ART-tech Falcon 3D

   The Falcon 3D is a great 6 ch RC Heli for the $$$ , makes a perfect 1st time heli and is one that can grow with you without having to make another heli purchase down the road . Many upgrades and replacement parts are available from a variety of suppliers . Proper setup and understanding of helicopter flight is imperative however . Do Not blame the heli if you have trouble flying or lack the skills to put it back together properly after a mishap . If you know nothing about RC heli flight then a simulator and plenty of online reading should be a prerequisite to ever connecting the battery or trying to hover a dangerous pc of model mechanics such as the Falcon .   What are you thinking , It's a flying exposed lawnmower blade , not a toy to simply jump right into with little or no understanding ! With that being said , here we have compiled a list of parts and other helpful information that will make your Falcon 3D ownership very enjoyable . Thanks for looking and safe flying !                              

READ THESE !

.... Great Heli basic Flight instruction ....

(EHBG) Electric Helicopter Beginner Guide

RADD's School of Rotory Flight

Art-Tech Company Website Falcon page
Falcon 3D Review

Click HERE to see my (and Others) Falcon Beginner Videos

Here are a few good discussion links associated with the Falcon 3D RC Heli :

If you are having problems , someone here has had it first  :-)
RCUniverse.com Falcon thread
RC Groups.com Falcon thread
Falcon 3d ( Lots of tips & setup pics)
Geek Hobbies Falcon page (more detailed Pics)

Heli's are made to fly , not crash but it happens to the best of us . 
A few shops to purchase and buy spares from:

KA - Planes
Hobby Lobby
Atlanta Hobby
Enjoy Hobbies

You can find the Falcon 3D SE HERE (metal & carbon)

: Click on Thumbnail pics for larger view :

Some shops to buy arrow shafts to make cheap booms
Mickie's Place Archery  The Archery Market     Eagle Archery
I use Easton Eclipse X7 2212 series and get two booms per shaft .- Perfect inside/outside diameter for the Falcon !

: Click on Thumbnail pics for larger view :

Cut the Arrow shafts to 14 3/16" ( I use a copper tubing cutter ) You will also notice I have moved the tailfin to the rightside and all the way back . This gets the fin out of the way of main blade strikes , weathervanes better in forward flight and doesn't rub against the tail pitch linkage .

: Main Blades :

The Falcon comes stock with 300mm wood blades . Align 315mm will work but you must extend the tailboom to allow tail rotor clearance or buy solid plastic blades which you can trim and re-balance . Cutting wood blades is not safe as the wood will eventually split and come apart in flight . Using over 300mm blades on a stock setup is also asking for a midair crash . They will hit the tailblades with very little negative pitch applied !

: Cheap main blade alternatives 300mm or under :

2 sets under $12 ( good / cheap for learning to Hover excercises)

White fiberglass 300mm
Black 296mm
Red 296mm
Yellow 296mm
288mm wood on the short side = Quicker handling response ( Not beginner friendly)

Misc replacement Parts sources:

Lots of parts from the Shogun Heli's will work

You can get rid of the Z bend linkages and replace with better Ball Links HERE & HERE

Misc Screw parts replacements HERE

Great place for better set screws/botls HERE (The 3X3 mm stainless set screws work great on the main shaft collars)

Metal head assy from Walkera  is said to be a great fit , just use the stock Falcon main shaft !

A nice Hard Aluminum case for the Falcon and transmitter  or  A good soft case from KA-Planes

Some Spraygun Lube LIKE THIS works well on the Falcon main & tailshafts . Lightweight , doesn't attract dirt easily nor harm plastic parts . DoNot use grease as this attracts dirt easily and gums up the shafts ..

Stock Falcon inrunner brushless motor

My Yellow Falcon came with this motor and a 18A ESC . This is the combo most often found but I did not like this setup .The motor ran hot and drew down the LiPo more quickly . I quickly switched it out for the Kenda 450H and thestock18A ESC did fine with it also .

Upgrade motors :

Kenda KA450H    Align 430L

You may need to make a spacer as I did here out of plastic to allow clearance for some taller Pinion gears . You can also grind down the shaft and pinion to fit  if not using a spacer . Either will work fine

. .

A Outrunner brushless motor will make the Falcon a whole different animal , definitly a great upgrade ! Good outrunner motors complete with matching ESC can be had for less than $50 .
My Ebay Falcon came stock with a Kenda KA 450H 3200Kv , you can purchase them HERE at United Hobbies. The 3500 Kv model works well also .
I installed a Align 430L outrunner that a friend gave me on one Falcon of mine but the Kenda did just as well and is cheaper/lighter . Make sure your ESC can handle a better motor though , mine came with a 30A ESC so I was lucky :)  I'm not a fan of the Align 430L though , I'd rather have the Kenda 3500Kv if I wanted more power . The Align is big and runs hotter also due to being a outrunner-in-a-can design .(Might as well be a in-runner )

My stock 30A Key-Tech ESC seems to be a rebranded Mystery model (I have found the Mystery 30A for less than $10 shipped on EBay !)

You'll need a pinion gear in the 9-11T range and one that doesn't get wider at the bottom . Something like THIS , Not like THIS . You will probably have to shave off a few mm from the motor shaft/Pinion as they put extra long shafts on the new motors to use in a wide variety of aircraft . I do this simply by putting the mounted pinion/shaft assy up against a grinder wheel until I get the desired lenght so it doesn't contact the boom when mounted .Clean up edges with small file afterwards .

Radio Upgrade

Click HERE for my DX7 Falcon Setup

Purchased a DX7 2.4 Ghz radio and 6100 receiver for the Falcon after about 2 months.

$259 delivered off Ebay . (Deals are out there if you look) I'm currently using the stock servos with good results

It flys great with better electronics ! The 6100 receiver is Tiny , even smaller than the stock Falcon RX Plu you get rid of that long dangling antenna wire  ...

Lots of inexpensive deals on older good quality FM/PCM gear out there also , you don't have to go 2.4Ghz but Why Not ?

Warning due to voltage fluctuations affecting the 2.4 Ghz receivers , causing momemtary loss of control , it is best to disable the built in BEC function of the ESC (simply cut the red wire in the harness that connects to the Rx) then install a stand alone BEC to provide power to the RX /servoes etc . This will also give you controlover the servos in the event of a inflight ESC failure .

I use THIS BEC from United Hobbies (10 bucks )

Also THIS 2250mah Lipo fits perfectly if you move the RX to the back wall and stand it on end

Scale Heli Fuselages for the 400 Electric class
Darth's Heli Bodies
HeliHobby                                RCHOVER

You can even buy the Falcon complete with a scale body

Stock Canopy modification for easier install over battery .

Changing the one way bearing in the main gear is simple if you place the main gear over a 5/8" socket then use a 7/32" or thinwall 1/4"socket to tap on and push the bearing out the bottom. You can reverse the procedure to tap the bearing back in . .