RC Heli in Korea

   I tested the 3D landing skids today and they were excellent. On a scale of 1-10 with ten being the highest, I give them a 9 1/2. Only if they can make metal skids that can flex without breaking or losing its strength. Maybe I will have my son get into metalurgy.

   I landed soft and hard on them and they felt better than the stock skids. Although there was less bounce, it absorbed enough impact to offset any differences between the 2 in that department. They held up well and much better I would have expected.

   Plus, they look great!

No flying today as I didn’t have the car and couldn’t get out to an open field.

   Well, after days of rain, we finally got some sun in this morning. It has been raining here in the afternoons and evenings for the past several days. When I got up this morning to hit the loo, I saw the sun shining. Looked out and there was very little wind, too! Awesome! Now I get to test out the 3D metal skids on my GL 450.

   Since the rain and work had kept me from flying, I was reduced to practicing in the parking garage. Practicing in such close quarters keeps your fingers honest. I am now able to weave in and out of cars.

   Now, taking it outside was something new altogether. I think I got used to being in tight spaces, so when I was in open ground, I was like…. “duh”….. “oh no!”….. “what the heck?!” I couldn’t hold her steady with all this space!

   So I went around to the back of the apartment where the space was more limited, then “BAM!” I was able to control her with ease. I was able to get very close to hedges and parking limiters….. check it out.

   Then, I was living dangerously. I figured what the heck. Might as well do some damage by practicing something that shouldn’t be done. I have extra cash for some spares….      :-O   Come on David, tread that water without getting her wet!

 

   After using up 2 battery packs, I decided to walk or hover her in close to the entrance of my apartment building. Mine is the one behind the one in the picture. The one in the picture has 18 floors. Mine has 21. Tall, arent’ they?

   On the way in around the apartment in the picture, I took her a bit further away from me. The sun, after many days in the gloomy rain, must have affected my depth perception. I trimmed the hedges similar to the ones in the picks. Lopped the tops right off of a set! The heli fell and rolled over to the side and fell down, but no damage! The drop was about 2 feet. Not even a scratch on the canopy! After checking to make things were ok and testing the swash and pitches, I hovered her into the entrance.

   I don’t know if I was happy or sad that it didn’t crash. Weird huh? I guess that with all the rain, I did about as much playing around on the sim and upgrading my helis as could. I am bored. I need to fly in an open field and push my abilities to its limits! Plus, the wife has the car and I can’t go to an open field. That is why I stayed around the apartments.

   I wanted to check the skids today and that is what I did. They did very well as opposed to the nylon/plastic ones that come stock. There was less bounce than the stock ones. On the landing, it was smooth. Like I was landing on wet cardboard. I was pleasantly surprised. Worth the 20 bucks in my opinion. Plus, they look damn good.

   By the way… that isn’t a fat lip I have. It’s a big wad of Skoal.

   The pics were taken by a neighbor washing his car…………

   Well, this helicopter was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting something a little bit better than the Honey Bee FP, but it has capabilites. Since this helicopter is cheaper than my GL 450, I am less afraid to fly it around in figure eights….. albeit small ones!

   It handles light wind fairly well and the gyro seems to do the trick. The gyro is a stock Esky gyro. The King II’s motor seems to burn hot, but hasn’t given out on me yet. Am I just getting lucky with the brushed motors? …Knock on wood….

   The responsiveness of the King II is great for a heli of this size and price. I think they still need to upgrade the landing skids, but that might raise its price, and thus the attractiveness to many new flyers. I have upgraded the skids to the ones I had on my GL 450 and it seems to do much better on landings since the skids are now wider.

   There is a problem with the motor. Although, the brushed motor hasn’t gone out on me yet, the motor seems to cause some glitches while flying. This will not do! I will upgrade the motor and ESC around the middle of April. I will report back on whether the power is greater and if the glitches have stopped.

   This helicopter is just awesome. This sums it up nicely. The power to weight ratio is spot on and I don’t think that there is a better helicopter out there. I don’t believe that even the TRex 600 would be a better helicopter to fly.

   The GL 450 can be best described as a TRex 450. The one I have compares to the TRex 450 SE. This is the one where almost everything on the heli is made from metal. The frame is a carbon fiber frame which gives it some flexibility.

   I have the Futaba 401 gyro and mini tower servos. I run a 3800Kv motor with a 30A ESC. The receiver is a Futaba 146i. There were some questions as to whether this Rx is good enough for the 450 models, but I believe it to be just right for the heli.

   This heli responds very quickly to the controls. You can set up the controls to be less sensitive, but I think that it is better to have set the controls where you have full movement of the servos in case you need them. Hovering is fairly simple. Once you have achieved the hovering, tail in and nose in, the flying of this heli is pure poetry in motion. This helicopter scared me when I first got it, but once adjusted, it became my favorite. No more to write here as I don’t even have the idle up set up yet. Once I get good enough to fly with the idle up on, I will report back.

   Hello everyone. I am situated here in Seoul, South Korea. I know that there are many from outside Korea here teaching English, on business, just visiting, or are among the many soldiers we are proud of. Well, if you happen to come across this blog of mine, and are interested in RC helicopters, please feel free to contact me. I would gladly go flying with you out in the country, which there are lots of,  and even show you around Seoul. I am always eager to learn from more experienced flyers and willing to teach the new flyers what I have learned so far.

    I can get you some good deals on cheaper fixed pitch helicopters while you are here.

   Please leave a comment if you feel like signing up to this top notch website. I am sure that the folks here would gladly welcome those who decide to join and become one of many friendly folks here at Heliguy.  Or you can just email me.

seouleast@yahoo.com

   Just type in “Heli Flyer” for the subject.

    Hope to hear from you!

   This whopper of a helicopter is soon to come.  I am looking around here in Korea comparing prices on digital servos, either a Futaba 611 or a Logitech, which I hear is an up and comer in the gyro market, and an Rx. This heli will be very spendy as I will put only the high end electronics in her. This will take about a month or so…. pics and descriptions soon to come.

   I ordered the Honey Bee King II the other day and it arrived right in the middle of class. The kids went nuts! They were so amazed at seeing a heli of that size. Little do they know….. about as much as I do about helis!

   Took it out to the parking lot and flew it around. Wow. I was amazed at the responsiveness that the King II displayed. It only cost me 200 USD, but it was worth it. Now, I get to upgrade the King II. What fun this hobby is! I was much less frightened of this heli than the GL 450, so I took it up and flew it around. I am thinking that if I can do this with the King II, I can do it with the GL 450 and not have it blow around in the wind like the King II.

   I have the spares to fix up my GL, so….. I will take it up. Now, if it will only stop raining when I am off work. Murphy’s Law seems to be at work here keeping me from flying my GL.

   After hovering with the GL 450 for about 15 minutes the day before, all I could think about was taking that thing out for a spin. I started the GL up and it sounded sooooo…… sweet. I was able to take it up to about a meter off the ground and walk it like a dog. I was too scared to fly it nose in or any kind of figure eights.

   This thing kicks up all kinds of dust. I think I could use it to blow leaves in the fall! I keep calling this heli “thing” cause it still scares me to death. It definitely demands a lot of respect. Confidence is almost back to zero, but I think that this phase will pass rather quickly…….

   So, after a month of flying, or a total of 15 hours or so, I was ready to get myself a bigger heli. After countless searches on the best deals and whatnot, I found a place called HiHobby. It is much closer to my home, but situated in the country and run out of a container box, albeit a big one. Wasn’t really sure if I should buy anything from this place when I first saw it, but can’t judge a book by its covers.

   Went inside and found an open area for hovering and a big wooden cable spool tilted on its side for a makeshift table. There was someone in there repairing his Blackhawk 500. Man, that thing looked nice!

   After talking to the owner for a while, I found out that the GL 450’s and the TRex 450’s were identical. Cheaper, stronger, and cheaper. He flew his GL for me then his TRex. I couldn’t tell the difference. They both performed 3D acrobatics very well. I am surprised that he doesn’t compete! Anyways, I was sold. A couple hundred dollars less and with the same components inside……

   He brought out 2 versions, the ”C” and the “D”. The D version has its motor mounted underside and the servos are placed differently than the C. The C has its motor on the top. I got the C. No reason. Just got it. It took me about 3 hours putting Loctite on the screws, mounting the servos and motor, attaching and running the ESC, the gyro, and gauging the pitch of the blades. The main rotor gear comes all preassembled.

   More places should be like this. I find this place to be as friendly and helpful as this site. The good thing about his operation here is that anyone can come and do repairs or upgrades without the fear of having to leave. Plus, the owner helps when you are stuck and have a million questions and he can trim the heli for you before you fly it.

   He mainly sells the GL 450. He can get the TRex’s, but is very limited on what he sells. Not as much a selection as other places, but he isn’t in it all for the money. The return customers and knowledge that he is helping others and not just selling is a highpoint. He definitely backs what he sells.

   Well, after several more sessions of crashing and replacing parts… God knows how much I have spent on that thing, I was ready for something bigger. I don’t have the full confidence to do a nose in landing or a full figure eight, but that will come with time. I haven’t had time lately to practice due to the work load.

   Today, I am going to start looking on the internet for a TRex 450. More expensive I know, but I don’t care. I want something bigger. I am fully hooked.

   I found a place that sells GL 450’s. These look awesome… and cheaper than the TRex. So, I think I will check them out.