Trouble with Blade msr rudder trim

I have noticed that every time I plug in a new battery into my Blade msr I have to trim the rudder. It always starts with a counter-clockwise rotation on a fresh battery. After a while I have to trim it back a few ticks. I have only seen a few posts on forums where this issue is mentioned. Is it something wrong with my heli?

/MidnightSunRC

E-Flite Blade msr for beginners?

As a proud owner a E-Flite Blade msr and a beginner at r/c heli I thought I should write something about this heli. OK I have some r/c heli experience but that stops at 4ch co-ax helis. I've had much fun with my co-ax Lama v3 and I think that I got some basic understanding of maneuvering a 4ch heli from that.

But now back to the Blade msr. I have the bind-and-fly version of this 4ch fixed pitch heli with main rotor and tail rotor, it is not a co-ax. I use my own drm2 compatible transmitter, the Spektrum DX6i.

First of all this heli is really palm-size so there is no problem flying in your livingroom. Second the heli is really durable. I lost control and flew into a wall and dropped to the floor and the heli was ok afterwards. Third, the heli is really stable. When you got it trimmed and in a hover you can (almost) leave it there without any input. And as a last thing it is possible to do some adjustments to the swashplate in order to make the heli more responsive. This could be fun once you've learnt how to handle the heli and want something more challenging.

I would say that the E-Flite Blade msr is suitable for a beginner at r/c heli who want something durable and small to start with. I don't know if it is the best beginners r/c heli out there but it is fun and has good qualities. Some r/c simulator is always good before starting with a real heli just to get the touch of how the heli reacts to your input.

/MidnightSunRC

Blade msr nose-in training

With r/c planes I have almost no problem flying towards myself but with a heli it's a completely different story. I find it very hard. Partly I believe it's due to the fact that I am flying in my livingroom next to my new TV but that does not explain it all. I have to learn this so I thought that I should dedicate this week for nose-in flying, more precisely hovering nose-in. Hovering tail-in is ok since I have practised this pretty much.

Tonight was lesson one. The heli was my new Blade msr 4ch fixed pitch micro heli and I flew through my two lipos (about 8 minutes each). I saw some improvements but still I can't switch my brain from tail-in to nose-in. Am I moving to fast forward? Are there other steps that I should practice first?

Here's what I did. I started to hover tail-in and when I was stable I rotated 180 degrees. In this position (nose-in) I tried to maintain a hover. Pretty soon I lost it and had to cut the throttle. This is where I'm glad that the Blade msr are really durable! The exercise with these steps repeated for about 16 minutes. Now the lipos are charging and I'm writing a post and trying to figure out if there is a better way to learn this or if it is just exercise exercise exercise.

Do you have some links to good information about learning to fly a helicopter please post them here. I'm only flying a 4ch micro heli at the moment but my goal is a 6ch 3D heli.

Happy flying,
MidnightSunRC

My new r/c gear

It's been a while since I did any updates now and a lot of stuff has happened since the last time.

In an earlier post I described some r/c gear that I was looking at and here is the outcome:

Transmitter: Spektrum dx6i with AR6200

Plane: Multiplex Easy Star

Heli: E-Flite Blade msr (bnf)

Below are som quick comments:

The Spektrum dx6i transmitter will cover all my needs considering planes and helis. This transmitter fits me just right :)

I'm really glad that I bought the Easy Star because that plane is a true beginner. I find it so easy to fly and it can take some bad landings as well. The kit I got was a ARF kit with servos, speed control and motor included. I just had to glue the tail parts in place, insert my receiver and go out flying. All in all it took me about two hours or so from unwrapping the box til I was out on the maiden flight. In a later post I will do a review of the Easy Star.

My latest purchase is the E-Flite Blade msr bnf. bnf is the bind-and-fly version where you are supposed to have a drm2 compatible radio, which by the way my nice new radio is :)

In upcoming posts I will review my new gear.

/MidnightSunRC

Foam plane revisited

So I've been flying my home built foam plane a couple of times the last few days but it didn't turn out that well. Oh the plane flies but I think the body isn't stiff enough because it is twising around its own roll axis. This behaviour made it really hard to fly since the rudder input I made had to twist the body back before the actual turn started...if you know what I mean. It was like the body not stiff enough added some serious lag to my roll inputs. And yes, I went pretty hard down into the ground...:( But all the electronics are still ok but this plane has to be seen as a prototype. I wont fly this one any more so all the electronics are now removed from the plane. If I find myself some depron or something similar I will try this plane again but until then I'm thinking of buying a Multiplex Easy Star.

I have made some research on the Easy Star on the Internet and it seems like the Easy Star is a pretty good plane for a beginner. It is durable, self stabilizing and not to expensive, just the one I'm looking for. I'm going for the plane only since I already have all the electronics.

Also been surfing the Internet looking at r/c helis but I haven't found the one I'm looking for yet. Or more precisely, I haven't decided yet which one I should go for. My ESky Lama V3 has taken a few more heavy crashes and now it has started to sound a bit funny. I don't know if it is the motor or if it is the gears...but it is still flying. It feels like I'm ready for a more advanced r/c heli. Not an ADVANCED but a instep model for 6ch ccpm. In the post before this one I listed a few examples of helis I am looking at. Maybe I should add a T-REX 450S?

Anyway, in order to get a heli I have to get a new r/c radio...

R/C stuff to consider

Tomorrow I will start to fly with my foam plane. Hopefully I will get more than one flight out of it so that I can get some progress on my r/c plane mission. I feel that I am postponing the r/c plane training all the time so now I have set a deadline for myself.

I also have made myself a list of r/c planes, r/c helis and a list of tx's that I'm considering. As for the planes I really want ailerons or the possibillity to convert to ailerons and with the helicopters I think I want a 6ch cp heli. As always I am looking for things that I don't grow out of the first year.

Any ideas, comments, pros & cons or other stuff that I should consider? Feel free to give me feedback on my lists or maybe more examples of good planes, helis or tx's.

The lists below give you a good idea of which budget range I'm looking for.

Transmitters:

• Spektrum DX6i
• Spektrum DX7i

R/C Planes:

• Multiplex Easy Star (which I probably would modify to include ailerons)
• Great Planes Seawind Seaplane
• Formosa 2
• GWS Slow Stick
• Multiplex MiniMag
• Graupner Electric-UHU
• GWS E-Starter

R/C Helicopters:

• ESky Honey Bee King 2
• ESky Belt CP (V2?)
• Blade 400

/MidnightSunRC

Another Lama V3 crash and mission update

It seems like I'm just flying my little heli instead of r/c planes at the moment. I really has to start my sessions with my foam plane soon. I'm really exited to see if it will fly and if I will manage to fly it. Since I have been flying my Lama V3 r/c heli a lot lately I am starting to feel confident that I will manage my r/c plane. So I think I am still on the right path in my mission to learn to fly r/c planes/helis.

eSky 4CH Helicopter Co-co Lama Version 3 Micro Heli Radio Remote Control RC Helicopter RTF for $69.95


Speaking of helis :) I crashed my Lama V3 hard into the ground tail first. The tail part split into a couple of peaces but the rest of the heli was fine. I flew it a couple of times without the tail but it started to shake the big-shake. So I reattached the tail with some scotch tape and now it is back to normal again. As you might be able to see the tips on all rotorblades are scotch taped back on. Maybe I should replace them cause it is starting to make the heli a bit unstable and I have a full spare set. As usual, I am impressed with this little peace of plastic!