Here’s the best and simplest method that a friend (Heli Pad of RC Groups) and I came up with to be able to remove the canopy off of Syma s107/s105 type helicopters. I am sure it can be adapted to many others.
The fit is snug and secure. There are no external sign that the helicopter has been modded. So it retains the nice, factory look of the heli.
Syma with Removable Canopy Mod, looking like a stock heli…well, as stock as one can get with a carbon tail boom and motor upgrade. ;)
We do this by securing each canopy screws using a piece of clear plastic. The same plastic that is found on the box the Syma comes in.
Showing the screw and the thin plastic used to keep the screw in place
Simply ream out a little hole and it fits nice and solid. Keeping both screw nice and tight in the canopy holes.
The canopy with the two screws, sticking out and ready to be click into the modified, mating post
The end result is the ability to get to easily get to the battery compartment so you can swap out depleted batteries and get your heli back in the air quicker. You can then do the Daryoon’s Plug-n-Play battery mod if you want a really clean look.
Heli Pad inquired about what to do with the nest of wires. Here’s an alternate look in the photo below, showcasing the wires neatly twisted together and tuck away to keep the space nice and tidy.
Showing the wire neatly tuck away
See this post for more photos of the Plug-n-Play Battery mod.
Anyways, here’s a video demonstrating the original removable canopy idea I came up with, follow by the final, simplified mod Heli Pad and I came up with.
And finally, a link to the RC Groups S107 forum discussion.
Hmm it look soooo much like my Swann micro lightning…(Makes me curious if they technically are the same just branded different)
I have been trying to find a body kit to make mine (the swann) look like an AH-1Z.
Got any suggestions?
The above is a Swann, which is a S107 with a S105 body. Swan is an authentic rebrand from Syma. Not sure how you can get a Viper canopy, other than to buy the helicopter with it. I believe Syma and UDI makes some.
I am interested in doing this battery upgrade. Could you tell me the dimensions of the battery as well as its make and model?
Also, do you know of any other batteries of different capacities or from different manufacturers that would fit?
Thanks.
It’s just standard eFlite/parkzone 1s lipo. Very abundant. You have to find ones that fit. I used the Turnigy 160mAh ones and they work with the S105 canopy. I hear the S107 canopy is slightly smaller, so it might not work the way you see it in the blog post. However, with a cable, it’ll work just fine.
There’s many way to make it work. But the canopy mod is very simple to do. And once you do that, you have the ability to switch out battery to keep flying. Some are using smaller capacity battery. Like a 70mAh one. This means the heli is lighter, so it flies faster and more agile.