Walkera suggestion for outdoors use, begginner pilot.
10-25-2010, 06:40 PM
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Walkera suggestion for outdoors use, begginner pilot.
So, I have a Novus FP (my first heli) that I have been learning on and I am fairly capable hovering it. The only problem is that I really don't have ample indoor space to fly it and I am often forced to not fly it due to winds outside. Its actually made me learn faster having to compensate for light breezes but anything over about 5mph that thing is in the trees.
I have done some research and would like to remain with a FP aircraft but something a little larger to handle the outdoor flying environment. I have looked at the flybarless models as well as some with the bell rotor system as well. I am still basically a beginner to I don't need something with super quick movements and speed.
I was looking at the HM CB180Z, but not having a shop around that stocks a large variety of heli's I have a hard time envisioning its size difference. From my noob understanding its somewhere between a micro and a 250 size. If not the CB180, what other heli would offer similar performance but a slightly larger size. Price is not overly important, to get the right model I am willing to pay for it. I am also not solely interested in Walkera, but at the moment they seem like they offer a nice range of models at decent prices. I know I am going to put it down a couple times so durability is important.
Any input much appreciated.
I have done some research and would like to remain with a FP aircraft but something a little larger to handle the outdoor flying environment. I have looked at the flybarless models as well as some with the bell rotor system as well. I am still basically a beginner to I don't need something with super quick movements and speed.
I was looking at the HM CB180Z, but not having a shop around that stocks a large variety of heli's I have a hard time envisioning its size difference. From my noob understanding its somewhere between a micro and a 250 size. If not the CB180, what other heli would offer similar performance but a slightly larger size. Price is not overly important, to get the right model I am willing to pay for it. I am also not solely interested in Walkera, but at the moment they seem like they offer a nice range of models at decent prices. I know I am going to put it down a couple times so durability is important.
Any input much appreciated.
10-27-2010, 05:42 PM
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RE: Walkera suggestion for outdoors use, begginner pilot.
Haven't flown the 180 but have flown the smaller version CB100. The 45° flybar makes it very stable, almost like a coax. I'm told the 180 has very poor FF flight, but don't know first hand. The walker 4 ver 2 is ok to fly and can take a lot of abuse and cheap to repair. Doesn't like the wind.
I'm currently flying the Walkera Ufly. The shaft drive/servo controlled tail gives real good control, but the little pinion gear that meshes with the main flywheel gear tends to strip pretty easy. 4 bucks for a new set and easy to replace, but still...
If you get the one with the RX-2435 receiver it has a 3 way gyro with a HH tail. The 3 way helps compensate for wind. The 3 way isn't an autopilot and in a dead air normal hover they have no effect; they only try to slow down quick direction changes like a gust of wind would do. It has shorter narrower blades which means a little higher head speed. The brushless motor should last longer than the brushed motors in the other FP's. It has a cnc metal head that should hold up pretty good (but isn't indestructable). It's still a very light FP so even with the 3 way gyro trying to hover in the wind is a challenge - better than the walkera 4 but still a challenge. So far my damage repairs have been the pinion gear and the carbon fiber tail driveshaft.
These are the only 3 "large" FP helis I'm aware of, other than rebranded versions. My personal suggestion would be the Ufly... just don't get one of the ones that has been modified by a dealer. Mine was modified by WOW hobbies, cost more than the stock version, and all of the modifications were crap and failed either right out of the box or within the first 2 weeks and had to replaced with the original walkera parts. Now that it is using all of the original parts it's a great little heli.
I made this video shortly after all of the dealer modifications were undone, and then I had made one small mod to allow larger 1300 batteries to be used and get some decent flight times. Nothing fancy, just making sure everything worked ok. [link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx6LnXTAnbM[/link]
I'm currently flying the Walkera Ufly. The shaft drive/servo controlled tail gives real good control, but the little pinion gear that meshes with the main flywheel gear tends to strip pretty easy. 4 bucks for a new set and easy to replace, but still...
If you get the one with the RX-2435 receiver it has a 3 way gyro with a HH tail. The 3 way helps compensate for wind. The 3 way isn't an autopilot and in a dead air normal hover they have no effect; they only try to slow down quick direction changes like a gust of wind would do. It has shorter narrower blades which means a little higher head speed. The brushless motor should last longer than the brushed motors in the other FP's. It has a cnc metal head that should hold up pretty good (but isn't indestructable). It's still a very light FP so even with the 3 way gyro trying to hover in the wind is a challenge - better than the walkera 4 but still a challenge. So far my damage repairs have been the pinion gear and the carbon fiber tail driveshaft.
These are the only 3 "large" FP helis I'm aware of, other than rebranded versions. My personal suggestion would be the Ufly... just don't get one of the ones that has been modified by a dealer. Mine was modified by WOW hobbies, cost more than the stock version, and all of the modifications were crap and failed either right out of the box or within the first 2 weeks and had to replaced with the original walkera parts. Now that it is using all of the original parts it's a great little heli.
I made this video shortly after all of the dealer modifications were undone, and then I had made one small mod to allow larger 1300 batteries to be used and get some decent flight times. Nothing fancy, just making sure everything worked ok. [link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx6LnXTAnbM[/link]
10-27-2010, 06:42 PM
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RE: Walkera suggestion for outdoors use, begginner pilot.
ORIGINAL: karlik
Haven't flown the 180 but have flown the smaller version CB100. The 45° flybar makes it very stable, almost like a coax. I'm told the 180 has very poor FF flight, but don't know first hand. The walker 4 ver 2 is ok to fly and can take a lot of abuse and cheap to repair. Doesn't like the wind.
I'm currently flying the Walkera Ufly. The shaft drive/servo controlled tail gives real good control, but the little pinion gear that meshes with the main flywheel gear tends to strip pretty easy. 4 bucks for a new set and easy to replace, but still...
If you get the one with the RX-2435 receiver it has a 3 way gyro with a HH tail. The 3 way helps compensate for wind. The 3 way isn't an autopilot and in a dead air normal hover they have no effect; they only try to slow down quick direction changes like a gust of wind would do. It has shorter narrower blades which means a little higher head speed. The brushless motor should last longer than the brushed motors in the other FP's. It has a cnc metal head that should hold up pretty good (but isn't indestructable). It's still a very light FP so even with the 3 way gyro trying to hover in the wind is a challenge - better than the walkera 4 but still a challenge. So far my damage repairs have been the pinion gear and the carbon fiber tail driveshaft.
These are the only 3 ''large'' FP helis I'm aware of, other than rebranded versions. My personal suggestion would be the Ufly... just don't get one of the ones that has been modified by a dealer. Mine was modified by WOW hobbies, cost more than the stock version, and all of the modifications were crap and failed either right out of the box or within the first 2 weeks and had to replaced with the original walkera parts. Now that it is using all of the original parts it's a great little heli.
I made this video shortly after all of the dealer modifications were undone, and then I had made one small mod to allow larger 1300 batteries to be used and get some decent flight times. Nothing fancy, just making sure everything worked ok. [link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx6LnXTAnbM[/link]
Haven't flown the 180 but have flown the smaller version CB100. The 45° flybar makes it very stable, almost like a coax. I'm told the 180 has very poor FF flight, but don't know first hand. The walker 4 ver 2 is ok to fly and can take a lot of abuse and cheap to repair. Doesn't like the wind.
I'm currently flying the Walkera Ufly. The shaft drive/servo controlled tail gives real good control, but the little pinion gear that meshes with the main flywheel gear tends to strip pretty easy. 4 bucks for a new set and easy to replace, but still...
If you get the one with the RX-2435 receiver it has a 3 way gyro with a HH tail. The 3 way helps compensate for wind. The 3 way isn't an autopilot and in a dead air normal hover they have no effect; they only try to slow down quick direction changes like a gust of wind would do. It has shorter narrower blades which means a little higher head speed. The brushless motor should last longer than the brushed motors in the other FP's. It has a cnc metal head that should hold up pretty good (but isn't indestructable). It's still a very light FP so even with the 3 way gyro trying to hover in the wind is a challenge - better than the walkera 4 but still a challenge. So far my damage repairs have been the pinion gear and the carbon fiber tail driveshaft.
These are the only 3 ''large'' FP helis I'm aware of, other than rebranded versions. My personal suggestion would be the Ufly... just don't get one of the ones that has been modified by a dealer. Mine was modified by WOW hobbies, cost more than the stock version, and all of the modifications were crap and failed either right out of the box or within the first 2 weeks and had to replaced with the original walkera parts. Now that it is using all of the original parts it's a great little heli.
I made this video shortly after all of the dealer modifications were undone, and then I had made one small mod to allow larger 1300 batteries to be used and get some decent flight times. Nothing fancy, just making sure everything worked ok. [link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx6LnXTAnbM[/link]
I have also noticed that even with fine tuning, the heli tends to go to drift left, quick takeoffs help, but nonetheless its present. I also cannot stand having to constantly adjust the trims as the battery starts to drain. The Novus can hover quite competently in low wind situations with a fully charged battery, but after the battery is 50% drained it really struggles and constantly has to be corrected.
I was interested in the CB180 because its supposed to be stable, but as the size of the helicopter increases I'm told stability will as well. I can completely handle the Novus FP so I am wondering if I should just up the size and pick up something like your recommending. I was also interested in the V200D01, flybarless model.
10-27-2010, 09:19 PM
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RE: Walkera suggestion for outdoors use, begginner pilot.
All helis will pull to one side at liftoff, not much you can do except feed in a little opposite stick or jump into the air. You’ll even notice in a stable hover it will lean to one side.
My walkera4/falcon and the Ufly both tend to balloon in the wind and climb (from a hover). First reaction is to reduce throttle, which makes the blades spin slower. Eventually they are spinning too slow to control the heli. Fixed pitch and wind seem to be mortal enemies. I’m guessing the 180 and ufly would react to wind almost the same. If I look out the window and the limbs on the Douglas firs are moving at all, it’s too windy and I don’t fly.
Which to buy depends on your overall goals and needs. When My Walkera4/falcon40 was wearing out I was searching like you are. If the CB180 is like the CB100 it would be a very stable heli. But search youtube for cb180 and try to find a video of it doing forward flight. After a few people told me it wouldn’t go forward very fast I searched and every video of forward flight I’ve found it never seems to go faster than I can walk. I don’t always want to fly fast, but it’s nice to be able to sometimes. I searched for videos of the Ufly and couldn’t find many of it flying slow. While the 180 looks to be a little more stable than the Ufly, the Ufly looked like it was more fun overall. And the ufly is a very stable heli too – if you can handle the novus outside I’m sure you’d find the Ufly much easier.
Now I see this thread and think maybe it would have been a better choice. [link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9990427/tm.htm[/link] The Ufly is great, and I enjoy flying it; but I could’ve got a 450 size collective for about the same price. And I’m still leaning towards building the EXI over time just for a cheap entry level CP.
My walkera4/falcon and the Ufly both tend to balloon in the wind and climb (from a hover). First reaction is to reduce throttle, which makes the blades spin slower. Eventually they are spinning too slow to control the heli. Fixed pitch and wind seem to be mortal enemies. I’m guessing the 180 and ufly would react to wind almost the same. If I look out the window and the limbs on the Douglas firs are moving at all, it’s too windy and I don’t fly.
Which to buy depends on your overall goals and needs. When My Walkera4/falcon40 was wearing out I was searching like you are. If the CB180 is like the CB100 it would be a very stable heli. But search youtube for cb180 and try to find a video of it doing forward flight. After a few people told me it wouldn’t go forward very fast I searched and every video of forward flight I’ve found it never seems to go faster than I can walk. I don’t always want to fly fast, but it’s nice to be able to sometimes. I searched for videos of the Ufly and couldn’t find many of it flying slow. While the 180 looks to be a little more stable than the Ufly, the Ufly looked like it was more fun overall. And the ufly is a very stable heli too – if you can handle the novus outside I’m sure you’d find the Ufly much easier.
Now I see this thread and think maybe it would have been a better choice. [link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9990427/tm.htm[/link] The Ufly is great, and I enjoy flying it; but I could’ve got a 450 size collective for about the same price. And I’m still leaning towards building the EXI over time just for a cheap entry level CP.
10-28-2010, 12:45 AM
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RE: Walkera suggestion for outdoors use, begginner pilot.
I have a 180Z Wind Rider Pro from Wow Hobbies. It is the only heli I've owned so take my info for what it's worth. As far as I can tell, the 'Wind Rider' mod is simply longer servo arms on the cyclic servos. Having said that, the heli seems pretty fast to me. I'm guessing approx 20 mph or so. I have flown it in the wind and though it was very bouncy and tended to climb, I had no problem moving into the wind. Crosswind was kinda spooky.
Sometimes I wish I had bought the UFLY-S if just because it is larger and easier to see. The price is pretty similar. I would recomend getting the 2801 pro Tx with what ever Walkera you buy. It has more capability and X10 the transmit power of the 2403. I have the 2403 though and it works fine. Buy extra main gears as they are a bit fragile.
Hope this helpsJeff
Sometimes I wish I had bought the UFLY-S if just because it is larger and easier to see. The price is pretty similar. I would recomend getting the 2801 pro Tx with what ever Walkera you buy. It has more capability and X10 the transmit power of the 2403. I have the 2403 though and it works fine. Buy extra main gears as they are a bit fragile.
Hope this helpsJeff
12-02-2010, 06:49 AM
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RE: Walkera suggestion for outdoors use, begginner pilot.
I have the 180z as a beginner. I've flown t a coaxial for a bit. Up 3x, crash 3x. Damage each time. blades gears...It's binding in the swashplate somehow and hard to control...Wish I had searched around.
12-03-2010, 05:01 PM
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RE: Walkera suggestion for outdoors use, begginner pilot.
I had the cb180 great stable indoors...I tried to fly it outdoors but a little wind gust and put it acroos the street in a tree...I think the bigger collectives are decent in the wind..try the blade sr for around $200 I ve seen youtube vids in the wind and its pretty good even right out of the box...
