I got into this hobby with an exceed falcon, and an eagle. Didn't know really nething about helis, other than being coordinated. I was able to get reasonable flights out of both helis, but wasn't satisfied and lost interest. Two years later, I got the bug again, and after wearing the sim out, bought and built an EXI 500. I took my time, read up on everything I could setup-wise, and got it in the air... and back down again, in one piece!!! woohoo!! Anyway, my point is that not knowing anything about heli setups, and troubleshooting, IMO walkera rtf helis will not fly correctly outta the box. Once I knew what I was doing(I thought), I was able to get enjoyable flights outta them. But they definately WEREN'T stock. Many things had to be tweaked, bought, thrown, stepped on, and set on fire! That being said, I still break out the eagle 50, and fly it around a bit. But it's like going from a Chevelle to a Pinto...that backfires.

Originally Posted by suzukirobguy

I got into this hobby with an exceed falcon, and an eagle. Didn't know really nething about helis, other than being coordinated. I was able to get reasonable flights out of both helis, but wasn't satisfied and lost interest. Two years later, I got the bug again, and after wearing the sim out, bought and built an EXI 500. I took my time, read up on everything I could setup-wise, and got it in the air... and back down again, in one piece!!! woohoo!! Anyway, my point is that not knowing anything about heli setups, and troubleshooting, IMO walkera rtf helis will not fly correctly outta the box. Once I knew what I was doing(I thought), I was able to get enjoyable flights outta them. But they definately WEREN'T stock. Many things had to be tweaked, bought, thrown, stepped on, and set on fire! That being said, I still break out the eagle 50, and fly it around a bit. But it's like going from a Chevelle to a Pinto...that backfires.

It should be mentioned that Exceed is a Walkera rebranded heli. Just in case anyone didn't know.

The Exceed Falcon was a Walkera clone of the Esky Honey Bee FP. It was known to be very difficult to fly. If you buy stuff over the Internet, there is always the chance of things not working or even a DOA. It is normal practice for model shops to hover small helis in front of you before you pay. This partly explains why there are fewer problems with Walkera here. The only Walkera heli that had me completely outfoxed was the M120D01. It hovered perfectly out of the box but it near impossible to fly. I tried different gyro settings without much effect. I returned to my vendor who took a thorough look over it but it made little difference. I even changed receivers. My suspicion is that one it is in the air, there is some sort of vibration which caused the gyro to malfunction. After that, all my Walkera purchases flew right of the box, even without a test hover.

Originally Posted by zadaw

The Exceed Falcon was a Walkera clone of the Esky Honey Bee FP. It was known to be very difficult to fly. If you buy stuff over the Internet, there is always the chance of things not working or even a DOA. It is normal practice for model shops to hover small helis in front of you before you pay. This partly explains why there are fewer problems with Walkera here. The only Walkera heli that had me completely outfoxed was the M120D01. It hovered perfectly out of the box but it near impossible to fly. I tried different gyro settings without much effect. I returned to my vendor who took a thorough look over it but it made little difference. I even changed receivers. My suspicion is that one it is in the air, there is some sort of vibration which caused the gyro to malfunction. After that, all my Walkera purchases flew right of the box, even without a test hover.

Even the V120D05?

Originally Posted by IntegrityHndywrk

Even the V120D05?

I don't have the V120D05 but Darryl Fuji reported big problems with it right from the start. I bought a number of Genius CP, Mini CP, V120D02S and Master CP and they all flew straight out of the box without a test hover.

Originally Posted by zadaw

I don't have the V120D05 but Darryl Fuji reported big problems with it right from the start. I bought a number of Genius CP, Mini CP, V120D02S and Master CP and they all flew straight out of the box without a test hover.

Yes, this was my experience with all but the D05. It may have been built out of spare parts or something at the distributor's site. I don't know. But it was pretty jacked up. I really bought the heli to turn it into something better than walkera did. I think i succeed, though the price tag was too high. It does fly nice now with the D02S version RX and upgraded to the D02S rotor head and shafts. It still can't handle aggressive 3D with it's poor tail hold ratio.

I would gladly trade the whole heli right now for a AR7200BX, since i pretty much determined a 250 is the smallest heli that can remain stable in 3D without bogging the motor horribly because of the high winds here. The V120s do okay with the upgraded motors but i still ALWAYS crash them every day because of the bog. The one saving grace is i never take any damage on the 120s. They fly great in low winds and the servos never strip with my setup. The KDBB blades help a lot with that too. Since installing them i also have not broken any rotor heads or ejected any linkages. Boom strikes are not as hard either. I have not cracked the boom in a while. I'm used to it being cracked from day one and getting worse until i have to glue it 5 times a week and then eventually replace it. So besides the nano, i would still highly recommend the V120D02S as a starter heli. The guy at the LHS was shocked when i told him that. Knowing i fly a Gaui X5. Though, if your experienced and fly 3D on bigger birds. I wouldn't doubt if the 130X will perform better in 3D "out of the box" than the V120. As long as your not getting tail resonance like crazy. I'd bet the stock 130X vs the stock V120 in Darryl or Manny's hands or any 3D pilot for that matter would be noticeably smoother and more consistent output for longer periods in harder 3D moves. The V120s do kind of require a motor upgrade to get into harder 3D and stay consistent. Once that is done i'm sure the V120 is just as good, if not better than a 130X.

But for learning, the V120 is a little tank of a heli with a few modifications.

Originally Posted by zadaw

The Exceed Falcon was a Walkera clone of the Esky Honey Bee FP. It was known to be very difficult to fly.

I learned on the original falcon 40 V1 and still enjoy flying it. There was a dedicated forum on RCU and pretty much all of us there thought it was a great trainer - cheap, very durable, easy to repair. I still think it's the easiest to fly of everything I've flown so far - as long as there's nothing more than a light breeze.
Walkera ruined it with V2 - not as durable or cheap to repair.

Originally Posted by IntegrityHndywrk

Honestly i would avoid it. The best thing you can do (take my advice or don't) would be to buy a RX801 or RX701 and a good gyro. The Tarot ZYX and Robird are making waves in the "cheap" category. While i will continue to advocate the BeastX that i know is superior to Walkera gyros in MANY ways. I'm positive that the ZYX and Robird will also be better than the Walkera gyros. Because not all gyros are created equal. The ZYX would be my current suggestion if you are pimping on a budget. It will probably only run you around $100 for a ZYX and a Devo RX to go with it.

The 2703V uses the same gyros as the 2702V, basically. They work! Thats all, no piro compensation or anything like that. If you already know how to fly, avoid anything with a 6 axis gyro unless it's made by Skookum Robotics. The 6 axis is problematic in fast forward flight and banking with Walkera RX. But if you ARE still learning and will be while before you move into very fast forward flight and steep banking turns. The 6 Axis by walkera is not so bad.

And NO! The reason the 2702V will only make it 5 feet is because Walkera has random defects with their RX/Gyro units like this. Out of 5 2702V units, only 2 of them would fly more than 5 flights without locking the TX out completely and shutting down/crashing within 30 seconds of leaving my heli pad.

Like i said. I'm not trying to bash Walkera here. I am never "Bashing" Walkera except on their customer service, technical support, warranties and lies. All of which warrant "Bashing" if it's true right? I really don't intend to change your mind. But you should do some research. I promise you will not regret a ZYX and devo Rx701/RX801 setup over a walkera Rx/gyro unit. I don't know your current level of skill. But consider this. When a child gets his first bike, do the training wheels get mounted permanantly? Or are they made to come off? My point is, you WILL eventually want a better gyro if your only learning now. Wouldn't it just be better to have one already then to deal with the problems later?

Right now, i consider the 6 axis a problematic gyro system by Walkera. But i still have not flown one. The consensus is that random 6 axis gyros will produce the dred "6 axis effect" while others don't experience it. The "6 axis effect" makes the heli act like it's hitting an invisible wall. Or in FFF it will attempt to level the helicopter out and will cause flight anomalies because of it or drift out farther then you would like in a bank turn. Apparently it's great for stationary 3D though. Another thing to consider and research is weather or not the 2703V-D has gyro reverse switches, if you plan on installing Align/Savox servos. You will need gyro reverse settings. Last time i saw a picture of a 2703V-D, it didn't have those dip switches anymore like the 2702V has.

You will definately be happier with a RX and separate gyro setup on there. Trust me, there is plenty of room and the heli will fly much nicer with a ZYX over a walkera gyro. The only thing is, you will have a learning curve on setting up the gyro. It's not as easy as a 2702V / 2703V. If anyone is an "Authority" on the v450d01 around here. It's probably me. Like i said, i'm not trying to change your mid. You will fly just fine with the 2703V too. I just think you would be happier spending about the same amount of money and learning how to set up the ZYX or robird. Until i try those 2 gyros, my main advise would be get a BeastX gyro. But i know people have an issue with spending that much money on a single unit. So did i, until i flew one.

This is why I came here and well, you in particular because I did see your V450 build log, for which I was impressed with btw, to get input on alternatives for flybarless systems. When it comes to flybarless, I have to admit I'm abit in the dark, which is why I bought the V450D01 as a reference heli for the flybarless system. I don't think the heli was a bad choice(that's debatable), just the vendor I bought it from. This V450D01 is, and will be, the LAST factory built RTF I will ever buy. After this experience, just kits from now on

Thank you for your input on the 2703H-D. Knew it wouldn't take long.

The Tarot ZYX and Robird. I will look more into those, thank you.

My intentions for the V450D01, scaling it to a Hughes MD500E. I'm not one for 3D. HobbyKing has a nice 5 blade rotor head that I was going to use for this.

Originally Posted by karlik

I learned on the original falcon 40 V1 and still enjoy flying it. There was a dedicated forum on RCU and pretty much all of us there thought it was a great trainer - cheap, very durable, easy to repair. I still think it's the easiest to fly of everything I've flown so far - as long as there's nothing more than a light breeze.
Walkera ruined it with V2 - not as durable or cheap to repair.

when i was looking for my 'next' heli after playing with a big co-ax 3ch, i was looking at the falcon 40 v2 or the walkera V400D02. I skiped the fixed pitch and went straight for 6ch cp. My whole history with the V400 is logged here on rcg. I learned alot and modded the heli out of it. Now I have made the V400 what it should be, working out all the weak points and adding some 'bling'. Its doing everything i ask it to do as far as 3D flight, and the last crash only caused minor damage. It now stands at 104 flights and 1 crash.

My thoughts on walkera are,

they make great products for the price. Leading the way in micro 3D helis. There parts are expensive and easy to break. (though the fbl head on my v400 has been in many crashes but i've never had to replace a feathering shaft or blade grip). Their servos are crap, even their expensive mg servos. I've had an elevator servo burn in flight (using 2702v rx) but never thought the rx could be to blame. The other two died in a minor crash. The $50 tail servo burnt after 20 flights. I have two 2702v rx's that seem to work fine for a while, then will lock out and crash. Sometime i'll get 5 flights, sometimes 15 flights, but it always seems to happen when you least expect it. One lost the aileron gyro control suddenly makeing turning very tricky. They were great units when they were working, but i dont trust buying another one. The 2801pro rx/tx have been amazingly reliable. If the devo is as stable, i will convert. M120 was great to learn how to fly around, but will not do 3D. Jonathan at WOW was helpfull when i was haveing my servo issues. the lady at walkera was a 'blame shifting b!$&#'. I want a mini CP when i convert my other helis to devo (maybe 12s).

Originally Posted by kdean

My thoughts on walkera are,

they make great products for the price. Leading the way in micro 3D helis. There parts are expensive and easy to break. (though the fbl head on my v400 has been in many crashes but i've never had to replace a feathering shaft or blade grip). Their servos are crap, even their expensive mg servos. I've had an elevator servo burn in flight (using 2702v rx) but never thought the rx could be to blame. The other two died in a minor crash. The $50 tail servo burnt after 20 flights. I have two 2702v rx's that seem to work fine for a while, then will lock out and crash. Sometime i'll get 5 flights, sometimes 15 flights, but it always seems to happen when you least expect it. One lost the aileron gyro control suddenly makeing turning very tricky. They were great units when they were working, but i dont trust buying another one. The 2801pro rx/tx have been amazingly reliable. If the devo is as stable, i will convert. M120 was great to learn how to fly around, but will not do 3D. Jonathan at WOW was helpfull when i was haveing my servo issues. the lady at walkera was a 'blame shifting b!$&#'. I want a mini CP when i convert my other helis to devo (maybe 12s).

So essentially, the 2702V(For those unaware, -D designates Devo) has a long history of failures from yours and other postings I have read. This places a lot of weight on my choice to try other flybarless systems as integrityhndywrk suggested rather than sticking with Walkera. I should have come here to RCgroups first, that's for sure.

If this is the same lady at Walkera I dealt with, the Guy's no better.

I did'nt want to mention her name, but they are probably trained to give customers the run around. It saves money....

I've moved on to the beastX units. You can pick one up here in the classifides and save some $$$. But some guys dont trust 2nd hand electronics. They are easy to setup with one button and some flashing lights, just like the 2702. I just got a usb dongel from martin and i downloaded the software, but dont realy see the need for it. I'm pretty happy with the settings i got from just the basic setup, and some tweeking of the pots (another nice feature that other units dont have).

Originally Posted by RodneyJ

This is why I came here and well, you in particular because I did see your V450 build log, for which I was impressed with btw, to get input on alternatives for flybarless systems. When it comes to flybarless, I have to admit I'm abit in the dark, which is why I bought the V450D01 as a reference heli for the flybarless system. I don't think the heli was a bad choice(that's debatable), just the vendor I bought it from. This V450D01 is, and will be, the LAST factory built RTF I will ever buy. After this experience, just kits from now on

Thank you for your input on the 2703H-D. Knew it wouldn't take long.

The Tarot ZYX and Robird. I will look more into those, thank you.

My intentions for the V450D01, scaling it to a Hughes MD500E. I'm not one for 3D. HobbyKing has a nice 5 blade rotor head that I was going to use for this.

You should maybe also look into upgrading the motor and esc. You can see in my build log the motor and ESC i used there. They cost a grand total of about $35 for both of them. I have not extensively tested the ESC. It does run much warmer than the $50 Hobbywing Platinum 40A i currently fly with. Which does not get warm at all really. I would highly recommend you use the HW Platinum pro 40A since your going to do an enclosed fuse on your bird. Even better would be the Castle creations ICE 50. However, the price difference is substantial. The stock motor and ESC already run very hot. Just make sure there is some type of ventilation passing though there for your ESC and maybe use align AR and main gears to move air around inside the fuse. You didn't make a mistake with the V450D01. It's a good heli airframe. It's just the stock electronics are VERY hit or miss. Probably leaning more toward the "miss" side.

The rotor heads your looking at should work if they come with a shaft and/or are meant to be compatible with the Trex 450 or Trex 450 shaft. You'll just need to read up on blade phasing and get yourself a good digital pitch gauge. I recommend the RC Logger one.

Originally Posted by RodneyJ

So essentially, the 2702V(For those unaware, -D designates Devo) has a long history of failures from yours and other postings I have read. This places a lot of weight on my choice to try other flybarless systems as integrityhndywrk suggested rather than sticking with Walkera. I should have come here to RCgroups first, that's for sure.

If this is the same lady at Walkera I dealt with, the Guy's no better.

Could have been a blessing in disguise. At least you didn't go though countless crashing wondering what the hell was going on before you found out your RX was bad. Or have those servos wreck your nice fuse. Now you can move forward with it. In the end you can end up with a heli that is just as good as an align or clone. It just takes more work and money. But once your done you'll be set and shouldn't have to worry too much. The servos have a short service life and will crash you. If they start acting funny. Replace them. I would follow my build log and install some Align 410M or Savox 0257MG servos to protect that nice expensive fuse from a unknown service life crash. I would also get a Savox 1357 tail servo or the align version. I think its the 510 or something like that. I just like the orange savox cases, logo and stickers they send with each servo You don't need a metal gear servo for the tail. They are too heavy.

Nice collection integrity. I had 3 V400D02's at one point. One is still NIB. When i started gettin into bigger helis, my 'parts money' did not streach that far anymore. So i super modded one, sold one, and will sell the other soon.

Originally Posted by kdean

Nice collection integrity. I had 3 V400D02's at one point. One is still NIB. When i started gettin into bigger helis, my 'parts money' did not streach that far anymore. So i super modded one, sold one, and will sell the other soon.

The one that is all stock is not mine, someone mailed it to me to fix. I don't have it any longer. The yellow one was for sale but it's looking like it's worth more as a backup heli/ parts heli then it is for sale. Especially since i was selling it with almost all of my spare parts and a hand full of batteries and things like that. Servo horns, servo gears, main gears, main rotor heads, all kinds of stuff. So i'm just kind of sitting on it for now. The white one is the only one i fly. The Yellow one has literally only taken to the skies maybe 3-4 times for the test flights to make sure everything was setup right. Plus it has a "new" v450 swash, which has a different resolution on the cyclic than the older one does. It inhibits/calms the cyclic limits quite a bit. Since i don't have the "new" main rotor head with the longer blade grip ball linkages on it to compensate it just flips a little slow for me. So i have to find a place to get the "old" swashes that won't just mail me a "new" one like they are the same thing, when they absolutely are not.

I hope helipal is not still doing this because they still have both new and old listed but the last time i ordered the old ones they simply sent the new ones instead. I had to go sell them to the guy at my flee market. I think i actually made a profit so it's not that big a deal. But for all the hassle of shipping back to hong kong/china i would have been screwed. It's not like i bought just a single swash either. Which makes it kind of messed up. Plus, you know they always try and pull some kid of "restocking fee" or some BS at all of these places. So i got lucky. But it sucks i have to order one swash at a time just because i don't know if the vendor understands that IT'S NOT THE SAME FREAKING PART!!!!

All of this, what i call "Walkera nonsense" or "Walkera Antics" is really annoying. All because they couldn't simply make it the V450D02 or the V450D01S or ANYTHING but the same model number and parts numbers. What is eventually going to happen is the old style swash will no longer be available and i will be forced to buy a Align DFC head and swash to replace them. Because after the way Walkera has treated me with every one of their helicopters i have bought. I'm not going to replace them with the "new" rotor and swash, that much is for sure. I'm just sick of being discontinued, unavailable, or plain having parts changed to something cheaper and less efficent while discontinuing the older parts and charging more for the newer ones. I just don't think Walkera has a clue what they are doing as a company, direction wise or design wise either. I think their only good engineers must have joined their team in 2011 and left mid 2012. Thats my speculation.

Those are nice birds, integrity.

It's Trex all the way. All my birds except for the V450, are Trex clones. You get what you can and besides, I'm an old timer and this is a new hobby(heli's) for me. I'm used to building it freeflights. Starting the motor, lighting the fuse, start the timer, then you let it go! And pray, I DID light that fuse? I DID start that timer.... Didn't I?

I didn't want to get too involved with this hobby of helicopters before finding whether or not I was going to like it. That was a stupid thought, I'm hooked, lined, and still sinking.

Here's a pic of the rest of my birds. Sorry, no pic log of the builds. Two other 450's are in the junk pile. Setup crashes. I'm not even going to state what my first heli was, too embarressing, but it flew and got me hooked!

The MD500 is mostly parts from HobbyKing and yes, the 5 blade rotor head is a trex compat, but till I get a flybarless system, that switch over is on hold.
Keep-RC carbon frame
Turnigy 3700kv
Detrum 40amp ESC
3-TGY 90s cyclic servo's
TGY 9018MG tail sevo (for size constraints)
WK-G011 gyro (The only gyro I could find that worked well with the Devo 10)
RX802


My other birds? Except for the V450, they are what I call my e-bay birds where I order, I wait. I order, I wait.


4oz fishing weight to counterbalance the tail Don't laugh, it works.
I left out the windows at the top of the fuse to allow for more air flow inside, and to allow access to the mounting screws at the back of the frame for easy removal should something fail. I did think about the heat. I'm also looking into lighting, for more realism.


And your right, that just may have been a blessing in disguise when that RX2702V-D crapped out when it did(5 minutes after adding battery), but an awfully expensive one to say the least.