Features intro
Anyone who is familiar with any kind of nitro Century helicopter will feel right at home with the layout of the Raven. The SE utilizes the same direct connect CCPM system that has been seen on the Raven helicopter since day one. The familiar stacked frame set is nearly identical to its Hawk brother, but with the CCPM control system comes a different radio tray.

MAIN FRAME
•COMPONENT LAYOUT: Since the Raven uses direct connect CCPM, the servos are all located in close proximity to the swashplate. Two of the cyclic servos are located on a designated servo mount on the left and right side of the frame directly in front of the swash. The elevator servo (NOTE: This is a cyclic servo, too, not just the two roll servos) is located directly behind the swash plate in a servo mount that is bolted directly to the frame. The fuel tank is molded in an unconventional shape but sits snuggly in the rear of the frames.
•DESIGN: The lower half of the four-piece stacked frame is made of aluminum while the top half of the frame is plastic. The bearings are fitted in plastic bearing blocks that are integrated into the frames.
•SWASH CONTROL: Like mentioned before, the Raven uses a direct connect 120-degree CCPM system that proves to be rather effective and simple. The direct connect design is quite easy to set up because of the absence of any bellcranks.
•CANOPY: The yellow plastic canopy needs to be cut in order for the windshield to be bolted on. The windshield comes in a smoky color and needs to have its edges cut to fit the grooves of the canopy, and bolts to the canopy using 6 self-tapping screws. The canopy is mounted on the helicopter using two rubber grommets in the back and a plastic bridge that is bolted on the bottom and hooks onto the frame.
•LANDING GEAR: The landing gear is made of two plastic struts that bolt to the frames. The skid pipes are pinned to the struts with the use of setscrews.

•DRIVE TRAIN
•ENGINE/MOTOR MOUNT: The engine mounts to a single CNC engine mount that wraps behind that back of the motor case. The mount fits between the frames and is bolted into elongated holes for mesh adjustment.
•CLUTCH/PINION: The clutch assembly is a little different on the Raven because it sits below the fan instead of above it like most other helicopters. The clutch is positioned upside down, with the clutch facing the top of the helicopter rather the bottom of the helicopter. The clutch bell has a 26t pinion gear. The bell has a ball bearing fitted into it for smooth movement.
•COOLING FAN AND SHROUD: The fan sits above the entire clutch assembly and bolts directly onto the clutch. There is a fan shroud integrated into the top half of the frame, but it doesn't reach all the way to the top of the engine. As such, there is an additional fan shroud that bolts directly below it to direct the airflow over the motor.
•MAIN GEAR: The plastic main gear is also a unique design that doesn't look anything like a conventional main gear found in most helicopters. The bottom of the main gear is hollow like sort of like an umbrella and contains teeth in the inside as well as the top.
•AUTOROTATION DRIVE: The Raven uses a completely separate counter gear assembly that meshes directly with the clutch pinion. The counter gear assembly contains a pinion pinned to the shaft, which meshes with the teeth on the inside of the main gear. When the counter gear turns the pinion turns the main gear. The one-way bearing is press fit into the main gear. The tail is constantly driven during autorotations.
•TAIL DRIVE: The torque tube is driven by a crown gear that meshes directly with the main gear. The back of the tail transmission assembly contains a plastic coupler that allows the torque tube to key into it.

ROTOR HEAD
•WASHOUT ARMS: The plastic washout arms use dual bearings and have the links pinned to them. There are no output options.
•BELL/HILLER ARMS: The plastic Bell/Hiller arms are bolted directly to the blade grips and contain two bearings and a brass spacer.
•MAIN BLADE GRIPS: The plastic blade grips contain two 13mm radial bearings and one thrust bearing. It is all tightened with a nut that is threaded onto the spindle, rather than a typical bolt.
•HEAD BLOCK: The aluminum head block is bolted to the main shaft using a single Jesus bolt. The damper system consists of two rubber o-rings that are pressed into the head block.
•PHASING: The phasing pins are pressed into a separate aluminum assembly from the head block, which allows for phasing adjustments. The phasing can be adjusted by loosening the setscrew that pins the assembly to the main shaft. The pins slide into the washout hub and there is no noticeable play.
•SWASHPLATE: The swashplate is also made of CNC-machined aluminum and has no slop of any kind. It does have a rather tight fit onto the main shaft. The anti-rotation guide is screwed to the servo mount in the front of the swash.

TAIL
•BOOM: The aluminum tail boom is 20mm in diameter and approximately 914mm in length.
•TAIL CASE: The torque tube is connected to a drive coupler on an input shaft with a plastic bevel gear pinned to it. The bevel gear meshes with another gear on the tail output shaft. The output shift is able rotate smoothly thanks to two ball bearings pressed into the plastic tail case. The two plastic tail case halves house everything with a snug fit.
•TAIL BLADE GRIPS: The plastic blade grips house three different bearings - a ball bearing, a thrust bearing, and a thin ball bearing. The thin ball bearing and the thrust bearing are located inside the blade grip while the regular ball bearing is pressed into the back of the grip. Like the head assembly, it is all tightened down using a nut rather than a bolt.
•PITCH ACTUATOR SYSTEM: The tail linkage rod is the two-piece type design that uses a connector to join the two rods. The plastic bellcrank uses two bearings for smooth movement and cups the ball on the tail pitch sleeve. The tail pitch sleeve has two bearings and a brass slider.

Testing
The Raven had no problem proving itself as a capable flyer over the years, but my main question going into testing was how well it compares to today's hottest 3D helicopters. Paired with a strong OS 50 Hyper and a set of Hitec servos, the Raven had no limiting factors in its nimbleness. We put the Raven through its paces and came to a conclusion to the lingering question stated above.

Hovering • The Raven was absolutely rock solid in a hover. Right after takeoff there was no need for any trim adjustments, as the helicopter just locked into a stable hover. Hands-free hovering was possible and it wasn't twitchy whatsoever. The helicopter didn't fight minor corrections and was able to transition to other orientations with relative ease. The wind even had a minor effect on the helicopter as it held steady and kept its ground.
Rating: 5.0

Forward Flight • The Raven continued its trend of rock solid flying in forward flight. The helicopter naturally flew its pattern with no odd tendencies and held its line. Going into turns, the Raven kept a good angle and transitioned through the turn with great speed. When flying in a straight line the Raven's nose stays pointed at the ground and shows no sign of the ugly pitching or drifting that some other helicopters suffer from. Once the Raven gets going, it practically carries itself through the circuit as the speed increases.
Rating: 5.0

Cyclic Pitch Response • Cyclic was quick, but not the fastest. It is suitable for any kind of 3D flying, but it wasn't blistering fast. During flips, the Raven keeps its line and requires minimal corrections for a clean flip. Tic-Tocs are relatively easy, but you need to emphasize your collective management in order to compensate for the little bit slower cyclic speed. Stock paddles work surprisingly well, as the heli shows very little sign of sluggishness. With the slower cyclic speed comes greater stability, which benefits the helicopter in the hovering and forward flight aspect as mentioned above. The Raven we received used an older style flybar paddle. The newer kits come with a lighter paddle that will increase the cyclic speed.
Rating: 4.0

Collective Pitch Response • The Raven was relatively slow in its collective, and it lacked the "pop" that so many pilots require in this new era of flying. It felt heavy in the air whenever you unload the collective and dipped down a bit during sudden stops. It is manageable, however, and any maneuver can be performed with the helicopter. It may not be the fastest helicopter out but it still holds it own even through all these years.
Rating: 3.5

Tail Rotor Response• The torque tube driven tail performed as expected without any problems. It remained consistent in pirouettes and stopped when needed. During backwards inverted flight the tail held steady and showed no signs of blowing out. During tail slides there was no hunting or drifting as both the tail and gyro did their jobs well.
Rating: 4.5

Autorotation Capabilities• The Raven did well during autos but with the minor increase in weight the helicopter had a tendency to bleed of head speed a little quicker than I would have liked when flaring. However, similar to many other 50 size helicopters the Raven can float for days when playing with the pitch on the way down. The Rotor Techs were a good combination with the helicopter, as they had no problem retaining their head speed.
Rating: 4.5

Post Flight Inspection • Century has proven to be a reliable brand, and with this helicopter I was able to witness this first hand. After logging several flights, there were no loose parts or anything broken. The Raven took everything I could throw at it in stride and I am happy to report that there were no failures.
Rating: 5.0

Conclusion
The Raven continues to stand the test of time and it has proven to be a good flyer even by today's standards. It may not be as quick as its competition, but it can still hold its own and is still a very capable machine. I feel this helicopter is ideal for the beginner who is looking for a cheap and stable helicopter or the sport flyer who isn't into the hardcore smack down flying style. I went into this flight check not knowing what to expect from this helicopter but was left pleasantly surprised. The Raven exceeded my expectations when it came to basic fundamental flight.

When You Open the Box
The kit comes in a plain white box with an illustrated sticker front and center. Upon opening the box, you'll find all the familiar features of any helicopter. All the parts came in labeled plastic bags and most were placed into the canopy. There was a designated area for all the long components such as the rods and the tail boom. The Raven comes with decent looking stickers, but they're somewhat of a nuisance to apply because of the shape of the canopy. The kit came with quite a bit of extra hardware such as random bolt sizes, but there wasn't a specific bag with extra hardware.

Manual and Build
The manual describes the build process for both the 30 and the 50-size helicopter so make sure you're following the right directions. It consists of both drawings and descriptions of the various assemblies. The drawings look great and you can easily complete the entire build by only using the drawings. The descriptive text is good for the areas you may get confused in to help clarify what your doing. Overall, the build went smoothly without any problems. I did find the fan shroud a pain to install, so be sure to keep your frame halves a little loose so it'll slide in a little easier.