[REVIEW] 9396 The Big Helicopter

[imajor]

Does anyone know what the function is of the 'Light Bluish Gray Technic, Liftarm 1 x 4 Thin with Stud Connector' that is added in step 3 of page 57 of instruction booklet 1? A 'Blue Technic, Axle Pin with Friction Ridges Lengthwise' is inserted into its open end in the next step, but this pin will not be connected to anything else further on.

That prevents this:

from rotating too much, when the motor is stopped, but the blades are still spinning. Added in step 2 of page 14 of the second book.

[Hopey]

Does anyone know what the function is of the 'Light Bluish Gray Technic, Liftarm 1 x 4 Thin with Stud Connector' that is added in step 3 of page 57 of instruction booklet 1? A 'Blue Technic, Axle Pin with Friction Ridges Lengthwise' is inserted into its open end in the next step, but this pin will not be connected to anything else further on.

I haven't got mine put together at the moment, but I had a quick look at the instructions. The yellow 2x4 L-beam that forms the one-way catch sits directly above this part (I think).

The yellow bit's got a bush on it that stops it from falling down too far, but the grey liftarm in question also achieves this.

Note that the yellow L beam doesn't pivot about its endmost hole, so when it lifts up, the part with the axle hole goes down. I think the blue axle pin stops it going too far, so that it doesn't swing too far out of the way, so when power is applied in the correct direction, it engages straight away.

Edit: too slow :(

Edited January 7, 2013 by Hopey

[jantjeuh]

That makes sense, I had forgotten about the ratchet :) Cheers!

[Jim]

That prevents this:

from rotating too much, when the motor is stopped, but the blades are still spinning. Added in step 2 of page 14 of the second book.

Indeed. So simple. I haven't motorized the original model, so I totally overlooked this one. Thanks.

[hrontos]

Does anyone know what the function is of the 'Light Bluish Gray Technic, Liftarm 1 x 4 Thin with Stud Connector' that is added in step 3 of page 57 of instruction booklet 1? A 'Blue Technic, Axle Pin with Friction Ridges Lengthwise' is inserted into its open end in the next step, but this pin will not be connected to anything else further on.

That blue axle pin helps the rotor clutch to stay in place. It prevents the cluch gear to popup too much. Without that pin the clutch could popup to straight up position. This pin prevents it and clutch can popup just enough to let the rotor rotate freely while still returning quickly to engaged position.

EDIT: Now I see it was already answered. I am sorry I did not read carefully. I don't know why, but when reading on a mobile I sometimes do not get to the last page as expected.

Edited January 7, 2013 by hrontos

[jantjeuh]

Made all functions motorised & remote controlled, and added PF lights and some panels to improve the looks. Really enjoying this model!

[Jim]

Made all functions motorised & remote controlled, and added PF lights and some panels to improve the looks. Really enjoying this model!

Pictures (with video) or it didn't happen

I am totally in love with this model. It's awesome!

[freakwave]

Made all functions motorised & remote controlled, and added PF lights and some panels to improve the looks. Really enjoying this model!

Please show it!

[jantjeuh]

Okay, here are some pics I took earlier:

Side view, notice that I've added some additional panels on the back and top. I have added three motors (1 L and 2 M), so there are now 4 in total, requiring two receivers and two controllers.

Front view with PF lights (6 in total) on.

Rear gearbox, with 2 M motors for operating the landing gear and the loading bay door.

In the front, 1 L motor (the right one) to drive the main rotor (and tail rotor) with some additional upgearing to make the rotors spin faster. To the left an M motor to drive the winch. You can also see the PF switch used to control the PF lights (one pair shown in the bottom), it is placed on top of one of the two IR receivers. Pretty crowded in here, had to fit in lots of cabling and two PF extension wires.

By the way, I also thought about installing the servo motor from 9398 to operate the cyclic controls, but I couldn't manage to fit it in along with the required additional receiver and gearing. A job for someone else ;-)

Oh, and if anyone is on the fence for this set: go buy it! You won't regret it, had a lot of fun building and extending it.

Edited January 10, 2013 by jantjeuh

[JunkstyleGio]

Nice job!

Now a video would be nice!

[Burf2000]

I built this at Christmas and really enjoyed it!

[captainmib]

So, i just finished building the B-model, and i'm really pleased with the result.

This is a really great alternative helicopter.

The design is odd but good.

The landing gear is different from the A-model, which I think is good. With the same parts creating a different technique.

The rotors are cool. One thing I noticed though: In the digital instructions, the rotors on the right section, (viewing from the back) are placed wrong?

Anyway, good job from the designer to create this model. Good that it's an alternate helicopter, and with the parts present a really decent model.

It could almost be switched around with the A-model. (though it lacks number of functions)

[imajor]

So, i just finished building the B-model, and i'm really pleased with the result.

This is a really great alternative helicopter.

The design is odd but good.

The landing gear is different from the A-model, which I think is good. With the same parts creating a different technique.

The rotors are cool. One thing I noticed though: In the digital instructions, the rotors on the right section, (viewing from the back) are placed wrong?

Anyway, good job from the designer to create this model. Good that it's an alternate helicopter, and with the parts present a really decent model.

It could almost be switched around with the A-model. (though it lacks number of functions)

I agree, I finished it recently too. My only concern is that when you try to change the angle of the blades, sometimes the moving part won't fall off, so you have to shake the model a bit.

[captainmib]

I agree, I finished it recently too. My only concern is that when you try to change the angle of the blades, sometimes the moving part won't fall off, so you have to shake the model a bit.

Got the same problem! But this thing won't go airborne anyway

[CP5670]

In some ways, I like the alternate model better than the main one, even though it has fewer functions. That intermeshing rotor setup is extremely cool to watch in action, especially with a high speed motor.

Both models have too much friction in the collective pitch control though. I think I replaced a few of the friction pins to make that smoother.

[leg0brickguy39]

Can anyone here tell me what these two peices (same on the other side) are there for? Are they supposed to be door handles or something?

Instruction pics: http://www.brickinst...00/9396/041.jpg, http://www.brickinst...00/9396/042.jpg

Edited April 6, 2013 by leg0brickguy39

[Zerobricks]

Proboably limites the motion of the handle?

[leg0brickguy39]

Proboably limites the motion of the handle?

They can but you're not supposed to push them downwards. Feels like they and what they're attached to will break if I try. Could be because of kids and why a limit might be needed then. Edited April 6, 2013 by leg0brickguy39

[JunkstyleGio]

Can anyone here tell me what these two peices (same on the other side) are there for? Are they supposed to be door handles or something?

I guess the pins were put there to avoid you from making the mistake of putting the axle- and pinconnector the other way around.

[Someonenamedjon]

Maybe they just put it there to increase prices

[Bzroom]

I bought this set but never built it. I was thinking about it after I saw this topic and decided to skim through the institutions. I always assumed the small turntable was a little swash plate. I had a technic helicopter a while back with a swash plate, why wouldn't this one come with one?

Total let down when I realized it only had collective pitch and not cyclic. And the way its actuated, seems like under a small load the axles could just pull apart. Very disappointing. I'm glad I didn't build this model. :l of course I'm glad to own it though. :)

[JunkstyleGio]

Skimming through a BI doesn't work for this model.

The built itself is great fun.

And by all means: so is rebuilding it...

[colinrichardson]

Very disappointing. I'm glad I didn't build this model. :l of course I'm glad to own it though. :)

For parts? To resell it?

[Bzroom]

For parts, it was on sale, and just to have it/them all. I specifically wanted the blades incase I make a chopper moc.

[Alternator]

Exactly the same thing happened to me! Except that I noticed it by the end of book 2 - at this point, the tail is only connected to the main section at the very bottom, so with some flexing and bending, I could squeeze it in without disassembling half the model.

Generally, I really like the model, very swooshable, very light and sturdy despite its size.

I also like the very compact gearbox design, and that they used liftarm linkages instead of the usual axle&gear connections for the landing gear and the ramp. Definitely a good choice for Christmas.

I too missed that blimmin gear - I had to dissassemble quite a bit of the back and then gently pry a beam off to get the gear in place.

I do have a few gripes with it which I'll mention:

• The winch has far too much friction in the standard design, but it seems there is a simple mod to fix this
  
• The landing gear doesn't 100% clear the base of the helicopter when retracted, but it does so enough that it can still be sat on it's base, except...
  
• The PF battery box sticks out below the belly so the landing gear must be down with PF installed
  
• As others have noted the pole reverser for PF is much desired (I've added mine similar to how JunkstyleGio has), I'm not too sure why they didn't include it in the instructions since you get that part in the PF kit so most people would likely have it
  
• I found the pins holding the battery box in place a pain to remove, so replaced them with a double prong that fastens using only 1 pin on each side.
  

That said I really love this set:

• It looks great
  
• And has a substantial size, particularly for a non flagship set (it really grabs attention)
  
• Enough features for it to be quite interesting, the pitch control is my favorite
  
• It's B model looks very worthy (I haven't built it yet)
  
• Plenty of interesting technic pieces
  
• As a technic set I just found it a very compelling set from first seeing it
  

I'm even teetering on buying a second set so I can have the B model assembled at the same time as it looks great too! (I'm torn between doing so or being just a little frugal, as I spent a fair bit on lego anyway )