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