RE: Getting Started, but not Getting Scammed
Well, I do have to take back some of what I said.
I received the helicopter earlier this week, just over the estimated 2-week ship time. While they wouldn't provide me a tracking number, TrendTimes was pretty responsive to emails and did answer their phones. The package is a Dragonfly v4. I still won't buy from them again because of (a) the long ship times, (b) the prices, and (c) the slight inaccuracy of their product page (They call it a Dragon, not a Dragonfly).
But I'm happy with the heli. I practiced a bunch on FMS (the included sim CD was scratched, but included Tru-Flite, which appears to be junk). And finally charged it and took it out yesterday. I mostly skidded across the ground and tried not to crash it, but everything seems to be working correctly. A few balancing/vibrating issues, but I'm sure I'll figure those out.
Two questions about balancing: Are the fly paddles supposed to be evenly weighted at rest? It clearly leans toward one of them. There are metal "weights" that look to be adjustable, though I can't get them to slide along the shaft, so perhaps there's a different way to balance these?
Second: the rotors are supposed to be 90 deg from the paddles... Is this referring to the straight edge of the rotors or an imaginary line from connection point to tip? The difference is minor, but is it insignificant?