Heli-Max Black Hawk
Greg Alderman
Although I am a retired Navy submariner, I had the chance to interact with the full-scale Navy version of the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, called the SH-60 Seahawk, a few times in my 24-year naval career.
Those few, exciting minutes beneath the thundering sound of a Seahawk on the deck of a pitching and rolling submarine was serious business. It generally meant that a shipmate was fighting for his life from illness or an accident onboard the submarine.
As in the movies, these helicopter operations never happened when it was sunny and warm out. Because of operational security, they generally occurred at night and always seemed to be during rough seas, but these few experiences made me want to build a scale Black Hawk or Seahawk to relive my military experiences.
I only had to open the box and I finally had an unbelievably detailed, great-flying UH-60 Black Hawk RC helicopter that brought back many Navy memories! The team at Hobbico has released the Heli-Max 1/43-scale Black Hawk. This small heli comes in transmitter-ready (Tx-R) version and an RTF version.
When I opened the box and pulled out the little heli, all I could say was wow. The first thing I noticed was the detail on the fuselage and the beautiful four-blade head. The Black Hawk looks as though it should be put in a display case! I was intrigued and couldn't wait to get it in the air!
In addition to the Black Hawk, the Tx-R version comes with a single 2S 7.4-volt 600 mAh battery, a battery charger, some additional scale antennas, a Phillips-head jeweler's screwdriver, and a set of large tires.
I was curious about the tires, so I looked through the manual and found that they are for less-experienced pilots who might set the helicopter down hard. This is neat protection, but I decided I liked the scale look better, so the large tires went back in the box.
The battery charger is fully automatic and comes with an AC/DC power adapter. I plugged the adapter into the wall outlet, plugged the battery via the balance tab into the charger, and let the charger do its thing. When the battery is fully charged, the charger will chirp, letting you know the battery is ready.
While the battery was charging, I took the opportunity to program my Tactic TTX650 for the Black Hawk. The Tactic is a great, inexpensive radio designed for direct use with any of the Heli-Max or Flyzone Tx-R models, so an AnyLink is not needed. I recommend this radio if you have several of these Tx-R models. The Black Hawk manual included the necessary Tactic TTX650 settings as well as those for other brands of radios using the AnyLink module.
Follow the manual for setting throttle and pitch curves. For those of us who have been flying a long time and feel we “know” what is needed, the settings are quite different because of the four-blade head. The pitch curve hardly has any “pitch” in it and the curve looks different than what we are used to with 3-D helis. The helicopter flies well with the settings described in the manual.
After the battery was charged, it was time to install it. I detached the nose and cockpit portion of the Black Hawk. The nose is held on by magnets and it took careful pulling to remove it. After I had access to the front of the helicopter, the battery slid into a slot and held in by the slot’s tight fit. This is when I really noticed how well built this little heli is.
With the nose off you can see the brushless motor and ESC, along with the individual servos. The receiver and Triple Axis Gyro Stabilization System (TAGS) is a single unit, but the rest is set up similar to a traditional larger helicopter. There is no integrated receiver/TAGS/servo unit in this heli! Having individual components is nice. If you break something in a crash, you can simply replace the damaged component.
Another surprising feature was the torque-tube drive unit. The two-piece tailboom is well made and the torque-tube drive is very smooth. You get accurate cyclic control with this setup. The tail also has a simple pitch change mechanism instead of a moving swashplate which adds to the scale look and keeps things simple to maintain.
I was excited to get the Black Hawk out to fly. Starting procedures are similar to other small electric helis. After installing the battery and attaching the nose, I turned on the transmitter, then the helicopter. The TAGS system initialized and the rotor started to spin. The heli lifts off in a very scale-like manner — smooth and not twitchy. Hovering is easy and the Black Hawk handles mild wind reasonably well for its size.
The four-blade head gives a very scale-like sound and reduces vibration that you might get from a two-blade head. You can perform basic aerobatic maneuvers but keep in mind this is a park-flyer scale model, not a 3-D machine. Autorotation performance is limited by the small rotor and weight, but power-off descents can be managed with practice.
Overall, the Heli-Max Black Hawk is a remarkably detailed and well-behaved small-scale helicopter that gives the look and feel of a UH-60 in a compact package. It’s ideal for pilots who want a scale appearance with straightforward flying characteristics and relatively simple maintenance. The Tx-R version is especially user-friendly, and the availability of replacement components makes it a practical choice for many modelers.
These great features made me anxious to get the Black Hawk flying!
Flying
After the radio was programmed and the battery charged and installed, the moment of truth was upon me! I checked to ensure that all of the flight controls were moving in the right direction and that the gyro sensing was correct. As I advanced the throttle, the Black Hawk came to life and was soon in the air!
Lifting off was easy and the heli did not have a tendency to drift on liftoff. As I brought the Black Hawk into a 10-foot hover, I noticed that I needed approximately six clicks of forward elevator to keep it from drifting back toward me. I also noticed a great deal of “gear” noise coming from the helicopter. As it gets broken in, I think that noise will become much quieter.
After the Black Hawk was in the air, its appearance was even better than on the ground! This is a good-looking, little heli! After a few right and left peddle turns, I quickly felt comfortable with the controls and began doing gentle circuits, Figure Eights, Chandelles, and more.
Heli-Max describes it as a “scale aerobatic helicopter,” but I decided that true scale flying was my style with the Black Hawk and I did not try any loops or rolls. With the power of the brushless motor system, I am positive it would perform aerobatics quite well! Before I knew it, five minutes had gone by and it was time to land this little gem.
Conclusion
For a military aircraft enthusiast, this little 1/43-scale Black Hawk is a must buy! It has crazy good looks with authentic scale details molded into its plastic fuselage. Flight performance was good with the 2S LiPo and brushless motor, while TAGS took care of any issues inherent to a four-blade flybarless head.
The working navigation lights will look good when performing dusk missions in the backyard! The Heli-Max Black Hawk is a keeper!
— Greg Alderman [email protected]
MANUFACTURER/DISTRIBUTOR: Hobbico (800) 637-7660 www.helimax-rc.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
