I have promised in another thread to post some pictures when I get my new heli.
In the meantime I have assembled and test flown the Kasama and I must say this is one sweet machine
You may have known the name Kasama from the high quality upgrade parts they make for many of the popular helis. The Srimok is Kasama's first "complete" heli fully designed and manufactuerd by Kasama. I bought the "FAIFA" which obviously is Thai for "Electric" as the manual says.
This is a 90 or 700 class heli swinging 700mm blades and is a formidable machine. The engineering is superb and there are simply no upgrades available - everything is of highest quality, better than I have seen it on any of the many different helis I came across.
This is one of the models you would simply never use any HK components (ok, except the lipo's maybe!) and as an early xmas present I have selected the components to match:
- Kontronik Pyro 700 motor (continuous power 3kw, peak 5kw!)
- 3x JR DS8917HV High Voltage Ultra Speed Servos
- 1x Futaba BLS251 Tail Servo
- GyroBot 900 FBL System
- Castle Creations ICE 120A HV ESC
- Gryphon Extreme-Heli regulator to provide power for receiver and servos
- 12s (2x6s) 4000mAh LiPos for main power
Building was a joy, not comparable with anything coming out of china. All parts fit perfectly and there are a lot of very unique solutions. The most stunning example is probably the very special solution for the swash servos which use some sort of torque tube arrangement to get the geometry perfectly correct with no play at all in the mechanism. (See pictures!)
Another excellent detail solutions are the linkages which are made out of titanium(!) and have a little turnbuckle for easy adjustment. One side has a left thread, the other side a right thread. This allows you to adjust the linkages without taking them off and the adjustments can be infinite small as opposed to the usual take the ball link off and adjust a full turn as it is on every other heli!
I haven't flown it "properly" yet, only just completed the setup and adjustments of the FBL system but this is by far the smoothest heli I have ever come across. There is very minimal noise from the drive drain and the power delivery is insane. The only "downside" is that the oversized, high quality bearings keep the rotor turning for a long time after shutdown which forces me to wait for quite a while after landing until I can pick up the Kasama
The pictures are not that great and much better versions are available on http://www.kasama.com but at least they prove that I have a Kasama Srimok
And for the ones who want to get one, no, HK doesn't sell them and the kit (no electrics) is priced at US$ 1'000. The complete heli is probably between $2'000 and $2'500.
I try to avoid adding up the $$, luckily I'm not married
Peter