the Voyager E to foreign market. I got one of these from a Japanese hobby shop, and I paid about US$450- for it.
Upon opening the box of the Voyager E, I saw three small boxes neatly packed inside. One box contained the canopy, another box contained main frames, rotor head, and electronics, and a long box that includes main blades and tail boom. The manual was written like the Ergo series, which is clear and with a lot of diagrams. Eventhough it is in Japanese, I did not have a hard time interpreting it.
The first part of the assembly dealt with main frame. It came fully assembled, while the manual said I have to assemble it myself. Nevertheless, I notice the main frame of the Voyager E was molded in plastic, and the whole frame was assembled using plastic cross members and self-tapping screws. The plastic material was the same as the ones used in molding Ergo plastic parts, which are very sturdy. One interesting thing to point out, though, is that the main frame design of the Voyager E is more like a "wire frame" than usual EP helicopter design that involve is shaped like a shell that encase the drive train. This design expose most of the mechanics of the drive train that enables ease of maintenance, while other EP helicopters like the Kyosho EP Concept's or the Kalt Whisper's design makes maintenance a pain. The landing gear struts is fastened onto the main frame, and the struts contained holding brackets for the Ni-Cd battery pack.
The motor included is called NHM540ST, and it is designed specifically for EP helicopters. The motor was mounted upside down at the front portion of the main frame. The motor pinion that comes standard with the package was in 15 tooth, but four other pinions (12, 13, 14 and 16 tooth) are available to suit different needs. Power was delivered through the motor pinion to the first reduction gear that also power the tail belt pinion, then to the main gear. An auto-rotation clutch mechanism is incorporated into the main gear, and with this design the tail is not driven during auto-rotation. The main shaft is in aluminum, with thickness of 8mm. A 3 point 120 degrees swashplate slide up and down together with a washout mixer to provide control to the rotor head. The rotor head also comes fully assembled. All the pivot points of the rotor head are slop free, which is big difference than those found on Kyosho EP Concept. Basically, all the parts from the swashplate up to the rotor head are just copied from the Ergo series, albeit at a smaller size.
The tail boom is the same 22mm diameter aluminum tail boom of the Ergo series, albeit shorter in length. One end of the tail boom is secured to the main frame, while the other end there is a one-piece molded tail gear box. There are no tail boom support present, and I think with the size of the tail boom it is strong enough not to need one. A fine pitch belt runs inside the boom and delivers power from the first reduction gear to the tail gear. A T-shaped tail fin is fastened onto the tail gearbox. Once again the tail mechanics are just copies from the Ergo series.
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| Mainframe | Rotor Head |
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| Partially assembled main frame | Tail mechanics |
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Swashplate |
NHM540ST Motor |
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Drive train |
Main assembly |
After the whole mechanics was assembled I found that the dimension of parts used in the Voyager E are very strong for a helicopter at this size.
Servo installation comes next. Voyager E enables the owner to install either regular size servos or mini servos. There are bracket included in the kit so that when mini servos are used the servos have to be first mounted onto the brackets then to the main frames. I use the new JR DS811 digital servos all around. Digital servos are best for ECCPM controls because they do not have differential travels and in my opinion digital servos are a must for all ECCPM helicopters. When I make the pushrods, I found that all pushrods are the same as the Ergo series, in 2.3mm rods and plastic ball links on both ends. Once again this design outshines other Japanese EP helicopters on the market that uses thin metal wires with "Z" bends on the ends. After all swashplate control servos and pushrods were mounted, I set up the radio for the correct movements and ATVs according to figures provided in the manual, only to find out that it gives a pitch window excess of 20 degrees pitch travel! Whether the Voyager E could use all that pitch, I don't care, but the mechanics gives a very good base that could make it perform. I once setup a EP Concept and I had a real hard time getting a 12 degrees pitch window. Then, I setup the tail servo, and found that the tail pushrod was a straight line from the servo to the tail, and it was very smooth. The tail pushrod was secured to the boom using the same guides from the Ergo series. Finally I routed all the plumbing of the servo wires and mount the receiver and battery pack.
Setting up the ESC and throttle curve was very straight forward and all I had done was to follow straightly to the recommended data supplied diagrams in the manual (No need to read Japanese). The JR ESC is another great design. There is a toggle switch to turn on the ESC, with an indication light on the switch that describe the operation mode the ESC is in. With the first press of the button, it power the receiver but does not give power to the motor, and the indication light will blink to tell users that it is in setup mode. The second press of the button will give power to the motor, and the indication light glows steady to tell users that its in ready mode. The third press of the button turn power off to all systems. In addition, when the ESC is at ready mode, I have to move the throttle trim to neutral before I lift the throttle stick, or there will be no power to the motor. This is on-off switch design gives multiple safe guard features and minimized users from risk of hurting himself.
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| JR NEA300H ESC | Mounting of ESC onto Voyager E |
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| Right front side with everything installed | Left front side with everything installed |
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| Tail linkage | Note the Z bends |
The Voyager E comes standard with a pair of wood blades. These blades are semi-symmetrical, comes wrapped in white shrinkage, and is very sturdy compared to main blades of the EP Concept (Which are in foam). I checked the balance of the blades and found that its right on.
The single task that consumed most of the time was cutting the canopy and applying decals. It took me about 3 hours to assemble and setup the Voyager, but it took me more than one hour just to trim the canopy and applying decals. The canopy was construct of "plastic bottle" material, and it was kind of thick compared to other canopies made with the same material, due to the fact that the Voyager's main frame is tail heavy, and JR might want to use a heavier canopy to balance the CG. The shape of the canopy look like a basketball shoe, which was funny. I found the decals very thin and sticky, but even this kind of decals they could be peeled off easily from the canopy.
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| Raw canopy before any work | Finished canopy with decals |
After everything was mounted, I checked the CG of the helicopter, only to find that it was very tail heavy. I did not wanted to put lead strip onto the canopy, so I tried to move the Ni-Cd battery forward to the canopy, only to find that the canopy was on the way of the battery pack. I then trimmed the canopy to let the battery pack move forward about an inch, but still the CG is way back. Nevertheless, I added about 25 grams of lead to the tip of the canopy to make the CG balance.
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Scorpion VE canopy for Voyager E |
The Scorpion VE canopy being mounted |