R/C

I mentioned how great the Plasti-Blade from JCS Hobbies were in a previous post, however I wanted to further elaborate on them after 21+ hours of flight time.

The standard package from E-flite for the Blade CP RC helicopter includes rotor blades made of balsa wood. They are extremely light however equally fragile. I managed to ruin the set that came with the helicopter along with two more pairs of extra blades within the first hour of trying to hover (you can imagine how frusterating this would be with no local RC hobby shop). At this rate I was going to spend way more than I wanted to on blades, so I did some research on the excellent RC Groups website and came across a forum post advertising the Plasti-Blade. Basically the Plasti-Blade is an exact replacement for the balsa blades only in solid (yet slightly flexible) plastic. I quickly ordered a set and am proud to say I've not only learned how to fly the heli, I'm still on my original set of Plasti-Blades!

 

 

As you can see from the above photos everything is still holding together (and see my poor "custom" Wal*Mart paint job). I have collided with concrete walls in a school gym, a steel pipe, a lawn chair which destroyed the entire heli, and numerous trees. The blades are about the only thing original surviving besides the canopy and the E-flite 4-in-1.

There are just two downsides to the Plasti-Blades. The first is that the blades are indestructible. This means that since your blades aren't going to break, something else is. I highly suggest purchasing a few extra main shafts as replacements for tough collisions with solid objects such as trees or rocks. The second downside is that they are heavy. I would recommend installing lithium-polymer batteries (see how I did it here) and an 8 tooth main motor for extra torque. The upside to the extra weight is that the heli is easier to fly, especially for beginners. It's a lot harder for the Blade CP to get away from you when it has the extra weight of the Plasti-Blade.

After more than 21 hours of flight time on my Blade CP helicopter I continue to recommend the Plasti-Blade. Not only does it make the Blade CP more durable, it lowers repair costs and makes it easier to handle for new pilots. What more could you ask for? Glow in the dark plastic of course!

I recently bought a used E-Flite Blade CX from a member of the RC Groups forums because I wanted something simple to help me train nose-in flight without expensive crashes. The Blade CX is a coaxial helicopter, meaning it has two counter-rotating main rotors (no tail rotor) making it extremely stable and easy to fly.

I've been playing around a lot with my Blade CP so flying the Blade CX took some getting used to. Since there is no tail rotor on the CX you don't have to counter the natural spin of the heli, something you constantly have to stay on top of with the Blade CP. I found my left hand unconsciously manipulating the stick when I didn't have to.

Hovering is simple and practically hands-off, especially when you adjust the trim. The heli is surprisingly maneuverable with the single swash plate design, much more so than your typical "toy" heli from Radio Shack. The only time you will be frusterated is when you fly quickly forward or backward and decide to reverse direction. Odds are the blades will come into contact with each other or just plain loose their "bite" on the air. I believe a higher headspeed would help tremendously. The CX will also have trouble getting air and/or maintaining stability when there is a breeze outside.

Overall I really enjoy the Blade CX. It's small and easy enough to fly in confined areas such as a house (though it is LOUD), and nimble enough to keep you and others entertained for hours. Battery life on the stock batteries is a respectable 10-12 minutes, just enough not to cramp your hands. I would suggest "venting" the canopy as the two main motors do get very hot after a few minutes of flight.

If you are new to R/C helicopters, do yourself a favor and purchase a Blade CX to get yourself started. The skills will translate decently to a CCPM helicopter such as the Blade CP and save you a great deal of cash with the inevitable crashes.

About a week ago I had ordered four 3 cell 11.1v 1250mAh lithium-polymer batteries from a fairly new online company called Common Sense RC. These batteries are from the budget line, and run $31.50/pair. I have spent many hours combing the web and magazines for decent lithium-polymer battery deals and found Common Sense RC to be the best so far. They offer many batteries of all different cell counts, discharge rates and voltages.

As I mentioned above these batteries are 3 cell 11.1v 1250mAh batteries with a continuous discharge rate of 8C. They weigh 85 grams, just slightly more than the stock NiMH battery on E-Flight's Blade CP helicopter. When compared to the popular (for Blade CP owners such as myself) E-Power batteries from HeliDirect that feature a lower 7C continuous discharge, are 15 grams heavier and cost $1.99 more Common Sense batteries are a no brainer.

The budget line comes with a female Dean's Ultra connector and a balancing connector. Since the Blade CP uses JST connectors I decided to create some cables from CheapBatteryPacks.com's Adapter Creator. In order to connect to the E-Flite 4-in-1 I needed a male JST -> male Dean's Ultra adapter made, and the Adapter Creator made it extremely easy to do so. You could also "hard" convert your 4-in-1 by soldering a male Dean's Ultra in place of the female JST.

Flight time with the 1250mAh battery was clocked at 23 minutes with my Blade CP (stock other than 8T E-Flight motor and JCS Hobbies' Plasti-Blade). My thumbs nearly fell off during this time doing lots of forward/reverse flight, hovering and fast altitude changes in an attempt to wear the battery down. The flight time is so good I'm kicking myself for buying four of these batteries as two is *plenty*. If you are an intermediate heli pilot these batteries will allow you a massive amount of practice time.

While browsing their website today I noticed they are now offering 20C continuous discharge batteries. That's a little extreme for me at the moment, at least until I get one of those fancy Kyosho Caliber 400 helis.

So whenever you are on the lookout for some new lithium-polymer batteries give Common Sense RC a look, you won't regret the price or the performance!

Revision 1.0

 

Since my dad was the one who got me going with R/C helicopters I figured it only appropriate to cover his newest plane: the Micro 22 from SLOFLY.COM. This little beauty is a super-capable 3D aerobatic "foamy." It is powered by a brushless motor from a CD-ROM and a small lithium-polymer battery.

He's been flying it in the gym without too much trouble (although the foam has taken some damage) but yesterday he took it outside and was able to do some loops and rolls. This plane is incredibly agile, it will literally turn in 90° angles during flight for super-tight cornering.

There are videos of the Micro 22 creator flying in his home (the plane is capable of hovering similar to a helicopter) and in other very small spaces. These planes define 3D flight, and are a blast to watch.

Hopefully it won't be too long before Dad is able to make this this dance in the living room, but until then it's fun to see him enjoying it!

   

I finally received my E-Flite Blade CP R/C helicopter in the mail a few weeks ago. It was certainly a wake up call when I fired it up for the first time on how difficult these things are to fly. Originally I had anticipated the transition from the other helicopter that I had flown to the Blade CP would be easy. Boy was I wrong!

The Blade CP is RTF meaning Ready To Fly right out of the box. The package includes the helicopter, a transmitter (does require eight AA batteries), NiMH battery and charger. As per suggestions from RC Universe I read through the manual before attempting to fly the helicopter. You will have to go through a few electronics checks and familiarize yourself with the setup, but it's worth it and will help troubleshoot any issues that might arise.

Quick word on the charger: be sure to keep an eye on it while charging the battery. It should take about 2.5 hours then remove the battery from the charger otherwise it will "cook." You certainly won't want to leave this thing charging overnight or you might risk a house fire.

Controlling the Blade CP is done through the included transmitter (of course). The left stick controls throttle (up/down) and rudder (left/right). The thing with a helicopter is that you have to constantly be adjusting all the sticks in order to keep it in the air. You cannot simply ratchet the throttle up ten notches and expect it to hover itself as I well found out. To practice try and keep yourself behind the tail of the helicopter, then work with the rudder to always keep it facing you.

 

Since the Blade CP uses brush motors I ordered two inexpensive (about $2) heatsinks from E-Flite for the main and tail motors. This has helped keep the heat down and should increase the life of the motors. If you install heatsinks (and this goes for anything) be sure to use some type of thermal paste for maximum efficiency. In my case I used Arctic Silver's low-cost Céramique. You only need a paper-thin amount, any more will actually insulate the heat against the motor.

For quick upgrades that should be ordered along with the helicopter I would suggest the heatsinks from E-Flite, the training rods, the crash kit and a new product from JCS Hobbies called Plasti-Blade. These plastic rotor blades will save you a LOT of money especially if you are just starting out like myself. Within the first few batteries I had already destroyed two of the stock balsa wood blades, and that's with the training rods installed. Yesterday with the Plasti-Blades installed I ran the Blade CP into a concrete wall in the gym and came out with just a few dents in the plastic. Be careful however, the plastic rotor blades can and will eat your hands if they can. I've already lost skin on my knuckles and arms when I hit the throttle on accident when holding the helicopter for repairs.

For my next upgrade I do plan on going with lithium-polymer batteries. The flight times on the NiMH batteries are roughly 8-10 minutes (2.5 hour recharge), depending on your control. With LiPoly you can get upwards to 25 minutes on a single pack with around an hour to recharge. I will have to upgrade the main motor at the same time since the increased voltage will smoke it in short order.

Overall I'm quite happy with the Blade CP as a new R/C helicopter pilot. It's cheap, very capable and is just plain cool. Hopefully I'll be able to post some video footage once I can get a camera crew!

 

Took a small helicopter and three Airhog R/C planes to the gym this afternoon for some fun. Lithium-Polymer batteries are a godsend, nothing like 10 minutes of flight time and only having to wait 15-20 minutes for a complete recharge.

The helicopter is the most fun for me. As I mentioned previously I have a Blade CP on order, but this is the machine that got me hooked in the first place. It's very simple to manuever with dual rotors on top and a small rotor on the tail. Moving forward and backward is a slow affair although it's been modified with a weight on the front to help the rotors pull forward through the air. The dual motors that power the main rotors tend to get very hot after a short amount of flight time, so resting inbetween flights is necessary.

The little Airhog R/C planes are fantastic little buggers. Powered by dual motors from pagers they zoom very well indoors although I imagine outside it would be difficult with any wind. Flight time is easily 10 minutes and often well beyond that (tip: when you have it at the altitude to you want throttle it down about 1/4). They are also very durable and have survived multiple dead-on crashes with concrete and gymnasium flooring.

The Airhogs can be purchased from Wal*Mart for $39.99 although Target has the same models for $29.99. I'm not sure on the model of helicopter I've been flying, but I believe it cost around $49.99. Not bad for some fun items that you can fly in your home or at school. In fact, we might end up starting an R/C Club at the elementary school where I work (kids saw the planes and loved it).

If you are looking into R/C at all, checkout RC Universe, it's an awesome resource.

My Dad just recently got back into R/C planes and managed to drag me into it buy buying a little helicopter along with some cool little AirHogs.

The helicopter is a small thing with dual rotors on top and a tiny rotor on the tail. It's powered by a lithium polymer battery which usually gives around 10+ minutes of flight time (much better and lighter than NiMH batteries).

Controlling the helicopter is fairly simple once you are able to keep it level and from spinning to the right or left. It's much different from an R/C plane, I imagine especially when you get into helicopters that are able to bank and fly inverted.

That said there was a hobby shop on the internet that had E-flite's Blade CP on closeout. It's an extremely capable R/C helicopter. I probably shouldn't have purchased it since I don't feel my skills are up to snuff, however at that price I couldn't say no. I also ordered the training kit, a crash kit, an extra battery (stock Blade CP copters use NiMH although Li-Poly batteries are usable), and two heatsinks for the brush motors to keep them cool.

The helicopter should arrive within a week. When it comes I'll bring it over to work and play with it in the gym where I won't have to worry about crashing it into things. It should be fun as long as I don't break it!