Hi, well I got two small helis which I never flown or was afraid to fly Heli, one Ikarus Piccolo Fun & Walkera 35. I know for sure Piccolo can lift off, But Walkera can never Lift off from the ground, any suggestions ?

Since this is a collective pitch heli, you have to see if the swash plate is moving up with the throttle.  You can tie the landing skids down and check if you see this happening as you increase throttle.

hi,

I also have a walkera 35.

What is the issue that you think would be there

I think it might be my battery problem, I`ve checked the controls swash plate rotor etc, the motor spin ok but as I am not a heli boy, I have no idea how fast it should spin, It just does not want to fly, will it be ok if I change the battery to Lipo I need to buy a Lipo with charger anyway.

Okay... I am under the impression that such basic issues have already been considered and written off.  Obviously, if you lack enough battery power, the heli will not lift off. 

In any case, you have to see if there is collective movement on the swash with increased throttle.  If you are worried about testing, you can remove the main blades or remove the connection from the ESC to the motor to see if the swash moves with throttle input.

I had somebody complain about the same issue, it was spinning fast but not taking off. Turned out that the collet was not set in the proper position to give proper pitch range. It was easy to detect looking at the blade angle at low and high throttle stick positions.

You can check all the controls after disconnecting the motor from the ESC.

ok guys, I check on everything.

Hi All,

need your help in setting up my heli. The problem is that when I am at 85% to 100% throttle the motor slows down and the heli starts to come down from hover, to fix that i saw a video which talks about too much pitch on blades and need to reduce it so i do that by unscrewing the servo rods connecting to swashplate all 3 of them togather so once thats done the heli won't lift up and the pitch is 0 at center stick and the blades are tracked. whats the issue here??? 

Thanks

If you have a pitch gauge, this should be a simple problem. For normal flying, set your range to around -2 at low, +5 around mid and +9 at max.

You should be able to achieve this with a combination of adjusting your swash linkages and setting of your pitch curve in your radio.  Let us know if you need more specific assistance

Just curious, what heli and radio are you using ?

Hi Anwar,

Thanks for your response, could not reply earliar as was not in town will try to set the pitch as you mentioned and will tell you the results.

I have a Esky HoneyBee Cp2 rc helicopter and I am using stock Tx however the tx does not have pitch curve settings on it.

Also i wanted to know is there a specific place on the blades where you place your pitch gauge as I have read some put it at the edge and some at the center?

Thanks again
Amit

Where you place the pitch gauge should not matter in general. 

My guess is that the people who suggest the middle of the blade are trying to minimize the effects of any warped blades.

Hi Anwar,

I need some clarification as when you say -2 at low stick, +5 at mid and +9 at top stick, is it on normal hover mode or on idle up 3d mode as currently mine on idleup mode is -8 at low +3 at mid and +10 at top and still it won't lift and on normal mode its 0 at low stick, +5 at mid, and +10 at top can you share some links where it explains about pitch curve in detail.

Also now I know that it takes a combination of pitch link rods and Swashplate height to adjust negetive and positive pitch curve but this has so many combinations that I am going bonkers with these .Do you know any simple way to adjust it. Majorly what I have read on forums is that at center stick the pitch should be 0 at idle up mode and the rotor head should be in center (which will happen be because of the swashplate adjustment) and -9 to +9 is considered a good range. but at this setup my heli will lift only till knee height and after that it looks like the motor starts to slow down when I give molre power and the heli starts to decline.Please help

Thanks
Amit

I am confused.  You mentioned you have no pitch curves in the radio, but it still seems to support normal and idle up modes with different values/ranges for pitch ?  I wonder how you would adjust the values for the two modes separately, without a pitch curve.

In any case, for NORMAL mode, -2 at low, +5 at mid and +9 at high is a good choice of pitch values, as the heli should hover around mid stick with these settings (assuming your throttle is correct).  For 3D / idle-up, just make sure it is -9 to +9 at least. No harm in it being slightly higher (like -10 to +10).

Typically, the heli should lift off slowly and hover if you get enough rpm on blades (i.e. enough throttle) and you have about +3 to +5 degrees pitch.  If you have higher than +5 pitch, then the heli should climb.

If you had +10 pitch and high throttle, and the heli still did not lift off, then either your pitch reading is totally wrong, or you have a headspeed issue.  Since you mentioned slow down at higher throttle values, I am wondering if your batteries are capable of supplying enough continuous discharge.

So check your pitch readings again. Otherwise, look for other things like a weak battery.

Also, too much pitch can cause the head of the heli to get loaded and lose headspeed.  That is another thing for you to check.  Again, most importantly, make sure you are doing your pitch readings correctly.  The video below should help.

Quote from: Hellyflyer on November 02, 2009, 10:42:42 PM
can you share some links where it explains about pitch curve in detail.

Hi Anwar,

Yes this is one of its kind model Esky HoneyBee CP2 every thing is the same as the honeybee FP except the head as it has collective pitch and the tx only has a idle up switch but no knobs to increase or finetune anything. Now I don't know much so thanks for the videos I will check for weak battery as I have a new one coming also is there a sequence to adjusting these like
first you need to correct the pitch of the blades individualy and then ensure that the rotor head is in the center and then track the blades (which again disturbs the individual pitch of the blades).Well anyways I guess its all hit and trial which ever thing works i will set it on that.

Thanks Again for your help
Amit

Without a proper pitch curve, it is sort of trial and error.  But there is a still a method to it.

I guess you should disconnect the motor, and see total possible range of up-down motion of the swash.  Then you should keep it in the middle of that possible range of motion, and adjust your swash linkages so that you have zero pitch.  After this, check what is the maximum positive and negative range you are getting.  If you are convinced that you are getting something like -9 to +9 in idle up, check what you get in normal.  If in normal you have around +4 at mid stick and +9 at full stick, the heli should lift off.

You can tie down the skids and see (just by visual inspection) if the swash moves all the way to +9 even with the motor connected and the blades spinning.  If it only goes to +9 during static pitch verification, but does not go all the way to +9 while in real use, that needs to be investigated separately.

Here is something I found on Youtube.  This causes me to think that this problem not very uncommon for these helis.

Hi Anwar,

I fixed the problem it after all the settings I Replaced the main blades and it worked perfectly was hovering at mid stick. Thanks for clearing my doubts  Now the thing flies like a breeze.

I need your guidance as I am now able to perfectly hover in tail and 45 degrees side oriantaitons both ways, whats next how should I move into forward flight, I can very well do everything in simulator like all 4 side oriantaions, nose hover, figure 8's.(FMS) but tend to get nervous when it comes to the realthing. Any suggestions would be appriciated

Thanks
Amit

If the main blades were the problem, that should have reflected in your pitch readings, or you should have felt something wrong when you try to flex them.  Good to hear that it is resolved 

As for the next step, height is your friend.  Anything you try new, make sure you have sufficient height (but not too much that you cannot see the small heli properly).  This will allow for you to apply corrections (usually rudder) to bring it back into familiar territory (tail-in hover). 

Go with the move that is most comfortable for you, but nose in hover may be a bad choice.  If ever you are faced with the worst, remember that cutting throttle couple of feet above the ground usually minimizes damage significantly (the forces are violent when there is a crash with the blades still spinning under motor power).  Something like turn  90degrees, go forward, stop and hover there, then turn 180degrees, go forward again (this time actually the heli is coming back), and then turn 90degrees in the opposite direction to make it a tail-in hover is a pretty good choice.  This is like a half figure-8, but the turn is a "stationary/in-hover" turn.

Then you can try the same to the other side, and when you are confident with this, move on to a full figure 8.  If you have been flying airplanes, remember that the big difference is that rudder is a must for heli turns.

invest in a simulator if you dont have one... real flight is good but i would prefer a phoenix one as it directly fits to you radio and you fly accoring to you setting on the TX... let me know if you need one.. i have a phoenix sim CD... will try to copy one and send it to you (it it get copied and if its not encrypted).. you need to buy a sim plug that fits into your tx and the computer... this will save you a lot of $$$

Quote from: sujju on November 26, 2009, 02:53:50 PM
invest in a simulator if you dont have one... real flight is good but i would prefer a phoenix one as it directly fits to you radio and you fly accoring to you setting on the TX... let me know if you need one.. i have a phoenix sim CD... will try to copy one and send it to you (it it get copied and if its not encrypted).. you need to buy a sim plug that fits into your tx and the computer... this will save you a lot of $$$

HI Sujju,

Thanks I would love to use a simulator phoenix would appriciate if you could courier me a CD . I will PM you my address.

Thanks again
Amit

no worries... i will also send you the Ray authoritative DVD 3 DVD series... this will give you a complete understanding of how heli's work and he has taken examples of trex 450 and spektrum dx6 and dx7. this is useful but he will put you to sleep in between his presentations  .. also scan through some of bob finless vid post on helifreak.. this will also help you get a better grip of helis.

Hi .......
I am also having similar problem with my 4CH Walkera 5g4q3 heli....
It lifts up fist time and then cannot sustain altitude more than 4-5 Sec.
I am using new batteries ,
Iam clueless what could be the problem..

.

You have to look at the following.

1.  Pitch setup and overloading related to that.

2.  Weak battery.

3.  Weak motor.

Forgot to mention...

4. Worn out or flexing main blades.

With all the experts out there, I think this is a stupid/juvenile/infantile suggestion. However, since I have faced this problem with a 2 channel Syma, I thought that I will add my 2 penny bit.

I had the same problem with the Heli, even at full throttle she would refuse to get off the ground. I tried everything, new batteries, check and recheck the motor (even took it apart). Longer charging time for batts, Trying to correct the prop pitch by heat, Contacting expert RC and Heli flyers etc. etc. etc. ZILCH

Then one day I decided to add a drop of cyano to the rotor shaft and the blade assembly.........BINGO! She flies like a dream now.

What had happened was that the Blade assy had somehow lost its grip with the shaft (probably a crashed landing caused the bevelled grips/shafts to get smoothened) . While, at full throttle, the shaft rotated - the Blades just didn't get the RPM to produce the required lift. They were slipping. The cyano bond ensured a better grip and all is today hunky dory.

I am sure some of the seniors must be laughing their lungs out /sniggering  at such a infantile suggestion, however, as I mentioned earlier, it IS my 2 penny bit. I am sure that this Heli is a much more refined version of the one that i am talking about, but could it be as simple as a slipping gear.................I wonder

All the best!

VC