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Hirobo Freya
Hakim Tung
 Of the accessories
that I consider most important are the header tank, which I think all helis without
pumped engines should have, and the Bell-mark twin plug head. This is a nice green
anodized head that is available to fit all O.S. heli engines and accepts two glow
plugs. You could use a hot and cold plug to improve idling and high speeds. With
this little baby installed you can kiss you worries away about having to deal
with a dead engine in flight because your plug just got fried.
Flying the Freya…
Well I can tell you that I am not disappointed. The Freya is one heck of a machine.
Straight off the Freya settled into a solid stable hover. Minimum trim adjustments
needed and a few adjustments made to the throttle and pitch curves got this
beauty flying fantastic. Since the engine was new I decided to take it easy
for the first few flights with lots of smoke coming out.
On the third flights I programmed in idle-Up, throttle-hold, aileron to throttle
and elevator to throttle mixes and let the Freya rip. The tail is really powerful
using the Futaba GY-502/S9253 combo. High speed and low speed piros are great,
but watch that tail. With the 502 I adjusted the speed of the servo so that
it doesn't whip around too fast. I prefer to use the gyro in non-heading hold
so I can feel exactly what the tail is doing. Backwards flying has the tail
locked solid.
Next I tried backward and forward rolls and loops and had no problems at all
with the heli stationary or flying. Loops are tight and accurate.
Subsequent flights…
To date I have logged 16 flights which is just over 8 hours flying time. The
Freya still feels tight and it's a real pleasure to fire her up every time.
I have since installed SAB carbon fiber blades and real colorful set of "feel-good"
blades that really make the model stand out when I feel like taking easy at
the field.
Crash and repairs…
During the initial setup in my backyard I had a minor incident. Whilst
checking fuel draw on the running engine, I was reducing throttle when the heli
suddenly lifted three feet up and spun around without any control very quickly
and proceeded to whack itself on the garage wall. Bits of blade and covering
flew everywhere. Dummy me had the collective was reversed! Duh…talk about
stupid. I had to change the main blades, tailboom, tail rotor blades, main mast,
spindle and rudder control rod. A quick e-mail to Cyberheli quickly got me the
prices and part delivered the next day. Is that service or what? Cost of repairs?
How about US$40 for the Hirobo parts and US$77 for the MS blades? Now that's
what I call value for money!
Final thoughts…
I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is one heck of a value machine.
This baby is capable everything you can throw at it, and then some. It shines
is every department and suits the everyday "sport" flyer like
me perfectly. So far the only upgrades that I think I'll install will be
the wash-out control arm (part #0404-682), radius block (part #0404-730)
and slide block (part #0404-731). These are metal upgrades from the Hirobo
EX machines and will remove any doubts I have about the corresponding plastic
units used. Thunder Tiger have their Raptor 60 V2 right at the Freya's heels
but in my opinion feel that the Freya has the advantage over it, lineage
or design-wise. Hirobo have a lot of competition experience under their
belt and it shows in their helis. The Freya is no different. If you are
looking for such a machine then the Freya is it.
Mine? Its a keeper!
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Hirobo Japan
Hirobo's official website, lots of information on the new Shuttle replacement, the Sceadu.
Lots of information on the Freya as well.
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