Skookum SK-720BE Gyro + GPS 2
The SK-720 is one of the most advanced and full-featured flybarless controllers available today. It’s a professional grade flight controller, ready for beginners and professionals alike.
But more than just a flybarless system, the SK-720 is a complete 6-degree of freedom inertial flight control system. So what does that mean for you?
For 3D pilots, the SK-720 integrates the yaw and cyclic gyros, giving rock-solid piro maneuvers and tail control that benefit from knowing what the collective stick is doing. Flybarless flight gives you more power with less bogging, and a locked-in control feel that is far superior to traditional flybar flight.
For beginners or those learning 3D, the SK-720’s built-in 3-axis accelerometer means you can set it to self-level, like a coaxial heli. This feature can be turned on full time, dialed down as your skills improve, or set to bail you out at the flick of a switch. Plus, a flybarless heli has greater stability than a heli with a flybar, and with fewer parts, is easier to repair. Small 450 size helis become as stable as 90-size helis. The SK-720 will allow every new pilot’s first R/C helicopter to be flybarless.
For all pilots, the SK720’s built-in flight logging and data-plotting tools let you record and play back your flights in a simulator-like display on your PC (like a black-box recorder). Both the heli’s motion and the stick positions are displayed, letting you learn exactly where you can improve your skills – or why you crashed. The playback software can also be used as a diagnostic tool, warning you of voltage dropouts and high vibration, while marking where in the flight they occurred. The data plotting software’s free version lets you analyze your heli’s vibration spectrum to find the source of mechanical issues, and with a low-cost upgrade, you can also plot and print reports for all the critical health log data for your heli and its radio system.
For pilots flying micro-helis, the SK-720 will greatly simplify and lighten your machine. It also has a special small-heli tail gyro mode to give good holding power even on 250-size helis.
If you fly larger helis, the SK-720 can be used with an optional heavy-duty external power bus that’s good for 25 continuous amps, and helps to isolate vibration from the gyro itself. The bus allows for high voltage servos, low voltage servos, or a combination of both, and includes 16 gauge cabling to connect directly to a 2-cell lipo battery.
And if you fly multicopters, the SK-720 supports quadcopters, tricopters, hexacopters, octocopters, and more.
It even supports tandem-rotor helicopters, to fly scale Chinooks!
The PC setup software has wizards to guide you through setting up your heli in just minutes – making it easier to set up an SK-720 machine than a heli with a traditional flybar!
The setup software or optional SK-LCD terminal lets more advanced users fully tune their heli for max performance. And it’s easy to upgrade the firmware at home so you’ll benefit from any future product improvements with just a click of your mouse.
Also check out our SK-GPS accessory for precise position hold, auto-rescue, and flight logging, as well as abilities entirely new to the hobby.
SKOOKUM GPS 2
The SK-GPS2 combines altitude and position hold, and gives a “flight floor and ceiling” that works in both single rotor and multirotor helis – even inverted! Just like the SK-720 it’s paired to, the SK-GPS2 is ideal for any and all RC helicopter pilots, from absolute beginners to 3D pilots to commercial aerial photographers and videographers.
The SK-GPS2 one is designed to maximize signal reception as priority #1. It has a huge 35mm patch antenna, double filtering, is fully shielded against RFI, and uses the latest ublox GPS chipset with a 10hz update rate (vs 5 Hz for the SK-GPS1).
With its high-performance antenna, SK-GPS2 is 5 x5 x 1.5cm and 40g. On normal helis, it mounts flat on the tail boom. It will hold a lock when the heli is inverted, although most of its receive strength is upwards facing.
The SK-GPS2 sets itself apart from its competition through its versatility. It can be flown slow and smoothly, or at full smack 3D, even holding altitude and position inverted when you need it to. It can be flown on essentially any-sized collective pitch heli or quadcopter. All of this can be flown using the SK-720 and the single module, with no costly upgrades or excessive wiring with multiple modules. What’s more, the SK-GPS2 adds another level to the Sk-720’s flight logging capabilities – pilots can view recorded flights to Google Earth!
The bailout function features two modes – pilots can set the SK-GPS2 to bail their heli out when it reaches a set altitude, or to bail out before the set altitude. The SK-GPS also bails the heli out with the tail pointed towards the pilot to help with orientation after recovery.
The SK-GPS2 will also “return to home” when needed, while adding an extra level of safety by hovering 10 metres (33 feet) above the set point, allowing the pilot to safely land the heli without risk to bystanders.
Using the SK-GPS2 is easy, and uses only one channel from your receiver – all you need is a transmitter with at least one 2 or 3 position switch and a free channel. You can use up to two two switches, and each switch can use two of any mode below:
* Position Hold
* Altitude Hold Only
* Rescue Now
* Rescue Hard Floor (auto rescue if it goes below a set altitude)
* Rescue Soft Floor (rescue to prevent it from going below a set altitude)
* Lock Grid (control position on a grid)
* Lock Radial (circle around, away, or towards a point)
* Lock Point (same as Lock Radial, but nose always points in)
* Return Home (up to two home positions / waypoints can be set)
The SK-GPS2 connects directly to any existing SK-720 via the included single 4-pin cable. The SK-GPS2 also features a second 4-pin port for future accessories.
