What is your stick position at hover?

A little more than half stick - just like in Realflight

Hey folks,
I stopped at my LHS, and they don't have any upgrade batteries for my AxeCP right now, so I'm looking to get the most bang for my buck, not to mention the proper voltage, weight, charger/balancer, etc.

Obviously, LiPo batteries are the way to go here based on previous notes, so if one were to invest in a whole set - Battery, Charger / Balancer, connectors, etc. what would I need?

I see that right now the stock battery for the Axe is 10.6v / 650mAh I believe, and most LiPos are about 11.1v / 1100mAh+, and it uses the mini-Deans connector. I see that Thunder runs several 50$+ Lipos with 1100mAh+ ratings, and even one with a 2600mAh+/- rating! they're all three cells, but I'm concerned about cost and weight (not to mention that their chargers are more expensive).

I believe that this particular LHS sells the EFlight?(sp?) series of parts and batteries, and he said that he could get a 3-cell 11.1v 1100mAh+ LiPo for around 35-40$ish, then a 12v compatible balancer/charger for about 30$. Add another 15-20$ for the 110v adapter and poof there I am at about 100$. That's fine. The Thunder setups would easily eclipse the 150$ mark for the whole package it seems, so I wanted to know if that's the right way to go.

TIA!

Need.....More....Power..... argharghargh

See
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5266894/tm.htm

I like TP 1320's cause they are lighter than other batteries I've compared to.

Is Great Planes LiPo 11.1V 910mAh 3S 15C Discharge Deans a good battery. I know it is the one recommended by heli-max but if there is a better battery for around the same price I would rather buy the better one. I was also looking at the Field DC Charger MKII 12 Volt but it is DC and I'm looking for one that I can use in my house. Does anyone have any recommendations.

(Do weather conditions effect the flight of the Axe; I was flying a couple of days ago and it was cloudy, damp and about to snow. The heli didn't want to stay in the air. Today I flew it and it is sunny, warm, and dry and it was hovering great.) Just seemed weird to me.

Thanks for the link, I just blew through the order for a TP1320 and a THP205 balancer. (x-posted a note about that in the other thread)

Hopefully I don't need anything else to get these buggers humming in my Axe.

I'm going to pace the floor now.

TTFN.

I have to do some trouble shooting. Just flew again and had the same problem as the other day. The heli gets up but as soon as I put in a stick movement it want to drop. It is significantly colder out now then it was before when it was flying fine. I have three theories, the first is the cold, second is the servo, third is radio interuption from a train transtormer behind my house. I'm going more with the cold because before I was able to fly perfectly without any problems at all but I'm not sure if a train came by.

Hope it is just the cold, don't really want to invest in new servos right now.[:'(]

I get mine on friday. I bought the lipoly battery upgrade and an extra set of main blades and tail fins also.

Welcome to the club!

Alright my first battery is charged up, I'm heading over to the clubhouse now and if its still empty, I can go for my second hover attempt with the DX6 radio.

I also have 2 fully charged TP1320's I'll be trying for the first time. Hope nothing smokes!!!

It should just be a matter of a couple more pitch / throttle curve tweaks and hopefully just a slight amount of trimming.

Glorious victory or go down in flames, I will post results! [8D]

~mArK

Guys guys guys guys guys guys

I I I I I

AM AM AM AM AM

SO SO SO SO SO

STOKED STOKED STOKED STOKED STOKED STOKED


Yep, total nOOB here reporting total and massive success with flying the AXE with the DX6. We got the hover down pat, friends. Yep it's just our second try with this kind of heli. I am already pretty good with my Blade CX2, but this is waayyyy different...

The clubhouse was deserted, and I had a solid 30' x 15' area to work with. When I was 'on', I could hover almost totally motionless.

I hovered up close, over there, up there, down there. I hovered with a sidewise view! I played with the collective, daring to shoot up a few feet to catch the feel, then over-correct and then stabilize to test my ability to avoid a basic bad situation.

I had a dozen totally soft landings - several were just feather-like. Two landings were a bit rough, and I popped off a training gear, then popped it back on again.

I flew out the stock NiMh battery pack and made some final radio tweaks. I then went through the two TP 1320's and they are AWESOME!!! Killer power and flight times!!! Wooo hooo!!!

I finished up with some easy piroettes. One put in a bad spot though. I dropped the throttle and pulled some hard right and back cyclic, AND let the nose go right like it likes to... and... just a bumpy landing, no damage, the training gear even stayed on but needed adjusting.

I am now celebrating with a shot of good port.


Flight Analysis

I can't think of anything more to adjust off hand, BUT:

1. I was always giving a lot of right yaw input to keep the tail straight. I tried up to a ton of right trim but was still always leaning right on the left stick.

2. I think that maybe, possibly my head speed is a little high. BUT I had great stability and excellent run time so I am not inclined to change it for now.

3. This heli did not hover totally straight. It could hover motionless, but seemed to have a slight angle of lean to the right. I might be able to blame this on the training gear. Sometime those foam balls would shake pretty good under the rotorwash. Maybe the right side is pulling down a bit for some reason. I doubt its a balance problem...

Anyway, thanks all for all the great tips!!! I can certainly attribute this success to the following factors:

1. Patience and methodical, by-the-numbers approach.
2. LOTS OF TIME on the simulator!!! I love Realflight!
3. Asking for expert help. No question is dumb - only crashing because you did not ask the right questions is dumb!!
4. Testing the vehicle thoroughly (test jig, holding in hand while running) to make sure it was worthy of un-fettered testing.
5. Patiently hopping and sliding and observing the control behavior before attempting the hover.

Go nOOBs!!! It can be done!!

I purchased a 1000mah battery, A balance charger with 12volt clips and a AC wall pluggin So you can charge in the house. The 12 volt battery clips unplug and then you can plug in the wall power pack. Just a scratch over 40 bucks for the complete combo. It's a cheap way to experience lipo power without putting up the big bucks. So far the combo has worked flawlessly and gives a substantial increase in run time and power. I'm waiting for them to restock batteries because at 16.99 a pack, It's a pretty good bargain.

New question on the AxeCp, in regards to the servo linkages:

I believe I saw a notation either in this thread, or somewhere else, that someone brought the linkages in a hole or two on the servo arms to reduce the amount of throw, thus decreasing the sensitivity of the commands from the radio.

I had picked up a second set of linkages for parts and was wondering if I widened one of the arm holes going up the arm closer to the servo and then adjusted the spare linkages to to match the existing (assumed) 'Zero' length, would the added offset of the ball link to arm linkage cause undue stress on the servo? If I get reasonable input on this today I may go out and pick up a few micro hand drillbits and do it up.

I understand also that I would likely have to readjust pitch using the disconnected motor technique again as well.

TIA for any input!

----
Learner update: My AXE got me in the leg last night while pulling some livingroom hover practice. More parts (yay) and looks like the tailboom got a bit warped, but not enough to really damage it, as I was able to straighten it out somewhat so it looks like its inline with the copter.

Ugh!! * groans * [:@]


Oh, man, the Living Room? [&:]

Markind, what kind of flight time did u get out of the tp1320's? I am definitely going to upgrade batteries soon. As soon as i start to get a good hover going, the batteries die and its another hour and 30 minutes to start over again.

Congrats on the hovering, u seem to be way ahead of me, i'm still waiting for parts! (tail blades, rotor grips, swash plate)


Nick

A gust of wind followed by another put my Axe CP in the lake. Sinker, Trebble hook and 50 casts latter I got her back. All electronics fried of course. Got a wet CP for parts and other spare parts for sale cheap. Learned alott with the CP and had some fun. Ordered a Hawk Pro, OS 37 , Futaba 240 gyro.

Those TP 1320's get for sure double what the stock NiMh packs get.

I had two TP1320's, and the stock pack and I was well entertained for an hour. Surely a good 10 minutes of actual flight time with a TP 1320. I did not time it tho...

Also, the TP1320's die more gracefully. When they are done you know it, and you're done. The NiMh pack dies more slowly, and the aircraft gets very naughty as the pack slowly dies.

I dont know much about the lipo's, most of my r/c experience is nitro power. I am wanting the biggest battery possible for the axe. Is there a battery that will work and maybe get around 30 minutes of flight time? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Nick

I found out what my hover problem is. It is the train transformer behind my house. My Axe was flying fine, then I hurd the transformed kick on and the heli dropped( thank god it was only up about six inches.) So now I have to watch when I Fly.



And Don d that sucks about the heli in the lake. Hope you have good luck with the Hawk.
_____________ ^
(I Know this is agianst policy But I could find another word as strong.)

Yep, my condolences Don d, I salute your Axe for its service as it goes glub, glub, glub... Wind, plus proximity to a lake, was enough of a temptation for the crash gremlins...

Hey, r/cheliman, if you want to upgrade to DX6 radio you will solve your EMI noise problem, and not have to worry about any kind of interference or channel conflicts any more. Plus, you'll have good control over fine tuning the pitch and throttle curves, and the EXP exponential setting really makes it easier to hover. I have some tips if you go this route.

~mArK

Would like to updrade to the DX6 in the future because right now I don't have any money. (Only in high school, no job yet.) How far back did the upgrade put you all in all.

I just wanted to put my two cents in,

Those who are looking to buy an AXE CP, don't be discouraged by having to tamper with the gyro and servos and other stuff that people have been talking about.

I have made no adjustments to my AXE CP. Put a Thunder Power 1320mah in it and still no adjustments!

[link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCfOMQLqN4Y[/link]

This is the room where I learned. A bit tight but made me better faster. Glad that everything was balanced right from the factory!!!

kjelld, how long have u had ur axe? i have been in for a week now, 10 charges on the crappy stock battery. Waiting for parts, should be here tomorrow.
That was an excellent hover compared to mine so far. Nice video, now lets see you turn the fan on high and try it!!!

Nick

HAHA, thanks, won't be turning on the fan though.

Had it for...about a month now. Crashed once and broke a bunch of parts but no crashing since the first so far.

BUY A LIPO BATTERY!!! I had a TP 1320mah for my electric planes and then bought two more once I tried it in my CP. They fit great in the Axe with a little bit of foam and I moved up to the regular Deans Plugs, shell still goes on and flight times are around 12 minutes!!!!

I am definitely getting some lipo's, just not sure which ones yet. I am so used to nitro power, refueling is so much faster than recharging, I am already wanting a nitro heli. I just can't see crashing a $1000.00 heli, at least not on my bank account! I love the reliability of electrics though, makes it so much easier.
Anyone going to Perry, GA this weekend?

Nick

Dear my Helibrethren,

I dain exhort unto you that again the wind gourds have indeed blessed my Axe's flight a second time!

13 minutes solid and timed hover time on a TP 1320 pack!! When the pack was done, the bird became just a bit naughty then just settled down. Easy to manage.

Then, an experiment - just over the training gear I strapped on a 2200mAH pack from a F27C Stryker! [>:]

After 13 minutes of flight time, my DX6 Radio beeped at me its Low Battery Warning!!! AAhhhh!! I had to land, knowing I still had a lot punch left in that brick of a LiPo.

I don't recommend this. The pack has tons of juice but it is too heavy. I did ok though! [:-]

I had a couple rough but level landings. One was a bit scary, but all it did was rotate the tail a bit. I just rotated it back into correct position.

The main cause?!?! Getting pushed off the hover by WIND!! I would take off and go right into a stable hover, but after a while, it got turbulent! My rotorwash was setting up nasty currents in the big clubhouse room! It got really bad at times!! Then the AC would blow around a bit too and just add to the chaos.

After landings, most of which were perfect, a short wait while the air settled in the room again allowed for stable hovers to continue. It was a bit risky at times, but very good practice too.

Again barmaid! A shot of the good port to celebrate!