FINALLY! We've been waiting for this heli for a long time, and they are finally shipping. Designed from the ground up for the new high powered 50 engines, the Voyager has metal frames and a metal mount for the OS 50, a very rigid design as per the JR Vigor. (Optional mount available for the IMZ/JR 50 reed valve engine).

The Voyager 50 uses 3-servo CCPM controls. For 3D work it's probably best to use digital servos on the swash. Plenty of collective and cyclic travel is available. Strange new LEX-equipped paddles are said to be powerful without being pitchy, we'll see. Kit includes NO main blades, 600mm composite blades such as the V-Blades or Mavrikk are recommended. Grips are 14mm with 4mm bolts. Gearing is optimized for 50 engines. Frame includes metal brackets for the carbon lower frame brace. Frames do not require grounding plate. The frame set is the best we have ever seen on a 50 sized heli!

The grips and tail are fully bearinged, with thrust bearings in the main grips. Swashplate is very smooth, all metal lower with molded upper ring. Elevator arm and a few others are bushed, which is somewhat surprising but they are high quality bushings and should work fine. Clutch/pinion/start shaft system has 3 bearings installed. All bearing blocks are metal. The BIG surprise to us is the glass canopy - we'd been lead to expect a gel-coated canopy ready for either paint or decals. Instead, the canopy is raw fiberglass. Nice work, but you will need to patch/prime/sand/paint. We do have an optional molded canopy in stock that fit's perfectly if you don't like to paint.

Here's Eric's Voyager 50. Couldn't wait to fly it so the raw glass canopy is still on the bench. The Venture 30 Canopy fits PERFECTLY, even the mounting posts and grommets are a complete match. Trim about 1/2 inch on the canopy bottom to clear the front struts and you are ready to rock. As shown above the heli is all stock except for the DBC header tank, slipper clutch, and a boom mounted tail servo. My Voyager has the OS 50 SXH, Mavrikk 50 muffler prototype (they are due soon and run GREAT, less than $40!) and Mavrikk 600mm blades. Gyro is the spectacular JR 5000TC with 8700G servo. After several tanks with the above setup I tossed the funny red paddles and installed the KSJ paddles on a Venture Flybar. WOW! With the stock red paddles it's a bit tame, even with the servo travels maxed out. Cyclic rate was about like an Ergo 60 - not bad, but not what the 3D guys want. With the KSJ paddles installed in the "tame" holes, the Voyager 50 flips and rolls VERY fast. I actually like the flying habits of this heli better than my previous all-time favorite, the defunct kalt Mercury 50. The Voyager has more pitch range and almost NO interaction of the cyclic controls. It's a VERY good 3D machine! Overall we feel that the Voyager 50 is a very good heli. The frame set and control feel is BY FAR the best of any 50 on the market today. This should be a low maintenance machine. It easily clears 600mm blades. The gearing is correct for the OS 50. Cooling is no problem with the molded shroud. The metal motor mount, the Vigor style clutch bell, the triple bearing start shaft setup - all are superb. And of course as with all JR helis we expect the parts support to be the best in the business. (And of course WE will be the best place to get 'em!)
Of course nothing is perfect. The tail case is fine but the 2mm bushed bellcrank pivot and single point slider are less than this heli deserves. Likewise it is annoying that the Venture 30 is half the price but has more bearings in the stock control system and it COMES with the shorter flybar and KSJ paddles! If the big price difference is for the raw glass canopy then I hope JR will dump it and put in a few more useful parts and a plastic canopy. Fuel tank capacity is skimpy and we haven't yet found a good upgrade for that. Still, the performance is there and then some. At not much under $500 you are getting the most awesome 50 frame on the market and an extremely 3D friendly 3 servo CCPM control system. (After you buy a different flybar and paddles - but that's pretty cheap). It's almost twice the price of a raptor 50 - but it's twice the helicopter. At this point the JR Voyager get's HeliProz' vote as the BEST 50 HELI available today!

		Voyager Head. Note the oversized head button - you won't have trouble hitting it with your palm. Seesaw is bearinged but mixing arms and washout arms are bushed. Main grips have radial and thrust bearings. They are designed for 4mm bolts and 14mm roots. 600mm blades are the best choice. There is more than 24 degrees of collective available with no modifications. Swash is metal outer, molded innner, all metal link balls. The head block is the same as the Ergo 46 "Hi Cyclic" unit.
	The Voyager 50 tail. The Fins are new and different looking. Nice steel TR hub, grips have dual bearings. New tail case looks better than old Ergo case but still has bushed pivot with 2mm bolt. Tail is belt driven, and there is no tail drive during autos unless you install the KSJ slipper (We did).
		Here's the main gear and the KSJ slipper clutch installed for driven tail during autos. Note that unlike the Raptor or Sceadu 50, this heli has an actual molded cooling fan shroud that directs the fans air over the cooling fins on your engine. The Clutch/start shaft system is excellent.     Below you can see the innovative, ultra rigid frame set from both sides.