five-string

Crimson, excellent description.

I have my debit card in my hand.......give me the green light....is the Falcon the best choice (in your valued opinions) for monetary value and flyability for this rookie?

Appreciate the help.

Oh, and if yes on the Falcon, give me the nutshell of what spare parts to have on hand for Christmas day flying.

USHobbySupply

Wow, you're almost driving distance to me. I'm in DC.

The Falcon40 is the EXACT SAME bird as the Walkera#4. 100% same. (well, except for color schema).
It is a good starter bird. Best first bird? Yes and no. Thats what I started on. Its tough. It demands patience and persistence. Is it rewarding? Heck Yes.
Now some say (as do I) that the best bang for the buck bird for a completely new pilot is a COAX (sorry, did not mean to be techy earlier, but fortunately already explained ).
Why? Because you will actually get to fly it, nearly out of the box. I can almost say, with 100% confidence, that every new pilot with a FP bird (or cp bird too), that flew it out of the box, ended very quickly in a crash. Unless you've had previous heli experience (yes, the sim counts some) a FP bird is alot to handle.

I feel where you are. My FIRST (well 2nd, but 15 years ago, thats another story) heli was a Falcon40/Walkera#4 (I'll use that word as they are interchangable, maybe we could call it a Walkera40 or Falcon#4?). Anyways, XMAS day 2 or 3 years ago, my wife got me a Falcon#4. She made sure to give it to me last. STRAIGHT to charge the battery and to the garage. Ok, like 20 minutes later I'm in the car in rural IL, going to wallmart for superglue.

So, I went from a FP to CP to COAX. Yup. But once I figured out how to fly the FP (at least hover endlessly and fly around the park), the CP birds were relatively easy. COAX now is a joke, but so much fun

Good points about the Falcon#4:
1) Will fly away from minor crashes. No CP bird will do that
2) Will teach you the sticks. COAX can teach some bad habits.
3) Parts are cheap (especially at 2for1 plastics).
4) Is cheap to get into and easy to fix.
5) SuperSkids will be the last skid set you buy for that bird.
6) Once you can fly this thing, you're good to move up!

Downsides:
1) Harder to learn. COAX you can get airborne out of the box (or at least on the same day, barring major crash).
2) Some would say its throw away, since you will be moving up. I still fly my FP bird. Matter of fact, i will fling it around the sky, with little regard. Why? Its cheap and easy to fix. Wont do that with a $800 bird. Not yet, i'm not that good yet.

Jeez, I sure can go on and on sometimes.

Michael

Disney1

Hi All:
I completly agree with Michael, get the Walkera/Falcon, the reward is worth the effort. Also ask Michael what basic spare parte he reccommends to order with the new bird, this will save you time and shipping costs. Also BUY THE SUPER SKIDS.

crimsonrain22

I always say buy a coax if you wanna play with helis and buy a FP if you wanna learn how to fly heli's. Both are fun but the FP is more of a stepping stone towards the hobby that is R/C Helicopters where the Coax is more of a into to the addiction of R/C helicopters. If you like the Coax your gonna buy a fp sooner or later and if you buy the fp your gonna buy a Collective, a Coax, A few more FP, a lot of parts some radios, some support gear some tools. Alot of jewlery to keep the wife happy, A Mini van to haul it all in, but you will tell the wife its for her, And have more fun the a adult should legally have.

ChuckCanavi

five-string your best bet is to buy the Walkera # 4 from USHobbySupply, it's the best beginner heli out there. Its relatively easy to fix and its pretty durable and the price is unbeatable. You won't find any better customer service/support than at USHobbySupply and you can't beat the deals either.

BreakBlades

I started with the Falcon and now I have multiple.. They really are great birds, If you're starting I reccomend the training gear and for the love of god check your center of gravity and your swash plate, sometimes I wonder if world is tilted over in that walkera factory. As for spare parts to buy Ive had to replace 2 rotor cores 1 set of main blades and about 3 tail blades.. oh and recently the original skids..

USHobbySupply

Great way to put it.

makes me wonder sometimes. LMAO.

five-string

WOW! You guys are really helpful. I sure do appreciate it. I wish I would have had a thread like this 3 yrs ago when I bought my first park flyer plane. I would have saved some money and aggravation.

OK, so I'm getting a Walkera/Falcon. US, do you have a website? I'm not driving to DC any time soon (unless you're around Manassas, I might be there tonight). And I still need a definitive list of crash parts and where to get them, along with (echo on) Super Skids! (echo off).

Thanks again, guys. Sure do appreciate the help.

five-string

CRAP! This ice storm is messing with my satt. internet connection......

five-string

It posted the same thing three times.

five-string

OK, four times. Sorry.

Disney1

Hi Five String:

A lot of us reccommend US HOBBY, Here is the link to the Walkera 4

http://www.ushobbysupply.com/product...products_id=59

And here is the link to Super-Skids. Both sold at US Hobbies

http://www.ushobbysupply.com/product...roducts_id=163

No I do not work for US Hobbie, I just like them, With Michael on the posts it is like having a local hobbieshop guy in you living room.

USHobbySupply

Thanks Disney1. Man, I was working away last night, and got so tired I actually nodded off at my desk.

FiveString,
Yes, he is correct. that is the address to my web site.

The main items that are broken are:
1) Main Blades
2) Top Frame Connector
3) Blade Holder
4) Stock Skids
5) Stock battery tray
6) Tail Boom
7) Frame

Fortunately, all those are on 2for1 spares. Yup, order 1, get 2.

Now, the superskids will allow you never to replace #3, #4, and #5. You will NEVER break SuperSkids. I have plowed into the ground from 50' up and broke almost the entire heli and the superskids came out fine!!

Michael

five-string

I think you are all in cahoots. Secretly pm'ing each other, giggling like school girls at this newbie dropping his wallet off at Michael's door.....

I just ordered my Walkera from US Hobby[sm=thumbs_up.gif][sm=thumbs_up.gif][sm=thumbs_up.gif] Along with the (echo on) SUPER SKIDS! (echo off), extra tail blades,main blades, rotor core, and a blade balancer. Nice prices!!

Michael, if I missed something I really need, call me. The number on my account is my cell phone.

I know I'm gonna have a bazillion questions, so bear with me.

That being said, let's get started...

first Q: can I use lipos with the stock tronics?

Q2: If so, what about low voltage cutoff to protect the lipo?

BreakBlades

I’m interested in this answer for Lipos too I asked the question earlier and got a kind of unsure answer. I have a 11.1 V 850 mah lipo laying around and was wondering about that with stock electronics. Also anyone tried fuel cells for powering these? If something were to come out would people be interested? Liquid fuel (methanol) to electric to drive your motor? No charge times. Someone PM me or post a message with the average amperage draw for this bird and I'll look at the weight for a FC stack.

USHobbySupply

Lipos do work. Most just stay with the 7.4 (2cell) lipos. Others run 11.1, but most do it with a modd'd 4&1 controller. The mosfet that drives the motor can be doubled up on, increasing its power rating. Not easy, but not impossible.
You may also be interested in reading the Walkera#4 thread here on RCU, since its the exact same bird.

Fuel Cell. But heck yah spanky. Tell us more!
I tried to talk the wife into a fuel cell for the house (i figured 5-8 year payback for the unit, based on savings from heat, electric and no power outages). She did not buy that. :<

Average amp draw is around 8 amps. The 4410 mostfet is rated to 10 (if memory serves me correctly).

The stock 4&1 does not have any kind of lipo (or NIMH) battery protection circuitry. You have to land when power starts to decline. With the stock NIMH battery, you can run till she wont spin anymore. With a lipo, only fly until she starts loosing power and wont stay above ground effects. You could add a lipo monitor, but that would only increase weight. Better to just fly and when she starts loosing power, slap in another battery.

Michael

BreakBlades

Fuel cell for the house I have input on that. Whos the manufacturer? PlugPower [:'(] ? Anyway PM me that information. I work in a research group that does innovative power solutions. We have a design that is about 1/30 th the weight of typical fuel cells and produces more power. So I was just wondering for when I have spare time and feel like tinkering on a fuel cell on a helicopter. 8 amps that's a joke for a FC. Thanks for the information on the lipo guess I wont be using the 11.1V sounds like a bit of work.

USHobbySupply

I'll have to look that company up again. I think they were local to the MD (rockville) area.

I run 11.1 all the time. Both on stock and modd'd 4&1's.

Its NOT for the beginner pilot. If you dont chop the throttle during a crash, you will for sure FRY the 4&1. Matter of fact, dont do it quick enough with 7.4 volts, you'll fry the 4&1.

A great mod is the FUSE mod. This will save the 4&1 (and you $$). The mod is pretty self explanatory. Fuse between the motor and 4&1. 10amp car fuse works fine.

BreakBlades

Hey has anyone else been breaking rotor head cores lately? I am rebuilding one of my falcons for my father to use and with no crashes no rotor strikes ive broken two cores. The initial vibration when first starting the motor and the blades aligning as they should seems to be cracking the cores. I noticed on closer inspection that the plastic where the breaks occur have voids in them. Little air bubbles in the plastic.

Bones27

Breakblades, I have never broken a rotor core on either of my Falcons, so I can't help with that. I do have a vibration suggestion though. Before I spool up, I turn the main blades so one points forward and one to the rear of the heli and the fly bar is pointing out to the sides. Then I will use the flybar like a level adjusting the main blades until the fly bar is perfectly level with the ground. Then I will spool up without any vibration at all. These blades are hard to sling into alignment with centrifigual force. Someone explained it on the board before, it has something to do with FP blades weighing more at the root than the tip unlike CP blades. I can't find the post at the moment but the explination made sense when I read it.

BreakBlades

Gotcha thanks. Im just asking because I still have an original core on one of my falcons and no problem but I got a new batch and its as if its made of clay.

maybelater29

My Feedback: (1)

I thought there might be a prize after you get done reading this entire thread. After my days of reading I decieded to get the walkera 4 from USHobby. This site and thread have helped me a lot. Now I can't wait to start putting it all to use. I know the wife is going to make me wait till christmas to play with it though. Maybe I can atleast get the Tx and sim cable out so I can practice.

BreakBlades

Why do women torture us so?

maybelater29

My Feedback: (1)

Because they can. I know, it sucks. I might have to give her one of her gifts early so I can get mione

Disney1

Good Luck, my Falcon 40 is wrapped and under the tree. TX and ALL. [sm=teeth_smile.gif]