zertndo

I am half afraid to post a message after reading the negative reviews on Electric Heli's. 47 years old and I am a babe in the woods when it comes to this stuff.

Putting my guns and train hobbies to sleep, I wanted to try a new one and thought of RC Heli's. I got caught up in the Hobby-Lobby ad for the Fun Piccolo and bought one 90% complete.

Oops, did I get taken. The instructions for the final assembly were absolutely terrible and the instructions for the transmitter were for fixed wing. They claimed this was a beginners Heli. Beginning alcoholism and drug abuse after trying to get this thing going. No sooner did I have everything together, I looked at the transmitter plans and it said to put the stick at power off and turn the transmitter on. Then connect the battery to the Pico Board. Well, it does fly since the directions had the power to 50% instead of off and I crashed the blasted thing. Now no one knows anything around here about electric Heli's, but someday someone will come forth and help all of us poor old fools.

If there is some kind soul who does know about these things, I would like to hear from them. I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THE SERVO'S ARE ON RIGHT!!!.....[&o]

marked23

Welcome to the world of electric heli disappointment. You have lots of friends in this world. However all is not lost.

The fixed pitch micro-helis (like the Piccolo Fun) are just about the most difficult, least stable, helis you can buy. Yes, the instructions are bad. You will never see heli instructions that are up to the standards of Model Railroading magazine. Part of this hobby is figuring out how it should go together.

After flying my 30 size heli for a month, and playing the simulator for 40 hours, I'm able to fly my micro heli for about 30 seconds before something comes along and grabs it. I am, after two months, finally seeing improvement in my micro heli skills. Stick with it. Buy spare parts.

To understand if your servos are set correctly, unplug your motor servos from the pico board.... Just to keep your heli from flying off on you, for now. Turn on your TX and then plug in the battery on the heli. The servos (reversed or not) should mostly center themselves. The swashplate (the thing that the servos ultimately move) should tilt forward when you push forward on the right stick. It should tilt right (from standing behind the tail of the heli) when you push the stick right. If either of these things are wrong, set the transmitter to reverse the servo. When you center the sticks, the swash plate should be level and your servo arms should be at 90deg to the rod they push. If they are not at 90deg, then remove the screw and reposition the arm on the servo as best as you can to get close to 90deg.

There are no real servos for the tail and the main motor. There are "virtual" servos built into the pico board. The left stick all the way back is motor off. It is possible for this channel (or any channel) to be reversed in your radio. If it is wrong, reverse it.

Most of all, read a lot around here on RCU and other web sites. Every bit of advice you could get is available out there somewhere.

You wanted a new challenge, this is it. If you want less of a challenge, try out a 30 size nitro heli. Roughly four times the price, but spectacularly enjoyable compared to a fixed pitch micro heli.

-Mark

Prophex

So, it would not be a good idea to get a Fun Piccolo for a 7-year old who want a heli to ? Which electric would be a good choise then, or is the piccolo not that bad ?

marked23

A simulator would be a good choice for a 7 year old.

To get any of the collective pitch helis is going to cost a lot of money. Like $600 minimum for a full setup. That's why you see the fixed pitch helis marketed to beginners even though they are harder to fly. At half the price, it's a much easier sale.

The Piccolo Pro, Hornet CP, a Draganflyer IV, or maybe the upcoming Hummingbird CP. Any of these birds would be a good indoor flyer. You can't really expect to fly a micro-heli happily in any sort of breeze. A large indoor space is a must for learning.

That being said, seven year olds can learn to do anything... even things that adults can't learn to do. Start with the simulator.

-Mark

`3D

My Feedback: (1)

You might want to start that 7 yr old on a Plank (plane), Heli is a little pricey to learn, and those spinnig blades can hurt.

zertndo

Thanks for all of the info, Mark. Doesn't make me happy, but youhave at least given me some hope. I will struggle along and try not to smash it with a hammer...

Brente

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

Yea, put a bunch of spinning blades in the hands of a seven year old. Don't come whining when he cuts his throat open with it. Kind of like giving him a loaded gun.

How bout a sim. That might be a little wiser for a few years.

fellers

My Feedback: (6)

I hear ya on the electrics[:'(] LOL but they are a challenge to get to fly correctly especially the chep FP birds. I am a fairly decent nitro pilot and a piccolo was hell in a black dress for me. [:'(]lol
When you take it off the ground it is pretty much all or nothing on the throttle stick. A good way to set your mixers for the tail and gyro on the picco boards is to get a burn cd holder like a 100 disc size. On the shaft that goes through all the cd's mount 2 cds on the top of the shaft using big zip ties underneath for it to sit on. drill 2 holes on each side of the landing struts through the cd so you can mount the heli to the cds with small zip ties. put another large zip tie on top of the cds so the heli wont lift it off. Now the heli is free to spin around , no worry of crashing it, and it will allow you to zero in the tail perfectly so it will not hunt or drift. Just like a Lazy Susan.

JohnVH

My Feedback: (38)

Hornet, I have flown and owned piccolo's, they are no fun. The Hornet I flew was very stable for a smaller heli.

zertndo

That is great advice. Thanks....

Brente

marked23

When this thread was started, I still was not able to achieve a stable hover with my Hummingbird. I had no problem with my sim or my Hawk. The Hummingbird was a different story. I'm now to the point where I can actually hover in the livingroom without running into things. The learning curve was very long, but once you finally make the turn, it's a pretty satisfying.

So for me, the differenence was two more weeks of trying. After 1.5 months, I was nowhere. After 2 months, I am able to hover a whole battery.

I never thought I get this figured out. Now that I have, here's what I noticed:
[ul][*]The cyclic stick is in constant motion. I am moving it constantly... and pretty big throws. [*]Don't transition out of a hover. It can be hard to stop the heli once it starts moving quickly. [*]As the battery dies, you loose rudder authority first. Beware. It will turn around and face you. Duck!
[/ul]

-Mark

Billy Hell

My Feedback: (2)

I am a profile plane flyer and never thought I would ever fly a Heli. My first was a Piccolo Fun. I will say that micro helis might be the hardest thig to learn in 3D but that is what makes them so attractive. It's like the ultimate video game. You have to keep coming back for more. My Fun is a tough bird and when set up right she flies great. We have hovered one into the palm of my hand. The guys at work will hover theirs in front of them and walk down the hallways. Once mastered they can do anything.

bdphil

My Feedback: (26)

zertndo,

I don't know much about electric helis, but if you wanted to take a road trip out to Somerset sometime I could try and give you a hand. I did manage to get a JR Voyager E flying for a guy last year (no easy task either!).

Ben

ckx56

I sure wish I would have found this site before puchasing my Piccolo (Fun?). So far I have made a couple short hops, I refer to them as controlled crashes. Being new to the hobby and learning as I go, I'm trying to keep the faith. I can't blame the heli...but it sure is easier.[:@]

3littlefonzies

i bought my pic fun from hobby lobby. even got the kit they were selling with it(radio, servos, piccoboard pro, etc.) i''ve enjoyed it . i wish i had gone with the pro with collective pitch.

they seemed to take a lickin and keep on tickin.

by the way i bought lithium bats with it and never used the battery from the kit.20-25 minute flights learning to hover.

ckx56

I have had great difficulty getting the heli off the ground. At times it will take off like a rabbit and other times even at full throttle it will only get light and never achieve flight. This worked fine while all I wanted to do was slide around on the floor BUT I would like to fly now. It feels like it just doesn't have the power to lift. I have added only minor hop-ups all of which should have reduced the weight. I don't really know where to start, I feel it is in the batteries, because I can leave them on the charger for an extended period and the heli won't lift. I can put the batteries just until the charger tells me their charged and it works ok.

mtuck2

I have the same problem, getting the heli off the ground. I even bought the better upgraded lithium battery for it and still have the same problem. Battery only last about about 5 mins and then goes dead. Hobby store guy did not find anything wrong with it, and the standard battery does the same thing. I'm starting to think that it may be the motor. I use to fly gas powered heli's many years ago, so fliing this Piccolo shouldn't be to difficult once I get it balanced. When I flew gas powered heli's, I found it easier to just go for it and fly forward instead of trying to hover it. After a while, I was able to hover better. If anyone can suggest why I\we can't get much power out of this thing, please let us know.

ifixairplanes

My Feedback: (9)

I just got my piccolo fun 2 days ago, i just finished my best battery pack yet! I had her hovering eye level under complete control. Now i am just waiting another 3 hours until my batt is fully charged and i can fly again. The piccolo fun IMHO is a great machine, once balanced and set up correctly. I already have some hop up parts on the way, like a new metal swashplate assembly, and a CNC peice thats at the top of the main shaft, holding on the 2 white bearings the flybar connects to. Good luck!

sean