Big Lama - Brushless - First Impressions

I just installed the Aero Electronics BRUSHLESS motors kit into my Big Lama today.

First Impressions: WOW!

Longer Version:
- Motors are fairly noisy.
- Motors are much much stronger than stock brushed 370 motors, wow. Almost need a soft start; when you push up the throttle, you'd better be ready.
- Pinions that came with kit were not usable, fit loosely on 2.3 mm shaft and were press-on type with no set screw. Had to buy 10 tooth press-on for 2.3 mm shaft.
- All the extra equipment (two speed controllers, lots of wire, etc) make the heli noticeably heavier but has plenty of power to fly.
- The two speed controllers plug into the stock 4-n-1, so using stock gyro and mixer. Can't tell that my proportional adjustment is doing anything. But wow I had to turn the gain down to stop the tail wagging.
- Motors get a little warm, speed controllers get just a little bit warmer but not hot. Extra power being drawn from stock battery made battery warmer than when with stock motors.
- Haven't used full battery yet, so don't know what affect on flight time.

I am really thinking about buying "Big Lama" , it's so nice looking
How was it to fly ? :)

I'm anxious to see the big-bad animal! Probably next Thursday, I guess. Glad it is working out. You must not have had too much trouble pressing on the pinions, there is probably a story to tell.

Talk to you later.

Security,
As I'm sure you've seen posted many times, Co-Ax is the easiest 4-channel heli to fly. And I agree with that. And the Big Lama takes that to a higher level by adding size and weight, which helps in windy conditions (still not as good as single rotor). You will find the Big Lama is so stable that it gives you confidence to fly a little aggressive, which tends to bring out some limitations. But only as compared to single rotor which are not as stable.

Curt,
I'm really excited that I completely rebuilt this Big Lama with new speed control and new motors and everything, and it actually flies (I expected to mess something up). I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this brushless conversion has turned this thing into a serious heli. I mean in the back yard I punched the throttle from a stable hover to about 3/4 full throttle, and holly smokes, it climbed so fast (up to 70 or 80 feet in 1 or 2 seconds) that I dumped the throttle quickly to save it. Really could have lost it into the trees. This is not the Big Lama you flew last week.

Maybe ill buy it when i have money right now i have to learn to fly with my Belt-CP V2

The big lama is by far my fav heli so far, i fly it almost every night i have a light/lipo alarm kit for it, and the outrage battery i bought for it made a nice performance increase, but i notice when i give it full throttle and start turning and manueviring around a bit it almost always gets out of conrtoll at some point, i wonder if its not meant to handle in such a way, or if the many many mega crashes it has taken requires new guts .
So i wonder can the B lama handle more power ? i wish they made plug and play upgrade sets for it, like the extreme version stuff, so how hard is it to do the brushless upgrade, and how much dose it cost, and can i get directions or is a kit or ?

srry i ramble on so ....

You're looking good, Willy, in that picture. Is that you or just a close friend?

Anyway, to attempt some of your questions, I'll tell you what I know so far about brushless.

- You can get the same brushless kit I added at this e-bay link. As mentioned in my first post in this thread, I'm happy with it, except you will need to buy separate pinions to go on the motor shafts.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200380922252

- There are a few long threads on other forums discussing the limitations of the Big Lama when you try to fly aggressively. I can't try to summarize in this brushless thread. Try using your favorite search tool.

- The brushless conversion was not hard to do, but a little tedious to get the 2 speed controllers and all that extra wiring mounted so it fits under the heli body. No soldering required, and no mods to existing equipment. You will have to lower your gain pot on your stock 3-n-1.

- The Big Lama flies much stronger with the brushless upgrade kit. It still has limited control when the wind is blowing. I think that is more a function of the upper rotor (uncontrolled) fighting the lower rotor (controlled), than how much power the motors have.

Hope this helps.

Beachcomber wrote:

You're looking good, Willy, in that picture. Is that you or just a close friend?

I think it is not him

No thats not me or a friend, i wish it were a close friend , that avatar is prolly not the best one to use for this forum, it an avatar i use when playing fps games lol and the only one i have on my system at the moment.

Thanks for the info, i may get that setup, after i get the metal upgrades, i was really wanting a company like extrem to make a plug and play setup but dosent look like thats gona happin, it seems to be a bit pricey and alot of work, with changing of the gears and all, but this winter may give me the time and push i need to do it thanks again for the link and info.