View Full Version : HoneyBee4 or Falcon 40?
Don't know where to get a steel carrying case. Possibly from the link that you posted?
However, before you rush out to buy a 12v power supply, wait until the HB arrives.
After you take it out of the box, remove the styrofoam bottom piece and look on the back and there should be a 12v power supply in there and it will fit the lipo charger plug.
I just found it as I was going to throw the box away. Must if already thrown the one away from the first HB I bought :arggg: with the power supply still in it.
Mike SVOR
02-03-2008, 10:27 AM
Great thanks! and sorry about your loss of a 12 cord. :thumbdown:
I have two cords from printers that have 12v outputs, I think they'll work, thats why I haven't ordered any thankfully.
I guess that explains why none of those lipo chargers come with power supplys.
Mike SVOR
02-03-2008, 11:58 AM
Can I put the Falcon 40 canopy on my honeybee fp? (the green and white checker board one)
I don't know if the Falcon 40 canopy will fit. Looking at it it looks like it could be modified to fit. The canopy holes look like they are in a different place.
I don't fly with a canopy (yet). I made a modification so that the canopy won't fit without some more mods. See attachment.
The lipo battery is so light it's hard to get the center of gravity correct with the stock battery holder (can't move the battery forward enough). So I made a custom holder from a paint stirring stick (basla wood).
Now changing the battery and getting the balance correct only takes seconds vs. fumbling with the stock holder for a minute(s).
Mike SVOR
02-03-2008, 03:24 PM
wow, you're kidding me! They're that light?
That makes me think about getting a LOT larger lipo battery.
What is the largest you can get without going to 11 volts?
wren1702
02-03-2008, 04:39 PM
Stick with the lighter 800 ma Li-Po battery, it's been proven over and over that your HB will be happier with a lighter battery. I ran mine forever on a 1200 ma...but it flys much better on the 800.
I don't know the largest size battery. I am new to flying these big helicopters.
I started with the Air Hogs Havoc around Thanksgiving and moved up to the HB FP around Christmas.
I would follow the previous poster's advice.
Have fun with your HB FP, hope it gets there soon!!!
Good Flying!
Mike SVOR
02-03-2008, 06:03 PM
thanks guys!
Hey wren,
Did you have to mount your lipo batt the same way (way out front) to get the CG too?
wren1702
02-03-2008, 06:16 PM
Yep, you have to mount it up front for the CG to be proper.
wren1702
02-03-2008, 06:18 PM
Guess I'm going to have to get some new batteries from my HB. It's been collecting dust after going to the 600 helis. Think I'll pick up some 800 ma FlightPower batteries. When I get going again, I'll post a video.
Mike SVOR
02-04-2008, 11:42 AM
ptc, I was thinking you could mount that battery on top of the paint stick, then it'd fit in the canopy?
wren, I haven't stopped flying my saber coax 30 dollar heli. It's lasted for months with no problems yet. It lifts objects like cat toys and stuff. I get a kick out of it. I just want more control and think the hb is the way to go for power lifting and some 2D stunts. :YeaBaby:
I have been looking for all mini chopper vids, but there aren't much out there past youtube. Same old ones.
Can't wait to see your vid.
I might get video of my first hover attempts. lol
Was there a picture thread started here for mini choppers? I'd like to see some more pics.
ptc, I was thinking you could mount that battery on top of the paint stick, then it'd fit in the canopy? .... I might get video of my first hover attempts. lol
Maybe, however, the biggest issue is that the paint stick sticks out so far the canopy won't reach back to the canopy mounting rod. I haven't really looked into making it work much yet, have been to busy learning tail-in, sides-in, and the dreaded nose-in hovering.
I thought you said you are an "experienced" heli pilot?
Mike SVOR
02-04-2008, 12:43 PM
I thought you said you are an "experienced" heli pilot?
I am, it's just that every helichopper is different and i'm sure this fp will take some getting used to the way it hovers and what not.
Heres a vid of me flying back in april of last year. http://s95974389.onlinehome.us/RC%20Stuff/RC%20Helicopter/Helicopter%20movies/secondgallon.WMV
I haven't gotten anyone to video me flying recently. But I can do the standard 3D junk like inverted flying and some terrible tick tocks with my scale MD530 body.
I am, it's just that every helichopper is different and i'm sure this fp will take some getting used to the way it hovers and what not.
Heres a vid of me flying back in april of last year. http://s95974389.onlinehome.us/RC%20Stuff/RC%20Helicopter/Helicopter%20movies/secondgallon.WMV
I haven't gotten anyone to video me flying recently. But I can do the standard 3D junk like inverted flying and some terrible tick tocks with my scale MD530 body.
That is some nice flying. :noteworthy although, I thought the heli was catching fire at first when it was on the ground, but, I guess that was just the exhaust.
One thing I have noticed about the HB FP. It comes out of the box with the paddles on the flybar set to 0 degress (which is the "correct" setting from what I have read). However, it flies/hovers better/easier with 1 to 3 degrees of pitch.
With the second HB I bought I had first tried to fly with the nimh's fully charged and couldn't even get out of ground effect. Once I added some pitch to the flybar paddles, it lifted off alot easier.
I haven't done any real FF yet. Still basically learning to hover.
Mike SVOR
02-04-2008, 02:29 PM
Thanks!
That is interesting about the flybar paddle pitch. Zero pitch is what I would think is supposed to be good, but then again, it is a FP chopper and will never see inverted flight. So a degree of positive pitch should only help, right? I'll definetly keep it in mind.
I would think 1 degree would be good, maybe more.
hmmm
Mike SVOR
02-05-2008, 05:59 PM
You know, now that I think about it, having positive pitch on the paddles is probably a good thing. If you look at the paddles, they're directly under the main rotor's down thrust. Basically nullifying some of it's downward thrust by hitting a flat, 0 degree pitch paddle.
Looks like a poor design to me, but easilly fixed on these FP choppers with some positive pitch on the paddles.
Probably cant add too much pitch on the paddles with their carbon fiber rods. Might break off.
I was wondering about putting in a hollow brass tube in place of the carbon fiber flybar rod, to make it stronger.
When I first started flying I would put alot (8 - 10? degrees) of pitch in the paddles and never broke the flybar because of to much pitch. The CF rod is fairly strong. The only time it breaks is when it makes contact at the correct angle with something (the ground, a tree, wire fence, etc...).
1 degree of pitch seems to work good. I used to run 5 degrees pitch when I was first starting to learn hovering, however, now that I am slowly improving less pitch works better, but, still, if I use 0 pitch I can't lift off.
If the flybar does break, you can use one of the rods from the training gear as a replacement, although, it may need to be trimmed a bit or just run with a longer flybar. However, I assume you didn't order the training gear?
The most fragile parts (after the rotor head, center hub set & ring like push-rods if landing upside down or sideways), seem to be the mounting points on the frame for the landing gear and the landing gear itself. Once the mounting points on the frame break, its time for a new frame. Or, you can drill out the holes and put a slightly larger screw along with some loc-tite or CA in to hold it to the frame better. Now its stronger than before and then the landing gear CF rods start breaking. They can be repaired with CA and thread. First tack the broken pieces togather with CA. Wrap the thread around and then soak it in CA to make an incredibly strong bond. I read this tip on this board somewhere and it works really well. You probably already know this.
And with your skill, you probably won't be crashing it anyway. :lol:
Mike SVOR
02-06-2008, 12:31 PM
WooHoo! It got delivered!
Took it out of the box and did a quick review, then took it to the garage to use the air blower to blow off all the styrofoam off of the main gear.
At first look, one of the paddles is ~3 degrees negative pitch and one was 3 degrees positive pitch with a level swash plate. So I corrected it by making both ~2 degrees positive.
Instructions say to charge the battery by capacity of battery divided by charging current.
WTF does that mean? lol
650 mah divided by 350 mah = ~1.9 days, years, hours, months, minutes???
I'm guessing 2 hours to charge it for the first time?
WooHoo! It got delivered!
...
Instructions say to charge the battery by capacity of battery divided by charging current.
WTF
...
I'm guessing 2 hours to charge it for the first time?
Congrats!
Sorry, I have been to busy learning to fly rather than studying the mah phenomem.
I would say 2 hours should be more than enough. Or use a multi-meter and watch when the voltage stops going up.
I think I remember now, the first HB came with a charger that does not have any indicator lights, it just plugs directly into the battery. I have never used it.
I have been using another charger that has lights, can't remember where it came from though. It may have come from the Blade CP+ that I bought but have rarely flown after crashing it and breaking the tail boom and bending the main shaft.
Mike SVOR
02-06-2008, 03:01 PM
The CG is WAY off. It's tail heavy like a mo-fo.
I had to move the batt forward under the frame to level it out.
I couldn't stand waiting, so I plugged it in and did a quick 1 minute hover in my living room.
I can fly it no problem.
Had to adjust the main blade cause it was not tracking properly, but that wasn't any problem.
I'm already hating these Nimh batts.
shoulda ordered some lipos and a self timing charger.
but its pretty sweet. I love how small everything is.
cant wait to start moving those flybar weights inward. :banana
You should be able to balance it with the nimh's. Just slide the battery tray forward.
The lipos are the ones that need to be moved farther forward than the battery tray will allow.
I moved they flybar weights all the way in, flew a couple of times, then just took them off completely (after I lost one after a crash and couldn't find it).
I am seriously considering the HB King II for my next heli.
That looks like a sweet heli! :shock:
Mike SVOR
02-07-2008, 01:28 AM
It appears that they extended the tail boom to maybe reduce the work load on the tail motor, and this caused a major tail weight increase.
The battery pack can't be mounted in the factory mounts and balance the heli out. I have to move the pack almost half way under the front 'A' frame for it to balance.
I made 3 flights today and worked out the bugs in the gyro's gain screws.
I maxed out the proportion trimmer screw and the transmitter still needs some right turn trim to stay straight. This might be caused by the extended tail boom not allowing the tail blades to come into contact with the rotor's down thrust. I don't know how I'm going to fix this yet. Might have to trim off some root chord from the main blade. Don't know yet.
I balanced the tail blades.
all in all, it flys pretty sweet. I have about 45 minutes of video so far just hovering and feeling her out.
Did you know that the swash plate has a performance setting? Can't wait to try that out! :thumbup:
I had some trouble getting the trim right in the tail also when the HB's were new.
After fiddling with it I either learned what to do correctly or something "broke-in" and it will trim out nicely now with the trim tabs centered on the TX and the settings on the mixer are just about at the neutral settings.
Yes, I noticed, I moved pushrods to the longer throws on the swashplate and noticed it responds much quicker. Still am not quite ready for anything advanced like banked turns.
Mike SVOR
02-18-2008, 03:37 PM
Well, its been almost 2 weeks since it got delivered.
I haven't crashed it yet. :thumbup:
I've done some mods to the main blades. I cut the trailing edge of the blade off. (Close to the root) The part where the trailing edge curves down drastically. I felt this only added to the blades resistance cutting through the air and made the tail motor work harder.
It also added a little head speed by doing this, so it flies better when trying to lower altitude.
I've kept the paddle weights all the way out. I feel this is very important when running at lower head speed. With no paddle weight, there is hardly any control when trying to come down to land, into a head wind.
The main gear is greased with 50,000 weight silicone oil (shock oil for rc cars)
Still running on the Nimh batts and still waiting for my poly packs to be delivered.
If the poly packs weigh even less than these, i'm going to have to cut even more off the main blades to keep head speed up. (which is a good thing for the tail motor and handling)
Here's a vid of a boring dead battery hover indoors. It tends to get a lot of turbulence from the furniture at such a low altitude, but I wanted to show its stability with the clipped blades.
http://s95974389.onlinehome.us/RC%20Stuff/RC%20Helicopter/Helicopter%20movies/honeybee1.WMV
Can you post a close up of the trimmed blades? I may give that a try.
Funny thing is, the very first spare part I bought was a new set of blades and I have never broken the blades. There are some chips in them on the leading edge, so it probably wouldnt' hurt to replace them, and experiment on the old ones first.