Mini Heli Blog

Back to the Simulator

Most people these days will tell you to spend your first $200 on a simulator instead of a real helicopter to learn how to fly. As true as this might be, I was much more interested in buying the real thing and just paying the price in replacement parts. In hindsight, which is always 20/20, I would have saved a lot of money had I done the simulator first, but it definitely wouldn’t've been as much fun. Now that I can hover in all right-side-up orientations and fly simple circuits with confidence, I’ve decided to go the simulator route to learn the next level of flying.

Learning to hover and do forward flight isn’t too difficult, particularly if you use training gear and keep most of your flying only a few feet off the ground, even the worst crash from that height isn’t going to be too pricey. The other day, I lost orientation in my Axe CPv3 at about 30ft, and I broke/bent just about everything in the rotor head. So about $50 worth of ordered parts later and I decided to start flying in RealFlight G4 to learn more advanced maneuvers and start practicing some simple 3D. G4 comes with the Axe CP, and the T-Rex 450 is available as a download from the Knife Edge website. The physics of both helicopters seem to be pretty accurate so far, and virtually wrecking the T-Rex is a lot less disheartening than the real thing. I do however try to treat each flight as if hundreds of dollars were riding on it, and have only had a few disastrous crashes.

Once I get my replacement parts for the CPv3, I’m going to try some simple rolls and flips on the real thing that I’ve perfected in the simulator. I usually try to fly with a bit of wind on the simulator too just to be prepared for what it actually is like. I also can’t seem to keep the helicopter very stable hovering inverted. I can usually keep it inverted long enough to figure out the orientation, but since 2/3 of the controls are always reversed, I haven’t been able to do it naturally like I can hovering nose-in/tail-in (right-side up). I’ll be sure to film it when I try it with the real thing. I’m sure it’ll make for a fantastic crash

Great Customer and Warranty Service from Heli-Max

I often complain about how much replacement parts for the Axe CPv3 cost, which usually break because of a crash that I caused. However a few weeks ago, I plugged in my battery and a few seconds later the blades started spinning at full speed, as if the 3D switch was on, but it wasn’t. I quickly unplugged it, but not before the blades struck my knuckles and the ground as I was trying to handle it. After that, I tried plugging it in again without the main motor leads connected and I got no lights, nothing, and smoke started coming out from one of the servos.

So I sent the servo, 3-in-1 board and the blades (which had been flawless before this incident) to Heli-max with the explanation and today I received the brand new replacement parts, no charge. Anyway, great customer service like this is what makes me a fan of a brand for a lifetime and I’m happy to recommend Heli-max products to my friends.

Hats off to you Heli-max.

Axe CPv3 Using a Blade CP Rear Tail Rotor

The new Axe CPv3 has a direct-drive tail rotor that replaced it’s earlier version which was setup with a larger rotor that was gear driven in the CP. While this change definitely looks cooler and more scale, the direct drive rotor seems to break if you just look at it wrong. I’ve had it break in the air for no apparent reason resulting in a crash, I’ve had it just come off all-together on a hard landing (that didn’t hit the rotor), and if you do scrape it or touch it while it’s moving at all it’s a goner for sure. The other problem with this setup is that the non-geared motor gets really hot and I’ve already burned one out. These motors are $27.99 at my local hobby shop, more than the main motor!

So I decided to switch to the tail setup on the original Axe CP (which is the same as the Blade CP, Hummingbird FP, Sabre FP and most other micro helis) and so far it’s been great. I bought the CF boom for the Axe CP which came with most of the hardware for the conversion, and I used the gear, tail motor and bearings from an old Sabre FP I had laying around. Finally for strength, I bought the CF rotor for the Blade CP. Tail authority is just as strong if not stronger, piros seem faster and the few times that i’ve scraped the tail on the ground, it’s only knicked the CF tail, or brought it out of the gear, instead of snapping at the same point like all of the other CPv3 tails I went through. I’m also using the motor out of the Sabre, which is a $7 replacement part opposed to the near $30 Axe motor.

I also keep hearing that Helimax is coming out with a torque tube gear driven tail conversion for Axe CP, which I would definitely be interested in. It’s been on Tower Hobbies website for a while but each month the expected arrival date gets pushed back to the following month, so who knows if it will ever show up.

Picked up a Spektrum Dx6i for my Axe CP and T-Rex 450

I finally finished my T-Rex 450 SA yesterday when I picked up a Spektrum Dx6i w/ AR6200 receiver from my local hobbyshop.

I had never programmed a computer radio, let alone the settings for a helicopter, but I found all of it to be very intuitive and straight forward. The internet is also filled with different people’s settings, so it was easy to setup for both my Axe CPv3 and the T-Rex 450. I’ve only flown the T-Rex once now, just a simple tail-in hover to get everything balanced properly. It’s amazing how much better that hovers than my CP though. I can take my hands off the sticks for more than a few seconds before it starts to drift one way or the other. The CPv3 flys much better with the Spektrum than it did the stock radio. The subtrim allows me to get the swashplate balanced very well, and the swashplate mix and the expo allows me to get the right sensitivity.

I’m still trying to figure out the perfect pitch and throttle settings for the Axe and will work on the T-Rex once I get a bit more comfortable with it. But yeh, so far I’m very happy with the Spektrum Dx6i. The radio and receiver was $199 at Pacific Coast Hobbies in Lomita, CA, and I’ve seen it for a few bucks less online. The second digital receiver that I bought for my Axe was $49.

Differences Between Axe CP and CPv3 Tail Motor

The tail motor in the Axe CPv3 is ungeared and runs at a very high RPM, because of this, I’ve already burned out two motors at a very pricey $24.99 a piece. I’m sure these cost Helimax $2 each, but they overcharge for all of their replacement parts. They hook you in with an affordable helicopter and then get you when you need to replace parts. This is one reason why I’m looking forward to moving up to the T-Rex 450, because replacement parts cost about half as much.

Anyway, the last time I burned out a CPv3 motor in my Axe, my local hobby shop didn’t have the replacement motor for the CPv3, but did have the CP version with a brass gear on the end. They assured me it was the same motor, but when I got home, popped off the gear and put on the prop, I realized the shaft was much shorter than the original motor. The prop still fit on, but I’ve lost two props now, on a hard landing where the prop pops off and slams into the ground, breaking. I don’t think there’s any way i could further secure the prop, so it looks like I’m just going to have to replace the motor again when I get around to it. Anyway, Make sure if you replace the tail motor to wait for the correct one.

Welcome to the Mini Heli Blog

This blog will feature my experiences building, flying and crashing r/c helicopters. My first helicopter was a Century Hummingbird FP, which I couldn’t hover to save my life. A couple of years later, I picked up a Helimax Axe CPv3 and learned to hover it quite well. After learning basic tail-in hovering on the Axe, I could then hover the less stable Hummingbird with ease. At this point, I can hover tail/side/nose in and fly simple circuits and forward flight. I’m also building an Align T-Rex 450 which I hope to have ready in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned!