Gallileo
Posts: 15
Joined: 4/17/2005
From: , IN, USA
Status: offline
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Hello All, Im new to RCU, but not to helis, and the Walkera 35. This may be a bit long.
I will start off by saying that the Walkera 35 IS a decent machine. It just seems that 99% of the people that purchase them have NEVER touched a heli or a fixed wing aircraft for that matter. Which is fine, at roughly $200-$250 for a 35 COMPLETE, a beginner can afford to try a heli out without blowing several thousand on a Fury etc.
This is what I call the MAACO syndrome. (I used to work for them as a painter). The MAACO syndrome is that all the MAACO's have a bad reputation for their paint jobs, but this is all the CUSTOMERS fault. Example, A customer brings a car in to have it painted for the $199 special. Their car has a bunch of dents, rust all over, peeling paint etc. For the $199 all they get is a paint job, no bodywork etc. Well when the customer picks up their car they wonder why they didnt fix the dents or rust holes. Well, this wasnt included in the package, and they were well aware of this when they brought their car. So, they take their car with its shiny blue rust and all their freinds ask where they had it painted, "MAACO" they say. So the freinds say "Oh my gosh, they really suck" and this gets spread around. When in fact MAACO done a excellent job and what they did looks awesome. But before too long no one will buy their services because of silly people that do not pay attention to what they are getting into.
To simplify that, the Walkera 35 has had so much bad rep from people that really have no clue about helis to make such comments. So, when people read them they automatically think it is junk, and it is FAR from junk, especially for the money. And people who fly larger nitro/electric helis rarely get a word in because they probaly wouldnt buy it in the first place because they all own Fury's, and they have a high and mighty "I wouldnt own that chinese crap if my life depended on it" attitude. So, most of the stuff you guys read about the Walkera 35 is probably from someone who doesnt have a clue, so dont let it settle in your brain and keep you from buying one. Im not saying all of you in this thread are clueless, this is just the general scheme of things with these helis.
Again the Walkera 35 is a very nice machine for the money.
The transmitter is pretty decent and its is surprisingly built with PRIME electronic components, some from Texas Instruments, and they are marked as such. Which is very rare with cheap electronic devices. The quality of the transmitter is just as good as any other non-computer transmitter with the same basic features, it is better in some ways.
The receiver/ESC combo is also decent. I have used better but its still worthy of the machine.
Someone said their Rx was getting hot, did you know the ESC for the motor is in there?
The Gyro is also pretty good, WAY better than some of the cheaper PIEZO gyros ive used and similar in performance to some of the big boys with the same features.
The servos on the other hand are not exceptionally good but they do the job. I would reccomend replacing them. Some of you have experienced "Twitching" when on the ground. If this is on your tail servo it is actually a function of the gyro and is perfectly normal. When its sitting still the gyro has no input from its sensors but it still trys to correct errors from noise which will always be present in an all electric heli.
The one MAJOR thing you need to look for with a new Walkera 35 is that the flybar linkages are too long and they force the upper part of the swash plate to rotate away from its operating point. These MUST be shortened. You will need to pop them off and remove the link and clip about 2-3mm off the end and fix the ball link back on with a little CA. This is the one major cause of failure, fix it BEFORE your first flight.
The only other thing that could use some attention is the tail gears. They could be better, but the reason they strip is because they are being driven directly from the motor. They get spinning at high rates and then all the sudden you throttle down, the motor stops very abruptly causing a binding situation. The tail rotor still wants to rotate due to it higher rotational velocity, but the stopped motor creates a rigid drive system, so it strips the gear. The only thing that can prevent this is to spool down SLOWLY. DO NOT watch the main blades when you spool down as they auto rotate, but the motor stops instantly. Instead, watch the tail rotor and slowly bring it down to a soft stop.
About the radio. The two pots (knobs) are for the 2 flight modes, NORMAL and STUNT or 3D(marked as 1 on the Walkera radio).
The PLT pot adjusts the pitch for NORMAL mode, the PZT pot adjust the pitch for 3D mode. Although the PLT pot still works in 3D mode too. Set the PLT pot when in NORMAL mode, then just dont mess with it when in 3D mode.
As for the vibration issues. This is due to the blades not tracking. All you need to do is spool up the heli until it is just about to take off and stand down and look at the blades form the EDGE. Using the red and blue tape on the blades see which one looks higher or lower than the other and adjust the link that connects the blade grip
for ONE of the blades to either raise or lower it to the level of the other, re-check and adjust further if needed. A half turn usually does the trick. And remember you need to do this with EVERY set of blades you put on it. Even if you only replace one of them, re-track it. This is all part of setting up a heli.
So, for those of you that the Walkera 35 is your first heli or first heli above a fixed pitch Draonfly etc. Please, Please, do not crap on it due to lack of knowledge. I really love the fact that we can buy a fully functional 3D "capable" heli at around $200 including radio system,gyro Li-Po batts etc. If the un-educated keep this up, like someone said in an earlier post, no one will buy the products and these comapnies will fall off the earth and we will no longer be able to enjoy the toys they provide us with that would normally cost an arm and a leg. At most you should have no more than $300 in a nice machine if you need to buy some parts. There are of course maintenece costs but that also applies to the high dollar helis, even more so actually.
For those of you looking to buy one, dont hesitate. It is an excellent machine for the money and CAN be flown excellently with all the standard Walkera parts for many flights if you pay attention to what the heli is doing.
One last thing, The main blades are NOT meant for 3D flight, do not do it. Walkera does not claim that it is 3Dable out of the box, just capable. You will need at least some woodies before attempting any 3D maneuvers, you can get a set for around $20. The EBayer's that claim it is RTF out of the box, are just that, "Ebayer's". They are not Walkera, so dont take it out on Walkera for the sellers stupidity.
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All Forums >> RC Helicopters >> Electric RC Helis >> Walkera Helis - Dragonfly, etc.. >> RE: Walkera DragonFly #35 CCPM Electric RC Helicopter Reviews 
RE: Walkera DragonFly #35 CCPM Electric RC Helicopter... - 
) to $10,000. 
). Buying from fellow members of this site, sounds like a good gamble to me! About 170 listed. 