Having owned an aluminum framed Century Predator Max 90 for almost two years now, and with my son Aeryk's flying skills improving dramatically, we have been looking for ways to improve the performance of the Predator for 3D.  The Freestyle was made available as a conversion kit, with carbon frames, new canopy, redesigned fuel tank and all the bits and pieces to put it all together. Recently Century placed some preview photos on their website to tantalize the readers with their latest offering. I snatched the photo below from those preview pics.

For $379.95 you can give your Predator a sleek new look and a nice performance improvement!

This update seems to be just what we're looking for, with a slimmer more aerodynamic profile and lighter weight, due in part to the carbon frames and also to the shorter more compact design, The Freestyle should give a nice performance boost to an already very capable family of 60 - 90 sized helicopters.

Click the "Read More" link to follow along and see
if this conversion is in the future for your Predator.

because I needed a inexpensive trainer / everyday flier for my 12 yr old son and I to learn to fly with. I own another Century helicopter, a Predator Max 90. Another son (Aeryk - 14yrs old) flies it. I do the setup, maintenance and financial support  and he does the stick banging. He's seriously into 3D, and we have spent a lot of time, money and effort getting the Predator tuned and setup to be as responsive as possible. I considered learning on the Predator for a short time, but I soon decided the two different flying  styles and their entirely unique setup requirements would be a problem. He has wanted the quickest response, and most performance, and I wanted a gentle, easy to handle (think 50 yr old reflexes), fun to fly basic heli that wouldn't break the bank if I had one of those "OH-CRAP" moments.  I'm getting along pretty well on the simulator, and I've been thinking its about time I tried the real thing. It was just about that time that an email arrived in my inbox and provided the solution. Heli-World was offering a Century Hawk Pro kit , OS32 Engine and a crash kit for the total price of $255.00. Essentially the engine was being included for free.

I was comfortable with Century's kit quality,  service and support because of the Predator. I like the design of their rotorheads, and the setup on the larger Predator has been straight forward, with no bad flying traits. I hoped this smaller kit would prove to be as solid of a performer as its larger brother.

Read on, and I'll try to give you a feel for what it takes to build the kit, and what the overall experience is like.