Take off advice and tail rotor/motor behaviour

[Raven Morpheus]

Hello

Been a member here since 2013 but I've never bought a RC heli before as I was put off back in 2013 by the sheer array of kits available and the initial startup costs (I think I came the conclusion I'd have to spend =>£200 to startup with a decent micro CP heli + accessories). Anyhow long story short I decided to take the plunge this month but try an inexpensive route, and after seeing the Blade MCPX v2, MCPX BL and Nano CPX have been discontinued and replaced by other models (none of which I liked the look/price of) I decided to buy a Skyartec Wasp 100 Nano CPX (brushless), because it is inexpensive and comes with it's own programmable transmitter, and I had read a couple of favourable reviews of it on other sites.

So far though I've been unable to get the heli off the ground, and one of the servos has burnt itself out - I've read that Skyartec parts aren't the best quality anyhow.

Thing is I'm wondering, apart from the faulty servo, was/is there anything else wrong with the heli.

The behaviour I was seeing on take off was that the helicopter would spin to the right, I'd counteract with left rudder, then I'd get to the point where I was almost about to take off and the heli would topple over to the left a little and then instantly to the right as I pushed the collective up more - I had no time to catch it with some opposite cycle input and then the heli would just spin, attack the ground with it's main blades and parts would come off, mostly the tail rotor and the skids but the tail mounting has broken also!

Shouldn't take off (straight up into ground effect or the air) simply be a matter of raising the collective and applying opposite rudder along the way to stop the heli spinning round and round and maybe a little cyclic input once it's light on the skids to stop it topping over?

Something else I noticed also is that the tail motor only spins the tail rotor up when I'm initially applying collective, then it stops and I have to make some right rudder input to start it spinning up again - is that usual behaviour on this sort of micro CP heli, the tail rotor doesn't seem to do anything (doesn't even spin up) when I use left rudder?

TIA for any advice on this, although I'm going to have to wait weeks for a replacement servo (I've actually ordered 3) before I try flying again.

[tomatwalden]

A collective pitch helicopter doesn't exactly take off straight up - due to the tail rotor pushing it sideways. All (clockwise main rotor) CP helicopters only hover in a slight lean (to the right). So take-off should be a case of raising collective and applying a minor amount of right CYCLIC to avoid this drift (called translating tendency if you want to Google it!).

You shouldn't need to apply rudder - the "heading hold" gyro should do that for you - don't apply rudder!

Looking at the web page for that heli (I've never heard of it before), it looks like the TX can switch between mode-1 and mode-2. Check you've got "mode 2" controls (ie. right stick moves the swashplate in cyclic movements), left stick is collective and rudder.

SKYARTEC R/C Model Fun .,CO LTD

[tomatwalden]

PS. In all honesty - I would look for a better alternative - one that you can have faith in, and find parts for. Blade helis are the best on the block in this regard (IMO!).

I know you say the Blade nano-CPX etc. have been discontinued, but the Blade nano-CPS is 99.9% the same heli and parts are fully compatible. It's only a minor electronic change in the flybarless controller - physically it's the same heli.

The RTF (inc. TX) nano-CPS isn't exactly expensive either!... Blade Nano CP S RTF - BLH2400 | Slough Radio Control Models

[Grumpy]

It's incredibly hard to diagnose this sort of issue with only words to go on. Helis are hard to fly and do need constant correction. A heli wont just lift straight off and sit there hovering waiting for you to give it a command, it's just not that easy (except mayme 3 channel co-axials). This is especially true of micro size collective pitch helis like the one you have, these are the very hardest of all helis to fly, they need very fast reactions and can get away from you really quickly if apply even a hint of a wrong control. To be honest it's not a good heli to start out on, it's just too hard to fly and is likely not to survive the learning process.

So it could be just that you havent got the knack yet and aren't making the correct corrections quickly enough. But it could also be that the helis has some issues, or a bit of both, it's really impossible to say, but even if the heli is perfect you would still struggle. Really you need an experienced flyer to have a look at it first hand and at least rule out any heli problems. Then at least you know that any remaining issues just need practice and perseverance to overcome.

Tom's right though, the heli shouldn't need significant correction on rudder to stop it spinning, the gyro should look after that.

[tomatwalden]

I agree with Grumpy - micro 6-channel helis aren't really for beginners, despite their size. Personally, I started with a self-stabilising 4-channel heli (a Blade 120SR). The modern equivalent is the Blade 200SRX, but a cheaper alternative would be something like a WLToys V911

[Guest]

+1 on the Blade range of micro heli's......when I started in the hobby some years ago, I was reliably informed that an ESky Honey Bee V2 was the best thing to learn on......so I bought one.....

It was absolutely hopleless, things could break off just putting it in the car, after several hours of trying, all I had was a collection of broken parts and a damaged confidence.

Then I bought a mCPx V2 and a DX6 transmitter........I dread to think how many crashes it had, once I even lost it over some houses and managed to land it 'blind' in someones back garden....BUT....picked it up and flew it straight afterwards.....!!! Spend as much as you can afford to on anything in the Blade range and you won't be disappointed....plus parts are relatively cheap and available everywhere....

[Peteski]

It sounds like you have the unfortunate combination of a faulty, difficult to fly heli and no experience! Do yourself a favour and start again with a Blade Nano QX quad and something like a Spektrum DX6i radio. Learn to fly it in stability mode - which should take no more than a few days - then learn to fly it again in agility mode (no self-levelling) which could take a good solid month or two of practice. That's how much harder collective pitch helis are to fly! Also get yourself a sim to practice on in parallel. Once you can fly the nQX in agility mode you are then ready to take on a CP heli with confidence. My learning route went like this:-

Blade mCX2 - 4 ch co-axial micro - very easy to fly but a bit limited after you get the hang of it. Skip this one if you are on a budget
Blade nQX - micro quad - indestructible, great indoor/garden trainer and flies just like a well mannered cp heli with self-levelling switched off. This is the one to learn on without any setup or maintenance hassle.
Blade mCPX V2 - This was my first cp heli and much harder to fly indoors than the nQX quad, but good for indoor hover orientation training and good fun buzzing around the garden. It can do inverted too, but you need good collective skills, so it's not the best 3D trainer.

Once you can confidently fly the mCPX you can then basically fly anything you can afford to crash!

[Mike656]

Nitrotek do a lot of parts for the Skyartec range.
Parts For Skyartec Nano CP Micro 6 Channel Radio Controlled Helicopter

[tomatwalden]

Nitrotek do a lot of parts for the Skyartec range.
Parts For Skyartec Nano CP Micro 6 Channel Radio Controlled Helicopter

Worth a read? : http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/main-d...s-service.html

[Mike656]

Must of been lucky then, when I used them. Nearly always had the parts in stock and a pretty quick turnaround. That being said, I haven't used them in a couple of years as I outgrew the helis they stocked. But they still have the parts available locally for the OP's heli, if you don't want to wait on imports.

[tomatwalden]

To be fair, I've never used them as I've avoided Chinese cheap helis. I just remembered them being mentioned on here before.