Piccolo

[Iglooman]

Anyone fly this electric heli? Would it be suitable for a beginning helicopter, just for toying around?

Any comments on performance? Can any stunts be performed? I am assuming no, but who knows...

Thanks for your comments,

Mike.

[rcski]

I never had one. I heard they work pretty well. theres a guy on E-zone selling one. if I had the extra money I'd buy it, seeing I could drive to his house and pick it up.http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=32305

[cnk]

I didn't start out with a Piccolo. . .although I had thought about it. I ended up with a Voyager E. . that was about 5 months ago and I'm waiting for my Logo 10 now. :)

From everything that I've read, the Piccolo is a pretty tough little heli. Most parts can be CA glued back together. It is a little twitchy to fly, especially when still in ground effect. There's a newer version coming out of the kit that includes collective pitch. The one you're probably looking at is the fixed pitch version. I think that collective is easier to fly than fixed because on a fixed pitch system, when you want to descend, there's usually a delay after inputting the command. That's because the rotors need to slow themselves down. In some cases, you may think that the heli is not responding and input too much down throttle and by the time you realize it, the heli could be in the dirt.

The reason I chose to go with the Voyager E was because I knew that I'd want to move up after flying the Piccolo. The problem is that you have to get special "feather" weight equipment for it. So when you move up to a larger heli, you'd have to buy all new equipment. It's more expensive, but I reasoned that that's the way I wanted to go because of what I wanted to do. You have to decide for yourself whether or not you would want to move up later on and at what expense.

The one thing I would definitely suggest is that you get a simulator. Some use FMS, which is a free download. Others, like myself, bought Realflight G2. No matter what you get, a simulator is invaluable. I practiced on it for a few months and was able to fly, without training gear, my very first attempt without incident. It's also a great tool for trying out more risky manouvers you wouldn't want to try on your new expensive heli.

As for 3D manouvers, you wouldn't be able to do it with the piccolo stock. . .you'd probably have to upgrade to the collective pitch. Even then, not sure if you'd be able to do any inverted stuff. Hard to say, since I haven't seen or heard anything about the collective pitch performance on the piccolo yet.

Drop by http://www.ezonemag.com It's a community of electric fliers. The heli section in the forums has a lot of people that could help you out.

Calvin

[Iglooman]

That was alot of helpful info! I hadn't heard of the collective pitch version. I was just looking at the Hobby Lobby website with the fixed version. Sounds cool. I'll have to check out the CP edition and see if it's still in the price range. Basically just looking for a basic helicopter that can be controlled by my plane transmitter for some indoor fun.

Mike.

[Twmaster]

Get an LMH Corona. Tough as nails, not too expensive either. The base kit is $200.00 www.litemachines.com

Mike N
Twmaster

[Iglooman]

I think I failed to mention I was hoping to use my Hitec Flash 5X for radio control. I don't think the Corona will allow that. I'm also hoping to stay electric. Plus I don't want to blow too much on it, since I can't say how much use I'll get out of it.

So far, the only options I've noticed are the Mia Housefly or Robin, or the Piccolo.

An suggestions?

Mike.

[BLASTER-BOT]

Go to www.ikarus-germany.com and go to the english version. They have a few different electric helicopters.

[Targo]

The litemachine Corona is an electric chopper that can be flown with your Flash 5x . The only things u'll need are the micro servos that are also used in the piccolo if I remember right

[heli lover]

I have the pic awsome heli. email me if you want to know any thing.:cool: