Shuttle RG Follow up Impressions
Hakim Tung

Flying Impressions
First flight was used to trim the heli, minor blade tracking and adjusting the needles on the Webra engine. I decided to run-in the engine in the heli so it was running rich with high speed needle open 5 turns as instructed in the manual. Lifted off into a hover. Heli seemed a bit sticky and not as smooth as I expected. Towards the end of the flight the engine suddenly quit when I tried giving it full pitch. Luckily the heli was just a few feet above the ground and the heli came down OK.

On the second tank I could not get the heli to lift off the ground. It would transition from mid range to full throttle but no power; just lots of smoke and noise so I decided to pack it up and head home. At home found nothing wrong with the engine. Decided to try again the next day but this time closing the high speed needle to 1.5 turns. On starting up engine ran beautifully. I guess 1.5 turns is the correct setting so I left it and just hovered around for 3 tanks after that.

That evening whilst checking everything over I noticed that I could not turn the start shaft. I removed the glow plug, tried turning the engine over but it was not budging. Upon removing the engine and clutch, I found that the start shaft bearing on the clutch had seized solid, and the clutch bell also seized to its support bearing. I used a dial caliper to check the runout and found that the fan was off by 0.5mm and the top of the start shaft was off by 5mm! I quickly placed an order for replacement parts and decided to change the engine to an OS32. I suspected the collar to suit the Webra engine was the problem, as I couldn't find any other reason. After getting new parts and substituting the engine (using a Hirobo made collar) I again checked the runout and found everything was perfect. Whew, time to go flying.

At the field all checks were made, fired up the engine, good idling, took a deep breath and increased the throttle. Wow, what a difference. Straight up into a super smooth hover. Pitch curve was spot on. Reduced throttle curves a tiny bit. It was early morning so there was no breeze at all. The heli just sort of floated, engine purring with loads of smoke coming out. Checked control movements and found everything was crisp apart from the tail response that seemed a bit mushy. I think those soft tail blades are responsible. I'm also a big fan of installing the rudder servo on the tail boom. I find this gives a quicker and stronger response to inputs. The carbon tail pushrod is a bit more flexible that I would have liked. Following flights showed that the RG/M is a real performer. I managed to replace the tail blades with stiffer ones and there was a marked improvement although not to my complete satisfaction. The RG/M is fast and agile and the OS32 seemed to be perfectly suitable for it. Loops and rolls are quick with no loss in head speed. The K&S paddles work very well with the SAB main blades. So far I've only put in twelve flights with the OS engine so more time will be needed to fully explore this heli.

Conclusions
It only takes a glance at the RG's specs with all its juicy "G" parts to realize the potential of this machine. It may have the Shuttle name, but it doesn't share anything with its sibling. It's beautifully made (has to be to justify its price) and all the parts just ooze quality. There is no other 30-sized heli to compare it with.

However, it's only a matter of time before Hirobo releases a high spec Scaedu that would knock the RG/M of the "super .30 sized" pedestal. The RG/M was the king of the hill during its time but progress and technological improvements have now exposed its shortcomings. Yet for an everyday sport flyer like me, I will not fully exploit its potential. It's more of an expensive luxury. If you want the best 30-sized heli that money can buy then the RG/M is your machine. If you are looking for a comparatively sized high-end machine that's up-to-date, then I suspect the Fury 50 Expert would be your best bet. Alternatively, the Scaedu 50 will do all the RG/M can do and still turn out lighter on the wallet. For me, I am not going to thrash this heli around but rather leave it as a feel good machine for those days when I want to fly something special and savor every moment of it.

On an interesting note….I knew I was not loosing my mind! The OS32SX engine now in the RG/M is the same one that I had in my Scaedu 30. For those of you who have ready my Scaedu review will remember that I had a very hard time getting this engine not to overheat. Believe it or not I did not touch the needle settings when I installed it in the RG/M but whereas in the Scaedu it was always running hot, here it is absolutely fine. The only conclusion I can come up with is that since the Scaedu is heavier than the RG, the engine strains more to generate head speed. Not only that, while in the Scaedu I was running the engine at 100% power, in the RG/M I am running it at 80% and only mixing in 100% power for extreme movements!