I just bought Alan's N5c heli this morning! I was intrigued with the way this heli flew, I had to add one to my fleet!
A buddy of mine bought and built one based on my recommendations for a 50 size heli. So this meant I would be the one to finish the setup (installation and programming of the FBL controller) and test fly and setup his heli. A nice way of checking out a heli you might consider buying. He did a great job of build the N5tt for the exception of the tail hub grub screw that came out at the end of flight one. And the fuel tank line not long enough/short enough that caused the clunk to suck itself to the corner of the tank...causing the motor to run lean sporadically.
Otherwise, this heli flew great! It tracked very well, as if it was on rails. Balance was on the nose heavy side, but it was just. Once I fixed the fuel line in the tank, I was able to get a nice rich and blubbery sounding motor. Even at a low head speed, this heli had a lot of pop! Flight 3, I leaned the motor for a smoother run and this little heli wanted to rock!
I managed to gently roll his N5 inverted, and flew half a tank inverted...unbelievable! So smooth, so stable, I had all I could do to hold myself back from flying this heli like I fly mine! But I resisted, knowing one day soon I will own one of these little beauties, and then I can break my own in the way I like to fly!
In the meantime, by buddy blew up his motor the next flight out! I'm not completely sure how he did it, from what I could gather from his rambling about what happened, the motor went lean and way over head speed...2300+ rpm! He told me it was hard to start and it didn't have any power. I'll have to find out more when I get with him in person. His brand new O.S.55HZ now has a hole in the piston, and he used an aircompressor to blow out the debris from the crankcase! Now the main bearings are toast!
This will really frost his cookies when he sees my new N5...running very well! I look forward to add this heli to my fleet!