I apologize if this is the wrong area for this, but I'd really like to get a Lama V4 and I'm having troubles finding anything that looks even remotely like a reputable site to buy one from. If someone could direct me to a decent online reseller or even an eBay seller I would be most grateful. I'm located in the US and would like to spend somewhere around $100 with decent-speed shipping.

Also, if there are any suggested initial upgrades or spare parts I should order at the same time please let me know.

I had a BladeCP for a short time about 3 years ago and couldn't get the hang of it so I figure I'll try again with a smaller dual-rotor model.

http://www.rc711.com/shop/index.php?cPath=21

I buy from them all the time, they've always shipped relatively quickly (7 to 10 days from Hong Kong to the US), and they one time I had an issue with my order they refunded the money without question.

Originally Posted by AchillesPDX

I apologize if this is the wrong area for this, but I'd really like to get a Lama V4 and I'm having troubles finding anything that looks even remotely like a reputable site to buy one from. If someone could direct me to a decent online reseller or even an eBay seller I would be most grateful. I'm located in the US and would like to spend somewhere around $100 with decent-speed shipping.

Also, if there are any suggested initial upgrades or spare parts I should order at the same time please let me know.

I had a BladeCP for a short time about 3 years ago and couldn't get the hang of it so I figure I'll try again with a smaller dual-rotor model.

The first page of this thread has some links. I've dealt with rchelicoptershop.com. I also deal with helidirect because they are close to me
http://www.helidirect.com/index.php?cPath=29_223 (i've seen cheaper prices but never had dealings with them).
As far as spare parts, the more the merrier
PTC fuse harness (EFLH1206)...very important!
Heavy duty skids
Plenty of stock blades, A&B ( I use hardened blades from rchelicoptershop.com) but, a lot of guys on the boards here like the xtreme. There are differrent types so maybe someone might jump in and point you in the blade direction.
Inner shafts (2 maybe-EK1-0315) you can always up-grade later.
Extra Li-Po battery.
Screw Sets (EK1-0573)
Here is the page for Lama parts (Helidirect) http://www.helidirect.com/index.php?cPath=38_235_265
You'll feel like a kid in the candy store
I'm sure someone will add to this.
Stay away from Xheli
Mike
PS: Your in the right place...Welcome

Hi all

Got my Xtreme blades today.
Not advertising but I got them here in the UK from this eBay shop.
http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/aliciajayelectrical

I note they are slightly longer and have a nice profile.
Fitted them and found they make the heli a bit hard to fly indoors.
Had a quick try outside (windy tonight) and they seem good.

Only thing I am not sure about is them being white!
I kind of like to see my blades in action.

So, I know one member suggested colouring them but what other ideas are there?
What about marking the tips top and bottom side?

You can see my outdoor flight from yesterday here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy0qldngc0A

This was with stock blades.

Cheers

Mike

Hrm... I'm just realizing how large this Heli will be... 13.4 inches for the rotor diameter is quite a bit bigger than I was expecting... Is this thing too big for an average sized living room / kitchen flyer? How much room do I need? Should I instead go towards something like the Walkera HM-5G6 or are helis that small more difficult to fly?

Thanks for all the great info around here!

Originally Posted by ZigBee

Thanks - I checked those out at http://www.vigilante-rc.com/
Little pricey, but very nice !


Yeah, I find if I fly with a set of training wheels (spheres) hung onto the skids, then a tighter fit is an absolute must. I've been doing something similar to your solution with nail varnish, as suggested at:
http://blog.ifrance.com/lamav4
Your 3M adhesive sounds like a great solution, too - thanks!


Thanks - will give that a try.


Uh ... Southern tip of Africa - drop by some time !
Yep, I guess I am lucky, my local LHS is 3miles up the road and has a full range of spares

You're welcome!

Pretoria!! Wow!

It says we are 8,000 miles apart. Amazing. Have you lived there long? I was born and raised right here in Ohio where I live now. Aside from Canada, I haven't been outside the US.

I guess the price-controlled nature of Esky stuff prevents a lot of US LHS from wanting to carry their brand. But it sure seems like there are a lot of us flying Esky models. It must be really nice to be able to get parts from a store that close.

I don't like waiting for parts on order, so I bought a lot of spare things that are commonly reported to break when in the "newbie" stage of learning I am in. Up until now I have been lucky that I had a spare for everything I broke on the Lama. But since I got my HBFP, I haven't flown the Lama as much. Once I got to fly outside, the thought of flying indoors just isn't as appealing, and flying the Lama outside reveals its serious lack of forward authority.

I have been thinking about ordering some not-clipped-off servo horns for it and trying to get some more ability for flying around outside. This time of year, when a high-pressure cell is in our area, we get little to nop wind, and I have a lot of fir trees around my lot, we are very protected from wind. If I could get the Lama to where it moves along fairly well, I would fly more. I can use a slight breeze to my advantage and fly it by tacking like a sailboat. That drives it forward pretty quick. But when the air is still, it really doesn't move forward very fast, even with full idle-up and full trim forward on the TX.

Originally Posted by trendyj

Hi guys, I too am new this whole world of rc helicopters having mainly been into rc cars and buggies for years. Whilst on holiday in singapore i bought a esky lama v4 and brought it back to australia. Well i had no idea how much fun these things are, im totally hooked on them. i think i have picked up the skills quite quickly having flown it at my local park a few times.

I just have one problem and that seems to be a common one with the v4, i cant seem to get it to move forward that much. It seems to me that it just needs some weight adjusted to the front. the first thing that came to mind is the battery in the craddle. Has anybody removed the tab holding the battery in place so that the battery can slide a bit further to the front? Also my 4 in 1 unit has been off center from day one, is anybody elses like this?

cheers

Apparently from what I gathered here on the forum, having the 4-in-1 unit off-center doesn't affect its operation. The built in gyro is a "rate" gyro, which looks at how fast the tail is trying to change and not looking at, a compass heading like a Heading Hold (HH) gyro does. So it would probably work even if it were mounted sideways. :-)

Some folks have tried longer servo horns, as I just mentioned above, to get more "forward authority" on the Lama, but I haven't yet read how well that worked out. The one thing I learned right away when I took it outside the first time might help a bit. Once you get the 4-in-1 locked in with the Lipo connected, (and your TX trims at neutral) shove the forward cyclical trim all the way up, and so the same with the throttle trim. You might have to actually set the throttle trim NOT at neutral when you plug in the Lipo, to get the desired result. You don't want the rotors spinning when you have the throttle stick all the way down. But the idea is to get a quicker response on the motors as you increase the throttle, and as much forward servo as possible when you move the cyclical stick forward.

These 2 things helped me fly in a light 2-3 mph breeze. I could just barely move forward into it as a head-wind, and when I turned and flew on an angle, or straight, WITH it, the Lama took off like a rocket. I was able to zip around the yard by taking advantage of the breeze, and when the Lama started to get to slow forward, I would drop the nose to pick up more speed, and turn to let the wind help a bit. That flight was one of the best I ever had on the Lama! A lot of fun! It made coming indoors seem REALLY boring.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by AchillesPDX

Hrm... I'm just realizing how large this Heli will be... 13.4 inches for the rotor diameter is quite a bit bigger than I was expecting... Is this thing too big for an average sized living room / kitchen flyer? How much room do I need? Should I instead go towards something like the Walkera HM-5G6 or are helis that small more difficult to fly?

Thanks for all the great info around here!

AchillesPDX, As a veteran and VFW member I have the luxury of using the hall anytime I want. I also fly outside when conditions are right. I highly recommend that "if and when" you get your Lama, take it to a large hall to trim it in. If you try this at home you'll end up with a lot of broken blades and become very discouraged. Don't know of any other heli to recommend but, those $20.00/$30.00 jobs are a waste of money.

Hey mikesndbs....Time to take those training wheels off
Love the Who
Mike

Originally Posted by Zoandar

Apparently from what I gathered here on the forum, having the 4-in-1 unit off-center doesn't affect its operation. The built in gyro is a "rate" gyro, which looks at how fast the tail is trying to change and not looking at, a compass heading like a Heading Hold (HH) gyro does. So it would probably work even if it were mounted sideways.

Cheers!

Correct. It can be mounted facing any direction as long as it is still standing vertically on the same edge it was shipped; the piezo is still oriented up and in parallel with the rotor shaft.

Rate mode gyros simply stop uncommanded yaw and the tail ends up wherever the rate gain decides it has stopped unwanted yaw. A HH gyro will do the same, but instantly RETURNS the tail to the heading it was at PRIOR to uncommanded yaw.

Regards

I fly my lama indoors in my living room all the time. Its a small room but i would recomend that you clear a few things out of your way before you start to learn . It will save you blades.

Also KA planes in florida have great customer service and a sale on lamas right now they ship the next day and are great to talk to.

I received my order kit from helipal.com yesterday, only 5 days from order to I received it.

With the new hardened blades I made a test flying outside.

First test was with stock setup but the weights pulled off the flybar, this made the heli faster, but resulted in blade strikes when I turned. The new blades took some nasty dings but didnīt break.

Then I installed the complete turbokit, had to sand the blades down a bit, as the alu grips are much tighter than the stock plastic ones, and I had to make the links from the servos to the swashplate 3 full turns longer to level it.

Then outside again to test.
The heli could not fly very fast even though I tried to pull the weigths off the adjustable flybar.
With the weigths closer to the center the heli would fly forward and stop in a swinging motion.

Do I need the longer servo horns for the turboshaft to work, or just install the stock flybar without weigths ?

In all the videos I can see lamaīs speeding around, but mine is damn slow

I have my weights set at 2 inches from the inside edge of the weight to the tip of the outer shaft.

That seems to be the sweet spot for me. I ordered a set of e-flite servo horns and have my left servo in the 3rd hole and my right servo in the 2nd hole. Seem to work great.

As far as forward speed goes if the wind is blowing you'll have to give the helicopter lots of throttle in order to go forward, which will also cause it to rise. So you'll have to balance out forward speed vs gaining altitude by controlling the throttle. After a little bit of practice you should get the hang of it.

As far as the pendulum effect, my chopper does the same thing. What you need to do is practice slowly easing the stick back to transition from forward flight. Rather than just letting go of it.

Originally Posted by Barak1001

I have my weights set at 2 inches from the inside edge of the weight to the tip of the outer shaft.

Do you have the same flybar as the one in the turbokit ?

What I donīt understand is that why was the heli faster with the stock setup, maybe I should try to move the swashplate a bit forward.

I really hope the servo horns are in the mail today, so I can get that speed up.

I've got this flybar. The disadvantage of this flybar is that it's heavier than stock, so it requires more power to spin up.

I'd suggest buying this flybar when he gets some more made. It's carbon fiber so you don't have to worry about it bending from the slightest bump. It's also lighter than the stock flybar that came on the chopper.

The turbo kit in question probably came with a metal swashplate? I'd suggest testing how much movement the new swash has. Take your outer shaft out of the chopper. Put the metal swash on it while holding the shaft in your hand. Now move it around in different directions while spinning the upper part of the swashplate that has the balls on it. I'm not sure about the swash from that kit, but the CNC purple swash I have has less possible movement than my stock swash. So I decided to use the stock swash instead.

(Speaking of, if anyone wants a purple CNC kit, I've got an entire kit that I didn't use one single part out of.)