HB CP2 height control

[Tony Herbert]

Hi all, can anyone out there actually fly a Honey Bee CP2. I really need some help with the height control!
Very windy today, so as I had a day off work and using a load of useful advice from this site I completely rebuilt and balanced the head of my CP2. Everything seemed great - main shaft straight, paddles and blades balanced and all tracked perfectly. Spun up with the centre screw spot on and no vibration. Even hovered smoothly in the garage.
Outside the wind had dropped right off so I went for a hover in the garden. Found that I needed about 90% throttle to get to about three feet off the ground, then it started to climb, relatively slowly but constantly, not like the collective pitch problem I have read of. Not wanting to smash it into the deck I backed off slowly but lost no height. This continued until eventually I had to ditch it into my nice soft willow tree. Not too much damage, just a broken ball joint. Replaced the bit and all seemed fine on the next hover!!! Worryingly random problem.
Everything is stock except I have the servo rods moved in one hole to tame it slightly.
I find I have to run about 3 degree positive pitch to get normal lift at 50 to 60% throttle. Both motors are brand new.
Any advice very welcome. Be honest if it's me, not just a cheesy model.
Thanks,
Herbie

[163phil]

Hi Herbie

It sounds as if your battery may be on the way out if you need 90% throttle to hover and it gets better as the battery warms up. Could also be the motor is too tight to the drive gear. Worth checking by inserting a cigarette paper between the motor pinion and the gear - it shouldn't mesh too tightly. (Mind you it could have also been down to some local sinking air outside when you took off- these little cp2s are very sensitive to any air currents).

I had two and they flew great when set up well, but they did require abit of tweaking

[Tony Herbert]

Thanks Phil.
Just checked the battery and one cell is giving a random 0.9 to 4.1V reading so it looks like an internal connection problem.
Re-chagrging a spare and will check pinion clearance - I could have set it too tight when I replaced the motor.
Notice you have a DX6i. I'm thinking of getting a Blade 400 RTF when in stock which comes with that Tx. Any views on it?
Thanks again,
Herbie

[graz]

I have a CP2 and took lots of time and pateince and not helped by I had one which I could not get it to track the blades and the sticky collective, but with the blade grips swapped and front servo moved, it did in the end fly a lot better, I have a brushless motor and still the same single brushed tail motor on it now. If I knew then what I know now, I would never have bought this. I think starting out your really need a normal belt driven tail and brushless main, or you end up spending lots of money on brushed motors and swearing at the thing.
Although as mine was such a pig to fly and having to fight it all the time, I think it helped me learn for sure learning to hover, and any wind makes these bounce around a lot ;-)
If I do ever get a day this summer when its not blowing a gale where I live, I might get the ole girl out again for another bash.
For now I am using a belt cp which is much easier to hover in the wind.
I am sure a Blade 400 will also be a lot easier than a CP2 ;-)

[Grant85]

I also learnt with a twister CP V2 which is exactly the same as the HBCP.Although they are really twitchy and not to mention the parts are far more expensive than any 450 like a trex,blade etc,plus you only get one of everything not like with my Blade where the parts come in sets of two! I don't like the idea of how the main shaft is part of the main gear and not to mention you can't buy feathering shafts without having to buy parts of the main rotor head,now that is a con! I'f say get rid of the HBCP and go for something of the 450 size which is much more stable and cheaper which is weird and stronger when you have meetings with the ground.

[163phil]

Thanks Phil.
Just checked the battery and one cell is giving a random 0.9 to 4.1V reading so it looks like an internal connection problem.
Re-chagrging a spare and will check pinion clearance - I could have set it too tight when I replaced the motor.
Notice you have a DX6i. I'm thinking of getting a Blade 400 RTF when in stock which comes with that Tx. Any views on it?
Thanks again,
Herbie

Probably is your battery then

The Blade 400 with DX6i is the ideal next heli. You won't believe how much easier it is to fly than the Esky stuff (even the Belt CP). You really do get what you pay for in this game, and there's plenty of help on here wrt taming it down for the beginner etc. As a Tx, the DX6i is excellent value for money, but can be prone to slight glitches. (There was a faulty batch of pots which was recalled and should have been fixed now). I still get the odd glitch with mine inspite of having been back to Horizon Hobby, but never anything to worry about. I'm generally really pleased with it, and it's a hundred times better than anything from Esky.

[Tony Herbert]

Thanks all,
Phil - it was the battery (broken lead to the charging connector) and the main motor was tight on the gear. Spot on analysis. Sorted now and all seems fine (within my limits!). The Blade 400 is very tempting.
Graz - totally agree with you that despite all the problems it's forced me to learn an awful lot about set-up and basic control, so all's well that ends well. Out of the box I was convinced that I was really crap, but now it's sorted I think it was only 90% me.
Grant - agree on the spares but I made a feathering shaft straightening tool as they bend so easily. It works great (but only 'cause they're made from something softer than lead!).
Had some very smooth hovers tonight, so a very good ending.
Regards,
Herbie