Brand new first timer

[Tom1977]

Hi all, my names Tom, I live in Carlisle and have just bit the bullet and bought my first heli. A 2nd hand Honey Bee King 2.

i probably jumped in at the deep end but I like a challenge :-) the advert I bought it from (eBay) said the guy had tried to fly it once but couldn't so gave up. No crashes etc. now when i received it, I noticed the horizontal tail fin was not connected and that the screw hole threads were stripped. Immediately I guessednit had been crashed but can't see any other physical damage.

i have to confess I also bought a training kit as I really didn't want to trash the heli on first attempt and I'm glad I did! However as soon as the training kit feet get off the ground the heli rotates uncontrollably at tremendous speed in an anti clockwise direction (nose left). It would also appear to be starting to glide to the left ( not sure of the correct term but if it was hovering still it would just move to the left without rotation if that makes sense).

i done some reading and tried flicking the reverse gyro switch which seemed to help a little but with limited knowledge I'm not sure what this actually does.

Any hints tips would be gratefully welcomed, I have been reading thought the forums but there's a LOT to read and am sure someone out there remembers having my problem.

[james_2k]

Welcome! The gyro corrects the directional position of the helicopter, I.e. Where it's facing. So that wind and other factors shouldn't lead to a heading change.

it needs to know which way around the tail needs to move in harder to correct the right way. As you noticed already, if it's set wrongly then it will just spin very fast, as it tries to correct it makes things worse and just spins faster. I have no experience of this heli you have. But typical sneaky seller, I'd never believe that it was never crashed if he also just said he couldn't get the hang of it

[Tom1977]

Thanks for the info, understood regarding the gyro, I work at sea so understand gyro compasses but it's slightly different than on a heli.

im not sure if when its been crashed previously if the tail rotor position needs set/centralised/zeroed as even with the gyro reversed it does still spin pretty much out of control even when I apply opposite control on.

[Peteski]

Hi Tom, a good little review linked below with a few practical tips about getting started. Can't help you with your tail issue, but what you really need before attempting to fly this is time on a simulator - a few weeks solid practice at minimum. Otherwise you will probably just end up smashing it or giving up like the first owner.
I've been on the sim for a month now and starting to get the hang of flying these things. If I'd started with a collective pitch heli like this from scratch I would have written off dozens of the things by now! It's not at all easy at first.

Heli Reviews | Esky Honey Bee King 2 Review

[Rich23]

Hi Tom and welcome to the forum

Rich

[Mike Sanders]

Welcome to the forum.

It sounds as if the electronics are not compensating for the torque of the motor. The manual should tell you how to make it do that.

[Tom1977]

Thanks guys,

The manual doesn't seem to be the best for these. Seems the translation from Chinese/Japanese got lost somewhere as I have read of a lot of errors in it. I have tried to adjust the tail rotor position however it doesn't seem to matter whether it's centralised or not it still seems to go to clockwise like crazy.

i posted in another thread to see if there was anyone in Carlisle or surrounding area as would be good to meet up with someone who knows what's what for an initial setup and problem finding.

[Boggy]

Tom a rough guide to setting the tail.
If you can unplug the wires to the main motor for safety.power on the tx and heli.If your tx has a switch label headhold turn it off.

turn the rotors till the tail blades are at 12/6 oclock positions. fold the bottom blade back so it looks like a boat rudder. now move the rudder stick on the tx. it should operate the tail blade on the heli just like a boat rudder.(looking from behind stick right=rudder right.) if its opposite reverse the rudder setting in the tx.

next hold the heli by the tail fin and flick it to your right,the tail blade should move right again, if it does not reverse the switch on the gyro.

test again,double check ;-)

[dillwhacker]

Also worth checking...
Tail drive belt not slipping.
Tail hub not slipping on tail shaft.
Tail blades rotating correct direction - if the belt is twisted the wrong way.
Throttle curve - if the ESC is trying to accelerate the head like crazy as you lift off, the tail might not have enough power to compensate.
HTH

[waveydavey]

Remember the original gyro on the King 2 was rate mode only, it came with a head lock one later. What colour is the gyro, does it look a goldy colour or is it black plastic. Gold coloured Rate mode only (from memory) black plastic head lock

[tomatwalden]

...
... It would also appear to be starting to glide to the left ( not sure of the correct term but if it was hovering still it would just move to the left without rotation if that makes sense).
....

This is normal. As the heli starts to fly, a side effect of the tail rotor is that the helicopter is pushed left. All single-rotor helicopters therefore have to lean slightly in a hover to counteract the tail thrust.

When it takes off, you need to give a gentle amount of right cyclic (lean right) to attain a stable hover.

[pgkevet]

Also remember that the HBK2 is belt drive and it's easy for that belt to be twisted the wrong way. I started out with two of the things and fought them for weeks - constantly rebuilding after crash after crash. I was about to toss in the towel on this hobby but decided to bite the bullet and buy an align 450. I couldn't believe how easy it was to fly after all the HBK2 heartaches.
There was (is?) an active HBK2 forum on heliguy but the things have a load of inherent slop even if upgraded, very twitchy servos and the whle palstic airframe is so light that a puff of breeze bounces it everywhere.
Cut your losses on ebay and buy something you have a sporting chance with. And yes, buy a sim.

[bcphill]

Hi Tom and welcome to the forum
I am also a beginner and getting slowly (not fast enough for me) into the hobby

I would echo what the others said about getting a simulator. I have used one before (pheonix flight sim) when i took up helis a few years ago. I had to stop for family reasons and sold my stuff. They are good at helping your confidence and co-ordination.

You have to be determnded to stick at at. Eveyone in the club i just joined suck air in and says "you picked the most difficult thing to get into mate" but everyone started somewhere. It maybe worth getting a cheap coaxial as these are stupidly stable but allow you to get in the air with a bit more confidence. I once had the e flight blade and you could actually use this on pheonix sim. You can always sell on or give to the kids

And why not get a small indoor heli to practice with indoors. It all helps and the one thing you will have to do is practice.

Good luck Tom and hope it works out for you. No rason why not with the help of the guys on here

Phill

[Peteski]

Flying a collective pitch heli is a skill that requires a lot of practice and unfortunately you are highly unlikely to get that practice by actually flying your first one from scratch. You will do well to get 30 secs flight time before it ends in a crash, which probably isn't enough to hone your skills. That's where the sims are fantastic. You can have a massive crashfest while you learn for only the initial cost of the software, presuming you already have a reasonable computer of course. I must have smashed up more than £100K's worth of virtual helis in my first few weeks on the sim. When you stop crashing on the sim then you are probably ready for the real thing. For me that's taken a good month or so of regular sim sessions and flying micros around the house.

[james_2k]

alternative to that is a micro heli,

i didn't have a sim for a while, the nano cpx taught me a lot. crashes well