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Vintage RC Helicopters - MFA (Model Flight Accessories) Manufacturer of RC Helicopters
MFA Hughes 500D
Model Flight Accessories (MFA) was a British manufacturer of Radio Control accessories and like Micro-Mold a few years earlier had in collaboration with Morley Helicopters designed a model helicopter based on the popular full size Hughes 500D. It was designed from the beginning as a scale model for '40' size engines utilising the Morley fixed pitch mechanics; this way the flight characteristic would be known. This minimised development work to chassis etc which followed the Micro-Mold Lark layout of a a single plate chassis with boom to the tail rotor and a 'cabin' area for the control system. Main chassis and landing gear was made of aluminium and with the 'Tee' tail layout meant the it was relatively heavy and also tail heavy. Fortunately the large body meant that the radio gear could be positioned as far forward as possible and weight of this allow with the body itself meant that extra nose weight was not needed for balance.
The heavy weight meant that it was not really a sports flyer and was marketed for learners and those who wanted something basic but actually looked like a 'real' helicopter. Report promised in RCM&E but so far not found it.....
As noted above, because the 500D utilised Morley mechanics it was possible to upgrade the helicopter to collective pitch utilising readily available Morley parts developed in the early 80's and fitted to Morley's own range of scale helicopters. MFA Sport 500
The original machine had been reasonably popular but by the mid eighties all 'trainers' were of the 'pod and boom' format with scale models being considered for more experienced flyers. Sales had thus suffered because of this generalisation and so MFA redesigned their original model in 1987 to produce a 'proper' helicopter trainer. Because the original machines internal layout had been arranged to fit inside a scale body, to revert to a 'pod and boom' format required a redesign of the cabin area. It was decided to stay with the fixed pitch control and so a new head assembly was designed and also the decision was taken to go to full 'in-house' mechanics. This proved to be a useful if not sparkling entry, for a relatively small cost, for those looking for an introduction to RC helicopters. The nose cone for the basic model was also given a revised look emulating the Hughes 500E.
The MFA Sport 500 was designed for a specific area of the market; those without a lot of money or experience. The function of the MFA Sport 500 was to get raw beginners past the hovering stage and up to the lazy eight level with perhaps a little bit of circuit work. Fixed pitch was employed for both its inherent 'cheapness and simplicity' without compromise to the design philosophy. Tyro's can spend many hours at the hovering stage requiring almost constant conditions of pitch and revs thereby making a 'collective' pitch assembly mainly redundant under these conditions. The lack of response though was a major criticism of this type of control (by competent pilots it must be noted) however, in many respects this is what a learner requires and conditions not suitable for fixed pitch helicopters are probably non too suitable for learning. The fact that it was seen as 'cheap and cheerful' did have its drawbacks. Many purchasers would have been 'plank' flyers trying their hand at helicopters and with nothing more complicated than 'aero' equipment being required in all likelihood the 'tired' ex aeroplane 40 engine would have been used. A worn out 40 was the last thing a helicopter in the hover needs and many overheated due to over loading and/or running lean. The secret was to fit a new engine, correctly run it in and when set slightly rich with the correct blade pitch there was no lack of lift.
These kind of helicopters also suffered from being past around once the first learner had worn it out. Once this type of head suffered wear then the already slow response became increasing 'indistinct' until cyclic control was not effectively achieved. Passed on in this condition and a reputation can be quickly achieved for being 'crap'. Additionally, as can be seen above when fitted with floats, although very useful for learning, in this configuration so much lift would be lost by the floats deflecting the rotor downwash that it was a wonder it ever made it past the hover. Sport 500 review - Sport 500 Upgrades - 1988 Courtesy Model Helicopter World www.modelheliworld.com Sport 500 First impressions - Sport 500 beginners review - 1988 Radio helicopter International with high resolution photos. Sport 500 Improvements - 1989 suggestions for modifications to improve operation and reliability. Reading the magazine reviews of the day actually shows another view in that most considered it to fulfil its designed function and when new control was more than adequate. One area that was shown to be lacking was tail rotor left control in flight. Slightly bigger blades cured this to an extent and so did slightly reducing main blade pitch in order to get an increased head speed; this also had the benefit of speeding up cyclic response. A number of 'home made' modifications were shown in the magazines that helped to improve the overall characteristics of the helicopter. MFA Hughes 500E
The general layout of the revised model had not been significantly altered and so the original 500D fuselage was developed into a 500E 'hang on' so that as well as the 'basic' model it could also be sold as per the original in a 'scale' format. because it was a 'hang on' fuselage it could be purchased separately and fitted to the pod and boom basic model after the initial learning phase. MFA Sport 500 Collective
As noted above, fixed pitch control whilst adequate for hovering and basic learning, was totally lacking for more spirited flying and thus a collective conversion was developed in late 1989 thereby enhancing the usefulness of the MFA Sport 500. Sport 500 Collective Pitch review - 1990 Courtesy Model Helicopter World www.modelheliworld.com MFA Sport 500 Mk2
After a few years a special 'all black' version of the Sport 500 was produced in order to keep the line going but it was trying to compete with the likes of the Hirobo shuttle. As further development of the MFA Sport 500 would require a complete redesign it was decided to let the model quietly 'die' off and so MFA bowed out of the helicopter production market though form information (still to be confirmed) the Sport 500 was sold through the US company Hobby Lobby as late as 2003 MFA 500 Documentation Sport 500 Manual - First version with fixed pitch rotor head. Hughes 500 Conversion Kit - Instructions for converting a standard MFA Sport 500 into a Hughes 500 Sport 500 Collective pitch conversion - Parts kit to upgrade the fixed pitch version Sport 500 Collective Manual - Second version with collective pitch. Sport 500 Addendums - various addendum sheets covering items such as - autorotation clutch - large fuel tank
Note that in 2010, MFA still had a small amount of general spares left and can be contacted by e mail - info@mfacomo.com I have a number of different MFA 500 versions and in Jan 2010 started restoring two in order to provide a 'factual' and not 'subjective' comparison between then and now.
Sport 500 Collective with training undercarriage Also with a very 'scenic' view Top of Page (VRHC - Vintage Radio controlled HeliCopters) |
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