Need Advice

[Aztek1701]

Hi again bigbad.

The esky (in guessing this is a hummingbird clone) will be fine but you are right, it wont hold up to much wind at all. You are therefore restricted to flying it outside on flat days or inside. All the nitro powered helis and all electrics from about the T-Rex size up can cope with a bit of wind. Yes it makes sense, it will be a good heli to learn on, it wont cost much to fix and it will teach you.

Should you be in another group?. No, we do electrics too. In fact if you could get servos on one of those ripcord spinny toy things, we'd do them too lol.

Dont forget to let us know what you decide.

Take care... Azzy

[bigbad]

Thanks for the tips.

I will stay with this group. You guys/gals (Are there any gals that do this?) give great advice.

Once I figure out what exactly servos do maybe I'll try and design some for those Gyro toys. Then you guys will have more stuff to give advice on...LOL...

I think the eSky is a hummingbird clone. I actually have 3 names so far, eSky, hummingbird and Twister. Any of those sound good for a beginner?

Thanks...

[bigbad]

Hello all,

My wife bought me an eSky Honey Bee T for my birthday. I wanted the eSky Honey Bee CP2 but some guy sold her something else. I’m wondering if she didn’t get ripped off. Do they even make this thing anymore? It has a 280 motor. The battery it came with has this stamped on it:

2/3AAA NI-MH
7.2V 300mAh

So I’m guessing that is 2 banks of 300 for total of 600mAh. Does that sound correct? I am completely new to this stuff.

The Main rotor is 520mm and the fuselage is 500mm. It also has 2 mini servos.

I can’t even get the thing off the ground. It just slides around and tips over once in a while when it looks like it is almost going to lift off. It pulls to the left real bad.

This is turning into something depressing. Does anyone know anything about this eSky and maybe how to make it fly other than throwing it off a roof?

I’m in Taiwan for a bit taking care of my wife’s sick mom. I go back to Canada, my home, in August. I know there is a club close to my home where I could probably get some help and advice. Here in Taiwan I don’t know anyone or place that does this sort of thing. I also don't speak the language here. I'm English. My wife is Taiwanese.

My wife bought this thing in a different city then where we are staying so returning it is not to likely. Also Taiwan/Asia is a place of buyer be super aware and maybe bring a body guard too.

So any advice or help would be more than appreciated.

Thanks…

[Aztek1701]

Hi Bigbad,

Ive just looked up the honey bee T and exists and you can still get parts for it by the very quick look I had. Whether they still make it is anybodys guess though. Yeah, your guesimate of the battery sounds about right 300mAH is a bit low for a heli but 600 will work on a honeybee.

As far as the flying / unable to fly thing goes, there are 2 things that you need to remember. First, a model helicopter needs to be set up correctly to fly. The swashplate (the bit where the servo linkages connect to the rotorhead) needs to be level when the servos are at neutral if it is left / right / fowrward / backward then try adding a bit of trim (thats the levers below the sticks) to make it level. This way the heli will be more interested in lifting up rather than off to a direction. I cant promise that this will solve it but it might just be enough.

The second thing to remember is that these little beasts arent easy to fly (even the big little beasts), it takes patience and practice to be able to fly them (thats the challenge), in the early days they feel VERY squirly. They never just lift straight up (usually preferring to come left and back), you need to be flying them from the moment they get light on the skids and countering what the heli wants to do versus what YOU WANT IT TO DO. to quote an excellent instruction "if your not controlling the heli, its controlling you". Also you dont get the luxury of working one control at a time you need to be running all 4 at once. Take a read of this... http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html it will help.

Dont get depressed, keep working on it, and you will get it. Flying these things is more about feel than theory we all wonder how ppl that can fly do it when we start but it is possible.

Keep working at it and good luck... Azzy

[bigbad]

Thanks Azzy,

That's a great web site for starters. I am up for the challenge. That's why I choose helis. Unfortunately being in Taiwan makes it a bit more difficult. You can get great prices here. Align, makers of the TRex, are in our city, Taichung. They also make vacuums and toaster ovens…lol… Problem here is that if people are given the opportunity to cheat you, they will. It is engrained in the culture here.

I’ll go over everything and see if I can’t make this thing fly.

Can you recommend a good battery upgrade? They say this battery I have will not last long and if I overcharge it then it is toast. I was thinking of a Lipo battery around 1000 mAh if they make such a thing for this heli. I was told those batteries last longer and a good charger won’t fry them. I was also told they cost more…such is life.

Also, you mentioned you found info on this eSky. I can’t find anything on the internet pertaining to this model. The closest I got was a link to a forum which had a 1 liner saying it was a great starter heli. Can you point me in the right direction?

I really appreciate your help…

Thanks…

[Aztek1701]

Hey dude,

I just googled "Esky Honey Bee T" and gots lotsa links...

there is a review of it here.. http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=429

While this doesnt specifically say that its a "T" it looks like the machine your describing. Theres also this http://www.electric-scooters-motoriz...helicopter.htm.

As far as batteries go, its easy enough to get a voltage matched lipo of much bigger capacity (look at www.flightpower.co.uk for examples)

You CAN get up to a 1600mAH 7.2 V Lipo that would fly that model for about 30 - 35 Mins however, if your not used to Lipos you need to be aware of some cautions.

1. They wont tolorate being over discharged. The also wont tolorate being over charged. If you over discharge a Lipo and then try to force charge in to it it will explode (and were not talking a pop here) take a look at this to see what I mean.. http://www.helihobby.com select informational then videos then find the demonstration.

2. Because of 1, you cant just use any charger on them, you need a charger thats specifically capable of charging lithium batteries. (these wont attempt to charge a battery thats been stuffed, nor will they overcharge if they are decent)

3. If you are using a lithium pack and it gets "puffy", you need to dispose of it.

Hope you have fun with it. When you get it hovering, make a video and give us a look.

Take care... Azzy.

PS.. If your near the align factory, I'll take a T-Rex 600 cheap thanks

[bigbad]

Hello Azzy,

I have an update. I took the heli back where my wife bought it and told him to fly it. He hooked up a good battery and flew the thing around his store. Then he lands it in his hand. I guess he has been flying these things for over 10 years. So after my red embarrassed face toned down I told him to use my battery. He tried and could only get it a foot off the ground for just a few seconds. The battery was the whole problem from the start. For anyone who gets one of the eSkys with a 600mAh battery do yourself a favor and chuck the battery. It is too weak.

I bought two 1100mAh 7.2 V lipos and a few extra parts the guy said would probably break or burn out. He actually gave me a good price on everything. Now I was really feeling like a jerk.

The eSky I have is the bottom of the line with plastic blades and may only be available in Asia. He had about 6 more on the shelf so they are not obsolete. He said the CP2 for example has wooden blades and a beginner for sure will break those. I have crashed mine in the wall a couple of times pretty hard and nothing has broken. I even flew it into my legs when I turned the throttle up instead of down…you know the excitement gets to you. I had jeans on and it didn’t hurt me or the heli. So I guess the guy was giving me good advice.

I still can’t fly the thing. I have a small fly zone and as soon as it gets up it wants to shoot off in one direction or the other. I try to counter the left pull but over compensate and away to the right it goes. When I do get it straight up it either darts forward or backward. I have a lot of practice ahead of me for sure.

I also got the training gear and would recommend that for any newbies. My heli doesn’t tip over on its side anymore and that has to be good for it.

At least now with decent batteries I can practice for 15-20 minutes a battery and I’m havin fun.

Thanks for all your help, it makes this hobby a lot less frustrating with support.

P.S. The wife won’t let me buy you a T-Rex. She’s even a bit choked I bought the batteries…lol…

[Aztek1701]

Hey M8,

You will get it if you keep at it. Your over controlling will get less and the hovering time will get longer. Trust me, we all started like that. It took me about 2 weeks going at it 2+ packs a night to get a sustained hover. That was in November last year and now I can hover without thinking about it (I have been known to watch TV in the house while hovering, lol). There are 2 things I have been told but never believed until they happened to me...

1. Everybody takes a different time to learn.
2. There will be a point when something "clicks" in your head and all of a sudden its not hard anymore.
3. Eveybody has a side (left or right) that they find to be more difficult to control the heli.

You may not think it but I bet your not that far from making your first hover. Then the fever will really bite and you get to start learning the next stage.

My only advice to you is try to keep it low (it will get damaged less when you loose it) and keep at it.

Looking forward to the video . Keep us updated with how you are doing

Good luck... Azzy

PS. Pity about the T-Rex but I dont think my wife would let me have one, lol