Vintage RC Helicopters - Joe's Collection - Hirobo

Joes Collection - Hirobo  Joe William Richardson

Hirobo Falcons

Over the years I have purchased quite a few falcons either complete or as spares/repair etc and as of Mar 10 most are all stripped down and awaiting full restoration with enough bits to build at least one each of the following; Falcon Mk2, 505, 505S, 555, 707, 808 and 888.  Note Jul 10 purchased an as new 808 that had only been tested hovered by Dave Nieman many years ago then put in storage.........

Hirobo Mini-Star o25

Jul 10, bought of E-bay though when inspected was only 90% complete and missing in particular the main gear and blade holders.  All my request for spares were unanswered so the restoration of this one may be difficult.

Hirobo Shuttle

Jan 10, bought of E-bay and didn't realise until it was delivered that it was a new original Shuttle (thought it was a Mk2).

Hirobo Shuttle Gold

Oct 07, bought for £15 from Charmouth; nearly complete but the engine had been removed along with the mount and clutch etc.  Fitted with the SZ-II rotor head with metal flybar control arms, SE metal landing gear, Metal body parts and various other minor upgrades.  By May-09 all missing items found, courtesy of E-bay and only awaiting a bit of time (and a main shaft) to rebuild.

Hirobo Shuttle ZXX

Oct-07, ought at the same time as the Shuttle Gold but for more money (a whole £75); again missing the engine, mounting and clutch but this one had many upgrades with a full metal head and tail rotor assembly.  by May-09 E-bay had supplied the missing bits and only needs a couple of new spares (main shaft is bent slightly) and a rebuild can be done.

Hirobo Vertol KV107 (1998)

Bought May 07 being an original mechanical mixer version fitted with OS32 and mechanical gyro decided not to run it up as I had heard stories about how hard it was to fly.  Needs though an OS37 as the 32 fitted is known to be only marginal, especially on a hot day; might even fit a multi-blade gyro just to help things.  Put into long term storage pending upgrade and also increase in my flying ability.

Hirobo SA315 Lama (1992)

Bought Jul 09 and had been left abandoned for many years before being fitted with a TT91 four stroke.  Had been test flown but I stripped it down to check and the main mast was slightly bent, the collective servo was badly worn and generally not well put together.  Full restoration NOT undertaken just a very good service plus a new collective servo, main mast straightened, 'new' period mechanical gyro and a couple of ball links replaced.  Test run Jan 10 but belt kept slipping off and jamming on flywheel cover and when eventually started erratic operation of the radio gear occurred; put into storage for future checking.

Hirobo Gazelle

Bought Aug-08 and checked over but engine had low compression so put to one side for future rebuild.  In Jan 10 it was rebuilt with replacement OS 60 engine but during the test running it 'threw' a Fenstrom fan blade.  Fenstrom assembly stripped down and blades had varying degrees of cracking due to aging so put into storage awaiting way ahead on replacing the fan assembly (or blades).

Hirobo BBC Stork

Purchase in May 08 complete with engine and radio gear but had normal skids instead of wheeled tricycle gear. In Mar 09 It was test hovered but made a strange noise so given a full service; nothing untoward found so it could have just been the belt driven cooling fan?

Hirobo JetRanger (SST mechanics)

Bought in Feb 09 and appeared in very reasonable condition though front canopy was missing; put into storage pending a detailed examination.

Hirobo MH-10

In Sep 09 I had the opportunity to purchase the complete 'old' stock from a well know model shop and amongst this stock was two boxes label Hirobo MH-10.  I had never heard of it so I sorted the boxes out so see what was there and was pleasantly surprised.  There were many duplicate's including ten frames, ten upgrade kits and dozens of shaft spares etc however, there was at least two of all the packets and at first glance looked as if nearly everything needed to build one was there.  I came across a few pictures so had an idea of what it looked like then I managed to get a copy of the build manual.  Comparing the drawings showed that the only parts missing were tail boom, tail rotor spindle, collective pitch assembly and a pair of blades holders with mixer arms; so the hunt was on for the few missing parts.  In Nov 09 I found that some parts were still available and picked up the tail boom, TR spindle and a few other small parts.

Hirobo Tsurugi

Jan 09  -  Bought as an 'unknown' model and incomplete airframe for spares off E-bay however, when it arrived it was better than I expected.  There was an engine, no radio gear and missing a number of airframe bits though when checked over, main shaft etc was not bent so appeared a possible restoration.  Once identified as a Tsurugi it was also found that spares were still available and all bought (bar a canopy) so a definite rebuild.

Hirobo GPH-346

Bought in Mar 09 'as new' condition though engine was stuck but otherwise complete with battery and JR Rx.  Given a general service in Oct 09 and had been put together well but the linkages were all at different lengths showing the builder did not fully understand setting up a helicopter.  Tank removed and needed cleaning out of old fuel and debris.  Carb removed and stripped to clean out old fuel and engine oiled and then freed up.  Took a while to get the engine to run properly and left it rich as the engine looked to be as 'new'.  Tracking etc checked and seems to be quite responsive to cyclic controls; put into storage pending better flying opportunity.

Hirobo Bell UH-1B 

Bought as a 'test' hovered only new build and in Aug 09 full checks completed and very little adjustment was needing showing that it had been built well; so it was ready for testing.

Hirobo Schweizer 300(2005) 

Bought in May 07 and had only been test hovered from new; it was fitted with an OS37H engine though perhaps a little overpowered for 'scale' flying.  During general use in May 08 after running the engine in there developed a bit of a tail waggle and maybe will need to experiment with head speeds (a lot slower than currently running perhaps) or maybe even fit an OS32 to tame things down a bit.

Hirobo SA315B Lama

New Kit

Hirobo SST-Eagle Freya

Swapped an electric plane for this new airframe with OS70 engine early in 2010; built it up with good spec digital servo's etc and ready for testing.

Hirobo Sceadu

I had loads of Hirobo spares and could nearly build up a complete model though was missing a lot of the small bits like bearings so in early 2010 aquired a 'dog' for the misc bits and then another near complete good one.....

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