Stokeflyers Blog

The Decision.
Well after a lot of reading and confusion I bit the bullet and bought an ESky Belt CP with stock electronics I just need to supply receiver, transmitter & battery. Its probably not the best heli to learn on but I didn’t want to buy something that I was going to quickly grow out of and seeing as I intend to really take my time with the learning process I think it will fit the bill ok, parts seem to be readily available and not too expensive.
I also invested in a Phoenix Sim to learn the basics before I even attempt to fly the Belt.

Monday 2nd April (Delivery Day).
Got home today to find a nice big box of heli waiting for me, impressed with delivery as I only ordered it on friday!!
Well I soon had the packaging ripped open and heres the contents of the box:
 

all looks present and correct so lets spread it all out for a better look:

mmm looks interesting, I’ve just got to figure out what goes where.
Had a good look through the manual and decided its slightly better than useless (especially for a newbie like me) so it looks like its time to hit the forums at Helliguy.
Looks like the first thing to do is fit the skids:
 

thats better, looks more like a heli now…lol

Wednesday 4th April.
Spent most of last night on my Phoenix Sim (that thing is so addictive) flying the TRex 450SE as I’ve been advised that it is the closest model to my Belt. I’ve got so that I can hover it pretty well now and it actually goes where I want it to!!!
So, back to the belt, done lots of reading and I’m now ready to install the electronics. Decided to fit the bec up front to help with balance, so here goes:

so now its got the gyro, bec and receiver all fitted and I spent quite a bit of time tidying up the wiring but I think it looks ok now.
I noticed that the rudder servo is loose so I went over the whole of the heli checking every nut, bolt & screw and found that there were quite a few loose (so much for RTF!!).

Friday 6th April.
Last night was an intensive sim night, spent about 6 hours on it. Feeling a lot more comfortable with flying the TRex on there now although its a lot different to the fixed wings I’m used to.
Tonight I’ve been making sure that all the linkages are centered, the swash plate is nice and leval and the pitch is correct. Everything was way out and its taken me ages but I’m glad really as its given me a chance to study the swash and all the linkages so I’ve got a much better understanding of how it all works.
Got to say how impressed I am so far with the value for money of this heli (can’t imagine how they can make something this complicated for the price) my only grumbles are that its not been put together too well but as I’ve already said its forced me to study everything and gain a better understanding of the workings of a heli.
New battery arrived today, Thunder Power 2200 so I can fit that tonight and get the cog right.

Monday 9th April
Spent the whole weekend out and about with the family so didn’t get much time on the heli  just managed to finally sort out the pitch and programme my transmitter (Futaba FF7) just hoping I’ve got it right as I’m only used to the fixed wing programming. I did spin the rotor up a couple of times outside to see and hear what it was like and got it very light on the skids but that was about it. Hoped to get out with some planes yesterday but the wind was too high as I’ve got to maiden two planes and I’ll only do that with little or no wind.
Got to spend some time on the sim now!!!

Tuesday 17th April
I’ve been trying to set up the pitch but it proved quite difficult without a pitch gauge so I ordered one from heliguy (really fast delivery) and its now all set up ok, finding a battery that fitted was also a real pain but I ended up with a Thunder Power 2200 mah lipo but of coures the balance plug was a differant type than all my other lipo’s so I’ve bought a Cell Pro 4s charger and various adaptors so I can use it for all my lipo’s. It arrived today so hopefully I’ll get to try it tonight.

More To Follow As And When I Get The Time