Fixed pitched 4 channel helicopter flying.... or crashing

[elgecko]

I know there are a few people here that have radio controlled helicopters, so that's why I'm sharing.

The only helicopters I've ever flown have been 3 channel coaxial helis, 2 rotors. The coaxial blade system make super stable flight, this is also true for 4 channel coaxial. They are incredibly simple to fly, and anyone can it without too many issues.

Now fixed pitch single rotor helis are a totally different story. I'm finally getting the hang of keeping it in the air after 6 or so battery packs and making slow flights around the room. I may need a bigger room to learn how to turn properly while in forward flight.
I'm glad this E-Flite Blade mSR is one tough bird. The first few flights I could only keep it in the air a few seconds. I think I've almost hit everything in the bedroom now. LOL

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---------- Post added at 07:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:12 PM ----------

Thought I'd post this video of what this heli can do... I wish I could fly like this. Give me some more time.

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[seedjar]

LOL, I misread the titles at the beginning of the ad as, "It's fast! It's fragile!"
Neat toy, I've always wanted one of these. Or one of those RC helium zepplins.
~Joe

 

[swords]

I saw on TV that there is an R/C Millennium Falcon space ship but it's hollowed out in the center to make room for a giant propeller.

 

[TheFury]

You have an mSR! I'm flying an mCX2 and a Walkera Lama2 right now. I'm building my skills on Phoenix sim before I move up from coaxial to FP helis like the mSR. I'm also really eyeing the Walkera V100D01. The flight characteristics of a flybarless FP heli seem interesting.

I'm not even thinking about moving up to outdoor-size helis yet, mainly because I live in NYC where flying space is obviously limited. Some day, though...

GREAT to know someone else here flies helis AND shares my love for CPs (not collective pitch helis but carnivorous plants of course!)! I LOVE this hobby. Highly recommended to everyone here!!!

Edit: nice flying btw! Just watched the video. The cat seems to be a fan!

 

[scottychaos]

those are very cool!
when I was kid (in the 70's) I had this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSQQo5S5yd0&feature=related

which I loved at the time..
toy helicopter technology has come a long way!

Scot

 

[seedjar]

OMG, if there were a possibility of my getaway car being snatched up from the freeway by a helicopter, I would never even make jokes about committing crimes. I would've loved that when I was a kid, but the concept is a little unnerving...
~Joe

 

[elgecko]

LOL, I misread the titles at the beginning of the ad as, "It's fast! It's fragile!"
Neat toy, I've always wanted one of these. Or one of those RC helium zepplins.
~Joe

That can very easily be seen that way. LOL

I saw on TV that there is an R/C Millennium Falcon space ship but it's hollowed out in the center to make room for a giant propeller.

Looks like it will only be able to go up and down.

You have an mSR! I'm flying an mCX2 and a Walkera Lama2 right now. I'm building my skills on Phoenix sim before I move up from coaxial to FP helis like the mSR. I'm also really eyeing the Walkera V100D01. The flight characteristics of a flybarless FP heli seem interesting.

I'm not even thinking about moving up to outdoor-size helis yet, mainly because I live in NYC where flying space is obviously limited. Some day, though...

GREAT to know someone else here flies helis AND shares my love for CPs (not collective pitch helis but carnivorous plants of course!)! I LOVE this hobby. Highly recommended to everyone here!!!

Edit: nice flying btw! Just watched the video. The cat seems to be a fan!

Yep. Just got here Friday. Been having a blast with it.
I should have made the video a few minutes ago. I just flew 2 batteries in it and was making some good circuits in the room. Kept it in the air almost the whole time.

I decided that instead of going to a 4 channel coaxial, I would jump right to the good stuff. Save money for some other toys....

Here's my current fleet. (I just sold all my old big clunky heavy planes that ran off NiCads. Replacing with Lipo power.)

Looking at this plane next.
http://www.parkzone.com/UltraMicro/Default.aspx?ProdID=PKZ3600

I got the mSR off ebay. This seller includes 10 extra batteries.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130446271384&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

 

[seedjar]

The P-51D Mustang was the most successful fighter of WWII. Today it thrills thousands in air shows and air races around the world. Now anyone can experience Mustang thrills on a small scale with this ultra-micro classic you can fly in the local gym or right in your own backyard.

I was all with them up until that point. I don't think the other gym patrons would appreciate that...
I guess it's more of the gadget/robotics aspect that I'm into, because these are the toys I really want:
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Teamwork is neat, but check out how nimble these guys are when they're free to really strut their stuff:
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Part II:
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Keep in mind, these guys fly themselves.
~Joe

 

[elgecko]

those are very cool!
when I was kid (in the 70's) I had this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSQQo5S5yd0&feature=related

which I loved at the time..
toy helicopter technology has come a long way!

Scot

My dad had an old tin / metal wind up toy similar to your link, but it was a plane that flew around in circles. Had a lever that would make it stop traveling forward and do a loop. Ran about 3 minutes till you had to wind it up again.



I posted this video in another thread of my 3 channel heli.

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[scottychaos]

They meant this kind of gym!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osOIVqkerkA

I have been interested in getting into the "super light" "micro" planes..
they are so light and fragile they have to flown indoors..no wind allowed:

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I think those are just the coolest..


Scot

 

[seedjar]

Ooooh, that excites my inner engineering nerd.
~Joe

 

[elgecko]

They meant this kind of gym!

I have been interested in getting into the "super light" "micro" planes..
they are so light and fragile they have to flown indoors..no wind allowed:

I think those are just the coolest..

Scot

This is what you want:
http://www.microflight.com/Butterfly-Livingroom-Flyer

 

[seedjar]

Are there any RC ornithopters yet? I saw something, maybe in WIRED, about a wing-propelled RC that was in the works, using shape-memory alloys for muscle fibers. I don't think I've ever heard of a working model though.
~Joe

 

[elgecko]

I have seen them before some time ago.

Found this:
http://www.flyabird.com/kinkade.info.html

 

[seedjar]

Sweet! I guess I meant like mini/ultralight/non-motorized versions. But if somebody gave me one of those, I wouldn't be complaining.
~Joe

 

[TheFury]

@seedjar - that quadrotor robot is amazing. They can make it fly through a falling hula hoop on its own??

@scottychaos - man, my friend actually had a toy something like that vertibird when I was a kid. He never let me play with it and it got me REALLY jealous! LOL. Those things are nowhere near as easy as the commercial makes them look. That's what got me into RC helis a looong time ago!

@elgecko - these ultra micro planes interest me too. I wish I had the outdoor space to fly them! Heck, my apartment is hardly big enough for an mSR (as you say, good thing they're iron-clad!)

Interesting how LiPo batteries made all these ultra micro RC planes and helis possible. Thanks, science!

Some day I hope to be able to do what this guy can...

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[seedjar]

OMG - It's hard to believe that someone is actually in control of that thing. Amazing!
Yeah, the autonomous Quadrotors are pretty impressive. Right now they cheat just a little in the labs; robot vision is still something that has its limits. The obstacles are all highly reflective, and the room is lit from multiple angles with powerful infrared lights. You'll notice the hula-hoops have shiny tape on them. Still, even if it can't see without lights for assistance, it's pretty amazing that it can recognize the paths of moving obstacles well enough to maneuver through them.
I can't wait until I have my own helicopter swarm to help me with chores. Laundry, carting groceries... perhaps even tree pruning? The possibilities are endless.
~Joe

PS - I just realized, my apartment has vaulted ceilings and is begging for one of these. What's a good entry-level one? I've never flown before so, while the mSR looks cool, I'm not sure I'd be able to make the best use of it. Bonus points for something I can crack the case on and modify if I get bored.

 

[TheFury]

Well, I HIGHLY recommend this guy. It's a 3 channel heli, meaning you can control vertical throttle, yaw left/right, and pitch forward/backward. It cheats a little bit because it doesn't pitch the actual rotors; it uses a little fan on the tail to tilt the nose up and down. This is the case with all 3-channel helis.

This guy is readily available on eBay. I started out with one of those... it hovers incredibly well and is SUPER easy to fly. Surprisingly tough, and incredibly easy to control. And it's very cheap. What I also like is that you can charge it from your computer with an included USB cable! But it's SO easy to fly, you might get bored with it after a few flights!

The next step up for me was this one. It's pretty much the gold standard for 4-channel coaxial helis. Also incredibly easy to fly, but in addition to elevation, pitch, and yaw, you get roll control... so banked turns and certain stunts (funnels) become possible. It's a little expensive, but spare parts are available everywhere and Horizon Hobby customer service is great... they stand behind the product that you shell out the cash for.

Another option (slightly more expensive) is the Walkera Lama2. I have this guy as well. It's heavier and a good deal faster, and correspondingly more difficult to control. But it's a blast!

From 4-channel coaxial helis, it's not a huge jump up to fixed pitch, single rotor helis like the blade mSR that elgecko posted about, or Walkera's answer to it, the CB100. That's where the real fun happens.

I would almost say jump straight to the mCX2 rather than the 3-channel heli. Although it's understandable if you'd want to dip your toe in the water with a $30 heli rather than jumping straight in with a $120 toy!

EDIT: you mentioned wanting to modify the things. They're really sensitive to added weight, but there's some breathing room. There seems to be a larger following of modders for Walkera helis than Horizon Hobby/E-Flite. But there are mods for the mCX2 too. Like this swashplate mod that improves forward flight speed.

 

[seedjar]

Aha, thank you for explaining. I suppose I could've looked but I'm still feeling lazy and groggy at this hour - I was puzzling over the difference in channels. I know enough about RC to know they represent degrees of freedom in the control signal, but I couldn't figure out where you'd be able to vary that in heli control schemes.
The $30 might be more accessible for now, since I'm in the hole and won't be buying any toys any time soon unless I get a big lump of cash from my parents for Christmas or something. But otherwise I might start with a more high-end model if my situation turns around unexpectedly. In terms of modifications I'd probably be doing things like replacing the control circuit and transmitter with a reprogrammable microcontroller and maybe one of those wifi-in-an-SD-card wireless network adapters, and maybe some sort of sensor apparatus if I can find something light enough that would actually be worth the trouble.
I guess I'd be interested in doing other things, but these guys are so tiny that the only thing I can think of off the top of my head is to add features to the controls or make them autonomous. I guess once I get one and tear it down I'll probably learn some stuff about helicopter mechanics and want to tinker with my own designs, but in the mean time I don't think I have enough insight as to how it works. Robots are really more my thing.
~Joe

 

[elgecko]

@elgecko - these ultra micro planes interest me too. I wish I had the outdoor space to fly them! Heck, my apartment is hardly big enough for an mSR (as you say, good thing they're iron-clad!)

Some day I hope to be able to do what this guy can...

The mSR is one tough bird.
You should have no trouble making a jump to a fixed blade from your coaxials. At least your use to the controls, which took me a little time to get used to since I've only ever flown the 3 channel ones.

I've seen some other video of people flying there helis 3D.... but lets be honest here. This guy has no idea how to fly a heli and he made it look like he tried all that!

PS - I just realized, my apartment has vaulted ceilings and is begging for one of these. What's a good entry-level one? I've never flown before so, while the mSR looks cool, I'm not sure I'd be able to make the best use of it. Bonus points for something I can crack the case on and modify if I get bored.

The 3 channel heli TheFury pointed out , the Syma S107, or the HeliZone FireBird (I have video on page 1 of this thread.) are all excellent beginner 3 channel helis.



Here is some video of some better flying I did early this morning.
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This heli is a blast.