Which indoor heli is the best...?  
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Tower Hobbies
Enter up to 4 keywords or Tower stock numbers
Logged in as Guest



Users viewing this topic: none
  Printable Version
       

All Forums >> RC Helicopters >> Electric RC Helis >> Which indoor heli is the best...?
Page: [1] 2   next >   >>  

Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
Which indoor heli is the best...? - 3/10/2003 5:11:44 PM   
Ragz



Posts: 1648
Joined: 12/6/2001
From: Nagpur, INDIA
Status: offline 		Is it the picollo Pro or the MS hornet CP or any other brand? I can fly helis and I need a solid micro electric heli that can do everything in the book.

Thanks,
Anurag
       Post #: 1

Which indoor heli is the best...? - 8/14/2003 6:39:40 PM   
naimad


 

Posts: 16
Joined: 8/14/2003
From: Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Hi,

Im new to Heli's, and have never owned one before, I too am looking to see what the best indoor heli would be, so far, I have my eyes set on the Smatech SkyLark [url]www.rc-skylark.com[/url] is this a good beginners heli. they also do an optimized version called the "Aero - Hawk" which is faster and lighter, which may be better for you, but it is not as strong, so its proberly not the one for me yet. )

So Unless anyone says any different here, I will be buying the SkyLark at the end of August, so please let us all know...

Cheers,

Damian (naimad backwards - Damian had gone already)

(in reply to Ragz)
       Post #: 2

Which indoor heli is the best...? - 8/14/2003 7:24:22 PM   
Wright Flyer



Posts: 485
Joined: 9/10/2002
From: Finchingfield, Essex, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Anurag,

Well as you obviously want CP rather than FP I think you've listed the only two obvious choices. I think the Pic Pro might have a slight edge over the Hornet but a lot of people prefer the "real" tail of a Hornet.

Damian,

If I were you I'd switch my sights to the Century Hummingbird as a first micro. There's far more positive reports about the HB than any other entry level micro and spare parts and hop-ups are easily available. Having said that, micros aren't necessarily the best "first heli" cos they are so light and unstable. An LMH Corona 120 makes a much better entry point to the hobby.

Cliff

(in reply to Ragz)
       Post #: 3

Which indoor heli is the best...? - 8/15/2003 11:50:13 AM   
astronut30



Posts: 502
Joined: 11/4/2002
From: Honolulu, HI, USA
Status: offline 		I agree that the corona is an awesome heli to learn on for many reasons, I'm very glad I went that route, I got a Feda about a week before I got the Corona when I first started and my learning was accelerated probably at least 5 times with the Corona...

As far as a micro, which is always great to have for obvious reasons, I haven't yet tried out a cp one but I know that the hornet has the highest headspeeds of them all making it more dangerous for indoors, well for us people that doesn't have mansions anyway. lol. I've also read a lot of reviews about the tough task of taming the tail and it's more fragile due to the extra parts.

Fp is definitely the way to go for indoors and it's a lot more crash friendly, something that is much needed while learning. Having owned a Feda, Piccolo and just got myself a hummingbird, they fly very simlarly, I like the better design of the hummingbird/Feda head assembly which makes it more durable and require a couple of less hop ups in my opinion which are must haves on a piccolo ie. stock hub throws bearings in crashes and the anti rotation link is very flimsy, both of those not a concern on the hummingbird... Other than that, durability in my experiences with both of them is about the same.

You can also upgrade the hummingbird with the hornet ccpm cp kit later which will allow you to get into 3D and enjoy the benefits of cp when your skills progress. Helihobby has a nice step by step article on their site.

I'd say go hummingbird, I'm very happy with mine. My second choice would be the Piccolo which you could also upgrade to cp later...


_____________________________

--aloha-- Chad
-

(in reply to Ragz)
       Post #: 4

Which indoor heli is the best...? - 8/15/2003 8:17:38 PM   
naimad


 

Posts: 16
Joined: 8/14/2003
From: Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Right,

The hummingbird it is then, after a look, I think it looks the best and most hard wareing of the bunch.

Thanks for all your help, and wish me luck. Will let you know what i think after trying it...

Cheers,

Damian.

(in reply to Ragz)
       Post #: 5

Which indoor heli is the best...? - 9/1/2003 12:15:37 PM   
naimad


 

Posts: 16
Joined: 8/14/2003
From: Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Hi all, well I got my Hummingbird the other day...

the first thing i noticed is that you have to connect all the electrics (which i knew) but the manual, is useless, as all the pictures are of different versions of things that dont even look the same, and the manual does not even tell you where all the wires go, and on top of that the instructions are in black and white, so its even hard to guess...

Well I did my best and just put the wires where i thought they should go...

Unfortunatly... they were in the wrong places... the right stick and left stick cotrols were in the worng way round, so on connecting the battery, the motor went strait to 50% while i was still trying to hold it, it got my arm a few times and then crashed, and broke the tail rotor, and mst of the frame work fell apart too...

I managed to glue the tail rotor back on for now and the frame did go back together, i was gutted, £250.00 and six hours later, i had a pile of bits and a bleeding arm...

I decided to be a bit smarter the next time, and removed all the rotors, so it could not do much damage...

After much messing around, I finally got the wires in the right places, and also noiced that not one peice of paperwork said that all the channles in the controller had to be reversed for the controls to be the right way round... Mad

its starting to come together now...

I have taken off few times, just need to play with the trimms on the controler i think to stop it drifting... and bend the blades so they follow the same path, to stop it vibrating before it takes off...

I must say that after my little trauma, i have forgiven it, as its so cool when you get it right, and it does take off. and it does nnot brake the main rotors when nyou hit things with it, I have hit the table legs a few times, and it just turns the single rotor, so it just needs to be pulled strait again.

Im loving it, and recommed the heli, if not the manual... if any one needs any help in getting the wires in the right place the first time round, just ask me, i have the kowlede now, and the war wounds... I have since labeled all the wires, and took the whole thing apart to reposition all the bits, if you put all the things where they say the canopy dont fit on...

Anyway so far so good. I might setup my website to help the beginner with this heli, i know i could have done with it...

But im glad i got it and will keep you all posted...

(in reply to Ragz)
       Post #: 6

Which indoor heli is the best...? - 9/1/2003 6:42:05 PM   
SpeedTriple


 

Posts: 41
Joined: 8/19/2003
From: Bath, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		The bad manual thing sucks.
You kinda expect it if it's from a company in Taiwan and the manual has been translated, but Century is an American company, there is simply no excuse for it.
I hope you emailed them telling them exactly what you thought of the manual.....

I'm gonna buy one is a couple of weeks so I might be bugging you for a while for help on putting it together

Rich.

(in reply to Ragz)
       Post #: 7

Which indoor heli is the best...? - 9/2/2003 1:45:14 AM   
naimad


 

Posts: 16
Joined: 8/14/2003
From: Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Day 3...

Trying to learn to take off, but heli keeps drifting off... also get a lot of vibration with the training gear on, so i removed it, but still got the same problem...

Looking at the blades going round, and it looks like there are two instead of one, tracking i belive, so i tried to bend the higher one down(as sugested in the manual(well the photocopied peice of paper)), (a bit to much i think), and the blade snapped off next to the main shaft... DOH... im breaking bits without even flying it now...

So just been oline to order a new tail rotor and a set of main rotors...

I still have no idea if the paddles on the fly bar are at the right angle, and do not know how to find where they should be.

But cant do much now till the new parts come in. The saga continues...

I know it will be worth the effort, WHEN it works right.

Damian.
------------------------------------------
SpeedTriple

I will write down how the wires should go, and post the text here over the next few days, then may take some photos and either post them here or create a basic web page for all the other people who cant make head or tail of the manual.

(in reply to Ragz)
       Post #: 8

Which indoor heli is the best...? - 9/2/2003 1:51:20 AM   
SpeedTriple


 

Posts: 41
Joined: 8/19/2003
From: Bath, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Damian,
Sounds like your experience has not been a good one so far....
I unexpectedly got £3000 today, yey....
Off to the local heli shop tomorrow for my humming bird, I might be bugging you sooner than I expected.
I am a electronics engineer so I would hope to be able to get the connections right, we shall see.
I'm also working on a hover training aid for electric micro helis, that's one of the reasons I'm buying it, will let you know how I get on.

BTW, I doubt very much if the training gear would cause the vibrations, you have something out of balance somewhere, I'm going to buy a crash kit with mine in anticipation.

Expect a post at about 11:00am GMT with my trials and tribulations.

Rich.

(in reply to Ragz)
       Post #: 9

Which indoor heli is the best...? - 9/2/2003 11:11:02 PM   
SpeedTriple


 

Posts: 41
Joined: 8/19/2003
From: Bath, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		Well I got mine, Damian not that I doubted what you were saying but the manual truely is crap.
The radio gear that is supplied simply won't fit where they tell you to put it.
Have that part sorted now.
Speed controller and RX on the left side and gyro mounted at the rear, installation looks quite neat now.
My experience was very similar to yours, I have some sort of radio issue, don't know if it's my TX or the RX board but every now and then the servos go mad and the motor sticks on 100% throttle, not what you want indoors at all.
Broke my first set of main blades, fitted the spare set and now I have terrible vibrations as you did.
Anyone have any idea why this servo jitter would happen, TX is old and very basic but it works solidly on my Kalt, no servo jitter at all...

Looking from the side it also appears to have two blades meaning they are tracking differently, having already broken one set I don't want to do what you did and snap another set.

If there's anyone else out there who has an humming bird or anyone who can give further advice, Damian and I are all ears :-)

Waiting for the battery to recharge at the moment, then will give it another go.

Rich.

(in reply to Ragz)
       Post #: 10

Which indoor heli is the best...? - 9/2/2003 11:49:49 PM   
davidjacob


 

Posts: 24
Joined: 6/30/2003
From: Bensalem, PA, USA
Status: offline 		I have been thinking about getting a micro heli, people been saying in other posts to get a humming bird, but from what you guys are saying it sounds like crap. and alot of headaches. I think ill stick with my full size or maybe even get a piccolo now

Dave


_____________________________

Hirobo Shuttle Challange (current Bird)
Hirobo Shuttle ZXX (not running)

(in reply to Ragz)
       Post #: 11

Which indoor heli is the best...? - 9/2/2003 11:58:48 PM   
SpeedTriple


 

Posts: 41
Joined: 8/19/2003
From: Bath, UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline 		I think the product itself is probably exactly what you'd expect from something this size, it is minimal engineering, the bit I am pi$$ed about is the documentation, that really is very poor.
The vibrations I have are so bad that it will never fly like it is, yet the "manual" has nothing about vibration at all, no mention of how to balance the strange shaped blades.

Having said that, I don't regret buying it..... YET.

It's not cheap in the UK, £250 (400USD) without TX

I didn't have much more success with my Kalt Enforcer, but then I didn't have a manual at all with that, a steep learning curve.

The big bore is waiting for the battery to recharge to make any adjustments, not that anything is adjustable, but you know what I mean...

Will contact Century later to see what they have to say.

Rich.

(in reply to Ragz)
       Post #: 12

Which indoor heli is the best...? - 9/3/2003 12:23:10 AM   
astronut30



Posts: 502
Joined: 11/4/2002
From: Honolulu, HI, USA
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by davidjacob
I have been thinking about getting a micro heli, people been saying in other posts to get a humming bird, but from what you guys are saying it sounds like crap. and alot of headaches. I think ill stick with my full size or maybe even get a piccolo now

Dave [/QUOTE]

If you're already experienced and know how to fly the bigger birds, you'll pick it up quick, they're very fun and very durable. Even though you do know how to fly the bigger birds though it will still take some practice but you will pick it up quick. Once you get things sorted out a bit, it's just plug and fly with no hassles, very convenient...

The Hummingbird has a more durable head design. I owned a Piccolo as well, the Hummingbird is better...

< Message edited by astronut30 -- Sep 2 2003 7:29PM >


_____________________________

--aloha-- Chad
-

(in reply to Ragz)
       Post #: 13