sixtoes1313

My Feedback: (7)

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Just bought an Axe cp from a local guy and I tryed to fly it today. Ive driven atleast 10 different land based R/C cars from an HPI pro 4 to a savage .25 But this is my first air venture. Needless to say I bought the chopper NIB and started playing with it today. I put on the safety bumpers and went at it. Charged the batteries/checked blade tension and such, then went to practice in the yard. I had a bunch of trouble staying in control of it. The grass didnt want to let the rear rotor spin and caused lift off problems. Once I got it in the air for a bit i ended up crashing and knocking the blades out of place. I re-adjusted and set up but it didnt seen to fly the same after that. I eventually took two small chunks out of the ends of blades which caused it to be really bad(I guess any imperfection throws off control a lot) from that point it was just unflyable and I broke the rear rotor also. So now im quite discouraged and have not 1 blade in flyable condition. The LHS only carries stuff for the Blade cp series so Ill see what I can find there. Ill try using the blades main blades and see what kind of rotors they have. I may order like 5 rear rotors, and the plastic main blades. Any other hints/ tips? Also whats the cheapest pack I can throw into this thing to get more battery life?

nothinbetr2do

get you a good sim, helis are really hard to fly(as you have seen). and then practice until your bored, then practice some more

s_mcflurry

Expect the first handful (or even a month) of just skidding around on the ground. Your early "flights" will consist of making the helicopter light, just so that you can get used to throttle and yaw and pitch controls. Because of this, try to fly on solid ground if you can, such as your driveway or the street in front of your house. When it's near the ground like this, it'll have a tendency to drift left because of the force of the tail rotor. Also, once you do get it off the ground, you'll be experiencing some instability because of the turbulence the helicopter is creating for itself; this will much less of a factor at 2 or 3 feet and up. Following [link=http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html]Radd's School of Rotary Flight[/link] will get you into a stable hover in no time.

As for batteries, I bought [link=http://cgi.ebay.com/ESKY-LIPO-BALANCE-CHARGER-AND-11-1V-LIPO-BATTERY_W0QQitemZ270152611587QQihZ017QQcategoryZ25 63QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem]this package[/link] off eBay and it's been great (and the price is hard to beat). I'm still learning nose-in hover and they're great for my skill level. Expect around 8 to 10 minutes of solid flight on a full charge. Note that if you do decide on the eSky batteries, you'll need to also buy something like [link=http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/625072.asp]this[/link], since they have a JST connector and not a micro Deans connector that the Axe requires. However, if you expect to stay with the hobby, you may want to make an early full-time investment and purchase Thunder Power LiPos, which cost a bit more.

Rotor13B

Your tale sounds like the typical first time pilots adventure. The good news is that your not doing any worse than the average learner so just be patient and soon you'll be in a hover in no time. As far as the head wobble goes the mainshaft is pretty weak as it is made out of aluminum so it bends easily. Even just a slight blade scrap is enough to put a slight warp in the shaft. Take off your blades and spin it up with just the flybar and look down at the head and see if it's out of balance. Make sure the flybar paddles are on all the way and equal distance from the flybar carrier. Also make sure the paddles are level with the ground.

Anytime you upset the balance of the blades you are introducing wobble to the head because of the imbalance. If just the covering is missing you can either CA or scotch tape the ends providing you balance the blades afterwards. This will help you get more flight time out of slightly damaged blades and keep the learning curve less steep instead of waiting for replacements. If you check around Ebay or Tower Hobbies you can get plastic trainer blades for the Axe. They are pretty durable so they should last awhile. One other thing, The Blade Cp tail rotor blades are pretty much a direct fit for the Axe and at 2 bucks a piece you can buy a few to throw in the field box.

alienteabagger

ALso if your LHS only has blades for the BladeCP, you can use those as replacements until you get some for the Axe. Blade rotors are shorter but they work. You will have to remove part of the cap covering the end of the blade to make them fit in the blade grip. They are a bit shorter than stock but they fly great.

sixtoes1313

My Feedback: (7)

Alright guys, thanks a lot for the info so far. I will deffinently be following radds instructions even though they seem very long/boring. Im sure he knows what hes doing...welll. a lot more so than me. heh. Ill go and buy the blade cp blades/rotor and see how they work.

Revo_Rash

I read that artical that Radd did. He's very right. I've been hopping and hovering for a couple days now. and it seems like very good advise to get the "feel" if the sticks. I've had experience with airplanes before so I kind of knew that "small movement" makes a BIG difference in the heli. but I think that by him teaching control as a first priority is a must for any beginner. I will be using this guide to further help me learn control and confidence. I'm hoping within a few days I'll be able to remove the training gear. but even taking the gear off I know that this will change the flight characteristics massivily. My biggest concern at this point is landing on the skids.

strat1960s

I've had my share of crashes. I've only had my heli a month and I've dropped almost the cost of the heli into parts and more that the cost if you include the shipping. I've been able to get the heli about 1 foot off the ground on the last couple of flights. Still not able to hover in a small area, but getting better. Like anything else that requires skill and coordination, it takes time. Be patient and enjoy the skills as you learn them.

Ted

sixtoes1313

My Feedback: (7)

Well Ive been studying Radds guide and mentally preparing for what to do, but now I just realized that my copter has a bent drive shaft [:'(][&:][:@] Must have messed up pretty good. Oh well, add it to the list on tower.
so far-
Drive shaft
Plastic training blades
5 tail rotors
Some luck/skill would be nice. heh. I hope to be smarter about this next time.

Rotor13B

When you take out the mainshaft pay close attention where all the bushings/bearings go. As a final check if you haven't done so, Remove everthing off the top of the mainshaft to be sure it is really bent. Sometimes the plastic parts on top can become warped and also cause vibration.