Vintage RC Helicopters - Joe's Collection - Century

Joe's Collection - Century  Joe William Richardson

Century Hawk

Original Century Mk1 Hawk bought in Jul 09 and generally complete but will require a few spares and full strip down to check.  Engine has very poor compression and will require overhaul or replacement.

Century Bell 47G

Bought off E-bay in Nov 07 and obviously had been well made including scale detail like stretcher and casualty; unfortunately the years had not been kind.  Serviced and checked but kept loosing the drive to the tail rotor gearbox which required drive wire to have flats ground in etc.  Tested again in May 08 but collective control very 'slow' reacting so HD servo fitted to collective; put into deep storage awaiting future testing.

Century Hummingbird (Airwolf)

Bought Aug 06 and originally had the Bell 222 fuselage.  Although fixed pitch was quite flyable however, once the battery voltage started to drop it would not turn right if the nose was raised.  By mid 08 the body had become very poor so fitted an Airwolf body (didn't bother with the fins).  Requires a bit of getting back into 'fixed pitch' mentality if not flown for a while and will be kept for a bit of inside fun flying every so often.

Century Elite 3D Pro

Bought used in Jun 08 and test hovered but not quite right with a few bits showing signs of wear.  Needed a good strip down and refurbishment so put into storage.

Century GL450 (EC135)

Bought in May 08 along with a Hughes 500 fuselage; had to borrow a couple of bits for another helicopter so put to one side awaiting a spare moment to be built up (along with all the other projects....).

Century Hughes 500E (Swift)

Bought in May 08 as a partially completed build of a '30' size body fitted with Swift mechanics.  Esc and battery temporarily fitted to allow it to be test hovered and then put to one side awaiting properly finishing off.

'EX' Century Helicopters

Hawk Mk3

My original Century Hawk Mk3 (white model bought in early 2007) had an Irvine 36H engine fitted and was very stable in the hover which after learning on '450' size electrics was quite a new experience.  I tried my first loop with this model and it was nearly the last flight as it 'stalled' just before reaching the full inverted stage and by keeping full back cyclic on then adding positive pitch as it reached nose down vertical it only just recovered at less than 2M from the ground.  Once I had read up a bit more on how to set one up correctly (including making sure it had 'decent' throws, especially negative pitch) it then looped properly and rolled OK.  Sold this one to a friend who was just getting into the 'hobby'.  Second Century Hawk (bought late 2007) was fitted with an OS32H and I had only tested hovered this one before again selling it to another friend for him to learn with however, I found out a while later that he had 'totalled' it after losing control of the tail due to a 'faulty' gyro.

Century Swift 

Bought new at the Sandown show in 2006.  It was very stable and the first helicopter that I successfully rolled and looped (without having a near heart attack).  Fitted with the 'Sport' motor for use with a 4 cell lipo and generally OK but head speed not particularly high.  Auto performance was good with carbon blades as the helicopter itself is very light and with a wind headwind it would almost 'hover' and just gently 'float' down.  Non driven tail so tended to rotate if trying an auto in calmer conditions.

Century Main Page

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