menardsy

Hi,

I am just back from a hobby store near me. I talked to the vendor about my new interest in RC helicopter. I told him I wanted to buy a dragonfly helicopter and he told me "it's a piece of crap". He told me what I really need is an Hirobo XBR Lama at a 420US$! He told me that I won’t be able to fly an electric helicopter with a tail rotor, that it is too unstable. He also told me that electric helicopter won’t fly outdoor if there is the slightest wind (he showed me his air conditioner wind and said it is enough to crash an electric helicopter). What I absolutely need for outdoor is a 1300US$ gaz helico. He also told me that an electric CP (like the Dragonfly 22E) can't fly!

I have passed the last days doing search on the Web, reading post, etc. I understood that the Walkera Dragonfly #4 is far from perfect, but the price is quite cheap (~85$).

I was also hesitating between the Walkera Dragonfly #4 (FP) and the Walkera Dragonfly 22E. After this hobby store visit, it looks like I need at least nearly 4 times what I was expecting to invest in RC helicopter. I am now hesitating simply going in this hobby (since ~400$ is much when you don’t know if you are going to like it).

I am quite confused now!

Sylvain

predman

My Feedback: (7)

I have a dragonfly 4 I got off ebay and i fly it outside all the time. Wind is a factor and it cant take too much but the blade and the honeybee2 can take some wind. Sounds like he wants to get rid of that XRB and is lying about the other helis not being able to fly,i would be careful. I ordered the dragonfly22e and will see how it flies. A dragonfly4 fp is a good thing and comes w a flight sim. The honeybeefp is also a good heli with better electronics than the walkera df. You can purchase either ready to fly from ebay user grandhobby. They are really fast and i have never had a problem from them. When you do get your heli,ask as much questions and do some research to get that thing set up properly.that will make your addiction a little easier.

menardsy

I was also under the impression that he wanted to force me a little to buy his helicopter. The fact that you had a good experience with the df4 is reassuring. I think I'll go with the df 4 before the 22e (since I never flew an heli before, the risk of crash is quite high!). The walkera electronic fright me a little after many post I readed about servo dying after a couple of flight. I am very interested in the df4 because of the sim (I think the transmitter is also compatible with the Reflex XTR simulator but I am not sure). I have the opportunity to buy a GWS DF4 for around 200US$ instead of 145US$ (with shipping). I seen some post saying that the GWS servo are better. I am looking forward about your comment on the DF 22E!

predman

My Feedback: (7)

I ordered it last week and it should be here anyday now so i'll post a small review of it. Practice on the sim then the heli,take it slow and be patient. Buy an extra rotor head and some skids if you can.

credence

My Feedback: (2)

I fly my micro outside all the time too. They're okay in anything below 5 mph wind. What really messes them up is gusts, as it will cause the tail to spin sometimes and to make the helicopter climb unexpectedly, but they're certainly not uncontrollable.

The best place to fly is in a 2 car garage if you've got one. I fly around in my garage all the time, lots of room for basic hovering and side in/nose in practice. Only time you'd want to go outside is for forward flight, and if you're starting out, it'll probably be a long time before you reach that stage, anyways .

As for Walkera birds, yes, their servos suck, and should be replaced off the bat, but everything else, electronically, is pretty good considering what you ultimately pay for (A helicopter, a transmitter, batteries, 4in1 unit, 2 servos, main and tail motors, wall charger, etc.).

Thats alot of bang for your buck at $80.

The problem with ANY helicopter, is simply setting it up properly, theres a bit of a steep learning curve involved with the helicopter hobby, but once you're in, you're okay, and these forums are an invaluable source of information for just about any chopper. Don't let biased gasser pilots interfere with your better judgement.

menardsy

I have a 1 car garage and I probably won’t have the choice to practice there this winter (unless the chopper likes -20 and snow). I am happy to know that it can resist a 5mph wind at least.

I was thinking about buying from rc-expert or hobbyjapan2000. The thing about them is that I think that the spare servos they are selling are the same as the ones that come with the Walkera, so they are probably of little use. []

I heard about GWS servo but I do not know where to buy them. I don’t want to spend too much money on upgrading this helicopter since I am a beginner and that I'll probably (if I like flying RC heli) go 3D later, so I’ll need a 6 channel Transmitter + a new helicopter model . I also plan to practice much on the simulator (Reflex XTR if I'll succeed in making the Walkera transmitter work with it [sm=confused.gif]).

predman

My Feedback: (7)

Hobbyjapan is good,wouldnt recommend rcexpert. Try www.heli-fever.com they have really great service and ship right away!!!

credence

My Feedback: (2)

You're unlikely to find a helicopter in Reflex XTR that will compare to the way a micro FP bird flies.

I don't think XTR models fixed pitch birds, does it? I could be wrong, most other simulators don't so i'm just assuming.

With flying micros, the best hope you have from a simulator is just control orientation, I don't think you'll get much else from them.

GWS Servos are great for micro copters, i've been using them with great sucess. Another good option are Blue Bird Servos, they fit nicely and work well. You can find both from most common hobby shops or online hobby retailers (helihobby, hobbyjapan, heck, even ebay).

Hitec HS50/55's are probably some of the most popular. I use almost all hitec stuff exclusively, but I still have a good deal of GWS stuff laying around that work really well. I remember hearing somewhere something about incompatiblity between a hitec servo and Walkera 4in1. I don't know if it's true or not, maybe someone else knows. I recall a scant piece of information along those lines, anyways.

With servos, generally, if you stay with known brand names, you're probably safe (Hitec, GWS, Blue Bird, Airtronics, Futaba, etc.)

You will probably spend about $20 - 30 on new servos depending on what kind you get. It might even be more worthwhile to try the Esky Honeybee as they come with much better electronics, and would probably cost you the same thing in the longrun anyways.

predman

My Feedback: (7)

I agree the honeyfp is a great fp heli,I have a 2 cell 1500 mah lipo and get long flights out of it!!! Also i put a lipo monitor but it really doesnt need it as the bird will set down before the battery reaches the limit. The main and tail motors barely get warm(barely)with a solid 15 minute flight. I got mine off ebay for $100. I also have a TREX all blinged out but I still love the smaller micro's. So far the honeybeefp is the best bang for the buck in its class. I have almost all makes and models of fp's and this honeybeefp tops them all. The electronics are way better,the servos and so forth. The walkera electronics are very fragile and dont like adjustments!!!
my 2 cents.

menardsy

I would like go with the honeybee, but the price is more than the double with the sim cable (19$ extra) [sm=disappointed.gif]. I also suppose that starting with a Honeybee CP would not be a good idea since I never flew anything. I would like that the 6ch RC transmitter to be compatible with FMS simulator...

I wonder if the Honeybee is less affected by the wind...[sm=confused.gif]

I also wonder if the Honeybee CP transmitter have pot to adjust the pitch (I don't see visible adjustment on the tx picture in hobbyjapan200 site) like the walkera tx for the Dragonfly 22a.

credence

My Feedback: (2)

He's talking about the honeybee FP bird, not the CP one. The only thing you can adjust on the honey bee FP are the gyro controls (gain and mix it looks like)

The honeybee is definiately one of the more stable FP birds i've flown. And as predman says, I was really surprised to see the motors barely warm after 8 minutes of flying, as the one on both my walkera and GWS birds can get real toasty during duration flights. If I had to buy another micro it'd probably be a piccolo or honeybee .