| Well, where to start with this one... This | | | | the 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 me | | | | helicopter to an empty squash court with a |
| this for Christmas from Buzzflyer.co.uk for | | | | friend who had also bought a honeybee |
| around £110, as soon as I opened it I was | | | | helicopter (although he opted for the 6 |
| like a kid at 10 years old again. On the box | | | | channel collective pitch model, boy did he |
| it said for indoor/outdoor flight so | | | | regret that later). |
| naturally the box was flung open and the | | | | |
| battery was straight on charge ready for a | | | | This 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 Helicopter | | | | learned, after experimenting trying to get |
| | | | the honeybee to hover in my kitchen it would |
| 1 x 4CH Radio Handset and aerial | | | | constantly drift to the left no matter what |
| | | | controls were applied. After a bit of |
| 1 x AC adapter | | | | research I discovered that it's something to |
| | | | do with the way the air flows when the rotor |
| 1 x 12V Battery lead (to charge the | | | | is so close to the ground that makes it act |
| helicopter battery from a 12V car battery | | | | in 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 Transformer | | | | throttle in a short burst so that it rises |
| | | | out of the ground effect to about knee level |
| 1 x Lithium Polymer (LiPo) Battery | | | | where it will become more stable.) |
| | | | |
| 1 x Plastic bag of bits and bobs | | | | It then became apparent that I was out of my |
| | | | depth, I thought being only a 4 channel |
| 1 x Instructions | | | | helicopter it couldn't be that hard and I |
| | | | would have become a master of flight before |
| The Esky Honeybee is billed as an RTF | | | | the day was out. That day turned into about a |
| helicopter (Ready To Fly, for those not in | | | | month of practice, several expensive crashes, |
| the know) which means that in theory all it | | | | and 2 body injuries from the main rotor and |
| should require is a quick charge and off you | | | | I'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 to | | | | looks! |
| read the instructions so I just plugged the | | | | |
| battery into the beast and off I went. It | | | | On the same day of the first proper maiden |
| very quickly became apparent that this is | | | | flight in the squash court, my friend opted |
| definitely NOT an indoor toy, in fact it is | | | | for 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 when | | | | this time he didn't get away with a minor |
| you get a toy helicopter? You got it, stick | | | | breakage as with mine. He pushed the throttle |
| on maximum revs and see what happens! That's | | | | to maximum and with the 6 channel Honeybee |
| where this thing went from 0 to lethal in | | | | having more power it took off like a trident |
| less than a second. It looked so innocent sat | | | | missile straight into the squash court wall |
| on the floor till I whacked the throttle up | | | | and 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 amazing | | | | flight time and it cost him a fortune (not to |
| considering the size, what looked quite small | | | | mention hours of build time and bleeding |
| in the beginning now seemed relatively large | | | | thumbs) just to get it back to a reasonable |
| once the blades were spun up, and what a | | | | flying condition only to have a similar |
| noise! To put it into context; have you ever | | | | incident the second time round! He was nearly |
| seen hypnodisc on robot wars? Now imagine | | | | in tears and I tried to be sympathetic but I |
| that but flying uncontrollably around your | | | | couldn't help crying with laughter, bad I |
| living room at head height, brown pants | | | | know but the comedy of the situation was hard |
| moment I think you'll agree! I ducked for | | | | to ignore! |
| cover as the beast ploughed straight into the | | | | |
| wall, slid down, and proceeded to have what | | | | My advice would be don't buy this particular |
| looked like an epileptic fit on the floor. My | | | | RC helicopter if you have never flown one |
| first venture and already a broken part | | | | before. The damage caused by learning to fly |
| (albeit minor and not detrimental to | | | | it will drive you insane not to mention the |
| operation). "Ah" I thought, "probably better | | | | cost 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 I | | | | someone who already knows how to fly RC |
| thought to myself "perfect" - mistake number | | | | helicopters. 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 a | | | | pitch blades) is that the battery lasts ages. |
| safe distance). The helicopter took straight | | | | On a full charge the Lithium Polymer (LiPo) |
| off and was instantly carried by the slight | | | | battery 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, all | | | | The 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 so | | | | to me the build quality was a bit lacking, |
| I packed up my helicopter and walked home in | | | | only very slight knocks would cause something |
| shame to figure out what I was doing wrong | | | | to break which means the novelty wears off |
| and order some spare bits (which weren't | | | | extremely 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 the | | | | the advantages of this is that the build |
| helicopter up first as regards to the | | | | quality looks substantially better than the |
| balancing of the main rotor, paddles, and the | | | | honeybee, and the size is such that you can |
| weight distribution so that the centre of | | | | actually 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 any | | | | likely to be absorbed by soft things such as |
| kind of stable flight. Instructions for this | | | | sofas 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 so | | | | Great idea in principle, but the build |
| that while throttling up the main rotor the | | | | quality is a bit lacking. |
| helicopter will remain stable and pointing in | | | | |