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by Bob Holkan
I've been scratch building, kit building
and flying R/C planes since the mid 80s. But, I only got
into helis in June of '05....and only micros at that. I
wouldn't consider myself a great builder or pilot. But, I
continue to enjoy learning both parts of the
process. This past Christmas ('05) I had the
funds, time and inclination to start another micro heli
project. I was actually dead-set on the T- rex SE. But, the
one thing about the T-Rex I didn't like was its "Mini"
stature. I really wanted another micro--something with a
blade of 280 or less. After much posting on RR, RCG, RCU,
et.al a few of the MaxiR faithful started chiming in on my
dilemma. I had never heard of the MaxiR, but the more I
read, the more I began to get excited. Praises like "Best
kit out of the box.", "Solid & stable platform for 3D"
and "Doesn't require any upgrades" made it stand a head
above anything else on the micro market. After contemplating for another two
weeks, i made up my mind and ordered the entire Maxir SE
setup from Glen. One thing that plagued my other experiences
with micros was settling on the right electronics: power,
servos and gyro to be specific. With all the praise the
Maxir was getting, I didn't want to be disappointed by
shortchanging the setup. So, i went with Glen's
recommendations 100%. The first reaction I
had upon seeing the kit was simply "Wow! This thing is
small"; followed by "There are a lot of little parts in this
kit". So, to be sure, this is a "builder's kit". In my
opinion all this means is "take your time". This isn't a
build on Sunday fly on Monday model. I slated a full two
weeks of build time for this model. And, being careful and
double-checking things as I went, that was about the right
amount of time--having only 2-3 hours to dedicate per
evening. As the kit went
together, It became apparent what a great looking model this
is. At every stage I just wanted to sit and stare at its
awe. Just the frames sitting on the skids was impressive; As
i finished assembling the head, it became a work of art;
And, as i put the final screw in I was thinking to myself
"It's a shame to cover it up with a canopy." After I buttoned up
all the components, secured the TP1320 3s, and did finally
fit the canopy I turned the flybar 90° and gave it a
quick CG test: It was dead on; the skids and tail lifted
from the table simultaneously. I had to try that 3 more
times just to be sure. Nope, it was perfect.
After the pleasant surprise of a
beautiful build, it really came as no surprise how well it
flies. Spoolup is smooth and completely without incident.
Flip into idleup, and add in a little collective and get her
light on the skids and she'll lift off evenly and level
without so much as a shudder. Punch the collective and she
rockets into the sky without hesitation. with a GY401, the
piro rate is dizzing. Let off the stick and it grabs a hunk
of sky like a fist. Stall turns are crisp, rolls and flips
are predictable and smooth. Just the other day I enjoyed
flipping the MaxiR over for the first time. I input hard
right to the stick, pulled back on the collective, and (with
the plastic blades) it slowly rolled into a tail-in inverted
hover. I held it for a good 20 seconds. There's just nothing
unpredictable about this model. I pulled back on the
elevator and added collective back in and flipped her back
right-side-up nose in and continued to hover for a
while. All told, I really
like everything about this model. After getting through the
detailed and time-consuming first build, maintenance and
accessibility of parts is really quite easy on the MaxiR. An
entire teardown/rebuild can easily be performed in an
evening; and even the most embedded parts can be accessed
and replaced in less than 30 minutes. Last, be certainly not
least has been the support for this model. Aside from the
user base support available on the popular heli forums, Glen
has proved a reliable and nearly instant source of
information. -Bob Holkan Bob's build photos are
here.