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| The following is a review of the Ark non-CCPM Carbon Fiber frame. First I'd like to thank Ark for providing X400Tuning with this frame for review. The stacked frame design of the Ark X400 allows the stock Aluminium sides to be replaced with carbon fiber replacements without any need for additional parts or redesign. This is exactly what Ark has done with this frame. The frame comes pre-assembled with aluminium spacers, gyro mount, motor mount and battery tray. It should be noted that these pieces are all metal to metal connections should all have loctite applied with final assembly. Assembly of this frame is no different then building a stock X400. No directions were supplied, but none should be required. You can refer to the original instruction manual if clarification is need at any step. The build process is very simple. Since everything is laid out exactly the same on the new frame, it's all just a matter of removing pieces from the old frame and putting them back in the same place on the new one. Because my servos were mounted from inside the frame the first step in the conversion was to disassemble the old frame and move those over. This frame was an early production or prototype and had holes drilled for the servos instead of the grooves found in the stock frame and currently produced carbon frames. This should allow greater flexibility in servo mounting as I found the holes to be a little off center and required drilling new ones. The frame also required some slight filing to get the servos installed. This is very quick work with a small file. |
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After fitting the servos you just need to move all of the plastic bits from the old chassis to the new. (bearing blocks, etc) I also took this opportunity to install a cnc torque lever (provided by Tedani.com) and this eliminated the slop that has always plagued the original plastic lever and gave it a solid, slippery smooth feel. The only issue I encountered during assembly was a result of the increased thickness of the carbon fiber over the stock aluminium sides. The carbon fiber is about .5 mm thicker and this makes the outside of the lower frames about 1 mm wider then stock. This only posed a problem for the motor mounting plate. Just tightening the screws into the motor mount will cause the sides to bend inward and puts additional stress on the carbon fiber. I was able to resolve this by grinding down about .5 mm from each of the 2 smaller aluminium spacers at the front of the frame. The aluminium is not as easy to file down as the carbon, but it's fairly soft stuff and only took about 2 minutes to work both pieces. |
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The final assembled product is a nice looking, although functionally identical frame from the stock X400. The stock frame is very solid and doesn't have much flex, however I have had the frames bend or twist from a crash. FLIGHT TESTING The only improvement noticeable after this upgrade was that lift off felt much smoother and there was less stick input needed to hold a steady altitude. I feel this was entirely a result of the cnc torque lever though. The only real advantage of this CF frame over the aluminum is about a 24 gram weight saving and little chance of the frame becoming bent or out of true due to a crash. Converting to a CCPM frame will have a much more dramatic effect of the performance of your heli. In conclusion, this package presents a reasonably priced, strong and good looking frame. I question the need for this upgrade as it provides no increase in handling and only a moderate weight saving over the stock frame. I would recommend anyone considering this purchase to look at the CCPM frame instead. Words & Pictures by Jeff Quayle. |
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