E-FEST AND BANDIT UPDATE!!!!!

We attended the Great Planes E-Fest this past weekend and it was a great time! It was great to meet up with some good friends once again. Nick Maxwell, Kyle Stacey, and I brought the Bandits with us and we were all very happy with their performance. We did not have any mechanical failures all weekend, just dumb thumbs (twice on my part :). Nick and Kyle both few extremely well and I think these are two guys to look out for this year!

Now that I have had over a dozen crashes on the Bandit, I think it's time to post a "Repair List" after my most recent crashes:

- Main Shaft

- Spindle Shaft

- Main Gear (If you can't hit hold quickly enough)

- Tail Boom

- Flybar

- Blades

This machine is incredibly strong, and these are about the only parts I have ever replaced in a crash. Of course, depending on how hard and where you hit, you may break stuff like the tail fin, anti-rotation bracket, or throw a link. I know for a fact that if you break the frames, you will be a first! We have yet to break any frame parts on this helicopter and I can almost gurantee that if you do, it will be an EXTREMELY hard crash on asphault or concrete.

The skids are molded one piece and unbreakable.... seriously...

I have been getting alot of questions about the carbon blade grips and how well they hold up in a crash. I am still running the first set of grips that we have tested and they show no signs of breaking anywhere. I have even snapped a V Blade right where the grip ends, which shows just how strong it is. I know that this isn't something we will have to worry about.

Kits should be available within the next month! Carey is hard at work on the Instructions and our manufacturers are very busy making parts 24/7. Retail should be very comparable to the other 450's out there. Spare parts will also be very reasonable in price. The kit will come with a plastic canopy with fiberglass as an option.The kit will also come stock with SAB Carbon Blades. We have been flying these on the Bandit as well as V Blades, and both blades work very well.

The paddles are quick, but also very stable which makes the machine rock solid in a hover, but also ridiculously fast (if that is what you are after). The Bandit is also very relaxing and calm for solid aerobatic and sport flying. It does not have any bad tendencies and is just as smooth as can be. The CCPM is dead on and has very minimal interaction. Swapping out servos is incredibly easy because the servos angle outward, providing a good deal of clearance to get a wrench in there.

The tail blades are very stiff and feel just like carbons do in the air. The tail rotor is a piece of work itself. The concept is very similar to a MA Tempest Head, where you assemble the bearings first, then slide the grips over as the last part. It is stable and has plenty of travel. All of the minor details are there (i.e. at the center of its travel, the tail holds perfectly in a hover in Normal Gyro Mode). It's also really tough when it comes to crashes, as I have come to find out :)

The manual will be done in a very similar fashion to the most recent Fury Extreme and Electric Razor manuals. There are plenty of colored pictures to guide you through the build, so there shouldn't be much confusion at all.

Other than that, I cant wait for this thing to be released! I think everyone is really going to be happy with this machine and I hope to see a lot of them out there!

Check this page frequently in the next month as I will update it as I hear more news.

-Bobby