Originally Posted by SoloProFan

So far my MiniCP has survived a few crashes unscathed, even though, in my CP-noobness, I have to unlearn putting the throttle stick fully down in case of an inpending crash, and use "throttle cut" instead...

After the last crash, I remembered the wise advice to tape the canopy to the skids, as it has shifted up and the corner with the fragile coil was revealed. Skids simply popped out, wise move to make these seperate parts instead of part of the frame, like on the Genius...

I can now hover it in a square about the size of an old record, even getting some seconds of handsfree hover, and then do a soft landing on the same record, as I keep it on the ground as "heli-pad". But as soon as I try to do a simple circle/circuit, things just don't "click" yet in my brain. I think it's the same psychological barrier of flying in a too small space to feel safe. I had this with my first Solo Pro 260 as well, inside I could take off, land, make a box pattern, but as soon as rudder turns were involved, it always went wrong. Then I went outside, and it just fell into place.


Something else, what is the best charge rate for the batteries, using an after marktet charger like the Imax B6? I have more faith in that charger than in the stock Walkera charger. So far I've been using a charge current of 0.4 A which is about 1.75C or so, which is not uncommon for lipos. I wonder what rate you are using, when using a different charger than stock Walkera.

I am using 0.4 or 0.5A on the IMAX B6 at the moment. Ideally, it should be 1C or less but I have got too many batteries.

I would fly outside in an area with grass when you start flying circuits. It is very difficult to fly a CP indoors unless you have got a large indoor area. If you crash it over a hard surface, There is a increased risk of stripping a servo especially if you do not switch on TH in time.

Stripping servos seems to be one major annoyance with this heli. Another is the propensity to burn a tail fet when you are replacing booms. It is quite easy to introduce a short circuit between the tail motor wires. Unless you are good at soldering, it may be an idea to buy complete tail booms and motors initially.

SoloProFan,
I am in the same place as you right now. Coming from a 4-ch heli, I am already pretty comfortable with hovering but missing something with turning.
I already figured that whenever I use the right rudder, for example, I need to compensate using the cyclics and use right aileron and down aviron. I still can not find the right balance for a good nice circle.

Regarding the balancer, I am between the IMAX B6 and Turnigy Accucel-6. What I love about the B6 is that it has a built in power supply while the A6 don't. Is the B6 good enough for my needs? I currently have 6 350mAH pack of 25C and 6 150mAH packs for V911.

Originally Posted by eagle75

SoloProFan,
I am in the same place as you right now. Coming from a 4-ch heli, I am already pretty comfortable with hovering but missing something with turning.
I already figured that whenever I use the right rudder, for example, I need to compensate using the cyclics and use right aileron and down aviron. I still can not find the right balance for a good nice circle.

Regarding the balancer, I am between the IMAX B6 and Turnigy Accucel-6. What I love about the B6 is that it has a built in power supply while the A6 don't. Is the B6 good enough for my needs? I currently have 6 350mAH pack of 25C and 6 150mAH packs for V911.

The B6 is a nice charger in my opinion. It only starts to lack when you want to charge packs consisting of more cells, with high capacity and high current. It's output is maxed on 50 Watt. But with smaller packs, like the ones used in the MiniCP, you have more than enough power to make the lipos glow...

The things I have to figure out most with flying this FBL CP is the fact this thing can pick up speed fast. I'll try going outside, over grass, to get more chance to go beyond hovering.

I have been using the B6 for all my helis from the Mini CP to the 450 for some time. I am aware there had been user complaints about the B6 so perhaps you should do more research. The Mini CP is so stable in hover that it is not representative of a typical. Walkera has done some tricks with the gyro to make it so stable. I sometimes wonder whether in fact it has got a 6 axis gyro built in like the New V120D02S.

I got one of my receivers back from Walkera today. This was one of the 4 receivers under repair for blown tail fets. I only flew 3 packs today, two with the white Solo Pro 100D blades. The Solo Pro 100D blades are considerably wider than the Mini CP blades. I found them to make the heli more powerful and stable. However, battery life was shortened even further. Still I recommend the white Solo 100D blades for beginners because they will reduce crashes due to disorientation.

Problem with the B6 is that there are also clones out there, which may not have the same build quality. You can check if it's genuine on the site of the manufacturer, there's a code on the back of the charger. I have 2 and so far these work flawlessy.

Does anyone know if CB100 rotor blades fit? I'm considering double duty for this heli (FP and CP). Barring that, any recommendations on FP blades which will fit without any mod work?

I wonder if there is any benefit in using FP blades. Basically, when it's in normal flight mode, with very limited neg pitch, it behaves a little like an FP anyway. Especially when you would program it with locked pitch so you basically only control altitude with motor RPM.

Not having owned any CP helis yet, anything I say can be taken with a grain of salt.

What I've read seems to indicate that yes, setting a flat pitch curve will allow you to control alt with motor power similarly to an FP. However, my understanding is that CP heli rotors have a symmetrical airfoil design whereas FP heli rotors are asymmetrical (similar to fixed-winged aircraft). I would think this would result in more efficient lift characteristics if flying it as an FP. Of course, I could be wrong about this.

Originally Posted by SoloProFan

Problem with the B6 is that there are also clones out there, which may not have the same build quality. You can check if it's genuine on the site of the manufacturer, there's a code on the back of the charger. I have 2 and so far these work flawlessy.

I am not sure at all that IMAX is the originator of the B6. The chances are that IMAX got the design and components from an electronics design house in China. The same design house also sold the design and possibly kits to a number of different manufacturers. These are not normal kits in any sense of the word. Often often you need a SMT assembly line to assemble them. Therefore the "clones" are completely legal. I strongly suspect that design houses are behind many of the 3 channel helis on the market today.

Originally Posted by Newbmeister

Does anyone know if CB100 rotor blades fit? I'm considering double duty for this heli (FP and CP). Barring that, any recommendations on FP blades which will fit without any mod work?

It is possible to program the Mini CP to fly like a FP or to tame it down for beginners. There is really no point in changing the blades.

Originally Posted by zadaw

I am not sure at all that IMAX is the originator of the B6. The chances are that IMAX got the design and components from an electronics design house in China. The same design house also sold the design and possibly kits to a number of different manufacturers. These are not normal kits in any sense of the word. Often often you need a SMT assembly line to assemble them. Therefore the "clones" are completely legal. I strongly suspect that design houses are behind many of the 3 channel helis on the market today.

True, and Imax isn't the manufacturer, it's SkyRC in fact. Indeed some clones might just be rebranded stuff. But some people took various ones apart, and in this case both were labeled the same, so the clone wanted to look just like the original, although the color and sharpness of the printed lettering on the case was not identical on close inspection. Then it was found the clone had different components, and often also less neat soldering. A real Imax/SkyRC has a hologram printed on the back and when scratched with a fingernail or so, reveals a code, that can be verified on the SkyRC website. I don't know how "waterproof" this system is, but it does make copying harder, and cheap copies don't have that code, although they look identical to the B6 in everything else.



Btw, took the MiniCP outside for the first time on a small field. It was a bit windy, but I tried to find a find a place which was a little sheltered. Take off and hover was easy, and even though there was a little unsteady breeze, the heli was very stable, and felt under total control. So I tried some rudder turns. Not so easy, as the heli picks up speed from a turn somehow, but I know had the room to catch it with correcting stick movements, before it would run into something.

And running it can, it's fast, but good thing, it also has some good brakes to go with it. At one point it came soaring at me, so I didn't have time to think off the proper correcting stick movements, stepped aside, and the heli was already metres away and still moving fast. But full backward, and a little correction afterwards, and it was back in hover. Elevator response is great, and knowing you can stop the heli dead in it's tracks within a second gives a new to CP pilot a feeling of safety.

Originally Posted by zadaw

It is possible to program the Mini CP to fly like a FP or to tame it down for beginners. There is really no point in changing the blades.

Seems you're right. Looking at the spare parts for the Super FP, it uses the same blades as the Mini CP. I didn't expect that. Makes me wonder why FPs in general don't use symmetrical blades.

Originally Posted by Newbmeister

Seems you're right. Looking at the spare parts for the Super FP, it uses the same blades as the Mini CP. I didn't expect that. Makes me wonder why FPs in general don't use symmetrical blades.

Under cambered blades have higher efficiency and need lower motor RPM to achieve sufficient lift. This means longer flight times. I think giving the Super FP the same blades as the MiniCP is simply to keep inventory down. My 2 cents.

Thanks guys. It seems like the B6 is the right route to follow. Does it have resistor measuring?

Originally Posted by SoloProFan

Under cambered blades have higher efficiency and need lower motor RPM to achieve sufficient lift. This means longer flight times.

Pretty much what I suspected. Thanks for confirming.

So it seems I can do with or without FP blades, but having them should give me longer flight times. Hmm... I guess I'm back to my original question then . Anyone know which FP blades will fit the MCP?

Originally Posted by SoloProFan

I think giving the Super FP the same blades as the MiniCP is simply to keep inventory down. My 2 cents.

Now that makes sense.

I have ran FP blades on MANY cp's in the past. My first run in i believe was the 4g6 with 4#6 blades. I swapped the symetrical blades out for the FP 4#6 zeroed my pitch curve and lowered my throttle curve to around 40%. I then came to the conclusion I wasted my money on the 4#6's I had and sold them. The 4g6 with 4#6 blades and an adjusted pitch and throttle curve flew pretty much identical to a 4#6. I was able to fly at very low head speed which was my goal for close proximity indoor flying. Keep in mind though you can stress/burn up the system with FP blades running more than a 0 pitch curve and/or higher than needed throttle curve.

So IMHO I would say yes FP blades are beneficial if:
1) you want to save money and buy one heli for now
2) You need lower head speed for indoor flying and/or less crash damage

Now like all standard FP helis they have many bad qualities like less stability and trying to come down or fly in wind.

The fact the Super FP IMO has mini cp blades has nothing to do with inventory and more to do with the better characteristics you can get with symmetrical blades as an FP......the main one being higher stability due to increases headspeed. The symetrical blades will also make the heli move in all directions faster and more level than standard FP blades could.