Flybarless helicopters are quickly becoming the next "must-have" machine in the pilot's arsenal. The benefits of losing the flybar include (but are not limited to) fewer parts, less drag, and longer flight times, to name a few. Aside from the physical benefits, electronic flybar stabilization systems make possible unparalleled tuning capability. Mikado Model Helicopters now offers their popular Logo 400 in a flybarless kit. At $699 (which includes the VBar system), this kit is not on the inexpensive side. So with that being said, I'm as curious as the next guy to find out if all the buzz surrounding "flybarless" materializes into reality. And more importantly - is it worth the extra money?

The first (and most obvious) feature is that there is no flybar. The Logo 400, in general, has an extremely efficient design. There's a very low parts count, so it builds rather quickly. The included VBar System uses a 3-axis sensor, so a separate tail rotor gyro is not required. All components are easily accessible and the overall serviceability is outstanding. This machine is designed for flying, not wrenching.

MAIN FRAME
COMPONENT LAYOUT: All three swash servos mount vertically in the side frames. The two aileron servos are located slightly in front of the main shaft (one in each frame side) and are installed from the outside. The elevator servo mounts in the left frame side just rear of the main shaft and installs from the inside. Both frame sides have mounting provisions for a tail rotor servo; the mounting holes and bolt patterns differ between the sides in order to accommodate various size tail rotor servos.

A flush surface is provided on the top of the front frame extension. The ESC and BEC units are mounted here. The VBar's control unit and radio receiver were stacked and mounted on top of the tail boom receiver. The VBar's sensor unit was installed inside the frame on the battery tray. Included with the kit is a sensor mounting platform that corrects for the battery tray's 3-degree incline. This orients the sensor perpendicular to the main shaft, which is essential for proper VBar performance.

The motor installs from the top down on to an aluminum frame spacer. There's ample room for a large 6S battery pack on a lower battery tray; which extends the entire length of the frame and front frame extension.
DESIGN: The frame consists of four injection molded pieces: left / right halves for the main frame section and smaller left / right halves for a front frame extension. An aluminum frame spacer also serves as the motor mount and lower main shaft bearing holder. The main shaft is supported by two radial bearings; the upper bearing is supported in a separate plastic bearing block. Moldings integrated into the frame halves along with the aluminum frame spacer, upper bearing block, and tail boom receiver all function as frame spacers and build into an extremely solid structure.

SWASH CONTROL: Swash control is 120° CCPM and utilizes direct linkages from the servo to swashplate. The elevator servo and anti-rotation bracket are situated towards the rear.

CANOPY: The canopy is pre-painted fiberglass, solid white with black windshield and ready for use. Self-adhesive decals are supplied for the finishing touches. The canopy is split in the rear and installs by sliding it on from the front where a lip on the bottom slips in under the frame. It is secured in the rear with two rubber grommets that fit over plastic posts extending from the frame.

LANDING GEAR: The landing gear is constructed from two plastic struts and two aluminum skids. The skids secure to the struts with four set screws. The entire assembly attaches to the frame with four bolts and locknuts.

DRIVE TRAIN
MOTOR MOUNT: The motor installs from the top with the output shaft facing down and bolts to the front portion of the aluminum frame spacer. Two slotted mounting holes provide ample adjustment for pinion spacing.

PINION: There are no pinions supplied with the kit.

MAIN GEAR: The main gear is 200 teeth, module 0.5 and molded from plastic.

AUTOROTATION DRIVE: A metal hub assembly houses a one-way bearing and is bolted to the main gear. A very light (hollow) main shaft completes the main drive system.

TAIL DRIVE: A one-piece, molded tail rotor drive wheel has a toothed pulley for the tail drive belt on top and drive gear on bottom. It is mounted to a metal shaft supported by two radial bearings and mounts directly into the front portion of the tail boom receiver. This allows you to remove the tail boom from the frame without disturbing the belt tension.

ROTOR HEAD
WASHOUT ARMS: None

BELL/HILLER ARMS: None

MAIN BLADE GRIPS: The main blade grips are molded plastic. Each blade grip incorporates two radial and one thrust bearing. These are the standard Logo 400 blade grips, but since this is a flybarless rotor head the kit includes aluminum spacers that move the pitch arm balls further out and in-line with the main shaft.

HEADBLOCK: The head block is built up from two metal parts, a yoke and yoke shaft. The yoke shaft slips over the top of the main shaft. It is secured to the main shaft with an integrated clamp as well as a Jesus bolt. Damping is provided by four O-rings, two on each side separated by a plastic spacer.

PHASING: A swashplate follower is supplied with the kit. This is essentially an aluminum hub with integrated clamp and plastic arms and links that are dual ball bearing supported. Its main purpose is to spin the inner race of the swashplate at the same rate as the main shaft. Phasing is adjusted with this unit. The swashplate follower is positioned such that the pushrod from the swashplate to main blade grip lines up with the center of the main shaft and the arms are perpendicular with the main shaft at zero degrees main blade pitch.

SWASHPLATE: The all aluminum 120° CCPM swashplate is slop-free. The rear elevator servo attachment point's ball shaft extends out past the ball to engage a plastic anti-rotation bracket.

TAIL
BOOM: The tail boom is flat black anodized aluminum.

TAIL CASE: The tail case is made of two plastic halves. A plastic hex capturing cam attaches to the tail rotor shaft with a pin. The plastic tail drive belt pulley then slides over this cam. This entire assembly is ball bearing supported.

TAIL BLADE GRIPS: Plastic tail blade grips contain two radial and one thrust bearing. They are secured to a metal tail rotor hub with M2.5 bolts. The tail blades are attached to the grip with bolts and locknuts. The kit includes plastic tail blades.

PITCH ACUATOR SYSTEM: The tail pitch slider assembly is constructed around a brass control sleeve. A single ball extends down from a dual ball bearing supported plastic ring and engages a dual ball bearing supported bellcrank mounted to the tail rotor case. A plastic pitch plate is threaded onto the brass sleeve.

Testing
We tested the Logo 400 with the stock Vbar stabilization system and with the powerful Scorpion HK-3026-1600 motor. The Logo was also tested using a 30C battery pack and a Castle Creations Phoenix 85HV speed controller. Mikado is known for creating strong helicopters that perform with crisp tail performance and smooth, quiet gears. Will the Logo 400 continue this legacy? Let's take it out for testing and find out how this mid-class machine performs.

Hovering • Initial testing was done with a linear throttle curve and proved to be very sensitive around hovering. Once I tamed the throttle around hover in normal mode the Logo smoothed out. The stabilization system really works well during this orientation. The Logo did not even feel like it was missing a flybar. On windy days, the Logo jumped up and down a little, but nothing out of the ordinary as compared with other helicopters. The VBar actually helped out dramatically in windy conditions, keeping the cyclic under control and not allowing the helicopter to move around erratically
Rating: 4

Forward Flight • The Logo 400 is fast and nimble in forward flight. The stabilization system does a perfect job keeping the nose from ballooning or dipping during fast forward flight. The Logo also slows down very nicely and performs crisp, precise control while flying around. Flybarless helicopters have come a long way, and Mikado has several of the benchmark models in different sized helicopters. The Logo 400 is no exception and easily flies as well if not better than the other flybarless Logo helicopters.
Rating: 5

Cyclic Pitch Response • Without the restriction of the flybar, the Logo 400 cyclic is crisp and fast. The helicopter flips on axis and performs rolls very well. Rolling the helicopter in forward flight feels a bit different then a standard helicopter, but is still somewhat axial. The rate of cyclic can be adjusted to suite your needs from mild to wild. We set this Logo up somewhere in the middle and felt like it had plenty of throw to do any 3D maneuver. If you want, you can increase this value to make a helicopter that rolls as fast as your eyes can handle. All in all, the Logo 400 performed beautifully and the cyclic response was spot on. It was closely matched in performance with the best of helicopters that use flybars.
Rating: 4

Collective Pitch Response • Using the new Maniac 427mm main blades made the Logo 400 ballistic. The collective response was fast and accurate. With the unstoppable power of the Scorpion motor and the extra four millimeters of blade diameter, the Logo 400 was one of the fastest helicopters I have ever had a chance to fly. Collective pumps were to fast to see, and quick collective pops to initiate maneuvers were easily accomplished without bogging the head speed. When performing big air maneuvers, the collective was very precise and provide a smooth transition from negative to positive collective. All in all, the Logo 400 ranks up there with the best of them when it comes to collective pitch response.
Rating: 5

Tail Rotor Response• I was pleased when I found out that the Logo 400 continued its older brother's crisp precise tail rotor response. The tail held flawlessly through every maneuver that I threw at it. The VBar integrated heading lock gyro performed very well and offered consistent piro rates. The tail was able to switch directions without any hesitation or lag. The tail also had plenty of authority for fast backwards flight and blazing fast tail slides.
Rating: 5

Autorotation Capabilities• The Logo 400 is a smaller helicopter than its bigger brothers, yet bigger then a 450-sized machine. Autorotations can be accomplished with great success, but this is not its forte. Coming out of Idle-Up 2 into Throttle Hold, the helicopter retains its head speed quite nicely, but when performing an auto from Normal mode, which has a slow head speed, the Logo did not like to pick up energy to perform a nice soft landing. Overall, the Logo was average when it came to autorotations for this sized helicopter.
Rating: 3

Post Flight Inspection • One of the biggest benefits of a flybarless helicopter is the minimum amount of moving parts. The Logo held up through all the testing and rigors of 3D flight without a single problem. The landing gear held up great after a few rough landings when performing the autorotation section of the flight testing. All in all, the Logo performed without a hitch and nothing was noticed to be worn or faulty.
Rating: 5

Conclusion After flying the Logo 400 and comparing it to other helicopters in its class, I say it is one of the best flying flybarless helicopters for the buck. The excellent performance of the VBar is unmatched and the smooth, quiet gearing make this helicopter a blast to fly. Whether taking this helicopter to a quiet park or to a noisy flying field, the Logo 400 will be sure to get some heads turning while this graceful yet quick helicopter performs precise and radical maneuvers throughout a flight.

When You Open The Box
The Logo 400 is packaged well. There were no loose parts in the box. Everything is organized into numbered plastic bags. The bags are stuffed into the canopy as well as a separate compartment in the box. A self-adhesive decal sheet and construction manual completes the package. The VBar system was shipped in a separate box and contains the sensor, control unit, manual, software (on CD), and USB cable for connecting the VBar control unit to your PC.

Manual and Build
Building the Logo 400 is straightforward; nothing out of the ordinary here. The manual is mostly pictorial, with text present only where clarification is needed. Each assembly step calls out the parts required (with pictures) as well as which bag they can be found in.

It is mentioned in the manual to be careful not to deform the tail rotor's brass control sleeve when assembling. Prior to assembly, I found it to have a snug fit over the tail rotor shaft. Rather than order a replacement parts, I polished the shaft with some steel wool. Still snug, I filed the inside of the brass sleeve until it slid smoothly.

When I began to install the servos, I realized that something was wrong. The Futaba S9650 servos were too large to fit in the frames. Apparently, I had one of the earlier production kits. I also discovered that the bolts (and holes) in the main blade grips were too large for the 427mm carbon fiber blades. A quick call to ReadyHeli and I had the updated side frames and main blade grips in my hands in a matter of days. It was then that I discovered how serviceable this heli really was. Replacing the side frames took only 15 minutes!

The VBar manual, on the other hand, can use some work. It has errors, especially with respect to how the system is wired. I found that Mikado's website and the various online forums provided all the help I needed. I began the VBar setup by loading the default Logo 400 settings provided with the VBar software. You then go through setup, verifying your transmitter's control directions, channel centering, and servo directions. Then, your tail rotor servo is selected; this is important because the VBar needs to know the servo's pulse rate. Finally, you center the swash and adjust throws. Once setup is done, the operational parameters are set. I left them at the default values for the first flight. With a slight tail wag, I lowered the gyro gain until the wag stopped. That was it.