The hatching of a Falcon
By Al Coelho (RCO heliguy)
Created 04/01/00--Last updated 09/25/00

Although the eggs look good in the nest, it will take some effort to get this bird flying with the Eagles.


If you're like me you've been looking for something to fly and save your 60 ships. 30's just don't seem to do it so I started looking for a 46. The Xcell 46 was tempting as it shared many parts with my 60's, but I might as well fly one of my 60's for its cost. Century had the Falcon at a decent price but since they had updated their 30's three time I was waiting for them to upgrade their Falcon.

And then it happens, the Falcon SE. With its list of features I just couldn't resist.

When the box arrived it was very impressive. The packaging uses 3 sub boxes, which totally fills the main box. It is the best packaging I've seen, all parts arrived in perfect condition.

Assembly is straight forward, but when you begin to to put the parts together the fun begins.

First steps, assemble the Head Block. First problem, where's the Guide pins. Ops call Century.

See saw assembly, no problem.

Blade holders, no problem.Tip: after placing the bearings into the bellmixers, with the spacers between the bearings, place the assembly with one bearing down on a block of wood. Now place

another block of wood over the other bearing tap them very lightly with a small hammer (I mean lightly, I used a 4 oz. hammer). This will seat the outer and iner race properly to prevent  binding the bearings when you tighten them onto the collective arm.

Add feathering shaft and blade holders. Tip: Wet the damper rubbers or talc them down before you try to slide the feathering shaft through or you may roll one inside out.

Flybar assembly, Ops call Century. The SE comes with a 4mm flybar versus the original 3mm unit. I got the 4mm flybar, but all the rest of the parts were 3mm (paddles, weights, control arms, and bearings). Oh well, we'll work on that later. One note: The new control arms have metal balls which you must install. The screw that is used is long enough to bottom out in the hole and lock so that it will snap off if you try to remove it. You may want to deepen this hole slightly.

Although a new pilot should install the flybar weights for stability, I chose to leave them off to increase responsiveness. Should you choose not to