Diary of a noob, the HBFP and me...

This is a journal of my experiances with my first Heli, the E-Sky Honey Bee Fixed Pitch. From day 1 to whenever I master this thing and decide to upgrade to a nicer heli. I hope other noobs read this and learn from my experiances (mistakes). I also hope some of the veteran pilots aslo chime-in on this thread and lend advice to issues I may be experiancing. And now, without further adue, entry #1...


Intro:
I decided on the HBFP for 2 reasons; faily reasonable price, I didnt want to sink a ton of money into something I may not like. Second, tons of resources and videos on this model from veteran guys that are giving out good advice. I really felt like I was getting a support department with this plane.

Purchased from X-Heli and ordered additional main blades as well as a anti-crash kit. Arrived in good shape, and remember to look underneath the foam packaging for the AC adapter since X-Heli places it out of sight when you open the box. Watched all of Nuttcazes videos on the HBFP, then watched them again. Watched them again the next day. I charged the battery, which is meager at best, but good enough for a noob to start with. While battery was charging, I installed the anti-crash kit, which is a must have for any noob, IMO. Finally, I did some Sim-time with the free E-Sky simulater which is an awful product to start with. It does not syc well with the CPU, configuring is confusing, and the help section is in Japanese...yikes. Oh well, maiden flight tomorrow. Until then...

What the FMS is actually for is not to practice flying....It is a guide. When you finally get it installed and working, you now know you have the patients to try flying and repair PC helis. It has done it's job lol

Day 1:

Well I read the manual last night just for good measure, and watched Nuttcaze's videos on this bird (again). Some things to point out before I mention the flight...

• Their are not any instructions on how to install the battery into the bottom of the heli. Never one to assume anything, I finally figured it out, but still am curious what the rubberbands are for.
  
  The anti-crash kit, again, no instructions for assembly. Fairly straight forward, I assembled based on website pics, but these things really should include instructions. (Maybe I'm just a stickler for details)

Well, the moment of truth is at hand, I fire up the bird and servos move but no power to main blades. WTF? Turns out I had the tab settings wrong. Once corrected, I was off and running.

So...let me start by saying that expecting to fly this thing like a pro the 1st time out, as a noob, is totally unrealistic. The mythical left side drift at initial take off that this heli is known for, is a tough thing to overcome (at least for me so far). Getting this heli to hover is a chore at this point. Controls are very sensitive and trying not to over compensate takes practice. I had a few hovers of about 3 seconds at best, everything else was "walking the dog" or simply falling on it's side. I will go back and review the manual again tonight to get some finer points on flight. Despite only fair success at hovering, I understand that patience is the key and I had a blast controlling the heli.

Here are some things I learned today;

• No wind is best for noobs during early flight. Even 5-7mph winds can affect flight.
  The anti-crash kit is a must. It saved my landing gear at least 4 times today.
  Throttle and tab must be all the way down in order for heli to start at batt plug-in.
  Despite the smaller battery, I got about 45 mins of "touch and go" flight out of it. More than sufficiant.
  If you decide to practice in the street, expect road-rash on your blades at some point.
  If you decide to practice over a grass surface, slightly more throttle is required, but eliminates scuff marks during crashes.
  The battery cover for the TX is awful and keeps coming loose. Tape it.

I will try again tomorrow.

Keep flying!

Mark

Work your way through this and you will find life so much nicer.

http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html

Wow, a "on the field" flight manual!! This is truly invaluable. Something I think most sources seem to forget to talk about. Most chatter is about mods and pre-flight. This is worth it's weight in gold!! I will be doing battery #1 tomorrow.

Thanks again!

Mark

Sounds like you are off the the right start. Just be patient, it requires a lot of it, but it's so much fun. You don't say what kind of battery you have but I recommend you go for lipo batts. They are much lighter and have more power. Just limit your flights to 6 or 7 minutes. Never run one all the way down or you will ruin it. Also think about getting a set of Super Skids. They will solve the tail heavy, center of gravity problem, gives a better battery mount, and look great. Also you probably will never break them.
Also go to Deal Extreme for great prices on their Mystery brand lipos. Takes a couple of weeks to get them but they are worth the wait. I have four 7.4v for my HBFP and two 11.1v for my Belt CP and have had no problems with them.

Donnie D

Day #2

Well, day-2 is in the books. Something I learned right away is that flying your heli around curious people can be very annoying! They want you to "hurry up and fly it" or "whats wrong with it?" Man, day #3...I am solo!

I tried Radds flying manual, and theirs alot of good stuff in their. He stresses to keep the tail straight and dont drift (Battery #1-2), but I think the HBFP is notorious for drifting left at take off. I'm wondering if I should move pass that imporatnt point in his manual, or stick with it and stay true to Radds.

I'm also questioning the configuration of my T/X, wondering if it's a little off and thats why things seem so difficult. Needless to say, day #2 was a little frustrating because the excitement of spinning up the blades has now passed and I just want to fly correctly.

I will repeat battery #1-2 again tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

Mark

the drift to the left you are getting is called Translating tendency. It is caused by thrust from the tail rotor pushing the helicopter sideways. You can compensate for this by giving it a little bit of right cyclic to counteract this thrust. This is why when the helicopter is in a stable hover, it is always at a slight angle.

try this free download www.helisimrc.com It's for a 6channel but you can tone it down. It's great, alot better than the one that comes with the bird.

I clicked on the link, but it seems to just take me to gateways fror other links. What should I be clicking on?

there is no right or wrong way to learn, I read through RADDS but thats not my style of learning so I didn't follow his guide. But just reading through it will give you an insight into some of the things to work on.