well... mine arrived today, and looks like it's a MK2, perhaps an early one? It came on my channel (52), so either they listened to me or i lucked out. i get to try it with my Qualcomm 850s and my Futaba 9C (ap). I have Heli Direct landing gear on the way, and the training stuff is backordered. what's the peak current draw?

Well, feel like a made a little headway today. Up until today forward flight was flown a couple of hundred feet away, and backwards back to me. Got a wild hair at dusk and flew 5 or 6 big half circles in front of me. Man, this little bird really moves out! I didn't realize just how quick that it could be. Awaiting arrival of Helidirect landing gear, can't wait to get that installed.

My gear is here . time to bust out some tools.

Originally Posted by Wren1702

Well, feel like a made a little headway today. Up until today forward flight was flown a couple of hundred feet away, and backwards back to me. Got a wild hair at dusk and flew 5 or 6 big half circles in front of me. Man, this little bird really moves out! I didn't realize just how quick that it could be. Awaiting arrival of Helidirect landing gear, can't wait to get that installed.

Originally Posted by Mighty Mik

My gear is here . time to bust out some tools.

Let me know how they work out. Did you get the prebuilt or the kit??????

hmmm...where do i start w/ this one? The HB was assembled, the gear a kit. I have no buddies w/ a heli, so i had nothing to go on. The kit arrives w/ no assembly sheet, they direct you to a web site. That part was OK, but there were a bunch of letters/garbage (uninstalled font?) that kind of distracted me. I found that wile working on this, the forward support area is *tight*. There's a tie wrap that gets in the way. I wound up cutting it for better access. (replaced later.)The antenna tube is a *tight* fit, you may want to sand it a little. as you assemble, the rear strut/support, install the tailboom support. You need to salvage the battery support off the old system.The little doo-hickies that go into the ends of the struts (mushrooms) need sanding for fit (too tight). You may have to trim the canopy. Enlarge the slits in the side slightly to accomode the new tabs (vertically). I trimmed about 1/4 inch off the rear of the bottom, and about 1/4 inch up the side. YMMV.

AFTER all that, looks good, and should be ready to fly.

Originally Posted by Wren1702

Let me know how they work out. Did you get the prebuilt or the kit??????

ok...i think i have the CG ok, so i took it outside to spool it up enough to check the blades. I think i got them 'close enough', then i reved it up on a flat surface to see what i might tell me.(just below 1/2 throttle) LOTS. it 'tap dances' side to side as the rotor comes up to speed, and it wants to rotate clockwise, even with full left trim.

setup: HB FP w/ qc830s (qualcomm) and Futaba 9C transmitter.

Mighty Mik, That very problem almost drove me crazy..............but someone on RCG led me to the light. Make sure you snug the blades down good, then advance the blades 5 or 10 degrees ahead. This takes some trial and error, but after you do it about 50 times you'll get the hang of it!

After I've learned to take off and land I hardly have to reset them anymore!

Ditto, Advancing the blades just becomes second nature, I just do it while the ESC is arming. The screws are a little heard to get at with a beefy screwdriver, since they are on the bottom

Split my tailboom right down it's length in several places today, Sliding into the garage wall probably had something to do with it. I straightened the blades and kept flying till I noticed one of the tail motor leads sticking out the tail boom . Looks just to be 4 or 5mm carbon tube, will have to get the calipers and check, else it's a good time for an ali tube.

New landing gear came in today! Can't complain about HeliDirect, ordered on Monday, parts came in today. They were also the only ones in the States that had all the parts for my sons Lama 2. Pictures will follow tonight on the landing gear and installation.

Ok.............Landing gear installed. They look great and were really easy to install. Only down side, a little harder to put the battery in. On the plus side, they look great, the extra weight seems to make the heli a little more stable, and the antenna looks much better.

One more picture, just the frame.

That looks like mine I spun mine up today, and advances the blades, but it still wants to turn clockwise at minimum trottle. Is this a setup problem? it was smoother, but it did dance a little. i even got it to tip over for a 'crash'.

At lower throttle settings the descrepancies in the two ESC's not starting the motors at the same throttle settings, and the slight non linearity of the mix, tend to cause the tail to swing. No biggie. Trim it out when she is light on the skids. (She will want to slide left at lift off, dont trim that out.)

Mighty Mik, Are you using your stock battery? If so, how are you mounting it with the new landing gear?

no...i'm using some Qualcomm 830 cell phone batteries (popular several years ago in the early days of lithium). They're good to 2.5A or so. they are 2 x A sized and shoved all the way into the nose. I may have to get an 1100 or a 1350 2S battery for it.

Originally Posted by Wren1702

Mighty Mik, Are you using your stock battery? If so, how are you mounting it with the new landing gear?