maandag 9 november 2009

Esky Honeybee FP - Replacement of the main motor.

With the new tailmotor installed, the honeybee FP was perfectly controlable again. The only thing now was that it flew only for about 3 minutes with a fully charged 7.4V Lipo.

The mainmotor had lost power too from all those flying hours. So I've replaced the main motor too. This is an easy job done within 5 minutes. I took off the heat sink and cut the strip that held all the wires a bit together.

I first unscrewed the main motor. It is held in place by two screws at the bottom. By rotating the main gear the second screw becomes visible through one of the holes at the surface of the main gear.

The wires of the main motor are attached to the "4 in 1" receiver. You can easily plug them out.

The new main motor. It comes with two new screws.

The new motor screwed on and wires plugged in. Old screws next to the skids.

The bottom looked like this. Time to make a test hover. The helicopter made a strange noise and had almost no lifting power.

After a close examination I found out that the teeth of the motor made poor contact with the gear. I loosened the screws a little and pushed the motor more towards the gear. Very tight this time.
This also resulted in a strange noise while rotating and the heli had also almost no lifting power.
The third time the grip was not too tight nor too loose. The middle way. (sounds like Buddha ;-)
This time it worked perfectly and I had an outside flight of 8+ minutes.
Flies like new !

vrijdag 6 november 2009

Esky Honeybee FP - replacement of the tail motor

I love this helicopter because you can fly it, crash it and repair it relatively easy and fly it again. After some time, approx. 10 hours they say, the tail motor loses its power.

Then there's not enough power for the torque. The helicopter loses its yaw to one direction. Its nose and tail then turn only one direction and that makes the heli uncontrolable.

First I had to desolder the two wires.

That's easy.

I removed the screws that keep the motor in place.

The new tail motor. Screws inclusive.

I mounted the new tail motor and soldered the wires on. I connected the wires the same way as they cam off. BUT... the tailrotor spinned the wrong way.

Therefore I reversed the rudder on the transmitter.

A brief indoor check. Hey, my honeybee is back ! ! !

E-Sky Belt CP V2's Maiden Flight

It was a little windy but I couldn't resist to go out and try the belt cp v2. I had the 2 batteries charged. We were ready ! ! !

It's maiden flight took about 2 SECONDS !!! ... and it even barely left the ground.
CRASH - Broken blades were the first obvious damage.
The main blade grip has bent. Ouch that hurts !

A beautiful bird with broken wings.

I need some specific tools to repair this kind of damage. So I ordered a helicopter toolbox from China and some spare parts from the Netherlands.


The spare parts already arrived but I'm waiting for the toolbox to start the repairs.
Back to the simulator for now.
And hey, I bought a large training gear set ;-)

dinsdag 27 oktober 2009

My E-sky Belt-CP V2 (2.4G) - arrived !


A package arrived. It's a rather big box. Let's have a look on what's inside :


I ordered a green/blue E-sky Belt CP (collective pitch) V2 with a 2.4G transmitter. A logical next step after the E-sky Honeybee FP (fixed pitch). (at least that's what I think, I can be wrong)

I also ordered an extra battery.


Included a nice little present : an E-sky cap.


The box unopened, the outside looks promising ...


First thing in the box are a manual and list with spare parts (renamed numbers from E-sky).


The manual counts an extensive 42 pages and is well illustrated.


WOW !!!


The complete content of the box. RTF (Ready To Fly)


Posing while new (and undamaged). I think this machine is going to bring me a lot of fun but probably it's going to bring some frustration too. That's what's learing to fly is all about : climbing up the learning curve and gradually getting better.


Belt CP - Honeybee FP - Dauphin Coaxial


Here I put my babies to rest. It's evening now, the battery is charging and tomorrow it will be the Belt CP's maiden flight. Fingers crossed

maandag 5 oktober 2009

E-Sky Honeybee FP - upgrades & modifications

I've repaired my honeybee FP

It's got a different look. I took the whole machine apart, bit by bit and rebuilt it.
It has a new, red canopy.
The tail fin has moved forward so it doesn't block any air from the tailrotor.

New skids (Extreme-Parts). They can take bad landings better than the stock skids.

The flybar paddles are centered.

A heat-sink installed on the tailmotor. In order to replace the tail boom I had to solder the wires on the tailmotor.

A heat-sink on the main motor.

To mount the battery I use now two rubber bands.

The battery mounted. Right under the 4 in 1.

With the red canopy on.

An orange antenna pipe.

Checking the helicopter indoor. The honeybee flies just FINE ! ! !

vrijdag 18 september 2009

WOW ! ! !

I came across this video on Youtube. It's only 10 seconds. If you like helicopters, you're gonna like this !!!



woensdag 2 september 2009

My heli's stay on the ground.

The Honeybee against the blue sky.

The Dauphin indoor flight.

Both helicopters need repairs at the moment. I need 2 new motors for the Dauphin but they are hard to get. Out of stock.

The Honeybee FP needs a new flybar and a new tail boom. Flybars are also out of stock and I've used up the bars of the training gear.



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