ORIGINAL: futura

The Esky bell hiller head increases cyclic response dramatically. Its a completely different flying machine with the bell hiller head but the lightened flybar paddles did almost the same thing. Once I put on the BH head I removed the lightened paddles, it was just to touchy for my taste (ability to enjoy). BH heads are worth the $ if you can find one available. Getting a $70 hb2 "sounds" like a good idea but I doubt you will save money going this route (using the HB2 for spares) you don't break all the parts on a heli and the one's you do break don't cost $70 all together. The mainshaft and gear are seperate units on the HB2 and the main shaft is longer. you will then be stuck using the longer control arms. the landing gear are attached by screws so you'll be using the Esky frame and landing gear. the tail boom is glued to the frame so again you'll be swapping out frames if you break the tail boom.

If I were you with $70 to spend, I'd just add another $40 and get the CNC Bell hiller head.

my flybar weights came off after the first week. It did away with almost all of the cyclic delay found in the stock BCP. It doesn't make cyclic fast but its better. I found myself behind in control with the stock setup because I would apply input and it took the BCP a second or more to fully respond then if I over corrected because of the latency, my correction would take too long to apply and so on ie i ended up "chasing" it with the controls. This made it harder to hover inside 3 feet. Once you increase cyclic just a bit, the BCP reacts to your input right away....not a second (5 feet) later and allows you to "fly the heli" not the other way around.

There was not much difference in cyclic response between the lightened flybar paddles and the Bell hiller head without the lightened flybar paddles. The difference was not in cyclic but in how the bell hiller head smooths out the collective. By this I mean that if you can't get the Bell hiller head, get the lighted flybar paddles and you'll get the same cyclic result for the most part. I felt the increase in collective control was one of the biggest advantages of the bell hiller. I don't 3D yet but I have no doubt that with the flybar weights removed, the bell hiller head, the lighted flybar paddles, CF blades and 2200 - 2300 head speed (brushless)......the machine would flip almost in place...same with rolls. It is more unstable than my Duzi Hornet II....BUT....my heli really isn't a BCP anymore.

I'm not that great as far as thumbs go but getting better with time. Others that are better pilots may have different oppinions for sure. This is all just MHO based on observation and my own experience.

I guess my end point is, the BCP will fly very good with just a few changes in the stock configuration and a couple after market upgrades....like lightened paddles, sim blades, lipo battery and 9t motor. If you upgrade too much, your not working with a BCP anymore but a frankenchopper.