CP Newbie - observations

[cbdane]

I've had the Blade CP for several weeks now and I thought that I would share a newbie's (to R/C helicopters) impressions. As an introduction, I have been flying fixed wing airplanes for almost 20 years but as my children have grown older, I find it harder and harder to (1) keep enough space to build and maintain my planes at home and (2) to make an entire day available to prep a plane, load it up, drive to the club field, unload it, fly it, drive home, clean the plane, and finally store it away. The microhelicopters intrigued me since it seemed as if I could fly for an hour here and there during the day or in the evenings and better provide my R/C "fix" on a more consistent basis.

I first purchased a Blade CX and thought, "What a piece of cake! This isn't at all hard!" Moving on to the CP showed me how wrong I was. After a few weeks, though, I can easily hover and quickly maneuver it tail in as well as sideways, i.e. tail right and tail left. Nose in still generates a momentary panic which results in loss of control and minor repairs.

Here are some observations in what I've learned so far. Please keep in mind that (1) I am brand new at this and (2) I am learning on my own and haven't had any help from experienced pilots (none in our club).

1. The Blade CP is a handful for a beginning R/C chopper pilot!

2. With the Hiller mixing, as delivered, the controls are so slow that it is quite difficult to fly. The control lag is terrible and would require psychic abilities to guess where it is going to drift to next to stay ahead of it.

3. The Blade is a whole new machine with the Bell-Hiller upgrade. Should never have been sold otherwise. If it were an inherently stable design, the standard Hiller mixing would be okay, but it isn't. You need quick control response to keep it in line.

4. With the stock head, you need a little positive incidence on the blades (1-2 degrees) at full stick down. If you try to fly with too little incidence and higher rotor speeds, mechanical play in the head will cause a lot of vertical yo-yo'ing. A little more positive incidence is the easy solution.

5. Use a manual paper punch and add a nice set of ventilation holes in the canopy just above the heat sink. This will cool the motor down a lot with the LiPo battery. First I flew without the canopy but I've now found that it helps me better visually orient the helicopter with it on.

6. Buy the all CNC head from Heli-Direct (Bell-Hiller as delivered). I got mine on eBay. What a marvel! The next big improvement in performance after the Bell mixing plastic upgrade.

7. Transition immediately to the symmetric blades, even for hovering. Much more stable and they seem to provide a lot more vertical stability, even without the extra vertical blade pitch mentioned above.

I mostly fly in a big open bay with high ceilings but I now can very confidently follow the CP through narrow hallways and can hover out an entire pack (~15-20min) while maneuvering around a small room (12x12') sometimes hanging out just a few feet from the ceiling. Very little outside flying so far, but will transition soon.

I'm going to upgrade to a Trex 450 SE sometime in the future but I believe that my upgraded CP will provide a lot of very good stick time and much more training before the upgrade. Everything that I've read here says that the Trex will only be easier to fly.

Just some thoughts, experiences, and observations. As a newbie, I'm sure that I have some things wrong but I'm learning!

[Rick Rotorhead]

OMG! I thought for a moment that I had posted this Ha Ha. Your thoughts and experiences and progress with the CP mirrors mine almost exactly.......
Only thing different for me is that I can't afford to 'waste' cash on that lovely CNC head gear because I'm putting all my resources into a 'soon to be purchased' Trex 450SE. I just love the instruction book that came with my Twister CP (Blade CP) and how it implies reading between the lines that with a bit of practice and patience you'll soon be buzzing about all over the place - if only that were true!!!!
My CP is stock and I have to cope with it outside - I have to tell you that it is very very suseptible to wind, you think you've got a steady chest high hover then a slight puff of wind comes and she's up at 12 feet in less than 3 seconds. This is very un-nerving at first since you can't tell if she's hovering level when she's up at a 60 degrees angle. All it needs is another puff and she'd be at 20+ feet and overhead and drifting - time to change your trousers.... That said, she's a lot of fun, but your learning progress will be much much slower than with say a big (nitro) bird due to the little helis natural instability. I hav'nt even covered the poor tail hold, but I guess you've already found that out Hee Hee. Anyhow, keep us informed of your progress and any tips you come across are always welcome. Good luck, Rick

[Gary JP4]

Mostly right on!

I already have the SE. I still like to try things with the HB CP2 before I try them on the SE. Even just warming up to fly. I feel like it is protecting the SE a little.

[Skiddz]

cbdane/Rick,

You guys are gonna LOVE the SE. I love flying my CP in the house and out in the yard if the wind is light, but the SE is an entirely different experience. I finished mine a week ago tomorrow and the initial hover tests were non-events. What a joy it is to fly.. I've got about 10 packs through it and it's great.

I've done quite a few mods on my CP as well, but don't know if I can "justify" the CNC head.. I've gone brushless for the main motor and installed the DD tail, CNC frame, metal swash and the BH head upgrade and it flies really well. I've ditched the stock Tx and got the little beasty talking to my 9C which makes it even more fun to fly. One day I want to land, inverted, on my living room ceiling with the thing. When I master that, I'm gonna do it with my SE...then my Raptor 50. (Well, maybe not the Rappy..heheh)

[cbdane]

Originally Posted by Skiddz

I've done quite a few mods on my CP as well, but don't know if I can "justify" the CNC head. I've gone brushless for the main motor and installed the DD tail, CNC frame, metal swash and the BH head upgrade and it flies really well.

CNC frame? Tell me more! My wallet says "No, no!" but the R/C pilot in me is intrigued..." Any more info appreciated!!

[Skiddz]

Yeah, the Dynamic CNC frame.. I got it from www.helihobby.com. Look in the Electric Helis/BladeCP/Upgrades/Page 1. (or something like that) It's the 2nd or 3rd item from the top. Took a bit of extra work to get the stock body to fit on the thing without cutting it up and I had to fabricate a mount for the 4-in-1 but other than that, not too difficult to assemble.

I'll post a few assembly pics in my gallery in a bit

[Gary JP4]

I was re-reading your original post and I like what you did. Here is just a slightly different method for a couple of items you mentioned. I have the HB CP2. It comes with the Bell Hiller plastic head, LiPo 3s 1000 mah, and symmetrical blades for about $150 less than the Blade CP with all that stuff. The Blade CP might be a better place to start for a beginner because the Bell Hiller is probably too aggressive for a beginner.

4. With the stock head, you need a little positive incidence on the blades (1-2 degrees) at full stick down. If you try to fly with too little incidence and higher rotor speeds, mechanical play in the head will cause a lot of vertical yo-yo'ing. A little more positive incidence is the easy solution.

I just set a little positive blade angle at center stick. This gives the positive blade angle in normal mode you are talking about. Maybe that is why my HB CP2 has stabilized quite a bit. Blades track better and it flies better.

5. Use a manual paper punch and add a nice set of ventilation holes in the canopy just above the heat sink. This will cool the motor down a lot with the LiPo battery. First I flew without the canopy but I've now found that it helps me better visually orient the helicopter with it on.

I relocated the mounting holes for the canopy back about 3/4 inch. This moves the canopy forward by that amount exposing the top of the motor. The back of the canopy is slightly forward of the forward edge of the motor. Also the HB canopy is quite a bit bigger that the Blade canopy and I think it allows better cooling. I have a Blade CP canopy on my DF4 and moved it foward also because of a long LiPo battery (I had to move the mounting post forward on the bird). I think it cools better also.

Also take a small Allen wrench or Phillips screw driver and heat it up and push two holes through the canopy inline with the adjustments for the 4 in 1 and you can adjust without removing the canopy.