Learner in need of some advise...

[Howling mad murdock]

Hello,
I recently got myself a honey bee v2 fp, before attempting to fly it I spent alot of time on the simulator.
Also I also bought a smaller 4ch fp, the v911 to practise with which I can fly around the house and quite well ouside, Weather permiting.
When I tried to fly the honey Bee a few days back the flight lasted 19 seconds and ended up with a few repairs required afterwards!
The honey bee semmed alot less responsive and very slow to react to any input? Is this normal? The smaller v911 is very responsive and quite quick but I could hover about quite easily with it.
Would anyone recomend any other helicopters to learn with instead of the honey bee as I have read some good reviews but also some bad ones! Or is it just a case of keep trying and it might stay in the air for longer?

[aamacgregor]

I have an Esky Belt-CP and the stock cyclic servos are very slow - the Honeybee V2 might be using the same servos. However, it might be your transmitter settings. What transmitter are you using? If it supports dual rates and expo, then it may be that it is set up a little tame, and these could be changed to make the heli feel a little more responsive; else, you might want to consider changing the servos for something a bit more powerful/quicker.

[Howling mad murdock]

Im using the 2.4ghz 4ch esky transmitter that came with it, how would I go about adjusting the setting on it?
I have got a bell hiller mod but not fitted it yet, would that help or make it harder to learn with?

[aamacgregor]

As far as I am aware the Esky transmitter does not support dual rates and expo. Have you checked the head to make sure that there isn't any slop? You might find the servos have some amount - mine did. However, before you change the servo's try making the head upgrade, it should provide you with a lot better cyclic response. If it still feels slow, then I'd consider changing the servos.

[aamacgregor]

By the way, the head upgrade might make it more twitchy.

[Howling mad murdock]

Whats slop, And is twitchy good or bad? the micro v911 is quite twitchy and is loads more manouverable.
Sorry im a complete newb!

[aamacgregor]

Slop = hysteresis in the mechanics. You'll probably find that you don't want it to be too twitchy, especially around the centre since it is harder to control, and easier to make mistakes by attempting to over-compensate. This is why computerised TX's provide dual rate and expo functionality. However, "a little twitchy" is better than "slow delayed response" in my book.

[Obi Wan]

I cut my first heli teeth on a Honeybee v1 and I also have a Honeybee v2. The only thing (IMHO) the Honeybee FP is good for is learning to hover.
I resurrected the HB v2 about a year ago for curiosity and found it appauling to fly - just like yourself it was slow and very poor to respond to inputs (and ended up crashing it again and again).

Do yourself a favour and buy a better machine to learn on (plenty of advice on here).

BTW - Simulator is a good idea!

Paul

[Howling mad murdock]

Nice one, I think I might fit the bell hiller mod tonight and hopefully get to test it on the weekend!

[Howling mad murdock]

Thanks Obi wan i appreciate your honesty!
I been looking to buy a cp heli so might just get one now and learn on that, was looking at the Blade x130 and prob a dx6 or 7 tx.
But not sure if it would be tame enough to learn on?

[dellowwarren]

Learner in need of some advise...

I cut my first heli teeth on a Honeybee v1 and I also have a Honeybee v2. The only thing (IMHO) the Honeybee FP is good for is learning to hover.
I resurrected the HB v2 about a year ago for curiosity and found it appauling to fly - just like yourself it was slow and very poor to respond to inputs (and ended up crashing it again and again).

Do yourself a favour and buy a better machine to learn on (plenty of advice on here).

BTW - Simulator is a good idea!

Paul

I agree with you on this. I sat with a belt cp for months and could never hover atleast a foot and when i did, I just crashed but until I meet up with a flying buddy he said get a mcpx and gave me his dx6i, within months been flying circuits, figure of 8's and progressing so much.

Really get the mcpx as its really fun and replacement of parts is little to none outta the amount of crashes I've had already, just tail replacing from crashing on it

[Howling mad murdock]

Well I fitted the Bell Hiller mod last night, it was was a pain in the arse!
Couldnt get the drive shaft pin out of the bottem so ended up taking the whole frame apart!!! All ok now though...
Will see how it flies on the weekend?
Just had a look at the E-Flite Blade MCPX V2, looks good and for £129 RTF, but will prob get a better tx for it. W
ill prob wait until I get the hang of that until I get the Blade x130.

Thanks for the advise guys

[aamacgregor]

I have both the mCPX and the NanoCPX and I must admit I prefer the NanoCPX and it is cheaper. The NanoCPX is far easier to fly indoors, has a better power to weight ratio and is more maneuverable... it is definitely better at flipping and rolling than the mCPX (and it holds the tail a lot better) and it is cheaper. The NanoCPX copes well in a light to medium breeze outside and is virtually indestructible. The mCPX on the other-hand copes better if the wind picks up a little more, but is not as indestructible (although it is still very tough) as the NanoCPX, and feels under powered by comparison.

Personally, out of the two I'd advise getting the NanoCPX. You'd be better putting the difference in money between the NanoCPX and mCPX towards a better transmitter (i.e. the DX7s with a NanoCPX will be a lot better combination than a DX6i with an mCPX). If you are going to buy a better transmitter, then buy the BNF version of the heli you choose. Also, if you want to control the NanoCPX or mCPX then you will need to get a DSM2 compatible transmitter (i.e. Spektrum or JR), or a transmitter that supports a converter (e.g. Futaba but this option is going to be more expensive). If cost is a real factor, then I'd recommend a DX7s.

[cjcj1949]

It would be a good idea for you to get someone to check your heli over. You can improve things a lot by making small changes like increasing the headspeed. I don't think it matters that much how a heli flies as you can adjust to anything. A difficult heli like a Walkera 4#3B teaches you much more about hovering than a msr. When you first start flying anything it is difficult to go from one model to another, but as you get better you will find this easier. So going from a responsive to an unresponsive heli and using the sim will make you better.

Getting used to crashing is also useful. The smaller helis are more difficult to control but there is less stress about crashing, and bigger helis cost more to crash and being aware of this makes them seem more difficult to begin with.

There are lots of good servos available under £10.

[Howling mad murdock]

I have now replaced the stock blades with super skids super blades, Looking forward to testing them on the weekend!!!
I have been looking at replacement servos but am not sure what ones would be compatible?