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Kyosho
Caliber 30, an in-depth Review
A friend of mine buy especially the caliber 30 for shaking it,
doing hard 3D, and to avoid any regret in case of crash (he
currently own 2 futura se, long ranger, airwolf, raptor 30,
shuttle etc). 2 weeks after that I buy mine on ebay germany (new
motor never run, kit not built). This review is based on his
comments and mine (as today 23.06.2002 I only break in the motor
(35°C) but I noticed a lot of bads things which are not written
in french magazines). Overall it is a great machine.
Specifications
Length: 1095mm
Height: 408mm
Width: 190mm
Weight: 2900g
Gear ratio: 9.615 to 1 to 5.0
Main rotor: 1230mm
Tail rotor: 240mm
Engine: 30 size
Tank capacity: 340cc |
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| Bads |
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- The swashplate is taking a lot of slope, after
only 10 flights (I must admit with hard 3D),
-> I replace it with the "Correct"
metal upgrade
- If you want power for hard 3D, you NEED to invest
in 15% nitromethan, but that is common by
30''size.
- The paddles are moving and sliping (they are in 2
parts, sometimes they slipe 2 or 3mm after a
flight!!!!!!) -> I replace them with raptor 30
paddles
- The landing skids is too small (could be larger
for a newbie) and made in a hard plastic, that
can easily break in case of a loose crash, ->
I replace it with Raptor 30 landing skids after
my first crash.
- Tailboom supports are too small and their angle
is below 30°, should not be larger in order to
improve the tighteness of boom ? You can replace
them with raptor 30 or use longer one.
- Canopy is...... you know...ugly...moreover you
have no access to the motor (who
made the design of this !!!), 4 easily to loose
screw are use to maintain it in position -> I
replace mine with the raptor canopy (one of the
cheapest canopy 9$) or you can cut the original
one. It has no screen windows......
- All plastic are very very cheap, washout arms can
be bend with the finger, the same for
the arm on the carburator, screws can only be
tightened twice, no more then it becomes loose
inside the plasti frame....

- The height of the tail belt is ridiculous (4mm
height), 43% smaller than the raptor 30 (7mm
height), I hope that Kyosho test them enough,
 - Blades grips are so thin and flat, that they make
me scared... a friend say that they should
support the load...
 - The main mast is going through the whole
mechanics (very long 260 mm ! and rotor is above
canopy 150 mm above frame !), should not be so
easy to replace it and what is it's price ?
- Ridiculous swashplate in 3 parts ! with 3 philips
screws below and 4 in upper side! R I D I C U L O
U S ! this is the weak of this helicopter.
 Ridiculous
swashplate...
- 90° control is really cheap (all servos (3) are
moving in the tray guided by 4 bearings, a lot of
lateral slope), I prefer 120° CCPM.
- Philips screws everywhere in the frame....no
comment
- One of the strongest screws loctite was
used....prepare you to have a lot of fun if you
want to remove screws..
- Very small plattform for the gyro, (for the CSM
540, I cut one of the arms see pictures), under
the canopy, and in front of the heli is it not
the place where amplitude of vibrations are the
worse ???
- Very few room space left for the gyro ! the
CSM540 can not be used with the standard canopy
(see this page http://pages.infinit.net/heliweb/
)! It work only with the Raptor30 canopy.
- Only battery AAA can be used, 1100 mAh (I use
1700mAh but not mounted in line see pictures), a
CCPM system is draining more, so why allowing so
less space for battery ???
- So much slope everywhere (here and here and here)
that you do not need exponential settings...
- 2 screws are missing... hole are prepared but
empty : one in the tail rotor hub, the other in
the metal pignon beside the main spur gear.
- Plastic clutch bell standard....(but there is
already an metal upgrade....)
- Bad position of power switch, below the radio
tray far away inside the canopy.
- Paddles are made of 2 parts, this increase drag
since the are not glue together and may cause
flutter during 3D
-> replacing them with raptor 30 paddles
supress flutter. - Frame is very light, can easily break and won't
survive so many times like the raptor 30 one.
Very nice engineering !
- Fan quality is bad and inefficient. Need to be
replaced (Correct or quickUk?), some people
encountered overheating.
- The MMS mode has to much slope, the idea is nice
but the realisation is bad (4 pinion sliding in a
plastic tray),
some people (Jason www.jason.net
was the first) already made 2 shim with a coca
cola metal can to remove lateral slope of the
sliding tray.. - The starter coupler CA3018
is made of a very soft
metal, and will need to be replace very quickly
(before it get round shape and disallow to start
the engine). You can use the correct aftermarket
fan from correct or quickuk (if they release
one). - The cyclic power is good but with the main shaft
so long there is a lot of mas to rotate around
the disk so roll/flip rate is about the same or a
little better than a stock rappy 30 with similar
head speed.
- Canopy weighs also 8.4 oz (too heavy for a 30)
- The radio tray is flexing so much that it affect
the pitch, really bad.
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| Goods |
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- The machine is light, even as light as my
electric helicopter, (eRaptor 2.9 kg.)

- The design of head is directly taken from the
caliber 60 (not in metal and with a lot of
simplifications but it is a clever design),
- All upgrades parts from the M50 and caliber 60
can be used, (is it a strategy from kyosho????)
- In flights, noise is grandly reduce due to the 2
stages belt system,
- The tail head is herited from a 60'' size,
- Main blades from the raptor 30 can be reuse (4mm
nut bolt).
- The tank is really big for a 30''size, fuel level
is visible at 10 meters (color is neon blue).
- The radio installation is very clean, all cables
can be hidden in the radio tray.
- Sold with an OS32sxh and not a TT36 (which
sometimes sucks!),
- Muffler is quite good for a stock one (the one
with the raptor sucks!), tips you can drill 4
holes (4 mm) to increase power.
- Both an Electrical Mixing System (EMS in fact
CCPM 120°) and a Mechanical Mixing System (MMS)
are standard.
- Basic configuration in 30 minutes not more : a
record. In fact you need time to mount servo, fix
them etc... This is mainly due to the manual
which tell you all settings, only ATV is missing
(normal it is dependant on servo and TX pulse),
- Very long main mast, allow mass to be far below
rotor, increase stability.
- Tail servo is mounted directly on tail boom as
standard, easy maintenance and removal without
losing trim settings.
- I never see a control system which slide so
easily right out of the box. (even on high end
machine).
- Less parts, less problem, the frame and overall
design is clear and nice.
- Final assembly is simple and straightforward,
linkages are easy to adjust.
- Large cooling fan allows for use of both low
nitro and low oil fuels (as used in Europe).
- 10mm main shaft and 6mm spindle shaft (not new !
same on Raptor 30).
- Motor mount in metal stiffen the frame
and act like a radiator.
- Revolutionnary linkage, at the correct size right
out of the box.
- Very nice manual, but I would like to see it only
english and not with some cyptic japanese (sorry
but that is really disturbing when you can not
read it)
- Tail rotor has great authority - fast pirouette
rate, stops on dime.
- 47 pinions in the mechanic as standard.
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The .32 SX-H
engine
The .32 SX-H engine comes equipped
with a heavy-duty crankcase, heat sink head, conrod and
crankpin, plus a dual-needle Type 20C carb, larger front
bearing and a rear bearing with nylon retainer.
Specifications:
Displacement: 5.22cc
Bore: 19.56mm
Stroke: 17.53mm
Practical rpm: 2,000-22,000
Output: 1.2 bhp @ 18,000 rpm
Weight: 289g
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Conclusion
- YES the caliber 30 offer a level of functionnality and
capacity not ever seen in a 30''size for that price, but
what is the reliability ?, how long performances stay at
this level right out of the box ? So much parts are
cheap.... I am not dummy, I understand that is was to
reduce the price, but is it not to sell more upgrades
parts ??? only times and a full season of flight can tell
us the truth...
- It perform well on 3D, but we have some flutter
now and we are trying to fix this. Our attack plan (we
already reduce head speed and notice no improvements):
changing paddles, changing swashplate, tighten the
control system.
- As a conclusion, wait some months before buying a caliber
30 (especially if you already have a 30''size otherwise
you can go and buy a caliber), price will go down and a
lot of people will have more experience.
- I fly the caliber since 3 months now and really love it,
no or less maintenance, long flight time and reduce
noise.... I bought a second
one !
- I bought yesterday my second caliber 30 and I love it ! I
will never bought a raptor 30 anymore, on 3 raptor : 2
glow develop the woof and poof, only the eRaptor was
flying without problems. If you still want to buy a
Raptor go for the v2 not the old one.
- Be careful, a lot of parts
need to be replace in order to maintain the performance
at it's level. see the review
- Replacement parts are sometimes 2
times more expensive than raptor 30. I hope it is because
this machine is new...
- Kit price with engine in France : 463â¬/405$
without engine 320â¬
- What 30''size to buy for a beginner ?
caliber 30 (very new 2002)<- raptor 30 v2 (since 4
years out 1998)<- nexus 30 (production discontinued,
so kit, parts are really cheap, good for starting)
- Click here to jump to the caliber 30
gallery section
- Realflight addon4 has a
caliber 30 available:
 - Reflex 4.0 has also the
most realistic caliber 30 free of charge.
Lets have a look at metal upgrade parts prices from
the company Correct,
| Arms, flybar control |
30$/34,3⬠|
| Arms, mixing |
25$/28,6⬠|
| Brake, main rotor |
6$/6.9⬠|
| Swashplate |
60$/68⬠|
| Clutch bell w/pinion |
25$/28,6⬠|
| Fan |
25$/28,6⬠|
| Grips, tail rotor blades |
25$/28,6⬠|
Click here to jump to the upgrade section
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