Schwede

You are not kidding! The Walkera #4 is tough..!
I am getting braver and higher.. and stupider. Had my Heli and remote in hand when my jacket brushed up against the throttle. Right up to full power[:@]. I shut it down right away, right after the blades tried to chop some of my hide off.
I sat it down and noticed that the top part where the blades are attached, was lifted up on one side. Here we go I thought, major part replacement.[&o] Turns out that one of the bearings (never seen such small bearings) was popped out of it's seat. I pushed it back in and was fine! The canope came off in the process and I had to reglue the small horizontal bar that holds it in place. JB weld is my new friend now Lots of fun though!! Weekend is coming, still have a lot of JB weld stuff left.

tjh1255

is anyone else having problems with their heli yawing, mine keeps trying to yaw right even though i have full left trim in. any suggestions?

cardgabe

Hey there... I'm new to the forum but have already read a ton of great comments, suggestions, and solutions to problems since I've been here. I've had my Dragonfly #4 for a about 2 months now... have ordered two new rotor heads and a short connector. Also I replaced my landing gear struts with some coat hangers that I cut up. They are the correct diameter... instead of breaking though like the CF, they just bend on hard landings and I bend them back and they work great. After about 2 months I'm getting the hang of hovering quite well and can hover inside my garage (10ft x 15 ft) for an entire battery. I take it outside sometimes when the wind is calm and try a lil fast forward flight... and it actually works for me but I have problems bringing it back to a hover after. Anyway... just thought I'd share my story of my Dragonfly and I hope to have some insight for future forum friends. Thanks for all the good posts so far!

tjh1255

Beware...I was flying my dragonfly today and the landing gear came off in flight, i did a proper preflight and they were secure, but some how during flight they came loose, pulling the battery pack off with them and sending the bird crashing to the ground, good news though, the only thing that broke was a piece of plastic on the battery mount, easy to glue. just thought i would share

oops

Hi Tjh1255,

How are you setting up the Gyro to start? If you turn on the transmitter, then plug in the battery while the helicopter is tilted (because it's pretty hard to plug in) then you will find that the Gyro is miss-set.

Put the Heli down on a flat, level surface. Turn the transmitter off (be prepared to turn on quickly in case something goes wrong) and then turn it back on again. Don't touch the controls for about 5 seconds, and it will re-set the Gyro.

Worst case, unplug the battery, and plug it in while the helicopter is sitting level.

David

cardgabe

Well... I posted a message earlier today talking about how I am getting good at hovering. I just found out there is one thing I am not good at... running the battery down after the power is too low to take flight. I had the helicopter running at a low speed once the battery was low and i made the mistake of turning my back for a few... i came back to the helicopter on its side flopping around because it tipped over somehow. Thankfully nothing was seriously broken on it... these things are fairly durable, that's for sure. So a quick question... how much do you run a battery down after flying? Do you let the heli run until the blades won't turn anymore? How low should it be before I recharge it? I always hear that its good to run it completely dead first? That takes a while on the heli. Anyway, that's all for now. Hope everyone has successful flights!

oops

Hi cardgabe,

When it won't get out of ground effect more than an inch or two, it's flat.

A good battery charger will also perform a discharge function.

However, when you find you can't get out of ground effect, that's fine for a recharge. It shouldn't effect your cycles lifetime too much -

David

cardgabe

Thanks a lot Dave. I have a few RC Offroad buggies and I have a good quick charger for those battery packs... I was always told to totally discharge them each time. The charger I got with my Dragonfly is just a generic wall charger... no discharge or anything on it, so I try to run the battery down in the heli to the point where my controller won't control it anymore. I guess I probably don't have to be that picky about it. Overall so far, I've loved my heli... although the Simulator is a lot harder for me than the real life flying is... except for in the wind, thats tough.

By the way, are there any tricks to bringing a heli from forward flight, back to a hover? I end up over compensating or something and it seems that I can't ever get back to the hover. Once I take off, I can hover forever... but once i've been moving forward a lot... i can't bring it back. I guess it just takes a lot more practice... only problem is that one time I almost lost it over a fenced in generator cause I was out of control!!!!! haha Goodluck to you all and I look forward to reading more.

tjh1255

david thanks for the info on the gyro, i'll try that next time if fly, but first things first, i have to repair the broken landing gear that came off in flight

sparkling_fist

hey
is it possible to add a brushless motor to this heli with it original reciever?

Schwede

cardgabe,

I found this at: [link=http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-lithium-ion-battery.htm?referrer=adwords_campaign=lithiumionba ttery_ad=010201]wisegeek.com[/link]
Though the batteries do not suffer from the memory effect, it is just the opposite that users should be wary of. Lithium ion batteries shouldn’t be run all the way down before charging; they respond much better with constant recharges. Battery gauges, on the other hand, are often impacted and display incorrect readings from this practice. This leads some people to believe a memory effect exists, when in fact it’s the meter that needs to be reset. Draining the battery all the way down every 30 charges or so can recalibrate the gauge.

Eventually all rechargeable lithium ion batteries will meet their end. After about two to three years, li-ion batteries expire, whether or not they are being used. To prolong the battery when not in use, store it in a cool dry place at approximately 40 percent capacity. Also, avoid exposing a lithium ion battery to extreme temperatures for prolonged periods of time, and recharge constantly when in use. When it's time to eventually dispose, lithium ion batteries are much safer than many other types of rechargeable batteries, allowing them to be safely placed in the trash. As with most other things — if recycling is an option, that is the best one of all.

Gunnar

xelltronics

Just wanted to share my version of Walkera makeover....

I have not done any hop-ups yet..mechanics-wise. Still running on 370 stock motor, ni-mh. Although less minutes flying but more fun time!....

tomcatguy74

My Feedback: (4)

Well fellas, my new WDF#4 is sitting at the PO because i was not home in time to recieve it!!![:'(][:'(]
Thats ok, I will get her on Monday.
Actually my question was how do you change the tail to direct drive? can you use the stock motor and eliminate the spur? Also I have alot of motors just laying around because I like to collect electronics parts out of just about anything thats broke I.E. VCRs, DVD players, Fax machines and copiers and other stuff. What are the chances of using some of those motors on my tail? I of course will use the smallest one i have but just a tad bigger than the stock, but will it work? Now i won't try this untill I burn the two I have up.

Another thing is I have noticed in almost every picture and video that people tie the aerial antenna to the tail boom. Is this suggested?

Just out of curiosity, what would happen if i were to spray WD-40 on the rotorhead assemby? Would it move smoother or would it eat the plastic up?

More questions!!

How do you guys balence your rotors? I have heard of tape and trimming the rotor itself.
What is the easiest?

I have heard that the newer Dragonfly #4s by Walkera have better more reliable servos now, is this true?


Sorry about the questions!!

Rob

blueline308

hey xelltronics , where did u get that hey body and how much did it cost?

Jim

oops

Hi Tomcatguy,

The Walkera 4 servo's are better on Version 2. Confirmed.

You probably won't get anything useful for a tail motor from other devices. It is possible, just not practical.

Getting a longer antenna (to the tail boom) helps a LOT, although I haven't done this on my new V2 Walkera 4, so they probably improved the receiver a lot.

I wouldn't worry about balancing. Just align the blades before each flight. Use the two silver screw tops as a guide. Then align so this line intersects with the 75% chord point at the tips.

David

tomcatguy74

My Feedback: (4)

Hi oops!!

How do I know if my heli is a version 2?

Here is the heli.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Dragonfly-...QQcmdZViewItem



I was wondering, how you change the tail rotor to direct drive?


How do I get a longer antenna and how do I install it?


What about the WD40 on the rotor head assembly?


Rob

sportygreg

My Feedback: (2)

If it has the fiberglass head stiffener it is the latest version.You don't need a longer antenna-the antenna length is already tuned to the frquency of the Rx.Most people leave antenna wrapped around the skids but you could run it out to the boom and back using tape or rubber band.I use and recommend heatsinks for the motors-don't worry about lipo batteries until you can fly.The bearings on the rotor head are pretty smooth without lube-WD40 might affect the plastic,I would use graphite instead.Graphite won't get sticky and attract dirt and crud.

tomcatguy74

My Feedback: (4)

If you look at the heli in this set I bought you can see a white thing that sits under the center of the rotor blades. Is that the fiberglass head stiffener?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Dragonfly-...QQcmdZViewItem

Also what about the Tail motor. How do you make it direct drive??

Sorry to ask that tail rotor drive question so much, I am just real curious!![&:]


Rob

xelltronics

Hi,

Actually, I make the huey bodies and I sell them on ebay. There's one right now. Ebay item # 6002793642

Thanks.

Xelltronics

chench

tomcatguy74
I would say do balance your rotors. When I first got mine they were so unbalanced that when I powered up the rotor head popped off its bearings. I balanced then using insulation tape and balacing on a ruler and it works fine now (although i cant fly it yet lol).
Also, one of my servos has packed up. Iv ordered a new one but, just out of interest, why would it stop working?
chench

SeaBear

My Feedback: (1)

another rookie question....am i adjusting the tail right? is it the screw that is inset inside the board? i tried turning it and it didn't seem to help. my tail , when the heli is facing away from me, is turning right (bird rotating counter clockwise). Also before i can get it up to speed practically the whole thing starts bouncing up and down to the point i shut down from fear of snapping my tail rotor...again. is that just a balance problem or something in the way it is trimmed?
one more, i was thinking of betting a blade cp, is there any compatability between the two for parts?
thanks
bryan

oops

Hi Chench,

On the Version 1, the balance of the rotors don't make that much difference. I flew mine for 2 mins without realising I had lost 2cm from one tip... Sure, it was bad, but it flew OK. Although it did shake a lot.

Heh, then I cut the other blade to the same length. That's how I figured out blade clipping. I worked out the chord method when i had too much drag on another one day. Life's strange eh?

Not that there's anything wrong with balancing the blades. It is a good idea still. The biggest issue is different curvature in the blades and mis-set flybar I find. But then I've probably been fortunate - My blades are usually pretty well matched, although I got a set of symmetricals different once - two different batches.

Seabear - Give up on the adjustment screw,. The rest of us did.

The bouncing sounds worrying. Probably a serious inbalance. Or a harmonic out of wack!... Hmmm, maybe your blades are different - check the thickness. If a blade broke and the seller repaired it with a cheap replacement and resold, you might have two different blades. There's a gram or two difference.

Also, check that the clips are down on the head - and that the tail rotor is OK. Also, make sure the main rotor blades are done up tight and hand-aligned.

I've had similar issues before - can't remember what caused it. Loose blades I think. Maybe flybar out of flat.

David

SeaBear

My Feedback: (1)

talk to me like i'm 4 'cause i know nothing about electrics.
what exactly am i looking at if it's a harmonic out of whack?
the main blades look to be the same but i have no scale so they could be different i suppose. i probably do need to tighten them up more. i did some but was afraid of over doing it.
the clips are down.
as for the tail rotor, it's currently being glued back together for the 2nd time.

before the last 'incident' with the tail rotor, i threw caution to the wind and took the advice mentioned somewhere earlier in this thread and 'punched' it up in the air just as it was getting to the bouncy part. it seemed to settle down a bit but there is obviously still a problem if it bounces. i didn't get much time to see if everything was trimmed correctly because the barstool suddenly slid away from the bar [X(] and slammed itself into my bird. i know it's crazy to try and learn inside but conditions outside were not conducive to flight. turns out inside wasn't much better....

chris6414

My Feedback: (10)

The vibs at low RPMs can be done away with by being sure your blades are aligned and snug but not too tight. Just stand over it and grab the tips a pull outward. This will get them in the ball bark. If your nose is yawing to the left, it is the main blades having too much drag. The tail rotor just can't compensate for the torque. I had the same problem and just twisted some pitch out until I could get it to climb and stay straight with center trim. It took me two batteries to get it right but now it hovers nice and steady. On pre-flight I would also check the swashplate to make sure it is level and the paddles are straight and level. Check this with the radio on and trims centered. I also took my controls and moved them in two holes on the servo arms to slow down the movements. punching it is good if the bird is trimmed. It gets you out of ground effect quickly. Just ease it up till the rotors are spinning and then push it up to about 3/4 to get it airborn. If it starts to climb too fast, stay calm, and two clicks back and all should be well.

oops

Hi Seabear.

If it gets really wobbly, you'll need to add weight or remove rotor material. (Blade Clipping). either requires more headspeed to take off, and so you get more gyroscopic effect.

Getting the thing trimmed when you have no experience is difficult. I did it once. It involved setting the rotor speed to just under "up" power and then holding in one hand loosely and seeing which way it wanted to go. When it sat more or less still, I'd let it go a moment to see if it drifted... Then I fine tuned.

Not the smartest thing to do, and I only tried it with a Walkera 4, but it does work. It IS dangerous, and you know how unstable these things are, so letting them go at flying power near your face isn't bright. I wore a safety mask (full face).

Using an 8 cell battery or heavier LiPo's or removing some of the rotor tips (about 1.5 to 2 cm) or the trailing edge (to Max Chord 32mm) will also work well. Best is remove the trailing edge to get max chord 32mm. Only do this on the newer blades.

The Heli in the picture (Tomcatguy) is a V.2.

Align the blades by eye... Look along the blade. It's not hard.

Seabear - it's hard to glue the tails. They break as soon as you hit something. They are cheap. Order 3 or 4...

David