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(by Chan Stevens - 06/10/05)
I mainly wanted to illustrate (3)
different approaches to helicopter recovery and their relative performance versus reliability. I dinged the Apogee a
bit for stability, having seen two flights in a row recently go unstable, though I'd never had that problem before on
similar models (including previous copies of same model). I might have overdone the performance tweaking a bit on it,
so will add a bit of nose weight and/or go for larger fins to see if that helps it.
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Venus
Corkscrew |
Apogee
Heli-Roc |
QCR Ultimate
I |
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Length |
13.75 |
14 |
12.75 |
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Weight |
0.65 |
0.8 |
0.46 |
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Fins (qty) |
3 |
3 |
3 |
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Fins (material) |
balsa |
balsa |
balsa |
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Fins (Laser, Die, You-cut) |
Pre-cut |
Die |
you cut |
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Blades |
balsa |
balsa |
balsa |
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Body Tube (size) |
13mm |
13mm |
13mm |
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Body Tube (material) |
kraft |
kraft |
kraft |
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Motor Mount (size) |
13mm |
13mm |
13mm |
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Motor Retention (Y/N) |
N |
N |
N |
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Nose Cone (material) |
Balsa/Resin |
Balsa |
Balsa |
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Launch Lugs (material) |
straw |
straw |
none |
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Copter style |
Flop blade |
Fixed blade |
Rotating hub |
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Fin Alignment Guide |
wrap |
wrap |
pattern |
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Decals (self, water, vinyl, etc) |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
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Recommended Motors |
1/2A3-2T/A3-4T/A10-3T |
1/2A3-2,A3-4,A10-3 |
1/2A3-2,A3-4 |
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typical duration (1/2A) |
20-25 sec |
35 sec |
40 sec |
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Maximum duration (1/2A) |
27 sec |
53 sec |
327 sec (lost track) |
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% of flight "qualified" by NAR standards (sample of
5) |
100% |
60% |
60% |
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Instructions-quality |
excellent |
good |
fair |
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Illustrated (hand or computer) |
computer |
computer |
hand |
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Photo-Illustrated (B&W, Color) |
color |
B & W |
B & W |
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Price |
$8.50 |
$14.54 |
$12.00 |
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Construction Rating |
5 |
4 |
3 |
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Flying Rating |
4.5 |
3.5 |
4.5 |
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Overall Rating |
4.5 |
4 |
4.5 |
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Review Pro's |
simple. Reliable |
fairly reliable |
performance |
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Review Con's |
poor duration |
marginal stability |
instructions |
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Comparison Pro's |
most reliable, best value |
best balance of reliability, performance |
top performer |
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Comparison Con's |
lowest performance |
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high risk/less reliable |
 GUEST's OPINION:
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