Look-Out

I'm in the market for an electric heli that I could fly around my yeard, garage or driveway when I can't make it to the field to fly my Raptor 30.
Would appreciate it if any of you electric "guru's" could advise me as to what I should be looking for, I want a small electric hopefully around $300 + or -! I don't even know what components make up an electric heli so I would like advice in that area as well.
Like I said, it's just to fly around my yard etc., so I'm looking for a heli with a decent reputation and one that I can easily get parts for after I crash it into a tree or shrub.
Thanks in advance for taking the time.........

Don

astronut30

My Feedback: (5)

for that kind if price range you're pretty much looking at a fixed pitch micro heli. If the weather is usually really calm there, you'll definitely have a blast.

a humminbird with seperate esc's and head hold gyro is wqhat i would recommend, with a couple of upgrades, you're looing at around $350ish.

parts are cheap and easy to get, it's most durable and as stable as a micro fp can be...

Here's a pic and size comparison to my Logo 10...

Look-Out

Thanks for your input, what about this Ikarus helo I've been reading about? Do you have any opinions on that heli?

astronut30

My Feedback: (5)

I'm assuming your talking about the Piccolo. I've owned one of those too, as far as flyability, that is very similar but the Hummingbird has a better head design. The head is held on more snug with stronger links. In both heli's if involved in a good crash will allow the head to pop off the bearings which is good to help prevent breakage of parts but on the Piccolo first of all the bearings are allowed to fly out unless you get the aluminum hub mod which is about $18 and will solve that problem but no mod is needed on the Hummingbird as the bearings stay put. Secondly, on the Piccolo, the head links are a lot smaller and weaker than that of the Hbird's so when the head pops of enough times, the head wears out and is unable to stay on the bearings tightly, it starts to pop off easier and easier and before you know it, it will be so loose that it is even able to come off during flight! On the Hummingbird though, the links hold the head on nice and snug and I ran the aluminum head for a while which is loose on the bearings and the links still hold the head on nice and snug. Thirdly, the anti rotation device is also better on the hummingbird as the stock Piccolo one is very flimsy and breaks pretty easily, againk there is a nice mod for the Piccolo which is a cnc double anti rotation link which takes care of this but that's another $20, again something that's not even an issue on the Hummingbird.

Other than those things, everything else is very similar. No biggie but the Hummingbird also comes with a better stock motor and longer lasting tail motor in my experience. lol, the Hummingbird also comes with 2 carbon boom braces that you don't need and you can cut them off for spare parts for your landing gear and battery mounts.

Sorry so long, hopefully this helps.

RebarDWG

I guess I'll get the Hbird over the Piccolo. Is there a conversion kit to Collective Pitch for the Hbird? I planned on getting the Piccolo Pro soley for the CP. I may not know what it does now, but it'll be there once i figure it out.

Look-Out

Thanks gentlemen for the input, could you tell me who markets the Hummingbird and is there a web site, I could research, for the Hummingbird?
Does this Hummingbird only come as a fixed pitch heli and what did you mean by "separate esc's" in your first e-mail response? You also mentioned "upgrades," what upgrades would you recommend?

Don

Look-Out

I found the web site for the Hummingbird heli, could I ask a favor of you? Go to the Century Helicopter Products web site and click on the Helicopter section, Century is presently running a special on the Hummingbird for $270.66 and I wanted to hear your opinions on their offer. Century also list some "add-ons," and the bottom of the page, and I wanted to hear your opinions as to what would be required and what is a waste of money.
I do appreciate your time .......

Thanks Again,

Don

astronut30

My Feedback: (5)

weird, I'm not getting emailed by RCU, luckily I was browsing here...

RebarDWG--- Yes, you can use the hornet cp kit for the Hummingbird. Check out http://www.helihobby.com/html/hummingbird_ccpm.html for more info...

LookOut-- As far as the seperate esc's, if you get a rtf kit, it comes with the Hummingboard which is 2 esc's and a mixer in one. It's ok I guess but if anything goes on the board, you'll have to replace the whole board plus they do tend to burn out. With seperates, you can just swap out the seperate units, plus if you upgrade the tail or main motor, you can just switch esc's accordingly... If you get a head hold gyro, you don't need the mixer, that is recommended, it makes the heli so much more fun to fly. These micros are a lot more squirrly than you're going to be used to and head hold is the way to go...

astronut30

My Feedback: (5)

Lookout- That's a pretty good deal if you're looking to just spend the least possible, although it might not turn out to be so much of a deal once you start changing things out. If that is your absolute initial budget, then go that route for now. If you can afford to spend more which I'd highly recommend, go with seperate esc's, a head hold gyro plus a 2s etec lipo pack (if you don't have a lipo compatible charger, you can get a lipo wall charger, I think they go for around $20) You'll get a lot better power and flight times of around 20 minutes!, you can get the Laser 4 and the hs 55's, they're fine.

I'll try and give you the idea on costs:

Hummingbird kit- $80
Futaba gy 240 or Csm hlg 200 - $89-$110
GWS ics-100 or 300 esc for main motor- $19
GWS ics-50 for tail motor - $15
GWS Naro 4 rx plus crystal - $28
Laser 4 radio - $57
hs-55 servo x2 - $39
Etec 2s 1200's - $35
wall charger - approx $20

This is about $380. You can go with regular batteries like the stock birdseed pack and you'll be right in the $350 range. It is about $80 more than the package deal you're looking at but better set up that keep in mind, you might and will end up doing anyway. I been there, I had a piccolo in the past, got the rtf kit, ended up changing to seperates and getting a head hold gyro in less than a month anyway. So when I got my Hummingbird I just did it the right way. Again, if your budget is set, than you'll be ok with that package deal you're looking at but be prepared to make changes in the future... BTW, if you already fly heli's, you already have a radio that you can use for it ?? Save you another $60...

Recommended initial mods- Aluminum Shaft Collar - $8
Ball in swash mod - $10
Fiberglass or Carbon Hornet blades- $28-$35


As far as mods, the aluminum shaft collar gets rid of the plastic tube used to hold the main shaft in place and really binds the swash. The ball in swash mod is a ball that goes in the swash to get rid of the play when you remove the plastic tube. With these 2 mods, the cyclic will feel a lot more precise plus the aluminum shaft collar will hold the shaft much better.

The Hornet blades have less pitch than the stock hummingbird blades and require higher headspeed wich results in a lot more stable and agile heli, it helps a lot with a breeze and also helps when descending as with the stock blades, the headspeed gets so low that you almost completely lose cyclic response and landing with a breeze is a major pain. You will need a bigger pinion to turn these blades. Plus they're more rigid and reduce to eliminate the bad pitch up tendency of the stock flimsy blades in forward flight. Not to mention, the stock blades break rather easily.

flip3d

i would not get a cp hornet if u have no help or a good radio,
the ccpm is the hardest thing to set up.
i sold mine to buy a piccolo fp and had money left over.
i love the way it flys.
or go somthing twin motor like the sky lark or the humming bird.

the piccolo rocks.


(i have a question. is the piccolo cp upgrade a ccpm set up or standard)?
please help.
but go twin motor set up.

philip

astronut30

My Feedback: (5)

You can go either way with the Piccolo, If you go with Ikarus's piccolo cp upgrade it is regular but if you can go with the hornet cp upgrade also which is ccpm...

leoheart

My Feedback: (18)

ATTENTION EVERYONE,

Philip (3dintheair) and I agreed on a trade, his CP Hornet RTF for my Piccolo RTF, but upon receiving my Piccolo 2+ weeks ago, and the deal was made 3+ weeks ago, he and his father Gary, still making excuse as of today they are checking into the shipping (it shouldn't take 3 weeks to check into the shipping!!! Especially Fedex is just a phone call away), and in fact, now they haven't even reply to my emails at all for the past 5 days.

My shipment tracking to him is: Fedex Tracking#: 0998096 13126244
I have kept all my correpsonding with them, anyone wants to review are welcome.


I have yet to even hear from them for any shipment information, they keep making promise that it will go out tomorrow, tomorrow, day after day, and this has been like this over 2 weeks already.

Please RCU and everyone who can help into this matter, please contact me at:

[email protected]



Thank you,

Daniel

murcielago

I love my piccolos. I own three of them and they are awesome. The stock fixed pitch flies great out of the box. After a crash you'll be flying again within minutes. The head is made to pop off so that no serious damage will occur. I have lost a couple of head bearings, but nothing else. Easily fixed by either an aluminum hub or simply installing two o-rings on the head. I can't say much about the hummingbird since I've never had one.

The Yank

My Feedback: (1)

If you use seperate esc's would you need another chanel making it 5 or 6 chanels? I'm new to electrics,any help would help?
The Yank