[hawkman]

Hi there, you can use head loaders to run the engine up and tune it....but quite honestly you are better off actually hovering the thing and watch what happens....headloaders prove the engine runs but will neve match the true loads imposed by a rotor....you will realise that.

Its suprising what can be straightened on the Century helicopters....I have unbent many a feathering shaft....a very slight imperfection will not harm your heli...I found my Hawks rotors stayed in track consistently....a badly bent feathering shaft will give out of track conditions all the time....I have even tweaked main shafts too...I used a pillar drill and a tool clamp holding a scribe to get my runout indication.

Wooden blades are just fine.....thats all people used for years and years....the glass fibre ones are a very nice price now.

The Belt drive is a nice idea....some people hate wire drives but I never ever had a problem with them....my first and second helis were wire drives...the Predator has a torque tube arrangment.

A handy tip for blade balance and track....I use yellow tape and red tape on the blades....about an inch or so back...I leave this on all the time...that way tracking can be checked any time.

Rob