First heli, first crash

[CyprusDave]

Downtime? Blade mSR or better yet Blade mCP-X

[KILLzombi3z]

I was looking into those. Are they worth the price? They're about as much as a Belt but I'm green about Heli's in general.

I was looking at:

http://www.helimax-rc.com/helis/novu.../features.html

[comatosed]

That's quite an expensive little heli, my mate paid about the same for an RTF mCP X.

[wulfrun]

Originally Posted by KILLzombi3z

I was looking into those. Are they worth the price? They're about as much as a Belt but I'm green about Heli's in general.

I was looking at:

http://www.helimax-rc.com/helis/novu.../features.html

If I'm not mistaken, that's a re-badged Walkera. I have the FP equivalent and I can't fly the darn thing. The gyro is hopeless, leaving the tail twitching all over the place (despite fiddling with the gain). A friend has the same model with the same issues, so it's not an isolated case. If only the gyro would behave it'd be quite a usable heli - brushless tail/main on mine so no motor life issues. The link above is a brushed version and the main motors in particular have a reputation for a short life. I'll stand corrected if someone knows better though!

[redbird300]

Originally Posted by KILLzombi3z

What do you guys normally do in down time?

Read, learn, sim, build, mod and such. Fly another heli probably. You’ll have several of them in no time anyway, lol. It’s a major addiction.
About the Blade mCPX, IMHO it’s well worth the money, for a lot of reasons, I’m not gonna repeat them all here. The motors are brushed though, but they work well. My main motors typically wear out after a 100 to 150 flights, but they are a quick and cheap replacement. My first mCPX is at his fifth motor now, the other only has his second motor, but will need replacement soon. I take them with me on holidays, fly them indoors a lot, and even at the club field just for fun when there’s so much wind that the newbies don’t dare to get there 500s or 600s in the air anymore. Just to annoy them, in fact.

[wulfrun]

Originally Posted by KILLzombi3z

Haven't had to much flight time lately. I've been unlucky at catching the LHS at the right time to fly. I did download a different sim to practice on that has been way better than the sim that came with the BeltCp.

What do you guys normally do in down time? I'm itching really bad to fly but can't risk another crash trying to fly in the spot i was before. Sim time actually kinda flys by once i get into it tho.

Also, LiPo batteries.. I've heard mixed things about leaving them at full charge all being bad. Some say 24hrs, to couple of days. Mine have been at full charge for maybe 4 days now and i'm curious how bad it is.
I was reading you want to keep them around 50% for storage and in general when not in use to increase longevity.

Any tips?

Downtime - mSR and mSR-X

LiPos - there is information around that says you shouldn't leave them at full charge for too long and about half-charge is best for storing. Personally, my smaller LiPos live at half-charge in the fridge if it's longer-term. If I've charged bigger Lipos and then been unable to fly, I run them down using a car headlamp bulb - 15 mins for a 2200mAh 3S is about right.

[redbird300]

Originally Posted by KILLzombi3z

Also, LiPo batteries.. I've heard mixed things about leaving them at full charge all being bad. Some say 24hrs, to couple of days. Mine have been at full charge for maybe 4 days now and i'm curious how bad it is.
I was reading you want to keep them around 50% for storage and in general when not in use to increase longevity.

Any tips?

Correct !
You won't destroy them when keeping them fully charged once for a few days, but these times add up, and in the end they will last less longer.

[jperkosk]

Originally Posted by KILLzombi3z

I was looking into those. Are they worth the price? They're about as much as a Belt but I'm green about Heli's in general.

I was looking at:

http://www.helimax-rc.com/helis/novu.../features.html

Still have one. Way too twitchy to fly IMO

Originally Posted by redbird300

Correct !
You won't destroy them when keeping them fully charged once for a few days, but these times add up, and in the end they will last less longer.

There are two religious factions as far as storing Lipos goes, and the convictions are based in good part on faith since verifiable facts are few and far between. Both factions agree that that overdischarging Lipos will ruin them instantaneously and overcharging even a single cell in a Lipo can be plain disastrous, so decent balancing charger is a must.

Where factions split their ways (look up religious diaspora) is on the subject of storing the Lipos. The FP (50%) faction believes in discharging their batteries to about 50% since this is generally accepted safe storage level. The problem is it's a major PITA, it's much more handy to keep them fully charged (which is a 100%, or HP) and have them ready to fly on moment's notice. I have always belonged to HP faction, but this is mainly due to the fact that I'm lazy and not organized enough to maintain a rigorous charge-fly-monitor-discharge if necessary routine, charge-fly suits better my laziness. I also did some reading on Lipo technology, and I think the FP faction errs on the side of safety, that fully charged Lipos will not degrade as long as they're kept at relatively low room temperature, the upper limit would be somewhere between 15-20°C. The only Lipos that puffed on me were the ones left fully charged in the room that exceeded 20°C. I tried leaving the batts in sealed in Ziplock in the fridge (can't freeze them, though) with apparently good results but there isn't really enough data for any scientific conclusions so it's still a faith based belief.

[KILLzombi3z]

I've heard mixed opinions on storing batteries in the fridge. From grandparents that do it to technical school saying it's bad due to the temp that electricity is the most efficient at. And that doesn't play a role until extremes anyhow. I'll stick with not charging them after a flight until i can get a decent balancer. I wouldn't mind erring to the side of safety anyhow and due to the wife i don't see flight time being too frequent once I PCS.

Jperkosk, I was curious if they would be twitchy or not. Everyone has been telling me that the larger the heli the more stable the flight. So, it only makes sense that a little bird like that would be. Hard to fly them then? I would be troubled to buy a mSR or mSR-X to have it be crazy to control. I would want to get a little CP guy anyhow cause IMO getting a nano FP heli woud be a step backwards in learning for me. Just don't want to get a little nano CP heli and have it be almost un-flyable for me at my skill level. We all know those videos are skilled pilots!

[wulfrun]

Originally Posted by KILLzombi3z

Everyone has been telling me that the larger the heli the more stable the flight. So, it only makes sense that a little bird like that would be. Hard to fly them then? I would be troubled to buy a mSR or mSR-X to have it be crazy to control. I would want to get a little CP guy anyhow cause IMO getting a nano FP heli woud be a step backwards in learning for me. Just don't want to get a little nano CP heli and have it be almost un-flyable for me at my skill level. We all know those videos are skilled pilots!

The twitchy nature of the Walkers is down to cr*p gyros, not the small size of the heli. It's not that they're twitchy in a consistent way, the tail twitches in a totally random way! Unless they've improved a lot recently, Walkera electronics were widely slated and my experience gives me no reason to disagree.

The mSR is quite docile and easy to fly but it can still give you good practice in things like orientations. The mSR-X is an mSR on steroids and a flighty little beggar.