Walkera 4#1

Walkera 4#1
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Walkera 4#1 - 4/15/2008 7:24:33 AM

mwcyborg

Posts: 27
Joined: 4/14/2008
From: , SOUTH AFRICA
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Hi All, I just like to share a little story about my experience with the DF4#1
This thread should be found interesting only by beginners.

Anyone experienced rotor wobble just as the heli gets light on the skids? Flybar paddle spacing good, paddle pitch at zero, blade grips not too tight or too lose.
* Before you attempt to fly this heli, or any RTF in fact go over a checklist. This may help keep your heli in one piece and to all the beginners please go through this checklist: (1) Check the paddle pitch, they should be level with the swash plate when looked at side on
(2) Check the distance from each paddle to the rotor hub, they should be perfectly equal
(3) Check your C.G. Put the battery as far forward as possible (toward the nose) and balance it by resting the flybar on your fingers.
(4) Check the tightness of the blade grips. The blades must not bee too lose and flop around and also not be too tight that they will not move if you gently push them.

I bought the Walkera 4#1 after reading some interesting reviews, and this heli lives up to these. Stability is a big plus, quality is good - sturdy frame and strong blades that can be very forgiving. When I took the heli out of the box I noticed one flybar paddle was way off and so straightened it out, also the flybar itself was not properly balanced / spaced over the rotor head so this needed adjustment aswell. Lastly I noticed one of the stabiliser links that clip into the ball joint sockets on the rotor head was bent! (underneath) I straightened it out as much as possible. I set the heli on the ground and prepared it for its mayden flight. During spin up of the rotor a little wobble is expected as the blades straighten by the effect of centrifugal force. This wobble should calm as the rotor head spins up yet on this heli it just seemed to get worse just as it got light on the skids. I set it down right there and put it back in the box.

To my dissapointment I took the heli back to the model shop and after some serious arguing the owner handed me a new one, I was angry but delighted to have a heli that should be perfect.
The new one flies like a dream, and is stable even considering the heavy 8.4v 650mah nimh battery. I have three helis and I do find this one to be very unpredictable when it gets light on the skids, just power up and get it past ground effect and you will be ay for away! (beginners please use training gear)

My rating: Good heli, value for money and a great heli to fly.
P.S you may want to buy a lipo 7.4v 800 - 1000 mah. this will give you much more flying time and make the heli much lighter, because lighter is better!

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Post #: 1

RE: Walkera 4#1 - 4/15/2008 7:28:58 AM

mwcyborg

Posts: 27
Joined: 4/14/2008
From: , SOUTH AFRICA
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Has anyone tried lipo betteries on this heli? Your feedback would be most welcome......

"Knowledge Speaks, but Wisdom Listens" Jimi Hendrix

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Post #: 2

RE: Walkera 41 - 4/18/2008 2:53:59 PM

Crusader23

Posts: 239
Joined: 2/12/2008
From: Fountain, CO, USA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: mwcyborg

Has anyone tried lipo betteries on this heli? Your feedback would be most welcome......

Sure have! I'm using the 7.4V Lipo that came with the CX2.

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5 more months and I''ll be home

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Post #: 3

RE: Walkera 41 - 4/19/2008 5:24:52 PM

Tall Paul

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From: Palmdale, CA, USA
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3cell Lipos will burn out the motor ESCs in the Walkera 4 and its clones.
The servo part of the receiver still works, and it can be used in a 2-channel plane like a glider.
Use a y-connector to get battery power to the receiver and servos in one of the servo slots.

< Message edited by Tall Paul -- 4/19/2008 8:09:09 PM >

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RE: Walkera 41 - 4/21/2008 7:09:35 AM

mwcyborg

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From: , SOUTH AFRICA
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I have a Walkera 54 which came with a lightweight 7.4v 800mah lipo battery. I tested it in the 41 and it flies like a dream! The only snag is that the battery must be mounted right in the nose of the canopy, else the CG is off.

Flies so much better, more responsive and stable! I gonna get me a couplr 7.4's for the 41.

I have not tested it in forward flight but I imagine it wont pitch so much like it does with the heavy NiMh's!

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RE: Walkera 41 - 4/21/2008 7:10:51 AM

mwcyborg

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From: , SOUTH AFRICA
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Has anyone flown a Honeybee CP2 with a 7.4v 800mah lipo?

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Post #: 6

RE: Walkera 41 - 4/30/2008 1:21:10 PM

mwcyborg

Posts: 27
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From: , SOUTH AFRICA
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Hi

I would like to know how to remove the rotor head from the 4#1, fortunately I have not crashed this bird and have never needed to remove it but would like to know for future reference??

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Post #: 7

RE: Walkera 41 - 4/30/2008 6:05:40 PM

Tall Paul

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From: Palmdale, CA, USA
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There's a small pin thru the rotor head and the shaft.
I replace that with a pointed T-pin, easier to get thru the matching holes.
Note the flat on the rotor shaft.
There's a corresponding flat inside the rotor head.
It goes on only one way.

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Post #: 8

RE: Walkera 41 - 5/1/2008 3:02:02 AM

AZheli

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From: , AZ, USA
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Comparing the #4-1 to the HBFP, the Honeybee holds the advantage on several counts. Between the 2, many parts are interchangable, but when it comes to rotor hub and head design, the HB hub is supported better & is much sturdier & less prone to flexing, inducing wobble.

The rotor head snaps into 2 bearings on the rotor heads. Upon heavy landing, or other minor mishaps, the head unsnaps, absorbing some of the impact & minimizing blade damage. The idea is workable on the Honeybee, as the 2 little bearings are secured into the hub by 2 tiny screws. On the DF#4-1, the head snaps off & centrifugal force causes the bearings zing off into oblivion, as there are no screws to retain them. As an added insult, none of the bearing shops stock 3x6x2mm bearings - you need to go buy a new hub, which comes with 2 new bearings.

As for the NiMH batteries - the #4-1 comes with a better than average charger & the flight time isn't significantly less than that of my HBFP with a 2 cell LiPO installed.

Both the Honeybee and the Dragonfly #4-1 sell for within $11 of each other the newer HB comes with a LiPO battery, while the DF still has the NiMH.

Other than the inferior design of the rotor head on the DF & the LiPO standard issue on the HB, it's a matter of personal preference of brand names - a Ford vs Chebby thing ...

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Post #: 9

RE: Walkera 41 - 5/1/2008 3:54:26 AM

brettw

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Joined: 12/30/2005
From: Sydney, AUSTRALIA
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The head in the previous post is the earlier version 1 of the DF4 head. There has been a version 3 release which if you have just bought a 4#1 then it will look like the image in this post. Similar to removing the head though which is just to remove the pin.

There is a superskid lipo that fits straight into the standard battery holder, it gives you over 15 mins of flight time. I have two and they are great.
They can be found here - > http://www.eastcoasthobbies.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=112

Also the superskids for the 4#1 or the Honeybee for that matter are a must as an upgrade, I found them after about 2 months of breaking the stock gear.
They can be found here - > http://www.eastcoasthobbies.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=111

Cheers

Brett

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RE: Walkera 41 - 5/1/2008 8:10:12 AM

mwcyborg

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Hey Brett,

Yes the rotor head on my bird is the same as the pic on your post (4#1). I think a few people get mixed up and dont realise that 4 is the series and #1 is the revision.

Well I spoke to soon about not crashing yet as yesterday I had my first with this heli. It was a calm afternoon with a slight breeze now and then and I was zipping around the sky perfecting my turns and a small gust of wind lifted the heli up, and as it went up it caught a small thermal and shot up quite high, I stabalized it and as I brought it down, and closer to me. I approched side on for a landing (nose to the right) and a with a breeze coming through I could not bring the tail to square up with my approach and jacked the yaw almost full to get the small rotor speed up but it was not able to fight the breeze and wham! it plunged down and landed on its side. Of course with the rotor baldes hitting the ground the head popped off, and as mentioned earlier in one of the posts one of the bearings flung off into outer space! (its a waste of time even trying to look for that in the grass). So i'm off to get a set of bearings. I have a honeybee CP2 and have spare bearings for the rotor shaft and they look about the same size so maybe I'll give that a bash.

The only concern I have is putting the head back on. Besides the force off pushing down to pop the bearings in there are also those two stablising rods with ball joints on the end which have to clip back also. So I guess its about lining everything up and pushing down.

Do you have any tips on snapping the head back on? I dont want to bend those little rods?

Thanks

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Post #: 11

RE: Walkera 41 - 5/1/2008 11:37:11 AM

brettw

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From: Sydney, AUSTRALIA
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Dont worry about the two small rods with the balls on the end at first they can be put on later.

It sounds daunting however line up the bearings where they are supposed to go into the top part of the head and get a small set of long nose pliers on the bottom of the bearing and on top of the head and push one side in then the other.

After this use the pliers again and push the small rod with the balls into the side that has popped out.

The only thing that you will find is that when it happens a few times it does not take much for it to pop out i.e a small crash will pop the head off, unfortunately there is no fix for this apart from not crashing.

I got to the point at one stage that it had come off so many times and become so loose that in mid flight the whole top part of the head flew off..

All part of the learning curve though, and when you get some experience you will look back and laugh..

Not the best video however here is a short flight a few weeks ago on a windy day with the DF4#1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFf1uPtafSg

Oh and you can apply a small amount of CA glue when you push the head bearings on to stop them from flying off however dont put too much or you will glue the bearing together and thats bad..

Let me know how you go

Cheers

Brett
East Coast Hobbies
http://www.eastcoasthobbies.com.au

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Post #: 12

RE: Walkera 41 - 5/1/2008 4:05:44 PM

mwcyborg

Posts: 27
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From: , SOUTH AFRICA
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Hey Brett thanks for the reply. Earlier after I made my last post I looked at the rotor head carefully and used a long nose pliers to pop both sides of the bearing on (just like you said), then I used both fingers and firmly popped the small ball joints in.

It makes sense that after popping out a few times the plastic gradually loses its hold on the bearings, but this sacrifice can be very forgiving when the heli plunges to the earth. I noticed that with the rotor popping out on impact it saved a lot of parts being damaged, and the main good thing was that the main shaft wasn't bent at all! [)] which is something