How to fly RC aircrafts


Esky Honeybee 4ch Rc Helicopter Review

Well, where to start with this one... Thisthe  same  direction.
has got to be one of the coolest yet
frustrating things anyone has ever bought me.With these tasks complete I then took the
Let me explain... My girlfriend bought mehelicopter to an empty squash court with a
this for Christmas from Buzzflyer.co.uk forfriend who had also bought a honeybee
around £110, as soon as I opened it I washelicopter (although he opted for the 6
like a kid at 10 years old again. On the boxchannel collective pitch model, boy did he
it said for indoor/outdoor flight soregret  that  later).
naturally the box was flung open and the
battery was straight on charge ready for aThis time I was dead careful, I slowly
bout  of  flying  round  the  living  room.increased the throttle until it was very
light on the ground then applied a short
What's  in  the  box?burst just to get it in the air and out of
the ground effect (this is another thing I
1  x  Assembled  Esky  Honeybee  Helicopterlearned, after experimenting trying to get
the honeybee to hover in my kitchen it would
1  x  4CH  Radio  Handset  and  aerialconstantly drift to the left no matter what
controls were applied. After a bit of
1  x  AC  adapterresearch I discovered that it's something to
do with the way the air flows when the rotor
1 x 12V Battery lead (to charge theis so close to the ground that makes it act
helicopter battery from a 12V car batteryin this way. Hence the term 'ground effect'.
etc)The only way you can get the helicopter into
a stable hover is to quickly apply the
1  x  Transformerthrottle in a short burst so that it rises
out of the ground effect to about knee level
1  x  Lithium  Polymer  (LiPo)  Batterywhere  it  will  become  more  stable.)
1  x  Plastic  bag  of  bits  and  bobsIt then became apparent that I was out of my
depth, I thought being only a 4 channel
1  x  Instructionshelicopter it couldn't be that hard and I
would have become a master of flight before
The Esky Honeybee is billed as an RTFthe day was out. That day turned into about a
helicopter (Ready To Fly, for those not inmonth of practice, several expensive crashes,
the know) which means that in theory all itand 2 body injuries from the main rotor and
should require is a quick charge and off youI'm still not great although I've become
go.quite good at a stable hover. Flying a RC
helicopter is a lot more difficult than it
Naturally being a bloke there was no need tolooks!
read the instructions so I just plugged the
battery into the beast and off I went. ItOn the same day of the first proper maiden
very quickly became apparent that this isflight in the squash court, my friend opted
definitely NOT an indoor toy, in fact it isfor the same initial response as I had when
not  even  a  toy  at all come to mention it.first getting the heli out of the box (it was
the first time he had ever turned it on) only
Obviously what's the first thing you do whenthis time he didn't get away with a minor
you get a toy helicopter? You got it, stickbreakage as with mine. He pushed the throttle
on maximum revs and see what happens! That'sto maximum and with the 6 channel Honeybee
where this thing went from 0 to lethal inhaving more power it took off like a trident
less than a second. It looked so innocent satmissile straight into the squash court wall
on the floor till I whacked the throttle upand folded up like a spring loaded deckchair.
then I seriously began to fear for my safety.It was a write-off. Less than 1 second total
The downdraft from this thing was amazingflight time and it cost him a fortune (not to
considering the size, what looked quite smallmention hours of build time and bleeding
in the beginning now seemed relatively largethumbs) just to get it back to a reasonable
once the blades were spun up, and what aflying condition only to have a similar
noise! To put it into context; have you everincident the second time round! He was nearly
seen hypnodisc on robot wars? Now imaginein tears and I tried to be sympathetic but I
that but flying uncontrollably around yourcouldn't help crying with laughter, bad I
living room at head height, brown pantsknow but the comedy of the situation was hard
moment I think you'll agree! I ducked forto  ignore!
cover as the beast ploughed straight into the
wall, slid down, and proceeded to have whatMy advice would be don't buy this particular
looked like an epileptic fit on the floor. MyRC helicopter if you have never flown one
first venture and already a broken partbefore. The damage caused by learning to fly
(albeit minor and not detrimental toit will drive you insane not to mention the
operation). "Ah" I thought, "probably bettercost and time to rebuild it. If your serious
off  outside".about it get some advice before you buy one
and try to get some proper training from
So out I went, only a slight breeze so Isomeone who already knows how to fly RC
thought to myself "perfect" - mistake numberhelicopters. Trust me it will save you a lot
2.of headaches not to mention a hefty repair
bill. One plus side of the honeybee FP (fixed
Full throttle once again (this time from apitch blades) is that the battery lasts ages.
safe distance). The helicopter took straightOn a full charge the Lithium Polymer (LiPo)
off and was instantly carried by the slightbattery gives a good 30 minutes of continuous
breeze at a rate of knots till it was out of'attempted'  flight.
sight. I ran over to it only to find it
looking like a wet dog on a cold day, allThe principle behind an electric helicopter
bunched  up  and  twitching.is a good one and I admire what Esky have
tried to do by creating a cheap offering but
This time I had broken several major parts soto me the build quality was a bit lacking,
I packed up my helicopter and walked home inonly very slight knocks would cause something
shame to figure out what I was doing wrongto break which means the novelty wears off
and order some spare bits (which weren'textremely  quickly.
cheap). "Suppose I best read the manual" I
thought.If I had to buy one again I would go for the
Micron V2 which is a tiny indoor helicopter
Ah... Apparently you have to set thethe advantages of this is that the build
helicopter up first as regards to thequality looks substantially better than the
balancing of the main rotor, paddles, and thehoneybee, and the size is such that you can
weight distribution so that the centre ofactually fly it in your living room which
gravity is directly beneath the rotor shaft.means that any major crashes and knocks are
This is EXTREMELY important if you want anylikely to be absorbed by soft things such as
kind of stable flight. Instructions for thissofas  and  carpets.
can  be  downloaded  here.
Conclusion
The next thing you have to do is set up the
gain and trim of the tail rotor; this is soGreat idea in principle, but the build
that while throttling up the main rotor thequality is a bit lacking.
helicopter will remain stable and pointing in



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