Hello everyone, I've only recently entered the world of RC flying by starting from the lowest steps (a Picoo Z and an Aero Jex 2-channel rc plane), and I think I'm ready to move on to something a bit more capable, like a 4-channel rc heli.

I have been thinking of the Esky Lama V3 for a month now, although local retailer availability didn't allow me to get one yet (my city has only two rc model stores, one awaiting a stock of Lama V3s, and the other having a couple of available Walkeras 5-4's, which to my understanding are just slightly different implementations of the same coaxial design.

I'd like to cross check some info I gathered around the internet about the two helis, to see which is accurate and which is bogus. Here goes:

ESky Lama V3:

• Early Lama V3 models (built before 2007?) had a faulty 4-in-1 which would overheat and burn quite easily, but that has been fixed in more recent models, and so I should watch out what I will be getting.
• Otherwise, the Lama V3 has better electronics than the Walkera 5-4, especially regarding the Tx and Rx reliability.
• The Lama V3 has a quite conservative swashplate-servos attachment angle, which can be tweaked to make it more aggressive/fast.
• The Lama V3's Tx is reusable/compatible with other Rxs, while the Walkera's is not.
• Can be modded/upgraded significantly, and has way more mods than the Walkera.

Walkera 5-4:

• It has slightly stronger motors and/or broader swash movements, resulting in better speed/outdoors performance than the Lama V3 right out of the box.
• It has a more robust and flexible body than the Lama, resulting in much greater crash resistance (I heard some people describing the tail boom and skids as "elastic and resistant", as opposed to the Lama's rigid and fragile ones.)
• The Tx doesn't work well with rechargeable batteries (that would be a big minus, if it were true). Also, the Tx (or Rx?) is rumored to glitch quite often resulting in loss of control.
• There is a "full metal" version of the Walkera 5-4, although I don't know if it has any benefits compared to the stock one.
• The Tx is not compatible with any other Rx (but it's hardly a concern, when I get something better I will consider a "serious" Tx/Rx/Servo set too).

So, any thoughts/corrections on the points above? What are your experiences with the two helis? Which one should I prefer?

hi velctron,

just my 2cents:
here in germany the walkera is very common, as well as the esky.
last year late september, after my "picoo-z phase" i had to make the same decision which you now go through. after reading through many forums and opinions i chosed the esky. there is really not much difference between these two helis...so most of what you wrote seems ok and true to me, but 2 points i can't confirm: first, neither the esky nor the walkera are good for outdoor flying unless it is *really* dead calm. second, i think they tails of *both* will break easily. after breaking the tail of my lama very often (it can be glued with CA easily) i bought an extreme flextail. this is nearly impossible to break i think... the flexy tail and the xtreme blades are something i can 100% recommend. really good products for the money!
extreme productions makes really many many useful (and not so useful) upgrades for the esky coaxes. some of them may fit the walkera, too, but there are some differences in details (gears, blade holder etc.).
the lamas TX runs perfectly on NiMh-rechargeables, which the TX of my walkera 5-6 does too! so i do not know why the 5-4 TX will not-they look equal.
so i would choose the heli that is best supported by local dealers or fast delivering mail order dealers. spare parts are definetly needed in the beginners phase, and you won't wait a week for a set of blades or a small part which is broken...
i found the esky really durable and forgiving, i had really many hours of fun with it. it is really reliable, i never had any problems with the electronics.
the new esky 4-1 (since sept. 06) is known as better as the walkera 4-1, but differences are slight. you can burn almost every 4-1 with blocking the motors and giving full throttle - try to avoid this
i must say that now i fly mostly the tiny walkera 5-6, because it is much more responsive and really quick. (but i won't recommend it as first heli if lama/5-4 size is ok for you.) back to your questions; the 5-8 is the 5-4 with all the aluminium (and plated plastic) upgrades. it really looks good and professional with all that blingbling, and the price (over here in germany) is ok, but i think it does not fly better than the standard 5-4 or the esky.
so, i do not know if all this helps to your decision, but some more facts and thought will for sure come up.
regards
klaus

Hi Klausbub, thanks for your reply.

Let's see...about parts support I'm probably equally well-off buying either, since I live in a small town and I will have to order any replacements and expect long delivery times in any case. However, retailers in major cities have a preference/better support for the Esky, definitively.

About the mods I was talking about...there seems to be a mod for the Esky whose main function is to lengthen the distance between the two blades (and probably increasing the servo effect on the cyclic pitch angle), with very interesting results:

RCHelicoptershop.com - Very Fast Lama V3 Outdoor Flight (2 min 52 sec)

That mod above can be done to any of the current coaxial models currently available.