Walkera QR Ladybird V1



First Impressions:

The Ladybird looks nice. It is small in size and it fits in my hand. It is very light weight.
It feels well built and should take a crash pretty well.
It has a unique sound to it with the 4 motors.

I have never flown anything but helicopters for over 5 years so I was curious how a quad would fly.
I would say it is a bit like a coaxial helicopter in a way but also very different than a helicopter.
The Ladybird is ultra stable and very smooth flying. It has good power with the stock motors.
After I added some D/R and Expo I was able to fly it good for the first quad I have ever flown.
The flight time is very good. I was surprised that the stock battery got the same flight time as the Hyperion 240 mah 25C battery
and had the same power.



Pros:

• Ultra stable and smooth flying.
  
• Long flight time.
  
• Responsive and super fast forward flight.
  
• Replacement parts are not expensive.
  
• 6 axis mode and 3 axis mode for the newer version firmware 2.0 and higher.
  Firmware version number is on the bottom of the RX.
  3 axis mode was added for 3D-Flipping. Older version firmware only has 6 axis mode.

Cons:

• None so far.

Updates:

• 4-25-12
  
  The Ladybird has been doing well in a crash. I have crashed it on my hard wood floor a few times with no damage.
  I did split 3 out of 4 motor booms flipping it outside and crashing hard into the cement a couple of times.
  Also bent and twisted the blades too. The booms may have split when I hit the cement and not the grass, not sure.
  The blades bent on the grass though learning to flip it.
  I bent the blades back and it hovers and flies well even with the 3 split motor booms.

Transmitter Setup Guides:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1325037




Telemetry:

I have found out that using the telemetry eats up the battery time.
I went from 5 full minutes of flight time on my Master CP with telemetry
inhibited in the TX to 1:25 minutes flight time with the telemetry enabled.
I found the same thing with my Mini CP, 1:25 minutes flight time with the telemetry enabled and
3 minutes flight time with the telemetry inhibited.
My friends Mini CP had the same results as I did with telemetry inhibited and enabled.



Devo 10

I set the Sensor Setting - Voltage - External: V1- Alarm Voltage to 3.5V. This give me 3.72V per cell no load which is pretty good.




Flight Time: - Walkera 240 mah 25C stock battery.

• 2 Minutes: 3.93V
• 3 Minutes: 3.84V
• 4 Minutes: 3.79V
• 5 Minutes: 3.74V
• 6 Minutes: 3.71V
• 7 Minutes: 3.67V

Flight Time: - Hyperion 240 mah 25C battery.

• 2 Minutes: 3.94V
• 3 Minutes: 3.85V
• 4 Minutes: 3.79V
• 5 Minutes: 3.74V
• 6 Minutes: 3.70V
• 7 Minutes: 3.65V

Thrust:

42.1 Grams - Walkera 240 mah 25C stock battery.



Weights:

• Ladybird - 23.8 grams w/o battery
  
• Ladybird - 31.4 grams w/battery
  
• Ladybird Canopy - 1.4 g
  
• Walkera 240 mah 25C stock battery: 7.6g
  
• Hyperion 240 mah 25C battery: 7.7g

Specifications:

1). Onboard telemetry
2). Motors (x4): 0720RN57A-9M-130NL52
3). Receiver: RX2634H-D
4). Battery: 3.7V 240mAh
5). Dimensions: 8.5*8.5cm
6). Height: 3cm
7). Radio range: <=30m
8). Flight time: 6-8min



Helircstore sent me the Ladybird to review.

Thanks Bob for sending me the Ladybird!

http://helircstore.com/

Walkera Ladybird QR (1) (1 min 18 sec)

Walkera Ladybird QR - Complete Overview (0 min 53 sec)

Walkera Ladybird QR (2) (0 min 58 sec)

Walkera Ladybird QR (3) (0 min 43 sec)

Walkera Ladybird QR - Close-ups (1 min 4 sec)

Walkera Ladybird QR - First flip attempt (0 min 8 sec)

Walkera Ladybird QR - Second flip attempt (0 min 9 sec)

Walkera Ladybird fly though side windows (1) (0 min 13 sec)

Walkera Ladybird fly though side windows (2) (0 min 8 sec)

-

Always enjoy your thorough and concise no nonsense reviews so thanks again.

I'm surprised you're only seeing 4.30 - 5 mins until the Lipo is drained to its 20% capacity rule.

Has the Lipo(s) been broken in or was this a first charge test?

Your welcome, glad you liked the review.

The stock Walkera 240 mah battery had a couple charge cycles through it and
the Hyperion 240 mah batteries have dozens of charge cycles through it .


Tom

Thanks, Tom.

Keep up the good work, your reviews/settings library are top notch.

As I say on eBay- A+++

nice, look forward to what you have to say about it after some more stick time.

Thanks. Just tried your 150% on rudder and I added 125% D/R for rudder.
WOW! It really made the rudder response much faster. Too much for me now
so I dialed it down until I get use to flying the quad.

It is really good for indoor flying due to it is small and super stable.

Tom

Originally Posted by Tom Z

Thanks. Just tried your 150% on rudder and I added 125% D/R for rudder.
WOW! It really made the rudder response much faster. Too much for me now
so I dialed it down until I get use to flying the quad.

It is really good for indoor flying due to it is small and super stable.

Tom

haha yea I love a fast rudder so I just cranked the settings all the way. It is really fun to move about the house. I find its easy to go down a long straight hallway in my house. I nail the throttle, it just tracks straight. Then reverse elevator brings it back just as quickly and in a perfectly straight line with no deviaton.

Have you tried 3 axis flipping yet?

Sounds fun!

I haven't tried 3 axis flipping yet.
Will try it tomorrow over my thick tall grass.

Hope I got the newest version with the updated firmware to handle 3D-Flipping.
It will flip with the fast roll rate and 3-Axis flipping firmware. This is what wow
has posted on there web site.


Tom

Long as you van switch to the green light you have it. The original was permanently on 6axis.
The flipping gets addicting. They look a lot better when settings are tamed a bit too, nice looping flips opposed to super tight so fast they are blurry flips you get on high settings =)

Thanks for the info. I can switch between red light and green light so I do have
the 3-Axis flipping firmware.

Tom

How do you switch between red light and green light?

@Warrior0465: The gyros are switched depending on your gyro settings, please refer to Tom Z's post regarding the quad here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...1325037&page=2

Mine is assembled from parts as it costs about 37% less than buying the BNF (I got the Ladybird in China off Taobao)

but there are two things I've noticed: one being that the quad isnt as stable as I thought it would be.. even in six axis mode (not really coax stable.. I think even my MCP doesnt slide as much as the QR)
another thing being that there really isn't a noticeable difference between three and six axis modes in terms of stability...

am I the only one having these issues?

I think a lot of that is relative to your gain setting...

so Tom,
How you liking your first foray into quads?
I still enjoy getting my #8 out. Amazingly fast...and tame enough for indoors. I won't bother to post vids of it. Marker lights double the fun. Makes night flying easier than day, except for those objects hidden by the dark.

regards,
Bill

Hi Bill,

I like it. It is very stable, super fast, and fun to fly.
Getting better at flying it on my second day.
The problem I have is sometimes I can't tell
which way the Ladybird is facing due to it is square shaped.
Have any suggestions that can help with this?

Your #8 sounds nice with the marker lights.

Tom

Just added HD outdoor videos to the review including flip attempts.

Also added setup for AERO mode in my setup guide.
Now there are HELI mode and AERO mode setup options.


Tom