RE: Anyone Flying Esky V3 Lama?
Here's my story. My wife Alison got me something for Christmas that I've always wanted - a radio controlled helicopter. She did a lot of research, knowing she needed to find one that was as easy as possible to fly. And she did great, don't get me wrong. She probably found the EASIEST possible rc helicopter to fly - but again, here's my story...
First attempt - immediately after opening the box. Place it in the foyee (how do you spell that area where people first walk in to your house?). I then tell my daughter Hannah and Alison to "watch out" (foolishly thinking I could protect them from what would happen next.) I flip the biggest switch on the controller to "on" - having no idea what the other 10 switches do.
Helicopter just sits there. We then hear a bunch of clicking. Ok..., not really sure what the clicking is all about, but I'll admit, I'm pretty scared now. (I would later find out this was the computer "calibrating" itself. Still scary - I've never had a toy that could think on its own.)
With some serious trepidation at this point, I go ahead and push one of the controller sticks up. The helicopter starts spinning rapidly, gaining flight. Having no control over what could happen next, I switch the controller to "off."
This, very unfortunately, only made things worse. The helicopter went nuts. It was like a crazed animal in our house, that just so happened to have spinning blades. (Don't worry, at this point, I had already tackled Hannah and was covering her head.) It finally crashes into a wall and goes silent.
Is it dead? I warily approached and went for its life line - the battery cord. Like everything else on the helicopter, the connection was very small, but I managed to unplug it. Ahhh. Sigh of relief.
Ok - probably better to try this outdoors.
"Honey, shouldn't you read the manual first?"
"Have you seen the manual? The "help" phone number is "86-0755-82124391" - pretty sure that's not a free call. It is (no kidding), the "Wantong Building" on "Sungang Road" in what I can only believe is China.
The manual was obviously written by a Chinese person who lied on his resume that he could write anything in English. Case in point - the big bold letters on the front - "TWF Ready for your fly!" I sincerely hope not.
Other noteable quotes in the manual:
"then following the instruction which in our website and operate it correctly" - yeh, ok, sure
"throttle down again and un-plug the flight battery if you are not to start flying" - ok, that one sounds a little kinky, but ok
So, now I'm outside, plenty of room to mess things up. Alison and Hannah are safely inside the house watching out the window. Feeling pretty confident at this point I won't be killed or maimed by my new toy, I go full throttle. Probably sent it about 15 feet in the air - something, again, I would find out is not a good idea as a beginner.
As you can probably guess, it didn't stay up there very long - man, the controls are sensitive. Smack, hits the ground, and then heads back up - this time not so high. And with not as much plastic as before it hit the ground.
Slight adjustment by me on the controller and, yep, back down to smack the ground. (Meanwhile, inside the house, Hannah is quoted as saying "oooh, bumpy.").
Finally, after probably four "smack downs", the helicopter (a real trooper at this point, no longer able to gain flight, but still spinning its blades wildly), heads for the front lawn and really does a great job at trimming a good portion of it.
Alas, it falls silent. Like too many thriller movies I've seen though, it's not to be trusted that it is actually dead. I approach cautiously. Finally, I manage to get the battery cord disconnected and am able to heave a sigh of relief. Any neighbor watching right now is seriously worried about their property values falling.
Ok, let's check the damage. 3 out of 4 blades (yes, 4 blades, that is what apparently makes this thing "ready for your fly") are non recognizable. Battery carriage is completely broken. Let's head back in the house and fix things. Honey, where's the duck tape?
After duck taping the battery back on and replacing the broken blades, let's try again. This time, middle of the street. Throttle up. And we're completely out of control again. This time, we've reached an altitude of over 30 feet and just one smack down this time. Pretty cool though - plastic flew everywhere!
So I'm out of replacement parts. My flight time (yes, I'm required to keep a log) is now at 25 seconds. Repair time: 30 minutes.
On the web for new parts. $20 dollars and two weeks later, I have my new blades, landing gear, and tail (pretty much everything you can break.)
After forty five minutes of dealing with really tiny screws that disappear quite rapidly in carpeting, I have what might be something flyable. Let's give it a go.
Ok, let's be careful this time. Ease up on the throttle. Just get a little air and bring it back down. Perfect. Good job. Try again. Yep, few inches off the ground and bring it back down. We are doing good.
Let's stop while we are ahead. Turn the big switch to "off."
And the helicopter goes into full crazy mode again. Off it goes, no idea where it's headed, and, yes, plastic once attached is no longer attached.
Hmm, I'm starting to think turning the controller to "off" is not really "off" in the literal sense. Let's check out some rc helicopter forums on the web to find out.
And I quote (from someone who apparently has been into the rc flying hobby for 25 years): "turning the transmitter to "off" before disconnecting the battery can cause the helicopter to go into half or full throttle mode."
Wouldn't this be something you would have in bold letters in the manual? I double checked, there is no mention of this.
The Chinese translator did manage to mention however: "Once happen warp, you are able to correct, and this will start to show smooth flight." My a@#.