I am getting ready to get my first electric heli, and after reading many posts, reviews, looking at features, I have finaly settled on the Colco 2005 Thunder Bird II. I would like to know if anyone has/had this chopper, and what there personal experiance is with it. Thanks.

IMO with any of the micro helis ditch the supplied NIMH or Nicad batt and get a 7.2V lipo. Something like a 1100MAH thunder power. Typically you dont need a regulator for a 7.2 V lipo. I used one on my micro heli I had the GWS dragonfly. Although a fun heli if its your first they are squirrly. Good luck

I'm looking at a Lipoly 4500mah 2S2P 7.4V 174 grams from Maxamps. would that be ok? Not sure of the weight of the original battery. I don't want to get too heavy since later I want to add a camera too.

Edit: I just noticed original battery is a 9.6v. won't the 7.4 be too weak?

It maybe if the original is 9.6V but you might get away with 11.1V Those just numbers in approximation printed on the battery. A fully charged 7.4V NIMH actually reads 8.4V @ peak. And a 7.2V lipo shows approx 7.8@ peak so that why I said that in my previous post. As fot the 9.6v and 11.1 lipo I am not sure but its worth asking. Good luck.

Many of the stock mixing boards run into difficulty running 3S LiPo packs. If you know that you are going to advance to the point of carrying an onboard camera, you should seriously consider going seperates. A decent HH gyro (Futaba gy240) and 2 ESCs are all you need. This behaves much better than the mixing boards, and lets you run 3S LiPo, for the extra power and duration. If you are using a stock tail motor, you will want the tail ESC to ba a high frequency one (TREC or Schulze slim 105). You also might consider going brushless for the tail, or main and tail.

The 4500mAh LiPo will be too heavy.

ok so maby go with the 11.1v lipo and a resistor to bring down the voltage? If I want to run a camera run with a lesser size lipo for weight, and if I want longer run times go for the biger one and ditch the camera? I really don't want to get too mutch into this one as its just a trainer for me and I'm dealing with very limited funds at the moment. I eventualy want to work my way up to a full sized electric, or maby an electric converted nitro (not sure if thats been done yet).

Probably not a good solution. You would be wasting that extra capacity as heat.

Then I think you should drop the camera requirement.

Also not a good idea. It has been done, but to no advantage. A proper Nitro bird is designed to handle the stresses of a nitro motor.

I am not trying to bust your chops. I am hoping to set your expectations to a more realistic level. There is nothing about RC Helis that has anything to do with cheap. I know that sounds snobbish, but that is not the intent. We see a steady stream of people who want to get started, but want to do it for bottom dollar, so they get substandard equipment to save a buck. All they do is increase their odds of failure through extreme frustration, or if they make it through the learning curve with their poor equipment, the end up spending more than if they had just purchased decent equipment to begin with.
I am not saying to waste money on every expensive piece of bling. Just that making wise, if slightly more expensive, component choices will go a long way towards increasing your chances of success, and ultimately save you money.

Na not bustin my chops. I know it can get real expensive. Used to race 4wd buggys. I'm just trying to have a lil fun on a fixed income. As for the electrics I know the nitro is a lot stronger, but I have no desire to give all the animals around here a heart attack with the noise After all is said and done after I get some time under my belt I'll probibly settle on a trex unless I can find a bigger electric. Want the larger sized due to eye probs. bigger bird makes it easier to see Don't need all that upside down stuff, but I do want full controlability.

You say you want "full controlabilty" and not an expensive solution. Get a FP heli. To be honest, I don't see why you don't want to do "all that upside down stuff", yet you still want full control. Do you mean up, down, forward, backward, left and right? or do you mean upside down?

Please make your intentions a bit more clearer and we might be able to help a bit more.

Maxcat I know what you mean I am on fixed income also and not into cutting grass with my rotor blades I went electric at first also but spent a considerable amount of time on a simulator to learn control first and then purchased a Trex 450x built it and flew it doing simple stuff like you I am not into the 3D stuff.It was a great learning heli and cheap to fix but the bigger is better bug got to me and I purchased a JR Voyager E and have had fun with it,then I went to a flyin for helicopters and saw what the nitro birds can do and so I was so impressed that I sold the Trex and got a Hirobo Freya 60 and am in the process of getting all the needed equipment to fly it.I tell ya I am sold on how much easier the nitro birds fly compared to the electrics I am considering selling my JR and getting a Hyperaptor 50 from heliproz and going all nitro and the noise is not that bad I used to run nitro monster trucks and man the noise was really bad but the heli's are not that loud.Nitro's are much more controllable than the electrics and are much more stable in the wind because of the weight,they are more expensive to fix but as I say I do not get wild with my birds so crashes are few and far between so I do not have to worry about it.Best thing to do is sit down and think about what you want to do in the long run and not wast your money on something that you will grow tired of in a few months it is better to wait and put money aside for a larger bird than to buy a small one now and then want to go larger later and resale value on these things is lousy no matter what you pay people are to cheap to pay what it is worth and so you loose out.Don't rush into it research the web because there are a lot of other heli's out there and you do not want to get one that you will not be happy with I know I have been down that road,you need help E-mail me and I will do what I can to help you out.

I have owned every MS flight sim since flight sim 98. I already know all the principals of collective pitch and sutch.

Quite honestly I can't see what the big deal is in going upside down. I don't know about you, but I have never seeen a real heli do that. Maby at an air show or something, but not one I have been too. What I want is fuul control, for every direction the real thing can do. Flying the sims with a colective, and then going fixed would be a bit disapointing to me, and wouldn't be as fun.

WElllll there was another reason for that. I have a good size area of land, and with one of my other problems of not being able to get around well due to joint probs I wanted a way to watch my dogs while they were outside. Something like setting up a few of those cheap small plastic tables around to land on so the camera could see the dogs withought having to sit there wasting power hovering. I already tried to do this with a car, but you can imagin how well that went Something like a heli I can get out of there reach easy if needed. Long story short the heli will be used as a tool as well as for fun.

You do realise that with this camera, you would still need to see the entire helicopter?!?!? You can't exactly hover that well without looking at the heli in 3rd person (well you can but it would be VERY difficult.

MS Flight sim is nothing but a game I am talking about a real flight sim like Great planes G3 or Reflex XTR where you use a sim radio or your real radio on it to learn as for what MS taught you that will not help you here you might as well forget what it taught you did it teach you pitch curve and throttle curve??Did it teach you how to set up your radio and how to hover correctly with tail rotor control????I think you should can the attitude and listen to the people that have been down this road and remember that we are not just talking to hear our heads rattle we know of what we speak of.You think you know it all then go and try it why ask us!!!!!!As for your camera you want one to carry a camera then you had better have deep pockets because most of your lower end Electrics will not have the power to carry that kind of weight unless you are talking about one of those cheap little things that they sell on E-bay and if it is you would be better off watching your dogs with binoculars.

You know Im not real big on sims. I've been practicing on Aerofly with the Eco 7 and the Raptor.

It doesnt fly anything like a real heli. I can do loops and rolls and spins and all sorts of stuff on the sim, but in real life.....well its a LOT more difficult. The sims are easy to fly. Real heli's are not.

Sims are crap. Real stick time is the only thing that really teaches you how to fly.

Maybe if you has a better sim other than that Ikarus crap then maybe you would find it works a lot better that is why I did not mention that sim I had it for two weeks and sold it in the market place I learned with G2 and it was much more of a challenge.One thing you do not want a noob to do is try to learn by himself and with no experience on a sim or other training like a pilot to help him,otherwise he will end up like the guy in the" man this stinks" thread in the Helicopter beginners forum with a broken hand and stitches in his hand no one should try to take on one of these without some type of sim training or help from a experienced pilot it is just nonsense.

I didnt have anyone to teach me. I taught myself. There are people here that fly helis, but trying to get one of them to help is like pulling teeth. Besides you cant really buddybox a heli. You just got to get it up and start flying. The sim hasnt taught me a thing, other than sims are useless. Ive used G3, G2, Aerofly and Reflex. They are all just computer games. Fun for entertainment, but useless for training. The planes are semi-realistic, but the heli's are WAY off.

For the new guy. If you do get a sim. Dont expect a real heli to fly like that, just keep that in mind while practicing on the sim.

Oh yeah and Aerofly is WAY better than G2 or G3. Runs faster and the graphics are fantastic.

Good for you!!!!

Moe, I'm not trying to be an ***.

Just explaining where Im coming from. Learning heli's is hard. Its alot of work. I still cant do everything I want with a heli, but Im learning. I would have liked to have a experienced heli pilot help me out, but it just wasnt an option. That being the case, you can learn without a sim, and without an instructor. Just be safe, and go slowly.

Im just really hesitant to recommend a sim to a newbie. He will probably spend a few weeks on the sim. He will be able to do all sorts of stuff with the sim. Then he goes and buys a heli, and trys to fly it like the sim. Next thing you know hes got a broken heli. Then he comes on here raving mad and screaming "This heli flys like poo". When in reality, it flys just like it should, he just got spoiled on the sim.

All Im saying is if you do use a sim, just be aware that a real heli isnt as easy.

Ok first off I have NEVER had an atitude about this whole thing, but if I keep getting someone telling me that I darn well will have one in short order. I didn't say MS flight sim was the best, and I will NEVER say anything microsoft is the best. I deal with whats avalable to me, and what I can aford. I never even knew about those two sims untill I started reading these forums, and after looking at the prices they wanted for them I won't either.All I'm saying is I have used it as a friend recomended a year or so ago from only tower mode, and with a dual joystick,throttle/rudder setup when I started thinking about this. I know the real thing is going to be diffrent, but I beleve I have a better handle on it than someone who has totaly never seen one before. Besides IF it is like some of the less expensive fp heli's I have seen they come with pc link, and downloadable trainer, so I can get some time before jumping in.

I would LOVE to have some one here to show me first hand, but since the condos took over the only rc flying field here years ago there is no one to show me, so I have no choice.

Ok bottom line is I am going at it alone here. No choice here, so if you wana help then help. Trying to get me in a foul mood by telling ME I have an atitude when your the one putting off the atitude is gona get u nothing real fast. As to self taught if I can teach myself to be a master pc tech then I think I can handle this.

Ok all I need here is just as a qualty report since I know nothing of the quality of these. Nothing else please.

ESky CCPM HoneyBee 2 Radio Control R/C Helicopter RTF 6-Channel US$ 189.99

Description

* Honey Bee 2 CP--Brand New Battery Operated Helicopter
* Powered by 11.1V Li-ion re-chargable battery
TWO 11.1V Li-ion rechargable Batteries(800, 1100mAh)
* 110-220V Lithium Battery Charger
* Free Training Kit included
* Rotary Wing Span = ~2ft, length = 1.5 ft
* Powerful Main and Tail Motors
* High Quality 6 Channel R/C Set included, complete Left/Right,Up/Down, Forward/Backward and Pitch Control(RUDDER, AILERON, ELEVATOR, PITCH AND THROTTLE )
* 6 CH Transmitter included, Mode 1 or Mode 2 Left Hand Throttle(pls choose at payment)
* High Quality mixer + gyro board built-in..Relaible quality
* Easy Assembly , READY TO FLY, Only need * AA Batteries for Transmitter
* Over 20mins Flight time for each charge
* Suitable for Indoor/Backyard/Park (500 sq ft area)
* Good Quality Servos

I think SIM's are a great learning tool as do a lot of other people. I did 3 months on G3 and was able to hover nose in the first pack on my TRex. The SIM will teach you stick movement which in the beginning is a blessing. To many people have learned from them to discount them. This in not to say that you can fly in real life like the SIM but it does help.

Just my .02

Tony

http://www.pilotlocator.net/state.ph...e=FL&B1=Submit Help Yourself I done.

Max, seeing as how the honeybee2, Carbooon and the Blade are all pretty much the same heli, and judging by my experience with the Carbooon and the Blade, Id say its a good heli.

The Blade and Carbooon are both built really well. The rotor head is good quality composite plastic, not that cheap plastic some of the FP helis are made out of. The Parts fit well, and everything works smoothly. There's no friction on the swashplate, everything is really smooth.

The rotor head is a simple design, and is really easy to understand and manipulate. Its also durable, as Ive managed to tip mine over once. It didnt do anything to the head, and it was revved up full speed when it went in. Just remember to chop the throttle all the way (trims too) if it goes in.

For the low cost of the Esky heli's you really cant go wrong.

Oh, and the 4-in-1 thing works fine. The only thing I would like, is to see the included transmitters with expo and adjustable collective, so you could adjust the collective curve to more of a U shape instead of V shaped. But of course this would make the price go up. You can always just get a good futaba or JR radio and do that.

Im not sure which type blades the Honeybee2 comes with. The Carbooon I got came with full 3d set-up and full symmetrical blades. The Blade comes with flat bottom blades. You'll want a set of full symmetrical blades if you plan on doing inverted flight and some heat sinks for the motor.

Yes, the honey bee 2 (new edition of the honey bee 2; there are two honey bee 2s lol) is a great heli. My firend has it and also according to a 23 pg Thread here on the Electric Helicopters forums only on the Honey bee its a great heli. Great price and stuff. BUt one thing i don't get. What do you mean by 4 in 1. I've flown nitro helis and am soon gonna get a Honey Bee 2 new edition from ebay and have never heard of 4 in 1.

Hi all

I'm new to the RC community and only bought my Esky Honeybee CP2 two weeks ago. Everything was perfect except that the battery only held through the maiden flight and wouldn't charge after that. Bought a new Li-PO and it's holding out. I have practiced on FMS simulator but I feel that nothing comes even close to the real thing. Although it gave me some Good insight into the maneuverability and controlling of my heli. After a couple of hours on the sim I took on the real thing. I was amazed at this little machine totally in my control but soon realized that patience is a virtue. Evidently I lost my main rotor blades in an unfortunate accident. Almost in tears as I knew the accident could've been prevented. Which leads me to a great tip for beginners. Create an imaginary circle in which you will learn to hover. If for one moment you leave that circle, set down and reposition. Believe me it pays of. It's has only been about 15 10min flights and I'm already feeling much more confident in hovering my little beast. I took it outside today and was surprised on the affect a small amount of wind have on a stable hover. It changes everything. The Honey Bee is definitely a wonderful way to enter the RC universe.

Well as this is a ESky Honey bee Problem forum. This is my problem. I will try to illustrate the problem on someone else's picture that I saved from this very forum. They were not available to ask permission and hope that they will not sue me for it or something like that. Just feel that it would be impossible for my to explain my problem without an image.

Surely hope someone out there will understand what I'm trying to say: Here goes nothing.....



The swash-plate has a pin (#1) that seems to keep it from moving all around. It slides in a groove (#2) when you move the aileron forward and backwards. When I opened my package I didn't realize this until further inspection but this pin was not inside the groove. It was outside moving up and down the right outside edge. I carefully moved the servos down and slipped the pin into place. I was pleased with myself that I noticed this and was eager to fly thinking it might be more stable now. To my surprise it did not have any lift at all. At full throttle it sat dead on the ground. Before putting this pin back where it belonged I could easily lift of at half throttle with the trim also set in the middle. It just seemed to drift left a lot (which I thought was normal because of the tail rotor). It seems that the helicopter was set up at the factory with the pin (#1) out of place because it takes of easily when not in the groove (#2). There is a small pin that holds the fuselage in place that goes through a hole (#3) and because of the swash-plate not being in place as it should be the rod connected to the servo (#5) is rubbing against it causing the servo not to return to it's !QUOT!neutral!QUOT! position. That was definitely a mouthful but I've learned from reading the forums that here's some really experienced RC pilots and builders in here. What can I do to fix this?

I wish this was the end of my problems. Well another thing I noticed and I know that this will affect the performance of my heli is that the cable tie (#4) rubs against the main gear and I'm sure that it must put strain on it to some degree even though it still flies. I've learned from the forums that it's all about fine tuning. Would just like to achieve that. A fine tuned flying machine.

Also not visible on the picture I noticed that my 4-in-1 box is slightly skew to the left but I don't know if this will have any effect on the helicopter.

You must be getting really irritated by all my problems but my last problem and definitely not least is that my tail motor revs sometimes instead of keeping a steady speed, jerking the tail from side to side. I noticed this happens mainly when I adjust the aileron to the right for take-off. I also feel the need to keep the right analog stick ( aileron) to the right during hover because if left in neutral the helicopter dives to the left. I believe that this might be because of the pin (#1) out of place as mentioned earlier.

Well that is all for now and I'll be really glad to get all this sorted out to be able to get back to training. I feel that if I keep training on a defective Heli that I might have problems when it's all finely tuned. Better to get it sorted out quickly.

I am looking forward to your replies and will be glad to help any beginners with my experience gained. Feel free to e-mail me with questions or anything regarding Electric RC helis. Would love to see your maiden flight videos or anything similar. My e-mail address I don't usually give out freely but I feel in the RC Universe we are all brothers.... (and sisters I should add)

My email address is [email protected]

Thanks

Kobus_uk