i took the hbfp for a walk this afternoon - kind of windy

somewhat boring hover - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p3An4r0ai8

forward flight / chase - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8hPbxlhI1k

fraid i'm not up to the hbk2 yet lol


edge

How are You liking Your HoneyBee. That's what I'm thinking of going with when i finally take the leap !

Same question. I am thinking about the Blade CP Pro or Honey King 2. I like the king's belt driven tail but the CP Pro I can get parts for at two LHS. I can also pick up a Pro on ebay for about $130 used. Of course the CX was cheap too at $150 used, but then I have spent that again on parts and mods. Sigh.

i have both the hbk2 and the cp - both are waiting on me learning to fly better - the one little crash at the end of the turn in the video would have ruined both the cp and the hbk2 because they both have that stupid spindle/feathering shaft that is soft as pudding - like having the cx2's upper blade holder pins being really soft metal so they bend at the slightest and tiniest whisper of impact, and require you to disassemble the whole upper head to replace it - the hbk2/walkera4/falcon40 can take the crashes (with a few mods) and keep on going, also you can move the servo arms to the middle holes, something you can't do on the cp or hbk2 cause they have to be in the outer holes to get enough blade pitch for liftoff

i am getting slowly better - soon i will begin working with the hbk2, then start back on the cp after that - i still prefer the coaxials, but the challenge is there to at least try to learn single-rotor, which i am, but it doesn't mean much cause they are unrealistic for the scale flying i do

once i have my big cx design finished and built, i'll just sell all these single-rotors cause they are too jittery and too much work to fly - the cx2 does everything that these do except fly upside down and i don't care about that at all



edge

Yo XYster...I looked into the HBK2 a while back...once you hop it
up with brushless motor, better landing skids, HH gyro,etc. you can get
well over $300.00 quick...the Eflite Blade 400 for $469 seems like a
much better bird for the difference in price...John H.

i sold off some helis yesterday to make room (physical and budget) for the 400 - with all the hype, i hope it is a decent heli! - the dx6i bundled radio will be good

supposedly it will be freezing down here outside in a few days - will be staying inside then and setting up the hbk2 and probably doing some tests cause out of the box some stuff wasn't connected - i'll let you guys know what i find and what mods can be done to make it crashproof and tame

time to work so i can afford to fly - talk to ya'll lab rats (heli experimenters) later!


edge

While i dont have alot of time on my HBK2, i do like the machine. Its WAY more stable than a BladeCP/EskyCP sized craft. Size wise it between the bladecp and the BeltCP.

Michael

i don't think the hbk2 would be a good machine to learn single-rotor on, it looks too easily broken, and you're going to crash a lot just starting out in single-rotor, mainly because of the cx's stick control doesn't relate - i prefer learning on the fp's cause they can take the punishment a student single-rotor pilot dishes out and keep flying (with a few simple mods to make them crashproof) - i haven't looked too closely at the hbk2 yet (too busy flying lol) but it doesn't look too sturdy in the rotor head department - i'd hate to see it after some of the crashes i've had with the fp's - you know the walkera 4 crashed inverted from about 30 feet up and corkscrewed the main shaft (which is why i'm now flying the hbfp again), maybe while stuck inside for the cold weather i can strip and rebuild it with the spares


edge

I was looking hard at the HBK2 once Michael found out that going brushless on the Walkera #4 wasn't really feasilble. However, looking at the size of the HBK2, its rotor disc diameter is only 2 inches shorter than my TREX! I do not want a TREX competitor, I want something to learn on and have fun with. I think I am just going to go with hte stock Walkera #4 plus some upgrades and an AR6100 Rx so I can fly it with my DX7.

IMO - the HBK2 would be a great learner over the CP Pro. I started on the pro and yes local parts get you up quicker but it becomes a habit and the parts are quite expensive. Then you may start chasing the upgrades to fix issues like the tail control. While I did learn on the pro, the HBK2 is much more stable, belt driven tail (no tail motor burnouts in mid flight). If you get the HBK2, get the brushless upgrade (check on the ESKY forum as you will find folks that will set one up with brushless and give it a full flight balance/trim for a good flight out of the box). Buy some extra wood blades, a few spare parts, and a few of the feathering shafts made by one of the folks on this site - they are much stronger and don't bend nearly as easy as the stock ones.

Then slap on the training set and go slow with RADDS and you should be good to go. Just my opinion. I also have a T-Rex but love the HBK2 in the smaller back yard.

Can't knock the pro too much since it got me into the hobby, just take the short cut to the HBK2.

to use the dx7 with the walkera, replace the walkera 4-in-1 with a dynam 3-in-1 and the ar6100 or a ar7000 rx - be sure to leave the little antennas visible 360 degrees so as not to block the line-of-sight signal by the battery, motors, etc

the dynam 3-in-1 is the only 3-in-1 i have found so far that actually works with the fp's non-ccpm 90 degree swashplate



http://www.slickzero.com/Merchant2/m...ory_Code=DH300

it actually works!!!


edge

Humm. .not too promising I guess. I want to get a single rotor, I feel really confident with the CX. I can chew through 10 batteries without crashing as long as I don't "hot dog" too much. I can fly her over frame work 40 feet up fowards and back. I feel fairly confident on the Real Flight sim.
The T-Rex is just so darn expensive once everything is bought. It looks to be around $700 with radio, extra battery, and a few spare parts. The HBK2 seems more like a $300 or less to get started and the CP Pro is looking to be under $200 with a few mods used on Ebay. I just don't want to get junk. I have bought cheap things in the past and I want to be able to have something that can be fixed easily and cheaply, flies well and could be upgraded as I grow without a ton of cash. I love working on my real car and I have no problem taking 3 hours to rip apart the CX, lub it, and put it back together.

grrrr! - the crashing is killing me - i broke the balls off the last spare paddle control frame for the hbfp doing ff s-turns - i'm pretty sure the crash would have killed the hbk2 a lot worse


edge