Honey Bee CP2 Micro Heli

Update (Jan 07) The CP2 is flying with brushless main power again! I reinstalled the ARC-20-34-110 brushless motor and Phoenix 10 controller from www.lightflightrc.com, since the Hornet is getting an upgrade to either an ARC 20-34-130 or a Helidirect 400DB (depending on the results of testing). This is a very light motor and controller, and in fact netted a 1 gram weight loss compared to the stock setup! At 3100kv, it works great with a stock 9T pinion gear, putting the head speed at 2000 rpm at a 95% throttle setting. Performance is fantastic! I also modified the battery tray to move it up closer to the center of mass, ala T-Rex. The result is a much-improved roll and flip rate, and easy battery changes. Weight is down to 297g with TP730 pack or 310g with Apex 850. I honestly can't tell the difference in performance between the two packs, and the 850's form factor is a bit easier to fit in the canopy. This is a fairly easy (and very cheap) modification to do, and so far it is definitely one that I'd do again! Another modification I found to work well is flipping the head block and blade grips to improve tracking and reduce "jumpy" collective response. The information about the modification can be found in this thread on RCGroups.com. Highly recommended!

I am running dual tail motors, but without the high-dollar CNC mounting bracket. The two motors are just soldered together as described in this blog entry from RCGroups.com. The results are encouraging! The tail holding and power is much improved over the single motor, and even without heat sinks they get no warmer than the battery packs! Motor life seems to be greatly improved as well. When combined with a bit of revo mix in the transmitter, the E-Flite 3-in-1 is doing a great job of keeping the tail in line, even during loops, rolls, and flips. Of course, being a non heading-hold, backwards flight doesn't work so well.

Specs (as of Jan 07):

• Main Motor: ARC 20-34-110 brushless
• ESC: Castle Creations Phoenix 10
• Batteries: Apex 850 3S or TP730 3S
• Tail Motor: dual motors, no heat sinks.
• Tail ESC: E-Flite 3-in-1
• Gyro: E-Flite 3-in-1
• Servos: Hitec HS-55
• Receiver: LightFlightRC D6
• Transmitter: JR 9303
• Main Blades: E-Sky Carbon
• Tail Blades: E-Sky, painted white. 2mm removed from chord to reduce motor load
• Canopy: E-Sky King, with custom paint
• Weight, ready to fly: 310g (Apex) or 297g (TP)

Videos:

• CRASH! Yep, caught on video too. (big file)
• Windy day forward flight and ugly rolls (stock brushed motor)
• Indoor hovering (2S setup)
• Outdoor flying (3S setup)