View Full Version : What's a good mini heli without a tail motor ?
Started three years ago with a Honey Bee FP and a Realflight G3 simulator. Nice platform for learning the basics. Then I flew a Blade CP, then a Trex 450, then I built a Logo 10. The L-10 flies so well I thought I'd never fly a micro or mini again. Well, then Helidirect had a sale on the Honey Bee King 2. Nice heli, but then I had to spend $$ on a brushless motor, decent gyro. Then it flew "almost" as well as the Logo. I say almost with reservation because, well, I still put the Logo at the top of the list.
Now Winter is coming. I won't get much flying outdoors except the odd day when temps are above freezing. Even then, flights will be short because fingers get stiff quickly. So I ordered and received a new Walkera 4#3B micro heli. Cute little thing. Flies great in the living room. After about 8 flights, I'm doing nose-in hovering and circuits in the living room. However, after only 12 or so flights, the battery or motor are failing. Flights keep getting shorter, less than 5 minutes. Yesterday I removed the motor and oiled the bushings with sewing machine oil. No help. I removed the motor a second time and gave it a good internal bath of WD-40. Helped for two flights. Last night I flew for 3 minutes before I had to land from loss of power. I remember from the other helis that small motors are fickle.... you might get a really good one and sometimes a new one is bad. So I've ordered a new motor for the rotor and tail, and three batteries. Total of $18 . Not bad. Now that I think about it, I should have ordered at least two motors each cuz it's a crapshoot.
Ok, sorry for the long post. I've been doing lots of research on micro helis this week. I've got a short list of what I'm interested in.
1) MS Hornet: X-3D and FP helicopters. I like the size, owners seem to love this heli, but how long will it be available ? Anyone have the Hornet FP heli ? FP would make it a calm wind or indoor flyer.
2) Shogun 400: V1 or V2 . The V1 seems to be shaft-driven tail. V2 is belt drive. I also like the idea of a speed 400 main motor. However, this heli is really too large for most indoor flying.
3) Maxir... but these look expensive.
AtomicFlyer
10-23-2008, 08:21 PM
... So I ordered and received a new Walkera 4#3B micro heli. Cute little thing. Flies great in the living room. After about 8 flights, I'm doing nose-in hovering and circuits in the living room. However, after only 12 or so flights, the battery or motor are failing...
This might not be quite the answer you're looking for, but why not just buy 6 extra motors for the 4#3B? My guess is that it's not the battery that is failing but just the motor.
I bought a 4#3 a few weeks back and got about 60 flights out of the first motor. I put in the first spare I had and the heli would barely lift off the ground. I put in the second spare motor I have and I'm on flight 30 or so with that motor. At $4.50 per motor, it seems like a cheap consumable item to me.
Marc
dditch66
10-31-2008, 09:58 AM
Have you guys heard of a water breakin? search on wattflyer.com for how it's done. I did this for my brushed motor for my GWS slow stick and it performed well for quite a number of flights till I eventually did a brushless upgrade. It is supposed to extend teh life of the motor, not necessarily give it more power. I'm planning to get a 4#3 (who comes up w/ these names?) for the winter. I'll do a water breakin on it.
Water break-in works well on brushed motors with brushes. It uses low voltage and low rpm to seat them properly before you really push the motor and the higher currents cause arcing.
The interesting part is, I disassembled a 4#3b motor and found no brushes, just flat copper straps for brushes. So I see no advantage to the break in, just shortened motor life.
Re: the extra motors, I did order 4 more, and so far motor # 2 is working well. However, since I received my Hirobo Quark this week, I haven't flown the Walkera.
RotorCycle
11-05-2008, 02:20 AM
The Hornet is ending production, so kits will be harder and harder to obtain.
The MaxiR base kit is down to $119, and the new Ricco (new version of MaxiR) is about $170. Much of this price drop has come from an improved Dollar-Euro exchange rate.
Did you upgrade the head on the King II?
After installing a Trex like head on my King II it flies much better. Also the heavier plastic blades make it more stable in a little wind.
My King ll was stock except for the Esky brushless motor, Phoenix 25 esc, Esky #704 gyro. It flew and hovered well, gave me confidence to try things with my Logo. Then I got on a kick to liquidate all but the Logo. I rarely had time to fly at all. When the Blade CP was flying well, it was fun. With it and the King ll, I would cut holes in the sky to the lengths I'd never attempt with my Logo 10. I'm not a 3D flyer, but I like to zip around. Hoping to learn loops and rolls on the G3 sim this Winter.
Now that Winter is approaching, I'm looking for building projects. I'm not much of an airplane builder, mostly ARF stuff or foamies. However, for some reason I enjoy building helicopters, and even the setup. So I'll look into the Ricco . The JR Parkmite is loved by it's owners, but hard to find.
Thanks for the replies.
Dusty1000
11-07-2008, 02:48 PM
This might not be quite the answer you're looking for, but why not just buy 6 extra motors for the 4#3B? My guess is that it's not the battery that is failing but just the motor.
I bought a 4#3 a few weeks back and got about 60 flights out of the first motor. I put in the first spare I had and the heli would barely lift off the ground. I put in the second spare motor I have and I'm on flight 30 or so with that motor. At $4.50 per motor, it seems like a cheap consumable item to me.
Marc
:thumbup:
Flew the Hirobo Quark outdoors today. It was very anti-climactic. There was only the slightest hint of a breeze, but it still wanted to pitch-up in FF and FFF. Maybe some adjustments to the head would help. However, it still excels at what I purchased it for: indoor flight and orientation training. I usually fly the stock batteries for 6-7 minutes, then we're both ready for a break.
Also been flying the Walkera 4#3B a lot indoors. I got the Walkera first, but the Quark is so stable that it's given me the confidence to try circles and squares with the Walkera in a 12 x 16 room. Actually, I can now do them clockwise and ccw , and nose in hovering is second-nature with either heli. Today I changed main motors again, this is the 3rd including the original. I was flying earlier and noticed I was over half-stick at less than 5 minutes, so I could see the writing on the wall. Five minutes later the new motor is installed and after a fresh charge on the battery, I was hovering and doing circuits for 5:50 and still less than half stick. Usually I stop around 5 but I lost track of time.
To me, the Quark feels like a trainer, or a larger helicopter. Even if you're a seasoned heli pilot, it gives a feeling of confidence. The Walkera, while less stable by design, is more challenging but controllable. The first few flights I called it twitchy, but not overly so.
I fly the Quark while I'm waking up with my coffee, and when I'm tired in the evenings. It's more forgiving of mistakes and slow reflexes. I fly the Walkera when I'm wide awake and up for a challenge. It's more sensitive on the controls and reacts quicker. I enjoy flying both, and alternate while the other cools off.
Because I don't have much free time to fly my outdoor helicopter, I think I've progressed more in the past three weeks than I have in the past two years. Now if I could get a chance to fly my Logo and see if all this indoor training has helped. At least it's boosted my confidence.
Just a few observations in case anyone is considering one of these small helicopters.