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.

Small technical update - Esky Dauphin

Spare parts came in. A new inner shaft + new fly bar (stabilizer) + new gear for the upper blades.

The disassembled Dauphin.

The new wheel fits perfectly.

The assembled Dauphin. It didn't come of the ground :-((

I reversed the blades. A-blades should be the upper blades. B-blades the lower blades.

It flies much better and smoother. I have right yaw again. Though the nose still tends to go left and the trim is in its extreme right position.

This must be due to a difference in power between both motors but I can control the helicopter perfectly.

Oh, Yes, I ordered my second electric RC helicopter yesterday. A small step up the ladder in rc helicopter flying...

I'm sure I'm gonna post pictures !

E-Sky Dauphin - a small technical intermezzo

Since some time this helicopter has no right yaw anymore. This means that I can't turn its nose to the right (tail to the left) anymore. I've posted this problem on a few forums about electric helicopters. Some nice heli enthusiasts gave me tips on where to look in order to find the problem. After close examination this is what I found :

The little copper wheel is attached to the motor. When it turns (motor on) it makes the large plastic wheel turn. There are actually 2 large wheels on top of each other. One to make the upper blades spin, the other for the lower blades.

This picture shows the black plastic wheel that drives the upper blades. The little copper wheel you see in this pictures drives actually the plastic one underneath the one you see.

The wheel for the upper blades looses contact at some point with the small wheel of the motor. At some other point it pushes against it.

This picture is seen from above.

I might be needing another plastic wheel or maybe a new inner shaft or probably both.

Some people suggested that one of the motors could be going bad.

Thank you for the suggestions.

Pictures of the E-Sky Dauphin flying.

Here are some pictures of an airborne E-sky Dauphin. This is the result of a short photo shoot. These pictures are taken by my brother who has done a great job !

The wheels leave the lawn. The helicopter is in the air.

Turning and gaining height.

Hovering in front of the camera lens.

Taking off to higher places.

I must mind the wind here. It's evening, the setting sun shines on the Dauphin.

All is under control and the sky is blue...

... and there's one happy pilot smiling :-)

Battery power is lowering ... time to descent.

Slowly coming down ...

Guiding the machine in ...

On its way to the Landing Zone. This was a fun flight ! ! !

! Many thanks Bro for the pictures !

Replacing the fuselage of the E-Sky Dauphin. (step by step)

The new fuselage in front of the old one.

First I took off the stabilizer.

I took off all the blades. (notice the damaged tips) You only need to remove 4 screws and the blades come off.

All blades are taken off. This heli won't fly far.

I removed the 1st pin that holds the fuselage to the inner frame.

This is the second pin.

Two pins taken off.

This is the inner body of the helicopter.

The swash plate.

This picture reminds me of two famous Hollywood robots :

The led on the old fuselage is still connected.

I took out the little plug that connects the led light on top of the tail.

The one connected to the new fuselage went in.

I connected a battery to check if the led worked... It didn't :-((

I had connected the plug upside down. In this picture it is done correctly.

The led flashes.

I taped the wire back to the frame.

I put the pins back in place and the blades back on. Job done ! ! !

A few pictures of the Dauphin in its new clothes.

I think the helicopter looks great !

I've made an appointment with my dear brother who's a photographer. We're gonna do a little photo shoot of the Dauphin in action.

I can't hardly wait to fly this beauty !

One more flight with the Dauphin before repairs.

Before replacing a broken blade, you can repair it with common household tape.

Cut the tip in more or less the same shape as an undamaged blade.

It will fly a little less stable than with a new blade but the helicopter will fly !

Until the next time it hits the ground...

This is a heavily repaired nose...

and this is a damaged tail...

It's time for some extensive repairs. Follow it step by step in my next post.