Blade CP Pro or Esky Honey Bee CP2...

[Sgt_BF_Gunner]

I've got a T-Rex 450SE and waiting on delivery of my Raptor 50 Titan...

I still have a hankering for one of the tiny guys... A Blade CP Plus or a Honey Bee CP2. CP2 domes with a 11.1 Lipo 1300mAh!

Anyway, LHS guys say stick with the T-Rex, these little guys are too twitchy, not enough head speed, etc. I think they are pretty neat and would like to tinker with it and maybe improve my hover/flight skills.

Can you ever have too many heli's???

I think that if I can fly one of the little guys, my T-Rex will be that much easier and my Raptor will be even better.

Honey Bee is about $155 and CP Pro $249. Heck the RTF Honey Bee costs about the same as ONE good digital servo.

Are these helis toys, or a "micro" addition to a nice heli fleet?

Thanks,
Gary

[SteveTTL]

Sounds like you took my game plan. I've been learning with the Blade CP and feel that although it may be making it a slower learning process, it's making me a better student. I think it's a great mini copter. I also have the CP Pro which I plan to start using once I've gotten forward flight ?down pat?. After I get use to flying the Pro, I plan to buy the Trex, then a Raptor 50. All the pilots at the fields tell me, if you can fly the Blade, the bigger ones will be easy. Personally, I don't see anything toyish about the mini copters. Nor does the family pet dog after clipping his nose, lol.

[rocketree2000]

I started with a B-CP and spent as much in repairs as the thing cost to start with. It's a good little heli but twitchy is the right word! I picked up a Belt CP now that I'm confident with the Blade CP and what a difference, the Belt is so much easier, I think it would have been a better start.
As for the HB-CP, I bought a HB-Fixed Pitch for my daughter and found the HB parts are mostly the same and alot cheaper than E-Flite's! I'm actually replaceing my Blade CP now that it proved I need more inverted practice with a HB-CP mostly due to parts cost! Most of the parts I have and the electronics go right over to it!
As for toyish, I'll add to what was said, there is no toy in a 2000 rpm hardwood blade, while it hasn't tasted flesh, it took a nice chunk out of my wood trim in the living room! (we won't go into too much detail on that! :( )
I think these are a perfect addition to your fleet, cheap and fun but the best part flyable inside of a room your wife won't check for damage!

[HeliDan]

[quote="rocketree2000"] I picked up a Belt CP now that I'm confident with the Blade CP and what a difference,quote]

By belt CP, do you mean the mod that upgrades the blade to a belt drive tail? or is is something else? If it is, the belt made that much difference? Why would that be?

Thanx....

[wren1702]

[quote=rocketree2000] I picked up a Belt CP now that I'm confident with the Blade CP and what a difference,quote]

By belt CP, do you mean the mod that upgrades the blade to a belt drive tail? or is is something else? If it is, the belt made that much difference? Why would that be?

Thanx....

Esky has come out with a CP with a belt drive tail. Link for it at Helidirect:
http://www.helidirect.com/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=1646

Bare bones kit for $108.00

[wren1702]

Oh, forgot to add.....the tail motor driven tail is a real PIA IMHO.

[rocketree2000]

As Wren said, the Belt CP is a bad name for a really nice heli in the TREX size (I'm not saying class, it's really good but not a TREX by any means!).

I'm an ESKY fan after getting the other helis mentioned. The parts are cheaper and by mail just as quick as planning that trip to the local Hobbytown USA. I've even heard people comment the HB CP hovers easier but that my be setup and general luck at alignments.

Given a choice, I'm buying ESKY when possible, I like their products and can afford to feed the pit for my money called a heli!

btw, I posted something about the tail motor on a different forum, I cut the tail blades by 3/16 inch each, it runs the motor faster and uses less current, better lifespan for the motor! it is a PIA but I haven't invested in a brushess for the tail yet!

[HeliDan]

I am curious as to why the belt drive would be better then motor driven tail. Is it because the motor cannot spin up/down as fast as the pitch of the tail blades can be changed? Or is there something else?

Thanx.

[wren1702]

I am curious as to why the belt drive would be better then motor driven tail. Is it because the motor cannot spin up/down as fast as the pitch of the tail blades can be changed? Or is there something else?

Thanx.

You've hit the nail on the head. Pitch changes happen now, where a motor takes time to spool up and down.

[tuvix72]

Similar story here too... started with a CP2 as my first heli, quickly found out how well a CP2 and BBQ mix together :arggg: Stepped back to a coaxial for a few weeks, then a T-Rex SE and finally I can pick up my CP2 with acceptable control. I was about to order a new barebones CP2 to replace the head and some other parts that need replacing when the Belt CP caught my eye... should arrive today and I'm hoping it will make a better learning platform than the CP2. The CP2 so far has been the hardest to fly, besides it being twitchy, the motor driven tail is all over the place and needs a lot of correction (may also be the gyro...), but it has certainly stood up well to abuse...

Someone told me if I can fly the CP2 well I should be able to pick up any heli, so far they were right!

[tuvix72]

As Wren said, the Belt CP is a bad name for a really nice heli in the TREX size (I'm not saying class, it's really good but not a TREX by any means!).

Well, my belt CP arrived yesterday and she was flying by 1am this morning :mrgreen: Tell you what, I was scheptical but you really get a decent machine for so little money! She's not as stable as the T-Rex but certainly is a good representation of the kind of flying a heli of this size will do. Far more stable than the CP2 and with the exception of 2 minor issues that slipped by quality control, I can't think of a better heli to learn on for the money. We'll see how well she holds out over time, but judging on her first couple flights alone I think this is going to be the 'pick-up n' go' heli when in need of a quick fix.

I bought the $150 combo without Rx, Tx and Gyro. Added a GY240, my tranny and rx and that was it.

[wren1702]

As Wren said, the Belt CP is a bad name for a really nice heli in the TREX size (I'm not saying class, it's really good but not a TREX by any means!).

Well, my belt CP arrived yesterday and she was flying by 1am this morning :mrgreen: Tell you what, I was scheptical but you really get a decent machine for so little money! She's not as stable as the T-Rex but certainly is a good representation of the kind of flying a heli of this size will do. Far more stable than the CP2 and with the exception of 2 minor issues that slipped by quality control, I can't think of a better heli to learn on for the money. We'll see how well she holds out over time, but judging on her first couple flights alone I think this is going to be the 'pick-up n' go' heli when in need of a quick fix.

I bought the $150 combo without Rx, Tx and Gyro. Added a GY240, my tranny and rx and that was it.

What do you think about the included servos and ESC? That's not a bad deal at all. Were the sevos motor and ESC installed or just in the box?

[tuvix72]

Perhaps too early to tell how they stand up to time, but everything worked very well with no more than 2-3 hours of build time put into it. Most everything comes pre-assembled, the motor, servos, head and tail... the ESC was not installed obviously. A couple scres needed tightening and that's about it... Servo arms don't have holes to move the links in or out, they are all drilled at the outer most position. The ESC doesn't seem to have a slow start up like the T-Rex one but I'm used to spooling up slowly anyway. Swashplate movement is less than I had expected, but there was plenty of agility in flight so I won't change that just yet. I still have to give the head a close look, although my pitch curve is constant, the resulting pitch movement of the blades seems like the last 25% of throttle stick is where most of the positive pitch change occurs. The heli was a little "boppy" in hover... perhaps as a result. It was late and we just wanted to see how $150 flew and that's all we did. I'll take a closer look at everything tonight.

If you think you have separate components for so little money! That's the best part as it allowed me to use a better gyro without having to replace anything else. I was considering adding a better gyro to the CP2 but it just doesn't make sense to me any more.

[rocketree2000]

I'm glad others are happy with the Belt CP unit, for the price, wow! My Belt had a bad servo, seems the gears were stripped when it was assembled but otherwise it is a good reliable heli. The servos have reasonable speed for this type of machine, the motor and speed control run well and don't show overheating problems as of 4 hours of flight time so far. after each hour, I went over the screws and connections and only one set screw needed a tweak!

I think I might change the ESC to a phoenix not because its not a decent unit but because I like the slow spoolup you can set.

I think we should have a separate thread on the Belt CP, I'll bet there are alot of us getting them for that price and it is a good step up from a FP or CP micro.

as for the "boppy" part of hover, I use a futabe 8 channel and added a bit of rudder=> throttle mix it made it alot better. That is another reason I may switch to the phoneix ESC, in govenor mode, that should be less noticiable. I still say, the one that comes with it is pretty good and at the price, a great step up from micros!