HDX (Lepton) 500

Once upon a time HeliDirect I am told, sold a version of the Hirobo Lepton 500, called the HDX. I know I have one, but I don't know the real history, as it has gone legacy. I bought this used, and believe it is an HDX 3D-500SE, as that is what I was told when I bought it back in 2011. I am trying to get a manual from HeliDirect. It was in great condition, I did crack and replace the frames with a much sturdier version several years ago when I could get parts for it from HeliDirect. This is an amazing little heli. It uses a push--pull system that is very busy, allowing it to use micro servos instead of standards on a 500 sized heli. It has run wonderfully but for having developed a seizure disorder that has plagued me and kept me from flying her for the past few years, which I think I solved today! She would be fine and then all of the sudden her controls would "seize up" and release. In flight this never amounted to more than a "WTF?" and she would return to normal before any badness happened.

As I was tuning up her CCPM cage today, she did it a few times and I was actually able to see what happens. I don't know why I never noticed this before, it's not the first time she has done it on the ground. What I noticed in two separate events that the reciever blacked out, came back, but didn't show a drop: steady reciever light. Now in chasing this problem I have replaced everything electric, not sure about the ESC and its piggy-backed separate UBEC, which is key. I even tried grounding the boom and its Van de Graff static to the frame, and oiling the belt. When I saw this it occurred to me this was a power problem. Is the UBEC bad? 

I removed the separate UBEC circuit and resoldered the wires from the ESC (when you use an external BEC instead of the one built in on the ESC, you should/need to cut the red wire from the ESC to isolate its BEC, so I had to re-establish the red wire). The BEC on this ESC is not a linear BEC, but UBEC, with plenty of amps, so I really could have used it, so, I am. Since completing this repair, the problem is gone! Huh. We'll see tomorrow when I take her up. I'm pretty excited.

HDX 500SE with the stronger frames. 

Look at that complex set of levers! Pitch and Elevator servos.

Rebalacing... 

Perfect as is!

That's the one 4S battery I have left. I used to fly her 4S as that is the biggest battery that will fit. I plan now to series two 3S batteries for 6S voltage. (Um... that isn't actually going to work now that I think about it. They are only 2200 mAh, so they would be way to short of flights).

Curiously the CCPM wasn't quite square, the swash plate was a bit high. Did my technical standards go up? Well... One issue I can't fix is the swash pitch. She is all square now, everything's 90 deg on the cage. The most up pitch I can get is 10ish deg because the mechanism tops out, but there is plenty of room for neg pitch to almost 15 deg. How little was I getting before I lowered the swash to square it? Is this why I had her a bit unsquared? This should be fine for sport flying but I may need to bring the swashplate down more to get a more even pitch range with more up pitch.

Very nice!

I don't think I ever had the OEM canopy (is the one she came with original?), so she has this one now. I want to change it to read HDX instead of Trex. I think the tail boom is also a replacement.

No matter what she is one very nice machine!

UPDATE (6/8/20): So... HeliDirect has no manual, and no parts. I can use a lot of Trex parts, but what if I strip the main or autorotation gear? I think that is really the only parts that are specific to it, that I can't replace. What do I do, not fly it????