I get a lot of questions asking about certain fuselages. What I tell people is that if you are a first time scale builder, and you have a set of mechanics to put into your future fuse, then look to the manufacturer of the mechanics to see what they offer.

The reason is simple, everything will be made for the mechanics to fit into the fuse. This may not give you many choices for fuselage's, but you will stand a much better chance of being successful on your first project. If your mechanics manufacturer does not offer the fuse you want, and another one does, take these things into consideration.

Will your mechanics fit into the fuse and have the tail drive line up without the mechanics being up to high, or too low into the fuse that the head will look stupid? If the mechanics will fit OK with the mainshaft in the correct spot, are the servos of your mechanics going to foul on a part of the fuselage because the mechanics are set too high? How about the exhaust system for the mechanics. Are you going to be able to put that muffler you are using now in the fuse without it cooking the side of it? I think you get the idea, that it will take a lot of preparation on your part to match one set of mechanics to another fuse.

Some manufacturer's of fuselages say that they will fit all. Be ready for some retrofitting and ingenuity on your part. Also keep in mind that a lot of mechanics for pod and boom heli's are not really made to go into a fuse because cooling is an issue. You may end up putting in a stronger engine and running 30% nitro just to get the heli to fly decent when it is in a fuse. Look at all the options, and if you do not have a set of mechanics already, or are not sure whether they will work or not, look into a line of heli's which offer the fuse you want and use their mechanics. You will be sure that they will work in that case.

Installing the woodwork inside your fuse is the most important thing you will do. There are a couple of things you should do prior to doing any work inside the fuse. The first thing you should do when you get your fuse is to take all the fiberglass parts and stick them in the bath tub. I use dish washing liquid with one of those scouring sponges (they have one side which has a scotch brite pad attached to it) and wash the outside and inside of all the parts with a warm soapy mix. This will get rid of any release agent which may still be present inside the fuse, or on the parts themselves. Nothing likes to stick to this release agent. After that, I dry it as much as I can and set it aside for a day to dry out.

The next day, I take a piece of 80 grit sandpaper, and sand the entire area inside the fuse which a former is going to be applied. You just want to take the gloss off the fiberglass. I then sand all the outside seams down as flush as I can get them. After that, I cut out all of the openings which are supposed to be cut out. If you have an air compressor, blow it off real good. If you don't have a compressor, the computer stores sell canned air which will do a decent job. I then wash everything down with alcohol. This removes any dust left over.

Depending on how the woodwork for the floor is built, I CA all the pieces together to make the floor plate. I then bolt the mechanics to the floor plate and do my trial fitting into the fuselage. Be sure to not only get the correct location for the mainshaft coming out of the top, but also be sure that the mechanics are not leaning left or right. I try to line up the main shaft with the seam in the top back part of the fuse, if it was joined on the center line. When I have my location where this woodwork is going, I take a pencil and lightly mark the four corners where the wood sits. Make light marks because pencils are graphite, and is a good lubricant for epoxy not to stick. At this time I also cut some light weight fiberglass cloth the length of each side, and front and back. Mix up some 1 hour epoxy, and brush the bottom of the fuse across all four edges overlapping the area the wood is going to set at by at least an inch on either side. Set the woodwork, with the mechanics still attached, inside the fuselage, and verify that it is still in the correct location. I then brush epoxy onto the wood area which contacts the side of the fuse and floor, and taking one of the fiberglass strips which you cut, press it into the wet epoxy, overlapping the wood and fuse. Use an acid brush to tap down the cloth until it "disappears" into the epoxy. Do this on all four sides of the former. After that, I brush another light coat of epoxy on top of the glass cloth, and let that dry at least a day. Remember a couple of things; more epoxy is not better, it is worse. The thicker the epoxy is, the more brittle it becomes. Be sure to get all the air bubbles out of the cloth after you push it into the epoxy. An air pocket is going to be a weak spot in the cloth. Be sure to push the cloth down in the edge between the wood and the floor. Using 1 hour epoxy should give you more than enough time to install the base woodwork and cloth, but if you don't feel comfortable using this, use 2 hour or longer epoxy. It will have to dry longer before moving on. I also use 5 min epoxy on any non-structural formers such as one which might hold the fuel tank, or the front cockpit floor former. As long as you cleaned and sanded the fuse well enough before you started, you will have no problem.

Once the base wood work is installed into the fuse, you can move on to the upper reinforcements and the tail drive for the heli. You can fuel proof your woodwork by spreading on epoxy, then take a scrap piece of plastic and use it like a squeegee to smooth it out and take off the excess. When it dries, it will be nice and flat and fuel proof. Be sure to not get any epoxy into the mechanics bolt holes. Leave a junk screw in these locations and work around them.

After all the base woodwork is installed in the fuselage, you can install the tail rotor drive system. It is very important that you get the drive lined up square with the tail rotor in the back to eliminate any possibility of run-out on the drive system. The reason is simple, vibration. Take the former to which your tail rotor assembly attaches to, and be sure it is a tight fit into the end of the tail boom. Dry fit to be sure it fits right. Remove from the fuse, and mix up some 1 hour epoxy. Spread the epoxy in the area in which the former will make contact with the fuselage. Reinstall the former with the gearbox attached. With the tail rotor blades attached, check from the back to see if the gear box is level and the blades are not tilted in toward the fuse when you rotate them on the front or rear of the fuse. I let this dry overnight, then the next day,remove the gearbox, and put a fillet of epoxy around the edge of the former. After all this is dry, I have the mechanic end of the drive system complete.

With the tail rotor out of the former, install the drive system, so that the excess drive sticks out of the back of the tail boom through the former. I install the end on the tube, claw coupler or dog bone, or attach the wire end to the tail rotor itself. Then I measure the distance between the outside face of the former to the inside face of the tail rotor assembly which is going to sit on the former. This is the distance which you are going to shorten your drive tube or wire. After cutting the amount needed, attach your end permanently to the drive, and see how it fits. If you measured correctly, it should be fine. Be sure to use locktite on any connectors which attach to the drive, and some manufacturers even have you epoxy the attaching end on. If you are using wire drive, be sure the wire goes into the tail rotor drive as far as you can when measuring before cutting, otherwise you will get a inaccurate measurement.

Now I install any former with a bearing or a former which holds the brass tube in the case of a wire drive. I leave the former loose in the fuse until I have this distance cut, and the system attached. I then push the former gently to where it should be and spin the drive system so that it finds it own center location. Once this is done, I epoxy the former in this location and let dry. Once dry, I remove the mechanics so that I can put a layer of cloth around the edges of the former for real good support. Doing the drive system in this manner will give you a real smooth running, true drive system which will be trouble free.

Prepping and Painting a fuse. Allot has been said elsewhere about painting a fuselage. The biggest reason people fail in the paint process is simple; rushing to the next step, and not keeping everything clean. This is how I have done it for a long time, and really have not had any problems after doing it this way. There are allot of pitfalls to watch out for like pinholes, fish-eyes, runs, and dirt. Hopefully if you try it this way, you will end up with a nice finish on the fuselage. There are other ways to accomplish this, but this works for me.

The first step in the paint process, if you did not read installing the woodwork, is to wash all the fiberglass parts with warm soapy water. This is to get rid of all release agent which may be hanging around. Primer and paint do not like to stick to this stuff, so the better the cleaning job, the better the finish. The final finish only comes out as good as the job you did underneath all that paint.

After the fuse has dried from the wash job, I sand down the mold seam on all the parts. Follow that by cutting out all of the openings you need in the fuse. After this, I construct all the woodwork needed to get the heli flying, and test fly in this configuration. The reason is simple, I want to test all the systems at this stage, so that after the paint job, I can reassemble everything and I know that it works. After the disassembly process, I wash the fuse down with alcohol to get rid of any contaminant present.

Since the seam line has been sanded, I sand the entire fuselage down with 320 grit sandpaper. If you are going to add any other exterior detail to the fuse like vents or caps, now is the time. I am looking to get rid of any shiny spots on the fuselage. Be sure to sand it good. I then take a red scotchbrite pad, and sand the fuse again, being sure to get into every nook and cranny on the fuse. This means all the panel lines and edges of the fuse. This is time consuming, but if it is not sanded, the primer and paint will not stick, and trying to repair this after the paint is a nightmare. Be sure to do all the edges of the top cap and tail pieces, and inside all the door jambs, if you have opening doors.

I then blow all the dust off the fuse, and wash it down with Prep Sol. This is available at most automotive paint stores, and it removes any junk left on the fuse. During this process, you should be wearing surgical gloves so as not to transfer any oils from you hands to the fuselage and parts.

I then rig up all my parts so that I can prime them. If you have no panel lines on the fuse, or you want more, take the 1/16 3-M fine line tape, and apply it on the areas you want the panel line to be created. After priming, remove the tape and the resulting area will be higher creating the panel line. Be sure not to sand these areas too much, or you will lose the panel line. I use a product called Pactra Prep, which is a lacquer based primer found in most hobby stores. This is available in spray cans. Depending on the size of the fuse, it usually takes two-three cans to do what I want. I spray a coat of the primer on every seam line. After allowing it to dry the recommended amount of time, I spray the entire fuse and seam line again. I let this dry for a day. I then go back and look for any imperfections in the seam line or fuselage. There is available in the hobby stores a product in a tube which is a green spot putty. I apply this to the seam line, if needed, and any other small imperfections which I find on the fuse and other parts. Do not try to fill large areas with this stuff, as it is made to only fill small pinholes or a seam line. Another product which you can use for anything larger is a Polyester Putty which you mix with hardener to fill large areas. This is available at automotive paint stores.

After spot fixing all the areas, I let this dry for a day to allow all the shrinking of the material to occur. If you only had to use the green putty, you can sand this with 320 grit, and sand only until the area feels smooth, and you feel no difference between the green putty and the fuselage. The spot putty can be sanded 220, and sand it the same way you did the putty, except after it has been sanded enough with the 220, go back over it quickly with the 320 to make it a little smoother. After all the areas I filled have been sanded, I sand the entire fuse again with 320 grit wet or dry sand paper, dry. Blow off all the parts and fuse, and put two more light coats of Pactra Prep on. I let this dry for a day. Check everything over to see if you need any more putty, and fix what is needed.

Now the fuse is ready for the final sanding, and I use 600 grit sandpaper for this. Take your time and be sure to sand everywhere. Blow off the fuse and parts and look at them closely. If the surface does not look smooth, sand some more, to get rid of the "orange peel" look.

When you are satisfied that it is sanded enough, go over the entire fuse and parts with a gray scotch brite pad. Be sure to get all the panel lines and crevasses. The pads will conform to most any shape, so be sure to get everywhere. When done, blow everything off. I am wearing surgical gloves this entire time. I wash the fuselage down again with the Prep Sol, which will remove the fine particles of dust left on the parts.

If you are going to install rivets, now is the time. I use 3-M 1/16 fine line tape to show where the line of rivets is going to go. Put on a piece of fine line on the fuse, and follow that line to the end. I do all the vertical seams on one side of the fuse, then go to the other side and match what I have done. I usually do around the doors where the glass will be installed and the front window frames. The tail boom is next along with the vertical and horizontal fin areas. By this time, the vertical rivet lines on the side of the fuse have dried enough for me to go back and do the horizontal lines. I do one line at a time starting at the top and working my way to the bottom. Using the tape as a guide is great to see where the rivets are going, and to see if you are going off track. I use a product called R-56, which is a glue for putting in windows. It dries transparent and like a hard rubber. I use a syringe, and once you get the glue flowing, it usually gives the correct amount of glue for each rivet. You are better off experimenting on a scrap piece of glass, to see the amount of pressure you need to maintain the flow, which will vary the size of the rivets. If you put on a row of rivets and do not like them, all it takes is a damp rag to wipe them off. You must wait till the area dries before putting on new rivets in that area again, or the water on the fuse make the glue run. When all the rivets are complete, wait at least a day before painting the fuse and parts. This will give the glue a chance to cure.

You are now ready for the paint to be applied to the fuse. I wash all the parts again with prep Sol, just to get any last junk off of them. The parts are blown off again, then using a tack rag, wiped down. Since I have been in the Auto Body business for 30yrs, painting has not really been a problem. With all the two stage systems at our disposal, spraying a multicolored paint scheme takes hours, not days, since when one color of the base coat only takes 15 minutes to dry before masking it off and spraying the next.

Most of you are not going to have this ability or facilities to spray your heli. Just the investment in the tools to spray are prohibitive. All the clear coats used in the automotive field today use isocyanates. This chemical if inhaled, fills the openings in your lungs causing permanent damage. A fresh air supply is a must. I know some people using this stuff in their garage at home, and it is just an accident waiting to happen as they expose themselves and family to this. I have done many paint jobs with spray cans, and while it is harder to do, you can achieve very good results. Patience is the key factor here, and do not rush to put on another coat before the last one has "tacked" up. Doing so just causes runs in the finish. Be sure to read the instructions on the can for the distance to hold it away from the model. Do not take your finger off of the spray button until you have gone beyond the area you are painting. Be sure to overlap each coat by 50%, and look at each area after you have sprayed it to see if it looks "dry". You also do not want it to be perfectly flat either. Somewhere in between is about right since the paint will "flow" and become flat and shiny. I usually do one side of the model at a time, stopping at the tail boom seam, then doing that next. Then move to the other side of the fuselage. Be careful where you start up again that you do not get an excessive amount of paint buildup. That is how you get a run.

If you do get any imperfections in the surface, you must wait until the paint has thoroughly dried before trying to sand it out. I use 1500 grit sandpaper for this when it happens. Once you have one color on the heli, mask off the second area where you want the next color. Use 3-M fine line tape to get a smooth, sharp edge. For a larger area, black electrical tape works well also. Be sure to push the tape down in all areas especially in the panel lines. I use my fingernail to "scribe" it down in these areas.

Do not use newspaper as a masking medium for large areas. It does bleed ink if it gets wet with the paint. You can buy masking paper in the automotive stores for this.

After all the areas have been painted, I put on any decal or markings. Then, I use a gloss clear coat by the same manufacturer of paint. This will seal the edges of the decals and give the entire surface of the heli a protective shell. You can also use automotive tape stripes if you clear over them, otherwise, the adhesive will not stand up to the nitro.

Once everything has been painted and clear coated and dried, I use SIG Dope to paint all the woodwork inside the fuse. This dries really fast and gives the inside a finished appearance. This comes in a variety of colors, and is fuel proof. It really makes the fuse stand out.

Now you can install the windows and other items on the fuse. For the windows, I have used watch crystal cement in certain areas and it works well, while in other areas, I have used a product know as "Goop", and that works also. Read the instructions on both products before using to see how it works.

There are several different ways to add some detail to the outside of your heli to separate it's looks from others of the same design. Panel lines are a great way to improve the looks of any fuse. Look at your subject to see what may be on the real one which is not duplicated on your fuse.

On a lot of inexpensive fuselages, they really don't put that many panel lines on the fuse as a way to save some money. You can do it a couple of ways. During the refinish phase of the construction, after all the imperfections have been filled and its time to re-prime for the final sanding, choose where you want the panel lines.

There are a couple of different items I use to do this. At the office supply stores, they carry a product know as Chart Tape. It is used by draftsman to put lines on blueprints. It comes in different widths. I use the 1/16 as this looks pretty good. It looks just like a roll of pin-striping tape except that after you are done, it removes fairly easily without leaving a residue on the surface. Lay down the tape in the areas you want the panel lines, and spray at least two coats of light primer over the tape areas. Then spray the entire fuse with you finish coat of primer. After the primer has "flashed off", in other words, become dull to the look, remove the chart tape. Pull it slowly back against itself so as not to tear anywhere along the edges. Let the primer dry a day and then sand lightly around the panel lines so as not to take them down to the lower level. Now you have panel lines in the area of the fuse which had none before. I have also used 3M blue fine line tape for this job and it works just as well. In a pinch, you can use pin-striping tape, but you must remove it relatively soon after the priming as it may leave a residue on the surface. There are also certain areas on the fuse of a real heli if you look closely, and the panel seems to be raised above the surrounding skin area. In the hardware store you can find a tape which is silver in color, and the backside has an adhesive applied to it. It almost resembles aluminum. I have found this also in the heating and cooling section of hardware stores as insulated duct tape. I will cut this tape into the shape that I want, and smooth it out on the surface of the heli. I install this prior to the finish coat of primer also. A great place to put this tape is the area where the horizontal fin meets the fuse, around the part which comes out. This gives it a look of a panel reinforcement. On a 500E, under the top cap is a raised portion of the fuselage, and it looks great there also.

After all you raised panels are put in place, do the final prime and sand those areas carefully so as not to raise the edge of the tape. I will sometimes cut out a couple of small circles, and install them on the heli, then after the primer has been sanded, put a row of rivets on the panel looking like it was riveted in place. You can do these panels in a variety of spots as access hatches or inspection hatches. Look at the real one to see where the panels are raised.

As far as antenna or pitot tubes on my helis, I used to make them using a blob of body filler on wax paper and just before it set up, I would put a piece of precut wire into the bondo. After it dries, just sand the base to the final shape. Quite frankly, with the antenna sets which Vario have, I no longer make any, as the kit supplies just about any antenna you would need, along with windshield wipers, door handles, and an assortment of the "U" shaped antenna for the top and back of the heli.

I have also made searchlights out of film containers. On the front portion of the film container is usually raised from the rest of the body. I will take and rap several layers of masking tape around the body of the light behind the area which is supposed to be raised. I put enough tape on so that I am at the height I want the raised portion to be. I them put body filler on the area in front of the tape, let it dry and sand it so it is flush with the tape. Then pull the tape off, and it will leave a nice clean ridge around the entire diameter. I now make a lot of items with my lathe, since it is easier to put a piece of Teflon in the lathe and turn down the areas to make it resemble the body of the lamp. On the inside area of the lamp where the bulb is, I also use the same tape inside there to simulate the chrome on the real one.

Decals are another area which really make or break your heli. In the stationary stores I have found quite a collection of dry transfers to use on my helis. The only problem is that they usually are always in black. If you have a color printer, check out the decal paper which Micro Mark sells. It is to make your own water slide decals. I have used quite a bit of this, and it works well depending on what you are doing. They make the paper for inkjet and laser printers, so if you can get the design into your computer, you can print it out. You have to be careful with some of the light blue colors, because the decal paper is transparent, and depending on the color of your fuse, it will change the color of the decal. Most of your wording decals can be created on Microsoft word, which is on almost every computer. You can make the font any color you like. After printing out your decals, put them on after the final coat of base coat is done. Lay them in place and with an absorbent cloth, pat them dry.

Usually by the time I have installed all the decals, they are dry enough to clear over. I have used automotive clears over these decals with no problem. The edge line virtually despairs with the clear coat. I have tried the clears in a can, and they DO NOT WORK, usually lifting the ink on the decal. Try a sample decal on a scrap piece of fiberglass or plastic if you are not sure about the clear you are using. There are also a couple of companies out there who will make dry transfers for any subject, but you must give them the exact size you want and the color. Then, send the photos of what you want and wait. This is not cheap, but the decals are excellent. Dry transfers must be cleared over also. None of the clears I have tried in the past hurt this type of decal.

The last type of decal I use is the vinyl cut decals. I purchased one of the smaller vinyl decal cutters at a recent hobby show, and would not be without it. For lettering or simple designs, the cutter does a real nice job. It is a Stika Vinyl cutter, and they even tell you where to get the vinyl in bulk. I bought several different colors, and it is 160feet long, by 3 1/4 inches wide, and each roll cost $10.00. It is the same fuel proof vinyl that the hobby store sells in the sheet. It comes with a program to download on your computer, so just go to the program, and choose what you are going to do, insert the piece of vinyl and press "ok" on the screen, and the machine cuts it out automatically. You pull off the surrounding vinyl, and with the transfer tape, pull off your decal, and stick it on the heli. I like this method the best as I do not have to mess with the surface of the heli until after it is cleared and dry. These decals are fuel proof, and look really nice. I have cleared over these decals before and they do not look right with the clear on top. They also create a raised edge so that it is easy to run the clear. I have created shadowed images by cutting out the word in black, then cutting it again in another color. Put the black decal on first, then slightly offset the lighter color going to the right to give it the shadowed look. The vinyl cut decals in the stationary store are not fuel proof and will melt with time.

I now have considerable time using Vario's new two bolt blade root head. The purpose of the dual bolts at the root, eliminate the lead lag which the blade would go through while flying, making it somewhat unstable some of the time.

This new head flies very nice if set up properly. Your radio setup is very important to the way this head fly's. The basics with the setup include having no sub-trim on the elevator, aileron or collective movements. This will give uneven from center throw on the servo. By just rotating a four star arm around the servo, you should be able to place the arm perpendicular to the servo at half stick.

You also do not need allot of throw for the servo for this head. Leaving the percentages at 50-60% set in the swash section of your radio should be fine to get the desired pitch range needed to fly this head. If your radio does not support electronic swash rotation in the CCPM mode, you should consider using the offset swashplate which Vario offers for the Skyfox, Benzin, or Extreme mechanics. This swash, when set up properly, gives the needed 45 degree offset of the swashplate movements needed to phase the head properly. You would set your rods going to the blade holders from the inner ring of the swash perfectly parallel to the main shaft.

To get the proper position of the swashplate lock, place one blade parallel to the tail boom. While giving a fore and aft movement with the radio, this blade should not move, or just so slightly, that you can barely see it. Lock the swash plate lock at this position. You should also have 12-18mm spacing from the top bearing in the swashplate to the bottom of the swashplate lock. That is set at low pitch.

This new head is also rpm sensitive in as much as with the 1500 blades, you do not want more than 1500 rpm on the head. With the larger 1600mm blades, you do not want over 1350-1375 rpm. On the Benzin models, your rpm should be around 1300rpm with the proper gear ratio. Set your initial pitch to -2 at low stick, +5 at half stick, and 8 at full stick. This should be a good setting to get you started, and the weight of the heli you are flying will determine the final pitch settings.

You also in the setting up phase, want the links to the blade holders on the leading edge. This will allow you to "push up" on the servos for pitch. If you use the offset swash, be sure your radio supports 3 servo 120 CCPM, as this is the only way this swash will work properly. You do not want to manually move the swashplate lock so the rods are at a 45 degree angle from the blade holder. Depending on how long your rods are, they will pop off at certain movements of the swash plate because of the angle. With the rods set on the leading edge, your swash plate should move forward and to the right with a forward movement with the radio stick.

Once the static adjustments are done, start the heli. Do not go to hover, but just below hover rpm. Standing in back of the heli, give a small forward input and watch the disc. If it appears to move purely forward, you should be all set. Bring the heli into a hover, and apply small movements checking direction. If the heli wants to move forward and to the left or right also, the swash lock is not in the correct position. Loosen the lock and rotate slightly and re-tighten, and try again. Only very small movements of the lock are required to make the heli move in a different way, so go slowly. Once set, move the heli around, and get used to the feel of the head. It does fly different than a flybar, but not so much that you cannot get used to it and enjoy this head.

C/G is another important factor using this head. You want to be sure that when the heli is lifted by the head, that the back of the skids comes off the ground approximately 15mm prior to the front lifting off. This is without fuel if your tank is in the front, and with fuel if you have the tank behind the main shaft.

If you have any questions about this head, feel free to e-mail me.

There always seems to be quite a bit of confusion on setting up the servos for a CCPM installation. It really is not that hard to do. All the radios involved which do a form of CCPM seem to follow the same guidelines, in as much as they have a menu in the radio which will be labeled "Swash Mix" or "Swash Mode".

This is where you will choose the form of CCPM you want from the given choices in your radio. Usually, you have a choice of 3 servo 120 degree, or 4 servo 90 degree CCPM. Some of the more exotic radios out there such as the MC-24 will give you more choices, but the above choices are the most popular with the helis on the market today. If you follow the manual of your given radio for the servo installation on the receiver, things should work fine. What i do after plugging in all the servos is to remove all the servo arms from the servos involved, and install wheels so i can follow the movement of the servos. The first movement you want to get correct is the collective movement of the swash plate. Use the servo reverse function of your radio to get all the servos going in the proper direction for the full collective movement.

Once you have done this, you can proceed to the other functions. Give a fore/aft cyclic movement to see whether the servos are going the correct way. Most of the time the function will be going backward to what it should be. If this is the case, simply go to the swash menu in the radio, and change the number beside the associated control, and reverse the number. For instance, on a JR radio, it will give a percentage of 60% next to aileron, elevator, and pitch. If the elevator function is wrong when you move the sticks, simply hit the minus key, and take the number down to -60%. This will change the movement of the function, not just one servo like servo reverse does.

Do the same thing with the aileron control. Futaba has a default percentage of 50%, while JR radio's have a default of 60%. Both are good places to start, and you can fine tune the percentage during your test flights. Remember that changing the percentage changes the total throw of all the servos involved in that function. You want to keep all your ATV's set at 100%, and not change them as this will change the total throw for just that servo, and you may see differential throw in the movement of the swashplate.

Another thing you want to avoid is using sub-trim to center the servos. As this shifts the servo center, it also will shift total throw in one direction or another. With the radio at half stick, rotate a four star arm in order to find the arm which is at 90 degrees to the servo case. Any small adjustments can be to the total length of the rod to the swashplate. Be sure you also have the balls on the servo arms the same distance out from the center of the servo. This will ensure you have the same amount of throw from each servo to the swashplate.

As far as servo choices go, any good servo with at least 60 oz. of torque will do the job. Digitals are quite nice, but not needed. I have been using Futaba 9202's for years with no problem. This is on JR radio equipment. I also make it a point to install the same servo on the throttle as i use to control the head. Reason being is i want the collective and throttle to move at the same speed to help and eliminate erratic throttle to pitch curves. When set up properly, CCPM works real well, but you have to pay attention to details in the setup process.