downunderdog

So, can I ask which servos, gyro, motor, and ESC you're using to get it all together for $225? I already have a DX6i, so if I use the same that you do then I should be able to come in for well under $200... Are the HXT900 servos from hobby city good enough, as I already have a bunch of them in my parts box?

funflier

My tool box is also about the same size. However my "spare parts box" for my King is a big tote box from the Post office. Hopefully with my new EXI that I am slowly putting together my way will not need so many "spares" and tuneup/maintence. Getting tired of this fly it couple hours overhaul it... fly it couple hours overhaul it.... Really getting old, shipping money to China every couple weeks.

DumbDawg

My Feedback: (3)

Fun... ROTFLMAO... Thats the K2 for yah... fly'n'fix cycle... doesn't end... Hopefully the EXI will lengthen the between cycle of fix'n and fly'n... I don't have to many parts for it... smeg I have way more parts for the K2 still in my parts bin than I have for the EXI... There are a couple trouble spots on the EXI that are cheap ixes... the flybar is soft as a noodle and the tailbox is troubles too... The tailbox I replaced after it failed with a metal box, grips and a belt for $20.00... cheap fixes for a smooth heli...

underdog... you can buy HiTec 65 servos for $20.00 a piece, a xmseller G401b gyro for $36.00 and the GL-WS2632 3500 brushless moto w/fan for $23.00.. assuming you have the Rx to go with ur 6i...

The Hitec may be the last servo's you have to buy because you can get gearsets for them and these are great servos... The gyro everyone is now talk'n about is the g401b which people are say'n holds better than the Telebee and its cheaper... Also the motor is great.. tons of power.. 350 watts of air chew'n grit... ar ar ar... Both the motor and gyro can be bought from cnchelicopter.com, the servo's can be picked up and Trex-Parts.com and I have another link if the rex parts one isn't on sale anymore... plus XHeli is having a super after christmas sale so some big deals can be got then too...

Hope this helps some... should get you fly'n well under $200... thats if you have the Rx and the Aussie dollar is low but still might get you there... happy holidaze

hydrosurf

Hey guys! I went ahead and got a heli from Xheli.com. No problems at all. Everything came in together and packaged great. It only took two days to get to me but I'm in San Diego. I got the Blue Ray 450 PE with the training landing gear. It looks really nice. I also went and bought a charger for the battery. Ended up getting the Vision Peak Ultra charger by Dynamite and it seems to be a good all around charger with A/C and DC inputs Lipo/Ni-Cd/Ni-MH capable, peak charger, current adjustment, auto trickle charge and more. It didn't come with a balancer but you can get that separately. I charged the battery and hooked it up so I could program the ESC with the tx. I set up the throttle range and then the battery type and start up mode. That was it. After hooking up the training landing gear and making sure the servos were working I began to power up and trim the heli. Finally I lifted off the ground and I am glad I put the training landing gear on because it's a bit harder to control the heli on take off, hover and landing than on the simulator. Seems like it would be easy to tip over onto the blades when you are just learning how to take off and land on the real thing. Now I'm practicing low hover and orientation.

I keep hearing about the upcoming sales for Friday and I'm wondering if I should pick up an EXI 450 so I can begin putting one together and also for when I crash the Blue Ray. Would like to think that it's not going to happen but we all know the question is not "IF" it ever happens but "WHEN" it happens.

One thing I'd like to ask is about battery packs. I'd like to get an extra 2-3 more packs to allow for more flying time. Any suggestions on what packs to get? I'd like get something for a reasonable price and with extended time. The battery that it came with only lasted about 8 minutes yesterday. Also, where can I get the batteries at? Any info on this or any more tips you can provide for this new pilot will be greatly appreciated. Thanks and Merry Christmas to all!

By the way, what type of routine maintenance should I be doing to keep the heli flying well and consistently and prevent any accidents due to improper up-keep? Thanks again!

FearDearg

i ordered a honeybee king 2 and everything came in in good time packaged well and im happy with it. and i will order from x heli again.

DumbDawg

My Feedback: (3)

Hydro.. these are the batteries I've been buy'n. cheap, free shipping.. 2200 - 30C's... Never had an ounce of trouble with them at all... supposed to be made in Japan... who knows.. I've never had any issues with them and for me thats all that counts...

http://www.ecpower.com.hk/index.php?...roducts_id=218 - $43.00 for two batteries delivered isn't bad at all... I have 6 from them...

As for maintenance... always... its a heli with tons of spinning, vibrating bits... it will shake itself to pieces if you don't go thru and tighten stuff up regular... also anything that can be loctited.. loctite... the blue non-perm... not the red...

hope this helps some...

happy christmas

buellwinkle

Bought a Lama V4 from Xheli with cheapest shipping, wow, came the next day, thanks, made my Hanukkah. Now I gotta figure out how to fly this thing. There's just too many obstcle in my house. It's like I need a gym to learn first and then I can use it in my house.

pgroom_68

Hey buellwinkle,
It is a great heli to start on. You can't really fly outside as a beginner (newbie) unless there is a VERY light wind, so think of a large room that you have access to: Your church hall, or local gym, or maybe the place you work may have a hall etc you can fly in. You really DO need a larger area to begin...then as you get better control...you can "progress" up to a loungeroom size room without ruining the blades totally - not to mention the furniture! There is a thread of this forum dedicated to "ESKY LAMA 4 THREAD" which I found REALLY helpful [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7311577/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm]here[/link] [sm=shades_smile.gif] IT IS REALLY WELL WORTH THE INVESTMENT IN TIME TO READ ALL THESE 34 PAGES - IT WILL ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS AND TIPS AND HAS GREAT LINKS TO UPGRADES/PARTS FOR YOUR LAMA 4[8D]

Peter

noobflyer01

hydro...congrats on your new heli. check out this site: http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html

it will get you started. make sure you check the screws on the heli. if you dont have a bottle of blue loc-tite GET ONE. the idea is if the screw goes into metal use blue loc-tite. screw going into plastic dont need thread locker.

stock up on feathering shaft, main gear, main shaft, blades. these are the first to go in a crash.

funflier

Think carport or parking garage for a apt. Get training gear if you do not have it yet. Also you can tie your heli down to anything heavey on for corners of the traing gear just so it only moves a few feet in each direction if your really worried about it getting away! Really! (half bricks work fine for this)
I have a patio but its not much used on windy days as our winds shift a 180 in a second where I live.

hydrosurf

Thank you guys, I appreciate the input!

noobflyer01, I finally was able to get on the site dream-models and to RADD's school. While I can already hold a "fair" hover (IMHO), I can definitely see how RADD's step by step training can be beneficial for new and maybe even for intermediate and up pilots. I will continue with the reading and try to put into practice what I've learned on the site.

Thanks for the maintenance info. I do need to get a set of tools and blue loctite. I was looking at the 15 piece tool set at Xheli.com but I'm wondering if there are better kits out there with more must-have tools for a reasonable price. Any ideas? BTW, do manufactures make it a habit to use loctite on RTF helis from the factory? If not, I should probably loctite all of the screws on my heli before it begins to fall apart.


TTYLZ!

DumbDawg

My Feedback: (3)

Manufacturers don't loctite anything... This is why when getting a heli for the first time you need to go over it and loctite everything you can... Like said, any screw going into plastic don't loctite but screws going into metal.. loctite...

As for tools... don't waste the money buy'n a whole set of cheap tools... not worth the money as they are usually to soft to use more than once or twice... Its better to just get what you need when you need it from ur local hardware or automotive shop... I haven't seen what the BluRay's feathering shafts are like... do they have a nut on the end or is it a screw that takes an allen wrench??? You probably have half the tools you need sitting around the house... Square yourself away an area where its the manly heli area and gather'n keep all ur stuff in one place... You'll be amazed at how fast you'll fill it up...

Also like said... buy plenty of spare parts like feathering shafts and flybars especially because these are the first to get bent usually... buy a few plastic bits in the head etc etc... so That after an UNfortuitous event(a crash) that ur not waiting for parts to arrive from some place... I usually buy at least two of the parts that get broken every so often and for flybar's and feathering shafts I usually buy 4 - 5 at a time, main blades (woodies) usually buy x10... ends up being cheaper... Once you are not crashing as much them you start looking at aluminum or CF upgrades...

hope this helps...

happy fly'n

funflier

Try for starters a pitch guage, Xacto knife along with 2- 1.5 mm hex (often 2 are needed for the feathering shaft removal) a 2.mm hex a 3mm hex and some angled jaw ball link pliers along with a very small phillips screw driver and a 1/8 inch flat screwdriver (Chinese likes to use cross sloted screws similar to a Phillips and a flat screw driver works well with them.
All these are common tools at any hobby shop.
You will find you buy hand tools as you go along often just to make the job at hand easier. Dremal tools along with soldering iron and jigs you can make yourself. In no time you will have drawers full of single use tools you made and bought, along with boxes of broken parts that your saving and hundreds of dollars in spare parts left over from the "old heli" you used to have...

DumbDawg

My Feedback: (3)

The important thing to remember tho is the joy you are bringing to some small heart out there... yours... lol

Plus like Fun says... that drawer of parts for the 'other' heli.... will find a use some day so no need to get rid of it just yet... but first you'll have to go thru the process like the rest of us in amassing it first... no skipping steps either...

have fun...

happy fly'n

funflier

Hahaha I just used one of my broken "0" ring links to fix my wifes "Made in China" sewing machine... She was Sooo happy, See, those old broken parts really are handy, I get a few more "Attaboys" like that and maybe I she will ignore my spending more money on my "Foolish Hobbys".

Zim-uh-tosa

Fun-Flyer, Mac-Gyver.......Interesting!?!


Z

DumbDawg

My Feedback: (3)

Wonder if he has big hair like MaGyver... lol

Zim-uh-tosa

No, he doesn't. But he impressed me on Sunday when his DX6i ceased to function and swiftly used a paperclip and the public pay phone to fly his helicopter. He didn't even have to insert coins???? Damn he is good!

Z

DumbDawg

My Feedback: (3)

woot!!! he have to wave the pole around??? I hate when these guys walk around completely prepared for near every eventuality... I mean I'd NEVER have thought of using a paper clip...

rotflmoa...

happy magyver'n

funflier

Sure had Zim fooled
It was done with mirrors...[8D]

JugMan

Sorry to interrupt. I just feel a need to give a shout out to NiTROPLANES (same as outfit as XHELI.COM, according to this thread). **THANK YOU, NITROPLANES!** GREAT service in my experience. I had read these posts, and was scared to order from XHELI, or any of their related sites. Guess what? I ordered a plane (an Extra 330L, .50 sized), and it arrived quickly, was well packed, and I was literally blown away with the quality, a very good value, indeed. But then I discovered a small tear in one of the elevators. The nature of the color scheme made it difficult to repair to a level comparable with the rest of the aircraft... This is NOT "china kote" with a "pre-printed paint scheme", nope. The aircraft is 'Glass and balsa construction, expertly (really) covered, then airbrushed by hand, then the decals are (very well) applied, and then the whole deal is clear coated (again, very smooth, almost NO orange peel visible, not a wrinkle in sight , the paint is as smooth as my Porsche, in fact. I can't complain about that finish job. So When I saw the tear in the elevator half, I was a bit bummed, and sent an e-mail note to NitroPlanes, asking if they had any spares. Guess what? I got an email response, andd they said someone would contact me. They did.Today I received a stabilizer set, complete with both elevators, they wanted to make sure that I got the right part. Bravo! I WILL buy from them again.
So, if XHELI.com is the same outfit, It's too bad that they've been flamed early in this thread.