I have had my axe cp new now for about 2 months. I can fly it within a certain range...like maybe 20ft by 30 ft. The problem is i just can't get it to stay in a solid hover. I am starting to wonder if my controls are too loose except the throttle. either that or I just can't get it done yet. maybe someone can help me understand a possible flaw in the heli or controller ?? just dont know what to do. very frustrated. any ideas? thanks

oh by the way i do have the wheel collars on there and have never crashed or broke anything.

Downforcerecon,

Ok, 99.9 percent of the time it is the pilot. I've had my AXE CP for a little over 3 months and I've only been able to hold the heli in a flat motionless hover a few times and each time it only lasted 30 to 45 seconds. That tells me that it is possible, but requires a lot more practice. I've been flying inside a KC 135 hangar and even in there there are breezes and drafts. I'd imagine there are also breezes or drafts where you are flying as well and that will bump and move your heli.
I've been working on stable controled hovers. No, that doesn't mean a perfectly flat not going anywhere hovers. It's in the air, a few feet in front of me. I've also been working on nose and tail in hovers. Once I'm able to keep it inside a 6 foot circle, then I'll spend a few minutes on that perfectly flat, not going anywhere hover, then maybe some forward flight.
So in answer to your question. It takes practice to get that kind of hover. When you're hovering, how high above the ground are you? You need to be between 3 and 5 feet to get out of the heli's blade wash (turbulence created by the main rotor blades). Blade wash also has an adverse effect on your ability to hover.
The short skinny of is it takes time and practice.
Sorry I rambled on.

Ted

I gave up on the NiHM and brushed motor after the second crash or so, just junk. With the Park 370 motor, ESC, LiPo 1320 battery and a HH gyro, my AXE hovers rock solid. I literally went from not even being able to contain it in my parking garage to landing on the top of an upside down 5 gallon bucket in one flight. ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD. The problem with the AXE and Blade CP, is the low inertia, low speed rotor system. If you get that rotor moving 80% faster as I did the AXE is quite the stable flying machine.

canyoncarver
How did you increase your head speed? I see nothing in your post that would do that. I would think you would either need to get shorter blades, ones with less lift, or a different gearing. Also, you didn't mention if you flew in normal mode or idle up.

What became of all this? I think I am in the same boat here. All this stuff I am finding does make sense but turning a $200 plane into $500 seems a bit off here. I go with the low rpm inertia too. Thing is I still feel its a battery deal and not a motor. 5 minutes is the average flight time and this is not long. This NIMH battery is draining a fast as pouring water out of a glass and messing it all up.

Cyclic, you should really stop beating yourself up with the stock battery and get a LiPo. It made all the difference with everyone that has them, myself included. I'm a total newbie at this, but I can tell you I have seen a major difference since I got a LiPo. Now I just need to get a few more. Longer flight times mean more time to get it stable. You can't get much done with <5 min. flight times.

Do you mean the 810 mAh LiPo that Tower Hobbies sells for it? I would like more run time than that.

I'm using the Thunder Power 1320. Getting 10+ minute flight times, but hard to accurately measure since a lot of that time is spent landing hard to avoid (or reduce) disaster. [:-] I know, I need to just punch it up in the air to eliminate the ground effect, but it's fall now, and where I live that means it's almost always breezy. But the next calm day it's going to be in the air, no matter how many parts it costs! [&:]

I like the price of the Park 370 that was mentioned earlier....plus if the HH gyro makes that big of a difference, I might consider that too! Great info guys! Thanks!

This was mentioned by someone earlier (and I poo-pooed them at the time), but by the time you buy LiPos, BL ESC, BL motor, HH gyro, and tail ESC you probably could have gone with a T-Rex 450SA bundle for $239 (as long as you had a radio and servos!)

Ya know...I'm thinking the same thing. In the future (not near), I am going with the 450(whatever version), and a good Futaba TX. Once I get better at flying!

Ya know, I've probably mentioned this before, but I'm getting a RC Tek 450 Sky Shark

Ted

Ted - I saw someone suggest you NOT buy that heli in the T-Rex forum - going to take a chance, are ya?

Mike,

The same person that said don't buy the RC Tec was the one that told everyone to throw their MX400 in the trash and buy a walkera. You saw how well that turned out. That guy was all but publicly flogged. He was so embarrased by the responses he got that he deleted his comments and his name, but the post is still there.[:@] You know what they say about *****holes and opinions, everyone has one. Sometimes it's better to keep them to yourself.
I've checked out some of the other forums and a few folks have gone as far as to say they'd take their RC Tek 450 over the TREX 450 hands down. I've had store owners tell me they prefer the RC Tek. I figured I'd give it a try.

Ted

Cool - so, that's who that was! Are the T-Rex and Tek 450 parts interchangable?

Yes, parts are interchangeable between the RC Tek 450 and the TREX 450

Ted

Whats a Tec 450?

http://www.rc-tek.com/us_store/450-c...pters-c14.html

This is their web site. There was also a review in RC Heli Magazine.

Ted

So now I see the T-Rex, MX and this RC Tec. They all look good. What are your opinions on these ? If you bought all three in kit form, then it turns into whatever it is you install as would be any rc plane. So take away what is required like servos engines esc and all that. How to they compare barebones

I don't really know a lot about any of them in particular. I'm going on the magazine review and word of mouth from the rc tek forum

I had an axe that I learned the basics on but I gave it to my brother. He is trying to work his way through it now. Really is a tough little bird to fly. Makes it a PITA to learn that tail control and the roll/pitch controls at the same time.

I am sure the battery and all that will help but the axe really is not worth all that cash in upgrades, most of which you probably won't take with you.

Those 1320 bats are going to be too small to use on a 450 class heli if you don't want to be in the same 3-4 minute flight times that you get out of the stock axe junkpack. The gy240 is probably going to a little bit under par if you plan on eventually going to a bigger bird. Brushless upgrades....hmm if I had too much money on my hands that I didn't know what to do with it all.

I spent enough on spare parts, learned the basics and thats all. Moved up to a mini-titan and instantly felt it was so much easier to control that I can't imagine how heli-max can sell the axe like it is. If they want people to grow in the sport (and maybe buy one of their bigger birds you would think they would make a quality product from the bottom up or not make it so as to not tarnish their rep).

I know I will never ever ever purchase another heli-max heli, I don't care how good any of their other helis might be. I feel stiffed in some ways by the axe and its cheap parts (cheap as in poor quality). They really screw their customer. If your e-board goes out what can you do, pay 85 for a new one (on an entire heli that cost 200 bucks) or go brushless and spend 250 to do it.

Red,

You obviously missed the post "Throw your MX400 in the trash". We're not bashing anyone's helicopters anymore. That's sooo yesterday! The moderator guy must have gotten sick of everone bashing on eachother's helicopters, cars and I think someone was bashing on my minivan, that he closed that particular thread. This heli-max thread is pretty nice and I like most of the folks on here. I don't want a bunch pillow bitting AXE CP bashers to ruin it for the rest of us.
It's obvious you don't like Heli-Max and as you stated you don't own your AXE CP anymore, so why are you even here?
There is a diference between constructive criticism and bashing.
Remember if you think someone else's helicopter sucks just put on a happy face .

I think helicopter bashers

Ted

Yeah, go start a thread, " Come bash other helis!!!!" See what comes out of it[:'(] Just because I happen to like the Axe doesn't mean you have to try and convince me it's awful.

I want toask something different about the stable hover. I just stepped out fo my customary less than5 minute flight. I have been blaming the controlability of this thing on the rapid decrease in battery which I stil believe. Iam now wondering if I have enough pitch in the blades and maybe thinking of readjusting.

I have decent control at a hover and trying not to wokr the throttle much but have no choice to keep it from bouncing up and down.

CH - I am not really having any trouble hovering (that can't be attributed to my lack of experience!!) (stock battery) - I can pretty much hover it until the battery won't get it off the ground. I was flying it my backyard yesterday, wind gusts to probably 10-15 mph - plus, the wind coming over the fence was really making it fun (came from all directions - sometimes at the same time!!) and I was surprised how well it handled it (as long as I kept the nose into the wind, which with the wind coming from all directions was a hoot!!)

Once you get the blade tracking right on and the tail trim/gain pots set up right it should almost hover like it's hanging on a string, especially with no wind.