I got my HBK2 yesterday. It sure is a lot more heli than the FP is. I checked everything out, tightened up a few screws, took the blades off and ran a couple of batteries through it at about half throttle to break the motor in and then today I test drove it. It sure is a lot easier to fly than the FP is. I had no trouble at all hovering it, even did a little forward flight. Rock solid and steady, didn't even use training gear. I'd still recommend an FP for a beginner though because it will definately take a beating and it's cheap and easy to repair, but I think I'd want to have an HBK2 or even a belt CP waiting in the hangar for as soon as I learned to hover the FP. I especially like the simplicity of the gear. Pretty much plug and play. No complicated TX to learn how to program, no learning the intracies of collective pitch and how and why it works, just a simple knob for more or less pitch. I think I'm going to enjoy it.

I got my HBK2 on Christmas day. I've been having a blast with it. Needless to say, it's much more of a challenge to fly than my Lama V4, but it is very rewarding. Seems to be a great step-up helicopter from a trainer like the Lama or Blade CX2.

I'm having a hard time holding back... there's so many cool upgrades available for it, I just wanna go nuts and order them all. I'm seeing that the higher capacity batteries (around 2200 mah) are very popular for this machine. Some people say that the additional weight adds to the overall stability. I'm also reading that a higher quality "heading hold" gyro is a great upgrade, too.

One of the Chinese suppliers has a "performance upgrade kit" available for the HBK2 that looks pretty cool. For around 120 bucks, you get the 2200 mah battery, an outrunner style brushless motor, gear, and brushless ESC. I live at 4200 feet, so the added power would be welcome.

Hope you're enjoying your HBK2 as much as I am, Cactus!

I'm having a ball with it. I already have 2200 and 3200mAh batteries but I haven't tried them yet. I have the brushless upgrade too but I want to wear out the brushless motor before I install it. I've read all kinds of stories about the super 370 motor that comes in it, they say it's only good for three or four flights but I've got about 15 on mine and it's still going strong. I have two heat sinks on it and broke it in easy though. I took the blades off of it and ran a few batteries through it about half throttle outside at about 30 degree temp. The motor does heat up with a load on it and I think that's what probably kills it. I think my first upgrade is going to be the extreme belt upgrade and blades. That will take care of the belt slipping off problem and give me a little more tail rotor speed. I really like being able to adjust the pitch with a knob on the TX. I wish my high dollar big boy Futaba tx had that feature.

Well, I can now vouch for the stock motor being a piece of junk. Just five minutes ago (after 12 minutes of flight time), my stock motor burned up. I would estimate total flight time on the motor at maybe 40 minutes, tops.

Which brushless motor did you get, Cactus? I'm really open for recommendations at this point. : )

Edit: I ended up getting this upgrade set: [link=http://www.rchelicoptershop.com/catalog/ek1-king-performance-package-p-194.html]HBK2 Upgrade Package[/link]

I got the Esky 3800kv, there were some others I was looking at but didn't have time to check the specks, There isn't much room there so any motor will have to be about the same diameter as the one in it. I got a hobby wing 30A ESC because I have a programming card for them. The little rate gyro on it seems to work fine for my flying style. I have an Align RCE500X head holding coming in for my mini titan so I be able to make a comparison soon.

I hope the Esky 3900kv will fit ok, as it looks like it's a bit larger diameter (being an outrunner motor) than the stock motor. They're selling it as a HBK2 motor upgrade, so hopefully it won't be a problem. Darn, I'm stuck flying the Lama for a few days til the new motor shows up.

Esky really needs to do something about the crappy stock motors on these things. My brother, Dad, and I all got HBK2's for Christmas. I probably should have ordered all of us the new motors...

actually you probably should have ordered motors for everyone... also, the 3900 will drop right in, make sure you get a pinion with the motor as well.... and i hope you got a brushless esc with it because you can't use the stock brushed esc with a brushless motor.

The package included a 2200 mah battery, the 3900kv motor, a 9t gear, a brushless ESC, and a heading hold gyro.