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Ely.Q Vision 50 Ultimate

Equipment

The equipment that I will be using for the Ely.Q Vision 50 Ultimate build is as follows:

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First impressions

The Vision 50 Ultimate comes in a nicely designed box including pictures of the pilots who have put the model through it's paces in development. The kit comes almost completey unassembled, with just the swashplate and , strangely, the fuel tank pre-built. Despite the fact that everything else needs building from component bits, it is actually a very easy and straightforward build, and goes together pretty quickly.

The instruction manual is in four languages (a common feature with European based models) including English, Italian, german and French. It is basic on overall instruction considering the assembly required, but if you have an idea how these things go together, it's easy to follow and the diagrams are pretty clear. However, one or two are a little cluttered due to all the bits being assembled in that step.

Here's some shots of the box and an example of the manual.

The kit comes with a plastic bleach bottle canopy, a black screen to cutout and attach and a decal sheet of stickers in two colours.

It is a mainly carbon reinforced plastic helicopter which helps to keep the weight down and a low parts count to help make building and maintaining the heli easier. A metal headblock which runs an overslung floating flybar is designed to be easily modifiable to become flybarless. Ely.Q have bought the floating flybar system patent and have improved on it's design. In other areas, there are several parts that can be used from Raptor helicopters on this heli which makes it a great transition model in the market it is squarely aimed at - current Raptor pilots wanting to fly an up to date helicopter with minimum outlay.

Each step of the build has it's own numbered bag noted in the manual and contains only the parts required for that step.

Before starting the build, it is worth checking the Ely.Q website as they have identified a few items that could cause an issue in the kit. I have only encountered one issue which was with the tail bell crank lever. Download the latest manual in PDf version too, while you're there.

Having done that, lets get started!

Build notes

Through the build, dimensions are noted of all bolts and bearings. Bolt sizes are noted in a pretty obvious manner (e.g. M3x12 is a 12mm long M3 bolt) but it's not so easy with regard to bearings, so all bearing sizes are noted as Inner Diameter x Outer Diameter x Depth (ID x OD x D).

Bag EQ5000

Fuel tank

The fuel tank is one of two parts that comes pre-assembled. I chose to use it exactly as supplied so for me this step was complete by removing it from the bag. The only thing I wondered about was the clunk line, which for 3D flight looked like it may prove to be a little short when getting to the end of the tank, but not by much.

Bag EQ5001

Tail guide pulley assembly

The plastic pulleys are fitted with a bearing and just need the pin and sleeves fitting. Slide a pin through and push one blue collar onto the pin on each side of the pulley, keeping the pulley centred on the pin.

Bag EQ5002

Landing skids

The skid tubes are a nice loose fit into the skid struts which makes them very easy to assemble and once they are in position they will be locked securely in place with grub screws.

Fix the end caps into the ends of the skid tubes using a drop of CA glue. The caps are ridged slightly to help with secure fitting.

Next, slide the skid tubes into the skid struts and loosely fit the grub screws. These will be tightened down when the skids are attached to the frames so that the struts are correctly spaced apart. Safely store the four screws that will be used to fix the skids to the frames for later use.

Bag EQ5003

Lower frame assembly

The lower frames are assembled side to side, as is usually the case. The carbon re-inforced plastic moulded frames have the fan shroud for the engine built in, around which runs a ridge that lines up the two halves correctly when connecting the two halves together. The fuel tank sockets are also moulded in and don't need rubber grommets to hold the tank in place. The front fuel tank socket is not fully enclosed which should help to make fuel tank removal easier.

Fit the previously assembled tail belt pulleys into the vertical slots in each sideframe. They are a push fit.

Next, fit the plastic cross member bolts into the hexagonal slots in one of the side frames and put the fuel tank in place - with the fuel tank moulded nipples sitting in the sideframe mouldings. Fit the two sideframe halves together making sure the ridges in the fan shroud area are lined up correctly.

Fit the radio tray in place ready to screw the two halves together. There are five screws used in each side of the assembly, four on each side are fitted into the hexagonal bolts, the fifth screw is into the lower front moulding on the radio tray.

Bag EQ5004

Cooling fan assembly

The fan is fitted to the engine with the fins on the top side (not underneath like a Trex600). Push the fan onto the hub and line up the three mounting holes. Threadlock the three M3x6 button head bolts in place making sure the fan is fitted flat onto the hub.

Half fit the clutch bolts into the top of the fan hub to use as leverage when tightening the fan hub down onto the engine.

Remove the crank shaft washer from the engine if it is fitted - it is not needed as the equivalent spacing has been machined into the fan hub.

Add some threadlock to the threads of the crank shaft and then screw the fan hub onto it. Lock the crank shaft in place using a locking tool of some sort either in the backplate or in the carburettor hole (not a piston locking tool through the glow plug hole!). Tighten down the fan hub using the clutch bolts fitted to the top of the fan hub as leverage. Remove the clutch bolts from the fan hub and then secure the crank shaft locking nut onto the crank shaft with threadlock (making sure it is nice and tight!) and finally, fit the clutch and tighten the clutch bolts down using threadlock.

Engine mount assembly

The engine mounts are drilled differently to each other which means that each one is intended to be used on one specific side of the helicopter.

There should be three holes at the bottom and on the outer side of each engine mount (the side that will face the sideframe it is being attached to). One of the mounts has two extra holes drilled into it on the front face (when they are positioned ready to be fitted to the helicopter) which can be used to fit a governor sensor bracket to.

The engine is fitted to the two holes in the middle of the mount on the front face.

Slot the engine into the sideframes and position the bolt holes so that the top mounting hole in the frames is aligned with the top emgine mount hole.

Fit the special washers onto the M3x14 cap head bolts and fit them through the relevant holes to secure the engine mounts to the sideframes. Use three bolts on the right hand side of the helicopter (top, middle and bottom) and two bolts on the left (top and bottom), as per the pictures. Use threadlock on these bolts when fitting.

Skid assembly fitting

Now we fit the skid assembly to the helicopter. It is attached using four M3x18 screws which should be fitted using CA glue.

Now level up the skid tubes in the skid struts and tighten the grub screws down onto them to secure them in place. I ended up with 50mm between the back edge of the rear skid strut and the end of the cap in the skid tube.

Bag EQ5005

Tail unit assembly

The diagram in the manual is a bit hectic but it does show how it all goes together if you have a rough understanding of the assembly. I'll build this assembly in stages to make it easier. It all comes in a single small bag which in turn contains a second bag with bearings and fittings etc.

Tail output shaft

The tail output shaft as a hole through the shaft near one end, and a recess (both sides) near the other. The tail belt pulley is pinned to the shaft on the side with the hole through it.

Press the short half of the pulley onto the shaft long shoulder side first, then press the larger half of the pulley onto the shaft and line the holes up.

Push the M2x12 pin through the lined up holes and set it equally in the gear - just a fraction of the pin out on both sides. Finally, loctite an M3x4 grub screw into the end of the shaft and tighten it up against the pin.

I popped the 5x11x5 bearings onto shaft, one each side of the gear now, just to keep them safe. They will be taken off here and pressed into the tail casing later.

Tail pitch slider assembly

The slider mechanism consists of a brass slider fitted through a plastic slider ring fitted with bearings into the tail pitch fork.

First, press the 6x10x3 bearings into the slider ring, one on each side.

Fit the brass slider through the bearings and wind the tail pitch fork onto the threads until there is no lateral play in the unit. Don't go too tight, but make it tight enough to lose all the lateral play while still allowing the plastic ring to spin freely on it's bearings. Finally, fit the ball to the standoff on the ring using a drop of CA glue.

Next we need to fit the tail pitch control links to the pitch fork. The control links are fitted using pins and C clips to secure them to the pitch fork.

Fit a control link onto the pitch fork and line up the holes. Press a pin through the hole and make it central in the assembly. Fit the C clips to each side making sure that the sharp edge of the pressed out C clip faces outwards (it has more bite this way). Finally, repeat the process to build the other control link.

Tail pitch control lever

Push fit the 4x7x2.5 bearings into each side of the plastic lever. Fit the ball link into the hole at the end of the long side of the lever, being careful not to over-tighten it or the lever could break. Use a drop of CA glue on the thread before screwing it in. Fit the 3x4x10 silver sleeve into the bearings and then fit the M3x18 self tapping screw through it, adding a 3x5x0.5 washer to the top side.

Tail casing

We will now build the tail assembly using just the right half of the tail casing, and complete the assembly by fitting the left half at the end of this section.

If, like me, you put the 5x11x5 bearings onto the tail output shaft for safekeeping earlier in the build, remove them from there now and push fit them into the tail gearbox casing, one in each half.

Fit the previously assembled tail output shaft through the bearing in the right half of the tail gearbox and then slide the previously assembled tail pitch slider assembly onto the output shaft so the brass bushing is nearest the tail gearbox casing.

Tail hub assembly

Fit the tail hub onto the tail output shaft so that the recesses on the shaft are lined up with the arms of the hub. They will receive the long grub screws which will hold the hub firmly in place on the shaft. Threadlock the M3x18.5 grub screws into the hub and, while wiggling the hub against the output shaft to make sure the grub screws are centered in the recess, tighten them down firmly.

Fit the 5x10x4 radial bearings to the hub - 2 per side - and then secure them in place with the M3 nyloc nut.

Tail blade grips

Fit the blade grips onto the hub by pressing the grip halves together over the bearings and then feed two M2.5x8 bolts through the grip and into the captive M2.5 nyloc nuts on the other side.

Connect the tail pitch slider forks to the blade grip pitch arms using the M2x10 self tapping screws and the short silver M3x4.3 sleeves. Ensure the correct blade grip orientation at this stage - the blade grips will be connected on the leading edge and the tail rotor always rotates up towards the boom (anti-clockwise when viewed from the right of the helicopter).

Tail pitch control lever (part 2)

Fit the tail pitch control lever to the underside of the tail case and line up the hole in the lever with the slider mechanism ball when tightening. Make sure the washer is in place (sits between the lever and the tail casing).

Temporarily fit the second tail casing at this point to keep things together. We will build the boom elements next and then come back to the tail assembly to fit the belt and finalise the back end.

Bag EQ5006

Tail boom support struts

Fit the 4 strut ends to the support stuts (two ends per strut), lining up the holes through which the M2x8 self tapping screws will be fitted to secure them in place.

CA glue the screws when fitting and don't over-tighten them, just snugly fit them so the end of the screw pokes out the other side of the strut fractionally.

Bag EQ5007 and EQ5022

Tail boom assembly

The tail boom has slots cut into one end and holes drilled near the other end. The slotted end goes to the front of the helicopter.

Fit the tail pushrod guides onto the boom and then feed the belt through the boom using the tape trick to make life really easy.

Fit the belt onto the tail gearbox pulley and fit the casing to the boom and close the two halves together ensuring the belt is on the pulley and not twisted.

Use two M3x14 bolts to join the two casing halves together. The left hand side takes the captive M3 nyloc nuts and the bolts are fed through from the right. Snug them up at this point and come back to tighten them fully once the other bolts are fitted.

Fit the M3x30 bolt through the middle of the tail casing (the belt sits above and below this part) and tighten it up to the point that all of the lateral play on the tail output shaft has gone.

Fit one rocket link to the rudder pushrod, slide it through all three guides on the tail boom and then fit another rocket link onto the other end.

Horizontal and vertical fins

Fit the vertical fin to the tail gearbox case using two M3x30 bolts and M3 nyloc nuts.

Fit the horizontal fin mount to the boom between the two rear tail pushrod guides.

Fit the bottom half of the clamp onto the underside of the boom. Push two M3x12 self tapping screws through the horizontal fin from the top, then through the spacer that sits on top of the boom and finally screw them into the bottom half of the clamp. Leave them slightly loose for final adjustment after the boom assembly is fitted to the helicopter body.

Fit the boom support struts to the lower half of the horizontal fin mount using two M3x12 self tapping screws. Once again, leave them slightly loose for final adjustment after the boom assembly is fitted to the helicopter body.

Bag EQ5008

Main frame and boom assembly

This assembly stage bag contains the mounting screws to attach the boom support struts to the helicopter body, along with the tail blades and their mounting bolts. I have chosen to not use the tail blades supplied in the kit as they are a bit too bendy for my liking. Instead I will be fitting carbon tail blades, so for no, just fit the tail blade mounting bolts to the blade grips to keep them safe.

The next step is to fit the boom assembly to the lower frames. The two cutouts in the end of the boom slot into place in the rear of the frames around the moulded plastic nipples. Slide the boom all the way in.

Fix the boom support struts to the upper outside mounting points using two M3x12 self tapping screws. These can be done up tight, but leave the rear ones loose until after the main gears are fitted in order to tension the belt correctly.

Bag EQ5009

Clutch bell assembly

The clutch bell comes with the liner fitted but there have been reports of the liner being loose in the kits from the first batch. Mine was fine.

Fit the shorter side of the pinion into the clutch bell using blue loctite. Tighten it down firmly being careful not to mark the teeth of the pinion with pliers.

Fit the 8x19x6 bearing to the top of the pinion using green loctite (or bearing locker).

Once the bearing is in place, fit the 1mm shim washer and then fit the pinion nut using a 9mm spanner (wrench).

Fit the starter shaft through the clutch bell assembly ready for the next step.

Bag EQ5010

Top frame assembly

Push fit the top starter assembly 6x15x5 bearing into the upper frames in the obvious housing at the front.

Fit the clutch assembly through from the underside of the frame, pushing the lower bearing (on top of the pinion) into the moulding on the underside until it sits flush with the frame. This is easier with the starter shaft removed while the pinion bearing is seated. Then slide the starter shaft through the assembly from below and attach the starter coupling to the top of it using blue threadlock on the two M4x4 grub screws.

Next, push fit the 10x22x6 main shaft bearings into the mouldings top and bottom of the upper frame.

Fit the anti-rotation guide to the front of the frames. It slots in place above and just behind the starter coupling and is then fastened down using two M3x12 self tapping screws.

Fit the rear CCPM servo mounting bracket using three M3x8 self tapping screws. Two screws mount along the front edge of the bracket while the third sits on the bottom inside of the bracket fixing the rear of it to the top of the frame.

Fit the moulded single piece plastic canopy mounting posts to the top of the upper frame just behind the upper main mast bearing. Note the lip on the canopy mount moulding which should point down and sit behind the upper bearing area on the frame. Fix it in place with two M3x8 self tapping screws.

Finally, loosely fit the M4x4 grub screw into the central hole in the boom clamp area of the upper frame. This will be tightened down once the boom is set in position later in the build, but for now, just wind it in a few turns at most.

Bag EQ5011

Main gear assembly

The one-way bearing assembly comes pre-built in the kit. The diagram in the manual shows the exploded view which may be useful for when the gear or oneway need servicing in future.

Fit the main gear onto the auto hub by pushing the hub through the main gear from the flat side. The ridge on the underside of the main gear forms the top half of the tail belt guide. Use 4 M3x8 bolts and threadlock them into the hub. As usual, tighten opposite bolts to ensure the gear sits flat against the hub.

Push the tail drive gear onto the assembly - push fit. Line up all the holes through the gear for ease of fitting to the main shaft later.

Bag EQ5012

Fitting gears and main shaft to the frames

The gears need to be fitted to the main shaft after the main shaft has been slotted into the frames. You can't fit the gears to the shaft first as the clutch bell is in the way which would prevent fitting them that way.

With the main shaft fitted to the frames and oriented so that the hole closest to the end of the shaft is at the bottom (where the gears will attach), fit the main gears into position and slot the main shaft into them. Fix the parts together with the M3x20 shanked bolt and nyloc nut.

Next, fit the main shaft locking collar. Make sure there is no vertical play after the locking collar is fitted and tighten both M4x4 grub screws using threadlock.

Bag EQ5013

Mixing lever assembly

Push fit the 4x7x2.5 bearings into the mixing lever, one on each side. The silver sleeve slots through the middle of the bearings but I fitted that part last to save it falling out while fitting the ball links.

Fit the balls onto the mixing arm and threadlock them into the captive nuts. I opted to go with the outer holes as per the suggestion in the manual for faster cyclic speed. Inner holes will make it softer and more stable.

Assemble both mixing levers in the same way.

Bag EQ5014

Main blade grip assembly

Fit the mixing lever to the blade grip. The M3x30 fixing screw passes through the silver sleeve inside the mixing lever bearings and tightens into a deep sunk captive nut. Don't over tighten the screw. It should be tight enough to remove all lateral play on the mixing lever but the lever should still move completely freely.

Grease the thrust bearings and insert them into the blade grip. The larger inner diameter thrust race goes in first, followed by the bearing with the open face first (closed side faces the blade) and then the smaller inner diameter thrust race. Add the spacer washer and then push the 6x13x5 radial bearings into the grip, one after the thrust bearing (and spacer) and the other in the root of the grip.

Bag EQ5015

Main rotor head assembly

The first step is to fit the three main rotor head components together. I started with the middle and bottom parts, and then added the top part to that.

Fit the lower hub to the centre hub and secure them with M3x8 bolts and threadlock. The larger countersunk hole on the centre hub goes to the bottom of the assembly. The bottom hub part fits inside the centre hub part and the hole for the feathering spindle should be lined up properly before fitting the bolts.

Next, fit the upper hub (flybar cage) to the top of the centre hub and secure in place with M3x6 button head bolts. Use threadlock.

Fitting the 6mm feathering spindle was a chore. The dampers are 90 durometer which is very hard and quite inflexible so this step took quite a while to complete, carefully working the dampers into the head and making sure they were both seated properly in the head block with the feathering spindle centered. Use mineral oil (such as Triflow) on the dampers to help with this.

Fit one damper to one side of the head ensuring the correct orientation (step down faces into the head) and fit the other damper onto the feathering spindle, then push the spindle through the head and through the already fitted damper.

The end result is to have the feathering spindle centralised in the head block and the dampers flush with the sides of the head block. I had 21mm of feathering spindle poking out of both sides of the head when this step was complete.

Next we build up the floating flybar assembly.

Fit the flybar seesaw to the flybar. Note the flybar has three flat spots on it for securing parts to it. Centralise the seesaw and tighten the M4x4 grub screw in place using thread lock. With the seesaw centralised, I had a measurement of 193mm from the outside edge of the seesaw ball to the end of the flybar on both sides. There is room for a small amount of movement on the flat spots so be sure to get this central.

Fit three 3x6x2.5 bearings onto the flybar on each side of the seesaw followed by the flybar control rod, which is a metal sleeve with balls moulded into it. These are also secured to the flybar using M4x4 grub screws and threadlock - one on each side. Ensure they are tight against the bearings allowing no lateral play along the flybar.

Build two rod links using M2.3x14mm rods and the standard links (all the rocket links are the same). The rod links should be 34.25mm long when measured between the centres of the holes. Fit the links to the outer balls on the flybar control rods.

Fit the completed flybar assembly into the top of the headblock (the cage part) ensuring correct orientation. The flybar sits at 90° to the feathering spindle!

Fit the head button on to the top of the head assembly using four M2.5x8 silver bolts and threadlock.

Fit the flybar control hoops with the long leg to the bottom and the logo facing outwards (shiny side of the link clips on first).

Fit the 6x9x1.5 spacer shim onto the feathering spindle, followed by the blade grip assembly. Fit the chamfered washer to the M4x10 feathering spindle bolt (chamfer closest to bolt cap head) and then using threadlock, fit the bolt into the end of the feathering spindle being careful to not get any threadlock into the bearings. Do the same for both blade grips.

Clip the flybar links onto the ball on the long side of the blade grip mixing lever.

Next we fit the flybar paddles. The supplied paddles are strong plastic and weigh 20 grams. Screw them onto the flybar so that they are both the same distance out from the centre of the head and then secure them in place with an M3x8 grub screw and some threadlock. Mine ended up with a 175mm gap from the centre of the head to the inside edge of the paddle, or about 122mm from the outer edge of the outer ball on the flybar to the inside edge of the paddle.

The paddles will screw into the flybar a maximum of 22mm as that is as far as the hole goes into the paddle. That's enough to accommodate the entire threaded part of the flybar.

Bag EQ5016

Swashplate

The swashplate comes pre-assembled, but feel free to check that the balls have been fitted with threadlock. Mine were fine.

Bag EQ5017

Swashplate driver assembly

The swashplate driver assembly is like a phase adjustment unit, but with very minimal adjustment available. It's main purpose is to keep the pushrods in line between the swashplate and the mixing arms.

Fit the side lever parts to the centre part using the M2x23 pin. The pin is secured in place using two C clips, one on each side in the small grooves near the ends of the pin. The outer lever should move fairly freely on the pin, while the centre part should hold the pin quite tightly.

The Ely.Q logo (three wavy stripes) faces up. The top (up) side of the central part has the lugs facing upwards. These lugs sit against the bottom of the headblock in the cutaways.

Bag EQ5018

Fitting head assembly to top frames

Fit the swashplate onto the main shaft and drop the long guide pin into the anti-rotation guide as you do so.

Fit the swashplate driver assembly onto the main shaft. The slots in the outer levers line up with the hole in the main shaft so that the upper lugs of the swashplate driver will sit snugly in the cutaways at the sides of the headblock base (when it is fitted). Push this down and out of the way for now.

Fit the headblock assembly onto the main shaft and secure it with the M3x20 shanked bolt and nyloc nut.

Fit the swashplate driver in place making sure it is tight up against the bottom of the headblock and tighten up the bolt (previously left loose) to secure it to the main shaft. I centralised the swashplate driver around the headblock base (looking at the cutaways) as there is room for a small amount of adjustment.

Clip the hoop links onto the upper swashplate.

Make up two M2.3x46.5 rod links so that they measure 60.5mm centre to centre (67.75mm outside edge to outside edge) and fit them to the head between the remaining two upper swashplate balls and the short side of the upper mixing arm on the blade grip. The Ely.Q logo faces outwards on the links.

The top frame assembly is mechanically complete now and is ready to be fitted to the bottom half of the helicopter.

Fitting the frames together

The frames are joined together at the four corners of the main frames and another four points on the boom clamp area. Getting the frame halves together means first getting the belt fitted onto the main gear and then pulling the top half forwards into position to secure the two halves together and tension the belt all in one go.

With the belt held without any twist along it's length, rotate it 90° anti-clockwise (looking at the front of the helicopter) and feed it onto the main gear by passing it between the clutchbell and the tail drive gear lip.

Pull the upper frames forwards and align the clutch bell over the clutch, then fit the upper and lower frames halves together. Locate the four M3x16 bolts at each corner of the upper frame and push them through to hold the frame halves in place together. The belt tension will be trying to move them apart until they are secured in place. Fit the nyloc nuts to the under sides and tighten them down squarely.

Fit the four M3x20 bolts through the boom clamp holes and tighten them into their captive nyloc nuts on the underside.

Finally, the grub screw that sits in the middle of the boom clamp area and was previously loosely fitted now needs to be tightened down until it touches the boom. Don't over do this as you can deform the boom, but snug it up.

At this point it is worth checking that everything is spinning freely - i.e. turn the rotorhead and the tail blades should rotate with them. If the belt got caught up or wrongly twisted while fitting, this will show it up (if you didn't catch it the first time you checked!).

The horizontal fin mount screws (top and sides) can all be tightened down now to secure the whole backend assembly.

Bag EQ5019

Main blades

The manual would have you install the main blades at this stage but I prefer to wait until everything else is done on the helicopter before fitting them or I find they just get in the way. It's your choice though!

Fit the M4x25 bolts into the grips and fit the nuts to them just to keep them in a safe place for when fitting the blades (unless you're doing that now of course!)

Tighten engine mounting bolts

Now that the frames are complete we need to tighten the engine mounting bolts with everything correctly lined up. Use a hex starter wand in the starter coupling to ensure the engine is positioned such that the clutch can spin freely in the clutch bell and then tighten the engine mounting bolts up. With them all tight, remove and replace each one in turn after applying threadlock to it.

Muffler installation

I fitted an MP5 muffler to the heli and found that the boom stay was in full contact with it. Having moved the boom stay mounting point to the upper hole of the two available, it was better, but still making contact which would cause damage to the muffler in flight from vibration.

I bought a pack of Quick UK metal muffler gaskets and ended up fitting all five of them to stand the muffler off from the engine enough for it to not touch the boom stay.

Other mufflers may not have the same issue that the MP5 does here.

Servo installation

The same bag (EQ5019) contains all the hardware needed to install your servos into the helicopter.

Make up the three cyclic rod links so that they measure 38mm centre to centre. Make up the throttle rod link so it is approximately 86.75mm centre to centre.

The throttle servo is fitted with it's output shaft down and is off-vertical, not horizontal as illustrated in the manual (the servo tray layout has evolved since the manual was produced).

The cyclic servos are all fitted with their output shafts to the top. The servo is pushed through the servo mounting slot and then the metal mounting plates sit in front of the servo lugs (with rubbers fitted) to hold it against the mounting slot. Tighten the fixing screws into the mounts until the servos are secure, without over-compressing the servo lug rubbers.

The images below illustrate the final servo installation with arms centered and correctly set ready to fly.

I fitted the CSM 720 gyro on top of the tail boom casing and fitted the Align DS620 tail servo into the tail servo mounting bracket with the output shaft nearest the tail blades.

The rest of the electrics were fitted to the radio tray at the front of the helicopter. In this installation I am using a Spektrum AR7100 receiver, a Perfect regulator and a Revolution 2S2P 3000 mAh LiPo. I stuck some hook and loop tape (hook side) to the top and front of the radio tray as I fit the loop (fuzzy) side to all my electronics - it's just the way I've standardised this element of my builds. The battery is then held on with an extra hook and loop strap which passes through holes in the radio tray intended for that purpose.

After you have all the electrics fitted, including power (LiPo or whatever your choice is) you will then need to switch on and ensure the model is correctly setup on your transmitter,

Canopy

The kit comes with a white plastic canopy that is already cut to shape and even has a moulded area where the exhaust will sit so you don't have to cut it away. It also comes with a set of decals with several options for you to apply to it. There is also a moulded black screen to cut out and that is fixed onto the canopy using four incredibly small screws. I found that the black screen part wasn't a great fit, but it is good enough to not be too bothered about it.

Some instructions available on the Ely.Q website offer some suggestions as to how you can make up the canopy for your heli, including cutting the base hole and the screen area out of the white canopy and attaching the black screen piece in it's place. I chose not to cut the white canopy at all, instead, I fitted the black screen over the top using the supplied screws and added a drop of CA glue to the back of them (inside the canopy), and then applied some decals to it. There may not be a strength saving in doing this the way I did, but I did it anyway!

The last step is to fit the supplied canopy clip and the rubber grommets. The clip is fixed to the canopy in the same way as a Raptor canopy clip. The screws pass through the clip from the outside of the canopy, through the moulded holes and into the securing plate on the inside of the canopy. Tighten the screws until there isn't any free play in the fitting.

That's the heli completed and if you've gone through the transmitter setup, then it's ready to fly!

Pros and Cons

Flight video

Here's a flight video of the Vision 50 on a cold new years day with a tired hyper 50!

Conclusion

The heli is a fairly easy kit to build and you feel the strength in the model as it comes together. I think this would be a great first helicopter for beginners, and a good addition to the experienced modellers fleet. It is a model incorporating modern design elements that people flying older helicopters might want to move over to.

Of course, it's not a carbon based helicopter with all the metal bling and so on - it's a plastic fantastic, but from my flights so far I have to say it really does perform well.

There will no doubt be upgrades coming out for this model as the entire thing is screaming out for that to happen just as the Raptor did (and as I write this, Ely.Q have just announced an upgrade metal head assembly).

I found the build quite straight-forward considering almost all of the parts arrived in their un-assembled form. Everything went together easily and aside from two niggles that this first batch kit had, it was fine. Ely.Q reported on their website about a few issues that had come to light in the first production batch, but those issues were resolved with replacement parts where necessary, and the later batches of kits have been updated so those problems shouldn't exist anymore.

I've had a good 20 or so flights on this heli now and, looking beyond my rather tired hyper 50, it is performing remarkably well. It flies very accurately with no vibration issues and no teething troubles.

On stock Spektrum DX7 swashmix settings the cyclics are nice and stable and not too fast, ideal for beginners. Turning them up brings some good cyclic speed to the mix and coupled with fast pitch response makes it a good 3D machine.

The standard plastic paddles feel good if possibly a little bit slower than I would like for full-on 3D flight. There's no pitchiness in forward flight using them though and they do work well. I have a feeling that fitting some decent carbon paddles will add even more cyclic authority and speed so I will be trying that at some point.

The tail feels robust and holds well throughout the flight - a good gyro and servo are required to that end of course!

I have only done a few auto rotations on this helicopter so far and each of them has worked well, although there isn't much hang-time left at the end of the auto, there is enough to get it down safely.

The one thing I have noticed in flight is that in hard 3D stops it has a little rocky wobble. I suspect this is down to the dampers being very hard.

It's just a cracking little helicopter that keeps coming back for more and, at the price this kit is selling for, I'd be mad to not recommend it at least as a hack about model if not for sunday best!