Rejoining the flying crowd...

[SkyMaxx]

It has been a while since I have flown an RC...and today, while trying to acquire a truggy conversion kit for one of my MBX-5 Prospecs, I picked up an electric heli.

I have been looking at helicopters to play with for some time. Today I dropped the coin on an eFlite Blade CP Pro. Figured for the extra bucks I'd get the Pro and learn with something agile.

I know...should have bought a trainer or something along those lines. I'll just have to put some of my real life piloting skills to the test on this little bugger and see how I fare....plus it gives me another option for playing with my kids who love RCs (girls have all kinds of electric RC cars, an airplane, and every now and again show an interest in my nitros....).

So, off to put the thing together, charge it up and see what I can do with it.

-SkyMaxx

 

[Candyman]

Congrats on the heli, Sky. It's definitely a new horizon. Just take your time and get used to it and it'll be fun.

 

[Karl M]

Good luck, counter rotating has been a bit of a challenge for me but crashing is half the fun. lol


Fly Navy

 

[HeartBreak]

It's actually not that hard to learn. One of the first things you'll learn is how to hover. The hardest part of hovering is mastering the 'figure 8 jitter' on the right stick. You'll literally be seemingly-randomly jittering the stick during a hover. If you picture balancing a plate on a stick on your finger tip, that's about what the motion will be like.

After you get hovering down, the transition from forward flight to hover is actually fairly easy. Just pull the right stick the opposite from the direction the heli is flying. However, and this is a big however, you have to give a up-lift on the left stick momentarily (it's like the motions when you shift gears on a manual transmission - up on one pedal, down on the other), because the heli will momentarily lose a little downward thrust.

The other hard part is the tail. Keeping that under control while not moving the left stick up or down is the most challenging aspect of heli's.

From there, it's almost like flying a plane. If you have that fairly mastered, then a heli will be a snap for you.

All of this is from my experience; your experiences may vary. The key thing is to remember to breathe, and don't let anything else distract you.

Oh, and for the first flight or two, calm winds are the key! Any little gust can send one of these small birds flying, literally.

 

[SkyMaxx]

LOL...thanks for the well wishes.

So far, I have found the easiest thing to do is crash. Now that I have figured out the controls, I have to go back to the hobby store for my first replacement parts (a set of retaining pins, sheared the one that came with it when my heli went out of control into the side of my house...and a new spindle, bent the one that came with it in the same crash...have straightened it but think I will need a spare.)

At any rate, have determined what I need in the way of spares and am off to the hobby shop to spend more money.

Will be spending time later reading up on flight of a heli. Flying a real one is much easier than this one is appearing to be, but I think I will have more fun flying this one. If it turns out to be more fun than I can handle or afford, I will go back to flying my buggies to new heights.

-SkyMaxx

 

[FastEddy]

As you found out, Takeoff is optional, coming back to earth is mandatory.

Due to prop wash, its much easier to hover 2-3 feet up then staying close to the ground. Did you get a set of training wheels? They do help.

 

[SkyMaxx]

Haven't got training wheels, but may add them to my collection.

Right now, I am simply trying to get it off the ground in a controlled fashion. Unfortunately, the wind has picked up near my house as storms start moving in. So, I may have to wait for another day as the wind is playing havoc with the rotors while it is sitting on the ground. I expect it will only be worse airborne.

I am having fun with it, and my kids are enjoying the "show" as they refer to it. I have let them color the rotor blades with sharpies while the battery recharges and they are loving that. Glad I picked up another set of wooden ones to replace the original set when they get eaten from my poor attempts at getting aloft. I have a set of carbon fiber ones as a celebratory upgrade for the time when I have mastered the clearing of ground effect and gettin aloft without difficulty. I suspect they will remain in their bag for a while.

At any rate, I am liking my new toy very much and look forward to flying it and snapping some photos when it gets airborne. Who knows, maybe someday I'll get a nitro powered one, but for now will settle for the electric.

Any recommended hop-ups for this particular heli? I have some ideas, but want some specific direction regarding the battery pack and any other consumables (ie tie rods, bearings, etc.)

-SkyMaxx

 

[FastEddy]

There are tons of hopups you can trash while learning to fly
IMO spend your money on replacement parts.

Dont worry about taking off smoothly. Punch the throttle and Ill guarantee you it will go up. Once (Outside) your up 5-6 feet you have plenty of time to start trimming it up so its not going sidewase or doing tail spins. Once you are trimmed out, it becomes much easier..

 

[SkyMaxx]

LOL...all too true.

Looks like I will be doing just that...buying more replacements.

Took another shot at it with the winds calm. Punched the throttle and got out of ground effect. Actually had it up pretty high and flew it around a little bit. The imprompt flight ended with a rather spectacular landing. Now, I need to apply some super glue in spots and buy replacement parts for those areas that superglue won't cut it.

It was a blast until impact. Definitely requires a completely calm day to flight train on, and a bag of spare parts. Already have my list. Fortunately for me, the hobby shop opens really early on the weekends. Looks like another trip tomorrow.

In the meantime, back to superglue.

Thanks for the information and recommendations.

-SkyMaxx

 

[FastEddy]

And our government trusts you with a 20 million dollar aircraft
Good thing the USN Parts department open 24/7.

Do you have a place to fly inside?
Garage?

 

[SkyMaxx]

Based on the way this thing handled with me at the controls, I won't hazard any part of the indoors with my flying abilities, yet.

The trip to the hobby shop will be fun and I am certain it will prove costly. BUT I am having a blast with this new toy. Heck it is better than my T-Maxx was; but breaks as quickly and costs less.

 

[Nitrobuzzard]

Congrats Sky! Flying a heli is a blast!

My advice would be to get some training gear to mount on the bottom of the skids and "drive" it around a little until you get used to the controls, sensitivity, etc. Afterwards, give it a little lift, about 1-2 feet of the ground, and practice hovering it. Practice hovering tail-in first, then looking at each side, then lastly nose-in. Stay fairly close to the ground that way if you need to set it down quickly, it won't fall very far and you won't damage it as bad. After you get the hover down, make small tight ovals, 30 ft. or so, until you get used to that. Continue the ovals, getting a little farther away from you, until you feel real comfortable flying it. Remember to take baby steps with it as these little heli's will get out of sight fairly quickly so while your learning, keep it close. Once you feel real comfortable, take the training gear off.

Best of luck bud!!

-NB

 

[RevoME]

Punch the pitch, aim, and hope...
Thats how my heli career started...
Hope, aim some more, and pay for the new windshield and hood on a 2004Mercedes E-Class... thats how it ended.
Then I bought a Extra 300, and shortly thereafter my first Pitts.
They stayed in GER and here I am starting from scratch.

I can explain heli aerodynamics perfectly but will never ever attempt to fly one again other than that little lipo shithouse- ventilator my cat keeps downing. Kudos to your courage & good luck!

[According to my statement the Mercedes E Class jumped up to hit my helicopter, but I still had to pay.]

 

[SkyMaxx]

Thanks for the information. Will definitely put it to use. I just got done supergluing the body/skeleton back together. I have to replace a couple of the moving parts in the rotor assembly, and I should be good to go. In fact, if I did not have to replace anything in the rotor hub, I would be flying again tomorrow morning first thing. Instead, I'll charge the battery tonight...hit the hobby shop in the morning...and then weather and wind permitting, play with it a little more.

I think the biggest hurdle for me when I start it up again will be dealing with the responsiveness. This thing is very, very, very touchy. On my maiden flight, it zipped up to about twenty five feet and started to move away from me. I managed to stop it and got into a hover for about 15 seconds. When I tried to bring it back to the area I wanted to keep it in, the trouble started. First, I lost my head with regards to height control and reduced altitude while in forward flight and essentially drove it into the ground. Second, I lost my head with regards to cutting the throttle input near the impact and after the impact...so the little bugger flew right where I told it to and then beat itself to death at its destination.

I lost the tail skid somewhere in my yard and the rest was superglue repairable with the exception of two small parts in the rotor assembly. Pretty inexpensive for such a horrific landing.

Tomorrow will be more fun and hopefully a bit better controlled.

 

[Rolex]

It's tough to give advise on flying one of these. We all have to learn by trial and error. The first time I hovered my Century Falcon .46 for several tanks, I came home soaked with sweat, and my knees still shaking.
If you don't have the training gear, you can put some weight across the skids. This will drastically lower the CG, making it slower to respond to any inputs. It will take more power to get it off the ground, but it will be much smoother once it is airborn. This will give you extra time to react to any unexpected movements, and once it becomes second nature, start cutting back on the weights.
Also, if you have a good radio, fly on low rates.

 

[SkyMaxx]

I have the stock 6 channel the thing came with. This thing was quite literally ready to fly out of the box (didn't really need to charge the batteries that much). Since, I normally work in the world of RC cars and trucks...and don't usually play with a 6 channel...are "low rates" something specific to these stick controllers? What exactly do you mean? Now, I sound like a newb...

 

[SkyMaxx]

Bought the "training wheels" and replacement parts this morning. I could have saved myself a ton of cash had I bought the training wheels first. Anyway, they make a huge difference and I managed to run my heli this afternoon without incident. Just need to recharge the batteries and go again.

Too much fun...

 

[Karl M]

Congrats on a crash free flight, feels good don't it. Been too darned windy here to fly mine at home, I may have to wait till they pull the CH-47 out of the hangar at work and fly after hours.

Go Army

 

[Rolex]

Glad to hear you're getting it. The training gear not only lowers your CG, but also gives you a much wider platform to land with, protecting your rotor.
Low rates desensitize the controls. It takes more stick throw to achieve the same movement, making your moves less extreme. Basically it smooths out your flight, and you go to high rates for stunts and autorotations.

FLY NAVY

 

[SkyMaxx]

The wind died down this evening, and I got to run the heli again. This time I played cautious and just drove it around about an inch off the ground (enough to get the training wheels into the air) and tried to work the hover bit. Every time I got a bit more air under her, I set her down.

I do not think my controller has the "low rate" that you speak of. It has trim switches and looks to be programmable (there's a PS2 port on the back). At any rate, I am going to take things slowly and see what I can accomplish.

Am still having fun, but not spending as much to to it. No replacement parts needed and no rebuild work needed after two "flights," and I am a happy man.