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RC helicopters is the tricky

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,235
20,019
Sleazattle
Well I've wrecked it pretty good this time. I need to order some new parts.

I changed rooms this one hs carpet. It was wicked unstable all of a sudden. I had put a new blade on it and it was all over the place. I finally got it relatively under control, and then I flew it into the ceiling.

It didn't like that. Good thing the spare parts are relatively cheap.

I really feel like an idiot. Everything I'm reading says it "so easy to fly". I'm apparently a mental defective or something because it's just all over the place.
I have a similar, non Canadian model and it is easy as hell to fly around until you point the tail in a different direction. I guess it would help if you understood the fundamentals of how a whirlychopper worked. Maybe you should check out Wikipedia.
 

Wumpus

makes avatars better
Dec 25, 2003
8,161
153
Six Shooter Junction
REally? you think I'd be doing any better in air that was not perfectly still? "oops! The wind"
Well, I didn't have such a spiffy one or such a huge house, but it was a lot easier for me outside not having to worry about things like furniture and ceilings.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
continued failboat?

i just flew my $30 helicopter into the garbage. no, literally. it had developed a case of the wobblies and was noticeably down on power. i think i got my money's worth from it tho.
 

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
I just got my replacement parts in the mail yesterday so I reassembled it last night.

I found a "swash plate leveling procedure" on an ESKY forum.....and no friggin wonder I was having so much trouble. It was TOTALLY out of whack.

So I've got it pretty good now. I'm able to get it in the air, but it still wants to drift around a little, and it will yaw on its own a bit. But just HOW good can I get it is the question. Should I expect to be able to just increase the throttle, with only one hand on the TX, and have it lift up and be rock steady in the air? (indoors of course)

I wouldn't think so, but I see these videos of guys flying them, and they seem SO stable. Makes me think I haven't finished tweeking it yet.

But I was actually able to achieve about a half dozen 15 sec, nearly controlled flights last night...and only broke one rotor blade.
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
I just got my replacement parts in the mail yesterday so I reassembled it last night.

I found a "swash plate leveling procedure" on an ESKY forum.....and no friggin wonder I was having so much trouble. It was TOTALLY out of whack.

So I've got it pretty good now. I'm able to get it in the air, but it still wants to drift around a little, and it will yaw on its own a bit. But just HOW good can I get it is the question. Should I expect to be able to just increase the throttle, with only one hand on the TX, and have it lift up and be rock steady in the air? (indoors of course)

I wouldn't think so, but I see these videos of guys flying them, and they seem SO stable. Makes me think I haven't finished tweeking it yet.

But I was actually able to achieve about a half dozen 15 sec, nearly controlled flights last night...and only broke one rotor blade.
In general, you'll never get it completely hands-off. I don't recall what kind of helicopter you have, but the motorized tail ones, in particular, are really hard to trim in yaw. As they get larger and the headspeed goes up, they get more stable. But they're always going to be pretty sensitive. It sounds like you're flying one of the smaller motorized tail ones indoors, which is really difficult, but a great way to learn without investing a ton of money.

A lot of guys use lower lift blades or trim down the stock ones to make the hovering headspeed higher, which makes for greater stability. The downside is that there's more energy if you crash. Personally I like to use things more or less as-designed.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
I play with trains. tiny little ones... i derailed 100 cars tonight. It took a 1/2 hour to get them all back on line... Complete suck fest except for the bridge I repaired with toothpicks and Elmer's glue.... Works like a champ.
 

crono35

Monkey
Feb 11, 2002
207
0
irvine
I totally thought this would have something to do with the RC penis that flew around during kasparov's speech.
 

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
DAMMIT!! I broke another part! And I didn't even crash!! I turned it really sharp and pulled up and the same time and the plastic bit snapped! I was too extreme for it.

Replacement part is $15. But freaking everything comes from Hong Kong, so by the time it arrives it's triple that......sigh. Stupid brother with his stupid presents....
 

Da Peach

Outwitted by a rodent
Jul 2, 2002
13,681
4,904
North Van
DAMMIT!! I broke another part! And I didn't even crash!! I turned it really sharp and pulled up and the same time and the plastic bit snapped! I was too extreme for it.

Replacement part is $15. But freaking everything comes from Hong Kong, so by the time it arrives it's triple that......sigh. Stupid brother with his stupid presents....
YOU SUCK!

It would have been cheaper to just buy two of the damned things...

If you didn't want it, you could have just said so, rather than smashing it into every wall in your fancy new house....jerk.
 

BigMike

BrokenbikeMike
Jul 29, 2003
8,931
0
Montgomery county MD
I will probably be getting a whirlychopper before the weekend, my buddy is going to sell me his e-flite Blade CX2. It's got all kinds of upgrades, it's pretty sweet. Maybe someday I'll be as good as this guy. (This video is SICK!)

 

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
In general, you'll never get it completely hands-off. I don't recall what kind of helicopter you have,
I missed this post somehow

Esky LAMA v3

and these are tweo replies from an RC forum that I posted in asking how stable I should expect it to be, ....I'm not quite there yet:

Your chopper should be stable enough when trimmed properly that in a 12 x 12 room the chopper will stay withing a 1' x 1' square for about 20 seconds without having to touch the cyclic.
If I don't want to do Forward Flight - but want to gently hover - I can move the weights back out again and the whole bird becomes stable again - so stable infact that I left it hovering today and just put the Tx down and went to the bathroom for a leak, washed up and when I returned - it was still doing a waist-height hover TRUE STORY!
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
I missed this post somehow

Esky LAMA v3

and these are tweo replies from an RC forum that I posted in asking how stable I should expect it to be, ....I'm not quite there yet:
Ok, so it's a coaxial heli. Those you typically can tweak to get flying pretty stable. I have a Blade CX2, which is pretty similar. I'm not sure about 20 seconds within a 1' box, but it shouldn't be darting all over the place if you take your hands off the controls. I find mine to be pretty hard to keep balanced in yaw especially, because that's down to exactly how well the two motors are matched. A computer transmitter helps a lot, but it's kind of crazy to spend $300+ on a transmitter for a $50 or so heli.
 

BigMike

BrokenbikeMike
Jul 29, 2003
8,931
0
Montgomery county MD
I just got my Blade CX2 today! I'm excited. And it's definately not a $50 heli. It's WAY better. Especially since I got it from a friend who upgraded most of the parts to aluminum. It's pretty sweet. So far I've ran 2 batteries through it, and trashed the landing gear and battery holder. I'm actually doing pretty well considering it's my first heli
 

kozzach

Chimp
Feb 16, 2009
4
0
I used to own an Esky HoneyBee II. Had tonnes of fun crashing it into the walls of various hotel rooms :)

up for a big upgrade nows it broken though. look out T-Rex 450 here i come!
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
I used to own an Esky HoneyBee II. Had tonnes of fun crashing it into the walls of various hotel rooms :)

up for a big upgrade nows it broken though. look out T-Rex 450 here i come!
Cool. I have a T-Rex 450 SE that I've assembled, but haven't put any of the electronics in (got a sudden attack of the lazy). Let us know how it goes.
 

spocomptonrider

sportin' the CROCS
Nov 30, 2007
1,412
118
spokanistan
Good luck with the TREX! I am pretty frustrated with my CX. I'm now waiting on a new "indestructible" battery holder. I've destroyed mine twice now.

And Check out what I found on Craigslist. The ultimate RC Heli!
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/for/1046859609.html
45 lb payload, gas turbine engine, fully autonomous flight! Sign me up... Oh wait 45gs... Better sell a kidney first. But the possibilities, they are endless:bonk: