before i fly, is there anything that i should know about it? how hard is it to fly compaired to the helis in the simulators? any advice would help a great deal. thanks again-

When you first practice hovering it is almost impossible (or for me anyways)to hover a few inches of the floor. The rotorwash will make it slide around. So go up to about a foot and it will be more stable. Make sure you have it properly balanced.
-plancrash

GOOD LUCK! I have an ECO 8 and it flys nearly hands off, I also have a 24 cell Graupner heli that is great. Still getting a few bugs out of it. But it only has 2 flights on it so far. I just finished it Sunday. I have a Piccolo that I have been tring like crazy to setup for a friend, These little buggers have a mind of there own. When and if you do fly it. You will be able to fly anything after that. Cause I havent even had the thing hovering for more than a few seconds yet. Again GOOD LUCK.

You make me feel better Capt Dave. I once offered my "expertise" to a begginner with a Piccolo. I felt really dumb after spending over an hour bouncing and spinning from one crash to the next. The only thing Id ever experienced like it before was when I was young and tied a string to a beetle and let it fly around. Im sure my lack of knowledge and not having the pic setup perfect had alot to do with it though. A 60 size 3D pilot gave it a try and after a lesson in obscene language ask the guy if he ever considered r/c boats.

Hello!

I got the EasyFly + the Picofly simulators in the same CD-rom from IKARUS.

Yes, the Piccolo is different in the simulator when compared to the "normal" outdoor helicopters of the Easy Flight.

The main differences from my experience are:

A)the control of the tail rotor. In the "normal" helis, in forward flight they behave very much like planes: the tail follows the path of the flight. That is not so with the Piccolo: you have to do coordinated turns, forcing the tail to follow (more precisely mantaining the longitudinal axis of the machine tangent with the curve the heli is intended to describe).

B)In forward flight the Piccolo tends to get the nose up and you have to force it to go.
The outdoors helis are naturals in this flight regime. The Piccolo is not.


Two more things:

1-get the training landing gear extensions (the english word eludes me).

2-get a 7 cell Nicd 250Mah or a good 8 cell Nimh pack. I found the 7 cells Mimh from Ikarus useless due to lack of power.
The Sanyo AAA Twincells are great.

Good luck and remember that I my practical experience is limited to the Piccolo!

Joćo

I've heard that it's more difficult to fly the Pic than other helis. I'm able to hover it under 1 foot from my nose without being nervous, and I like to think I have quite good control over it, even outside flying. It could be that I'm a natural talent, but I don't think so. I've always been a slow learner, and struggle a bit with my Pico Stick and RC cars facing towards me. The reason I've managed my Piccolo is the fantastic Piccolo BB, and a good deal of patience and practice. That's all you need in life. If you're able to fly anything after mastering the Pic, well, that's a good bonus! It took me about 2-3 hours time in the air until a got a quite stable hover. So will you!

I think that being a total begginner and especially if one has never flown another heli might be a plus. You have nothing else to compare it to and dont have a reference to what stabilty is. Having flown the EP Concept and LMH which were both flying bricks, I had something to compare it to and thus the micros in general seem totally uncontrollable and are being tossed around by hurricane winds even when none exist. A ECO pilot couldnt control my LMH which I feel is rock solid yet I was able to immediately nail hovers with his ECO first try.I guess it always easier to move up to stable heavy helis but hard to move down.

I built my first model airplane with my dad when I was six years old, and have been flying rotory aircraft for the past four. On my Futaba 8U I have the transmitter timer set as a count-up timer that starts when I hit 5% throttle. I mention this so that I can say that it took me 3hrs and 7min (by my tx timer) before I got the first hover out of my Piccolo.

With that being said, my daughter (whos home from college for the summer)came in with her boyfriend while I was flying my Piccolo around the living, dining room, and kitchen, and said that it was the most "awsome" thing she has ever seen.

It woun't be easy, but if you keep at it, it will become very rewarding, and quite frankly, it's just a blast!

Dennis

I also just built a picco, and let me just say, don't even try flying it until you install some kind of training gear!! The difference is astounding. It is true that hovering a few inches off the ground is almost immpossible. This is my first helicopter too, and boy this knocked me down a few pegs on confidence . Paul Goetz has a great website full of helpful hints on setting up your bird, you can find him here under the article on the picco, DO check out his advise on setting up / trimming your whirrlybird. Good Luck!! Roger

thanks alot guys. how can i make training gear?

The training gear is simple, I've used 3 different ways:
1) 2 carbon rods in an X format, attached to the skids. I used bread ties to attach.

2) Same as above, but add ping pong balls to the ends. Drill a hole and push through. Makes a little heavier, maybe a little less stable but bounces a little more.

3) Use balsa sticks (spruce/basswood) to form the X.

They all work, does add a little weight but makes it a little easier to fly, it doesnt want to tip over so easy. Hope that helps. Anybody else out-there with other ideas?

Happy Flyi.....Hovering
Roger

To throw in my short comments.. make absolutely sure that everything is properly balanced and aligned, and that the CG is right on. Make sure that your Tx properly controls the servos in the right directions. Don't try and fly less than 2' off the ground.. just spool up the blades, make sure there aren't any significant wobbles and that the tail is trimmed properly, wait for it to get light on its skids, then give it the throttle quickly to pop it up a few feet off the ground.. its much easier to hover this way.

-- Tom

For reviews of the Piccolo heli and the Piccofly and Easyfly simulators from IKARUS, take a look at the very good website of Mike Shellim:
http://www.rc-soar.com/

For him the Piccolo was also the first heli.

Look also to the LINKS section.

HAVE FUN!

Joćo

7 years ago , I bought an EP CONCEPT .
Without heli experience .
Result : A lot of broken tails , main blades etc.. ( I spend my icome on spare parts )
The EP has spend 6 years on the shelf
15 months ago , I bought the piccolo.
did a lot of mods and now I scoot around indoor and outdoor ( only with light wind)

It is very hard to kill the little one ( CA and CF wire will repair most crashes)

Now , I've started to rebuild the COncept
and I'll buy a Brushless to get it airborne .

I've never had a RC model that has given me that pleasure (aside the kyosho ep motorcycles in the 70's ).
together with my Inet friends , it has become
a real flying thing .
Alex van de Rostyne who is the godfather of the piccolo , follows my flying progress and the mods I apply .
I'll hope that soon , he will release his
CP controlled version that he's flying for the moment , and that I can convert or buy a CP piccolo.

I rest my case with : go for it

regards

Koen VG