RC helicopter size/class confusion

[Tjomp]

Originally Posted by Singular9

i have an excalibur XC9970 War Bird, not the war bird 2 (there is some confusion), what # is that 100, 250...?

I would think the correct class for that heli is "Micro"

[ragge1]

Originally Posted by Tjomp

I would think the correct class for that heli is "Micro"

welcome back Tjomp

[sutty]

Woo hoo, Tomas.

[jperkosk]

Well well, isn't it Christmas already, long lost souls finding their way home. Antony, Tomas, we missed you

As for the class, it was first called micro, but then Align has copied mSR and called it Trex 100, so I guess we can call it 100-class as well

[Singular9]

Originally Posted by Tjomp

I would think the correct class for that heli is "Micro"

i dont think you know what im talking about, its freaking 20 cm high and is bigger than the average 3 channel medium heli, so its bigger than a medium but smaller than a large size, so what class would it be, cause its pretty big for indoor.

[jperkosk]

The is no reference to its size whether on manufacturer's site or in the manual:

http://exrc.ebexcalibur.com/document...XCRA826a44.pdf

Regardless of the physical size, however, it would have been called a "micro electric" heli if it were a hobby grade helicopter, for which we normally consider a minimum 4-ch bird with full cyclic control, meaning it can mimic real helicopter's most important flight characteristics: it can fly in any direction.

The subject heli is a 3.5ch mall (BTW, how can you define ½ a radio channel?) heli, which means it doesn't have cyclic control, what puts it squarely onto "mall toy" category, regardless of its physical size. None of them will fly outdoor in even slightest of the winds, even if some of them that I saw recently are as big as 450 class helis. 450 class, btw, it's still in "micro electric" category

[sutty]

Nope, they do know what they're talking about. From the manual:

#XC9970 © 2011 EB Excalibur, Inc.

Indoor environment with little air conditioning. Heavy air-conditioning
can be too strong for heli flight. It is highly recommended to turn off all
fans, air conditioning units, or reading lamps that could impair flying.
• We recommend that the area/space for fl ight be at least 10 x 15 x 10 feet.

SAFETY TIPS
• Read the entire manual before attempting to pilot your helicopter.
• This product is intended for indoor use, and works best indoors. We do
not recommend using the product outdoors.

Now if you think a heli that cannot cope with strong air conditioning is a big heli then so be it, but it sure looks and sounds like a micro or 100 class to me.

Cheers

Sutty

[Tjomp]

Cheers for the WB's guys. Allthough I kinda feel I never left, because I've been lurking or atleast occasionally been reading posts here and other areas of Helifreak.
Haven't been flying much lately, though. As Ragge can tell you. He's been texting me often to get my ass out on the field again. But there have always been some thing else going on.

But it's not like I have quit beeing interested in RC. I've got some new secondhand gear I've picked up and got some builds to complete. I hope to get my son (now 6 years old) flying a plane with me on a buddy box.

[Singular9]

Originally Posted by sutty

Nope, they do know what they're talking about. From the manual:

#XC9970 © 2011 EB Excalibur, Inc.

Indoor environment with little air conditioning. Heavy air-conditioning
can be too strong for heli flight. It is highly recommended to turn off all
fans, air conditioning units, or reading lamps that could impair flying.
• We recommend that the area/space for fl ight be at least 10 x 15 x 10 feet.

SAFETY TIPS
• Read the entire manual before attempting to pilot your helicopter.
• This product is intended for indoor use, and works best indoors. We do
not recommend using the product outdoors.

Now if you think a heli that cannot cope with strong air conditioning is a big heli then so be it, but it sure looks and sounds like a micro or 100 class to me.

Cheers

Sutty

first of all u know lots of manuals exagerate alot. idk but i have ive flown it outside in strong winds and nothing, it does drift off a bit but copes well. i mean its almost a foot high and i have a micro, its like 4 inches high

[Luke Warmwater]

The "class" of a heli can be very subjective, especially on electric helis. The nomenclature has been adopted from various names and normall refers to CP helis (although I have heard the HBFP being refered to as a 300 class and that is fixed pitch). I've not heard of an co-axial heli being referred to by class numbers before, although i am sure someone can prove me wrong...

The fact that it is a co-ax really does limit you to indoor flying, or at least extremely calm weather. The issue with a co-ax in anything more than the lightest of breezes, is that you will need a lot of cyclic input just to stop it from drifting. A maximum cyclic input combined with a gust can easily give you a blade strike, where the counter rotating blades hit each other. This normally occurs at a high throttle setting as you are trying to control the heli....and results in your heli being returned to kit form very quickly.

I have seen co-ax helis designed to be flown outdoors, but they are quite specific. I know from experience that ignoring the manual leads to trouble sooner or later...

Bottom line, Sutty is correct; it is an indoor co-axial heli.

[jperkosk]

Originally Posted by Singular9

first of all u know lots of manuals exagerate alot. idk but i have ive flown it outside in strong winds and nothing, it does drift off a bit but copes well. i mean its almost a foot high and i have a micro, its like 4 inches high

You will learn much more quickly if you start from the premise that having just entered into this hobby your knowledge building process has to start from zero, trust me
Please re-read calmly the last couple of pages of this thread.

[Singular9]

Originally Posted by jperkosk

You will learn much more quickly if you start from the premise that having just entered into this hobby your knowledge building process has to start from zero, trust me
Please re-read calmly the last couple of pages of this thread.

i have had this so called hobby for about 2 years, i just dont know lots of the technical vocab and "classes" and etc. other than that i can fly the dang thing probably better than u

[jperkosk]

Whatever you choose to believe is fine with me regardless of how misguided I may think your opinion is; but why ask for information and waste everyone's valuable time if you already know better?

[Luke Warmwater]

Originally Posted by Singular9

i have had this so called hobby for about 2 years, i just dont know lots of the technical vocab and "classes" and etc. other than that i can fly the dang thing probably better than u

Please can you stand up when you speak; your voice is muffled when you are sitting down....

[Tjomp]

@Singular9:

What is the rotor diameter of your heli ?

In general I would group CP Helis something like this:

Micro Heli - 100 size - Rotor diameter ca 20 cm
Mini Heli - 250 size - Rotor diameter ca 40 cm
Small Heli - 450 size - Rotor diameter ca 65cm
Medium Heli - 500 size - Rotor diameter ca 85 cm
Large Heli - 600 size and up - Rotor diameter ca 120 cm and up

Non CP Helis like a Coax, I would in most cases group as a toy.
Hope this answers your question.


BTW. I don't believe for a sec. that your can fly better than jperkosk.

[ragge1]

Originally Posted by Singular9

i have had this so called hobby for about 2 years, i just dont know lots of the technical vocab and "classes" and etc. other than that i can fly the dang thing probably better than u

[dayshaddow]

hi guys..seems i have found an interesting time to pop in, hell its been quiet around here lately. lets hope jan brings in the fresh batch of new pilots
singular
when it comes to co ax's i have owned or flown many. my first was a 4 channel lama v3. i loved her to bits and prob spent more hours then most with her before moving up to larger out door helis. so the coax's i have flown are a lama v3 lama v4 eskys big lama a centery sprit and a bunch of sub micro or 100 class helis all very fun and i flow all of them out side but only on very calm days

a 3 channel sub micr coax will suffer worse than most coax's as it lack the abilty to fly backwards and there for unable to break when moving from foreward flight. guess if you keep on top of the rudder and keep the nose into the wind you could lession the drift, as mentioned already if you bully a coax around blade strike will happen and down it goes also they can roll over quickly in a cross wind and again down it will go, be carefull i lost a coax in only a slight wind (my 4 channel lama v3) if the wind is faster than your helis top foreward speed you may see it ballon up into the air and drift away

anyone one remember the vid of my lama drifting away

[Luke Warmwater]

Classes and sizings are just weird. Technically a Belt CP V1 was a 400 size heli; it was bigger than a Trex 450 in length, but had 315mm blades and a smaller motor. The Blade 400 was a 400 class obviously, and was significanly smaller than a Trex 450 or a Belt CP....

There is a new heli out from Century that is labelled as a 400. It is FP with a tail motor....and a little shorter than an HBFP....???

And Singular, as for how well you fly, I believe you probably fly that thing beautifully....but if you look at the helis in jperkosk's signature list, you will see that you are comparing Mario Kart to some pretty meaty real world sports cars....

[copterboy]

Originally Posted by dayshaddow

anyone one remember the vid of my lama drifting away

No, but I think it would be a timely reminder to see it again

For me, most co-ax's fall into the toy class of heli's. I just call it a hobby grade co-ax if spares are readily available at most good hobby stores.

As for what class it is in....it goes into the begginer class, no matter how freakin big it is.

[dayshaddow]

will go find it now also im going to post the vid of my esky big lama,which TBH was kinda scary out doors as its larger size made it very very prone to balooning up i would fly my lama v3 in far stronger winds than that.
do you not think toy is kinda harsh tho i mean a coax is a fun flyer and did teach me the basics in flying...they are very easy to fly but having said that is if i was to learn all over again it would be the msr i would start out with not a coax and not even an msrx( it very quick and i guess would make learning harder)
so vids it is

last time i flew my lama WARNING the audio was never edited so parents and under 18's be warned
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKgGKqKd7VE[/ame]

my esky big lama, didnt keep her long but was stable and the canopy was nicly deced lacked power sadly and had no pep when needed

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtKWIbYxQeM[/ame]