question

[keith]

Hi All.
i have recently brought a reflex flight sim with transmitter etc,plus a
helicopter dragonfly,as i have up to now never managed to get the helicopter
back on the ground in the sim situation im not chancing using the heli until
i can at least fly on the sim.Well my dear sister as offered to buy me a
birthday present the following helicopter the blade runner indoor
here is the URL http://www.hobbytron.com/Blade-Runner-RC-Helicopter.html
what do all you experts think? i realise its little more than a toy,but will
it actualy help me in getting a sort of feel for flying helicopters? im sure
it will be fun,as i dont have to be dependent on weather etc.your opinions
,comments etc would be as ever welcome.
thanks Keith

[eltonnoway@mail.com]

keith wrote:
> Hi All.
> i have recently brought a reflex flight sim with transmitter etc,
> plus a helicopter dragonfly,as i have up to now never managed to
> get the helicopter back on the ground in the sim situation im not
> chancing using the heli until i can at least fly on the sim. Well
> my dear sister as offered to buy me a birthday present the following
> helicopter the blade runner indoor here is the URL
> http://www.hobbytron.com/Blade-Runner-RC-Helicopter.html
> what do all you experts think? i realise its little more than a toy,
> but will it actualy help me in getting a sort of feel for flying
> helicopters? im sure it will be fun, as i dont have to be dependent
> on weather etc. your opinions, comments etc would be as ever welcome.

Keith,
A nice gesture... but... Will it give you a feel for flying RC
helicopters? "No" (A big No!)Is it fun? "Yes" Would I take one if
offered as a gift? "Sure!" Will it work as an effective step from your
SIM to a true RC helicopter? I'm afraid not.

Let me clarify my advice by saying I also have a SIM (Realflight G2) I
also have a wrecked Piccolo FP. (It's wrecked because I thought I was
flying "good enough" on the SIM). I also have Draganflyer IV (not a
Dragon Flyer) and... I two Bladerunners, one of which is also still
flyable. (I ordered one, got shipped two.) The seller told me to keep
them both. I was happy :-) As it turned out, I needed two! The first
one died after several hard ceiling to floor dead crashes. It doesn't
auto rotate so a controlled decent is a must. When flying in the house,
at no more than 8 to 10 feet... pulling back hard on the throttle to
avoid hitting the ceiling gives you no chance to recover and it drops
to the floor... hard!

I'm a fan of the Bladerunner from the aspect of its a fun toy and
simple indoor flyer. Then again its not suitable for kids much under
the age of 12. My nine year old nephew hates it and has given up on it.
It requires dual stick control and "reasonable" hand eye coordination.
He hasn't been able to master two sticks. When its getting ready to
crash he panics and moves "both" sticks in the same direction. The
Bladerunner is also "very" fragile. Hit a wall or a piece of furniture
while flying you can shred the "thin" plastic rotors quicker than you
can say "Crap!" The body is nothing more than "extremely" thin extruded
plastic. Its so thin that picking up the Bladerunner by the body will
dent/crush the shell. (However, you can pull the dents out with a piece
of tape. (duct tape, masking tape etc) The electrical connection
(charging cable to the heli) is "extremely small (less than 1/8 inch)
The key (preventing you from plugging it in backwards is so small its
hard to make out. Plugging it into the circuit board on the Bladerunner
while trying to not crush the body is possible but not for a kid. Its
delicate...but manageable.

That said... for the money, from a technology standpoint, I think the
Bladerunner delivers the best value in the "toy" helicopter class. I'll
even go so far as to say the Bladerunner is a good way to get your feet
wet in RC helis if you don't want to spend the money on a SIM, "think"
you "might" like to get into the sport of RC helis but don't know if
you have the patience to learn how to fly then, and/or not ready to
make the financial commitment to RC helis.

NOTE: Helicopters should NOT be the first RC model a person tries. RC
Cars, Yes... Helis No. Definitely not a buy and fly hobby without any
prior experience. Having a SIM is the best way to learn how to fly a RC
heli. (The only way to learn IMHO)

Back to the topic: From a technology standpoint the Bladerunner is a
very advanced toy. Granted, it's a toy... but it utilizes three (Yes 3)
high quality motors. On board it has two (2) main and 1 tail rotor
motors, as well as an on-board "Li-Po" battery, a light weight
receiver, and a 3 channel proportional controller with rudder and
throttle mixing. (i.e. two electronic speed controllers for the main
motors and a bi-directional rotor for the tail.

Each of the two (2) main motors drive one of the "two" bi-directional
rotors. Having two main rotors, operating in opposite directions,
counter balances the torque effect of having a single primary rotor
motor. This is the really big difference between this an a real RC
heli. By having the torque effect cancelled... it eliminates the need
for a tail rotor! Yes... the Bladerunner has a tail rotor, but not in
the same vein as a real helicopter, or even a RC model.

Also, a helicopter, (RC or real) controls forward and reverse direction
via the main rotor. In the Bladerunner, it is controlled by the tail
rotor! With the Bladerunner you have "NO" control over the main rotor
other than RPM. (rotational speed). Increase the throttle it goes up,
decrease it and it comes down. Period! With the Bladerunner forward and
backward flight are controlled by the "tail rotor! Say what...?

Yep! Think of the tail rotor on the Bladerunner as a small fan. The
tail rotor on the Bladerunner is parallel to the ground instead of
vertical. The right hand stick of the transmitter control the RPM and
direction of the tail rotor. Clockwise rotation pushes air down towards
the ground... thus (via cause and effect) pushing the "tail" up and
forcing the nose down. In this attitude (position), the main rotors
"pull" the craft forward. Pulling the stick back reserves direction and
spped of the tail motor, drives the tail down and nose up thus pulling
into backward (reverse) flight.

NET: As a trainer for RC heli's the Bladerunner teaches you nothing
about controlling torque, counter rotation, forward or reverse flight,
or direction control. Mastering the Bladerunner then transferring these
skills to a real RC heli will guarantee a crash!

In reality, if she'll give you the cash... the money might be better
served applying it towards the RC heli of your choice... or maybe even
using the money towards a crash kit for your heli (believe me... you
"will" need it eventually) That said... I still enjoy sitting on the
couch and flying it around the living room, hovering, navigating
furniture etc. Its fun, but it really is more of a toy than a serious
RC helicopter. FYI: Flight time is about 5 minutes max. Recharge takes
about 20 minutes. You "cannot" swap out the battery pack to gain more
flight time. IF you still want to get a Bladerunner, auctions on eBay
offers the best price. Its not uncommon for them to sell for $40...give
or take a dollar. Just be patient.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2563&item=5948683491&rd=1
(if the above doesn't work, try this one: http://tinyurl.com/6a72x )

If you go the ebay route, make sure its shipping from the country you
are in. Also... it weighs almost nothing so don't get screwed on a
unrealistic shipping charge. For instance QVC.com only charges $5.22
for shipping (Item T111592) In reality, $9.95 is probably a more
realistic shipping charge. (QVC gets a special rate from UPS)

Speaking of flying around the house... the URL below is one of the
better house flying videos. Although the Bladerunner could navigate
this course, it's NOT anywhere near as responsive and would take more
than one charge of the battery to complete the same course.

http://www.helihobby.com/videos/PiccoloTour1.wmv
..
Elton - on my third set of Bladerunner rotors -

[Alan]

<eltonnoway@mail.com> wrote in message
news:1106164176.694608.193470@f14g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...

HUGE snip

My two pence worth. Find someone who can fly helis and knows a bit about
computers/sims/Reflex, and get it set up properly and practice, practice
practice.

It CAN be done and it's a LOT cheaper on the sim!


--
Alan
alandotrait@btopenworlddot.com
Remove the dots to reply
http://heliweb.users.btopenworld.com/

[Kevin R]

"Alan" <alandotrait@btopenworlddot.com> wrote in message
news:csmlbu$ap6$1@sparta.btinternet.com...
>
> <eltonnoway@mail.com> wrote in message
> news:1106164176.694608.193470@f14g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
>
> HUGE snip
>
> My two pence worth. Find someone who can fly helis and knows a bit about
> computers/sims/Reflex, and get it set up properly and practice, practice
> practice.
>
> It CAN be done and it's a LOT cheaper on the sim!
>
>
> --
> Alan
> alandotrait@btopenworlddot.com
> Remove the dots to reply
> http://heliweb.users.btopenworld.com/
>
>
the only problem with Sims is they don't fill you with fear and get your
knees knocking when your heli gets a bit closer than you would like to your
body and you feel the draft as you push forward in a panic or is that just
me
Kevin

[Brad]

I bought the training landing gear for my dragonfly...
it`s like 4 ping pong balls that are connceted to the original landing gear
and they stick out wider then the heli itself.....
i learn`t to fly it with those on , and practising landing is simple because
it stops the chopper from getting damaged...

Brad..


"keith" <keiluscombe@swissonline.ch> wrote in message
news:cslqmg$gjp$1@news.hispeed.ch...
> Hi All.
> i have recently brought a reflex flight sim with transmitter etc,plus a
> helicopter dragonfly,as i have up to now never managed to get the
helicopter
> back on the ground in the sim situation im not chancing using the heli
until
> i can at least fly on the sim.Well my dear sister as offered to buy me a
> birthday present the following helicopter the blade runner indoor
> here is the URL
http://www.hobbytron.com/Blade-Runner-RC-Helicopter.html
> what do all you experts think? i realise its little more than a toy,but
will
> it actualy help me in getting a sort of feel for flying helicopters? im
sure
> it will be fun,as i dont have to be dependent on weather etc.your opinions
> ,comments etc would be as ever welcome.
> thanks Keith
>
>

[keith]

thanks for your input everyone
Keith
"keith" <keiluscombe@swissonline.ch> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:cslqmg$gjp$1@news.hispeed.ch...
> Hi All.
> i have recently brought a reflex flight sim with transmitter etc,plus a
> helicopter dragonfly,as i have up to now never managed to get the
> helicopter
> back on the ground in the sim situation im not chancing using the heli
> until
> i can at least fly on the sim.Well my dear sister as offered to buy me a
> birthday present the following helicopter the blade runner indoor
> here is the URL
> http://www.hobbytron.com/Blade-Runner-RC-Helicopter.html
> what do all you experts think? i realise its little more than a toy,but
> will
> it actualy help me in getting a sort of feel for flying helicopters? im
> sure
> it will be fun,as i dont have to be dependent on weather etc.your opinions
> ,comments etc would be as ever welcome.
> thanks Keith
>
>

[Steve R.]

<eltonnoway@mail.com> wrote in message
news:1106164176.694608.193470@f14g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> NOTE: Helicopters should NOT be the first RC model a person tries. RC
> Cars, Yes... Helis No. Definitely not a buy and fly hobby without any
> prior experience. Having a SIM is the best way to learn how to fly a RC
> heli. (The only way to learn IMHO)
>

Hi Elton,

Nice write up. Not much I'd dispute except what's quoted above! ;-)

I learned to fly in 1982. There were precious few heli pilots around to get
advise from and NO sims. There weren't many PC's around for that matter,
much less sims! Anyway, my first RC model was a 60 size helicopter and,
looking back on it, I think I did pretty good although I did have my fair
share of crashes.

My point is, these days, with the number of good, experienced pilots around
that are willing and able to help as well as very good simulators available,
there's no reason why a person can't start in RC with a model helicopter.
I've met and known many of them that started on the computer, got some setup
and trim help from the local "expert" and now fly the he** out of RC
helicopters and they having been flying nearly as long as I have. Aside
from the usual left/right control issues, there's not much an RC car is
going to teach a new heli student that will prepare them for hovering a
model helicopter.

I do agree that the sim is the best way to start out with! :-)

JMO!
Fly Safe,
Steve R.