Walkera Dragonfly comments

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sportair@lis.net.au - 13 Mar 2005 10:31 GMT

Hi Guys and Gals.

I recently bought a Walkera Dragonfly and am having a ball with it.

The main reason for choosing this model was its low cost, as an
introduction to the world of RC Heli flying. To be honest I didn't
expect to get much for the money but I have to say it has exceeded my
expectations in a number of areas.

I have seen a number of comments on the web that are less than generous
to the Dragonfly and wonder why it seems to have such a poor name. I
practiced with the simulator for about two hours spread over a couple
of days and then had a go with the real thing. After around two hours
(about 15 recharges) I now have the training gear off and am happily
hovering around my hangar.

So far I'm able to hover with the tail plus or minus 45 degrees from
me, and able to land within a foot or so of where I intended, at least
half the time! I'm finding height control is a bit less precise than I
hoped but other than that I'm having a hoot with it. My dog, who was
inadvetantly traumatised earlier on, has now become a interested
although still somewhat wary observer.

Several of my friends also bought these models and we are progressing
at similar rates. We bought a couple of extra models as parts doners
and we'll be buying some more main and tail rotors. Other than self
inflicted injuries all of the models have performed in a similar
manner, and better than we expected.

Some of our models seem to have developed a couple of problems. Mine
has a lot of play in the head, the flybar moves concentric to the blade
attach point a couple of degrees, movement which isn't apparent on a
new head. It has of course had a few enthusiastic returns to earth, so
perhaps this is simply wear and tear. Is this likely to have an effect
on the handling?

Some of them also have servos which are getting progressively jittery
as soon as the Tx is turned on. The 'jitter' is quite apparent at rest
and in flight. Its possible to see the roll servo arm bobbing up and
down 3 or 4 mm in flight. Having said that, it seems to my untrained
eye to have little effect on its handling except its perhaps a little
bit noisier/requires a bit more power to hover...?. We have tried
different TX's on the same heli and the problem seems to be the same.
We've also tried it in different locations but again the jittering
appears to be the same, which suggests its a problem with the heli. Any
ideas why this is happening?

Presumably we will reach a point where we would like to progress onto
something which will allow us to learn more of the art of flying and
perhaps building these models. We would appreciate comments on the
problems mentioned above and on directions to progress.

Best regards
Phil

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jad - 13 Mar 2005 13:50 GMT

have u had a Rx literally catch fire yet on the heli ??? I have!

jad

> Hi Guys and Gals.
>
[quoted text clipped - 50 lines]
> Best regards
> Phil

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Jennifer Smith - 13 Mar 2005 22:30 GMT

> Hi Guys and Gals.
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> appears to be the same, which suggests its a problem with the heli. Any
> ideas why this is happening?

Might be that the servo gears are stripped/worn out. When they're off,
try wiggling the arms. That should tell you how much slop they have.

J

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dj - 19 Mar 2005 16:40 GMT

I had a similar problem to you with the server jumping when power was
applied to the heli. I ended up replacing the servo in question. The
new servo works as expected and solved the problem with the servo
jumping.

I had this problem on a DragonFly 22D electric heli. My overall
experience with this heli has lead me to nothing more that a
frustraited rage of anger. After several weeks of patiently tring to
work out the bugs (and several trips to the hobby shop), buying new
servos and blades, my heli still would not fly reliably. As soon as the
heli would get about 6-7 inches off the ground (assuming that it did at
all. This one does not like to leave the ground) the entire heli would
start to vibrate out of control, resulting in a crash. After much trial
and error (more error than trial) my heli is now in more pieces than i
can count. It was stommped (on the ground) by me and my foot numerious
times. Then i picked it up and threw it as hard as possiable against a
tree. That was the best i had ever seen it fly... Overall the Dragon
fly 22d is a piece of sh.t.

I hope you have better luck than I did. Now go get a replacement server
for your problem and you should be ok.

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sportair@lis.net.au - 20 Mar 2005 11:34 GMT

Hi DJ.

Thanks for your response, sorry to hear you are having problems.

Several of the chaps who bought helis in the same batch as mine turned
out to have problems like yours, but they were all 'expert' IC flyers
who knew better and had fiddled with their models. Most of them
loosened off their blades and their models did just what you describe.
Those that were new to the game just opened the box, popped batteries
in their transmitters and were into it right away...

Try tightening the main blade screws so the blades are fairly tight and
make sure the blades are both in line with the rotor head. You may have
to sand the tapered hinge block a little to get a higher clamping
pressure on the blade. Having said that, i've loosened my main blades
right off to see what would happen and if power is increased slowly the
thing flies just the same, but the looseness is a lot more forgiving if
it hits something.

Its possible to have both blades folded back against the same flybar
paddle, slowly add power, and see the blades come out and self align
before bunging on the power and lifting off.

I've just bought another #4 and am using the first one for parts now,
as it has suffered a bit of trauma over the past few days. Things that
have failed include various main and tail rotors, a pitch control
clevis, a couple of landing gear legs, a fly bar and the battery mount.
Both main and tail motors have come loose with interesting results.
Both servo arms have slipped on their shafts a couple of times.
I'm flying it in a hangar with a concrete floor and numerous
unforgiving obstructions so it does get a pretty hard time.

All of the above failures are as a result of impacts caused by me, I
really can't fault the model at all. In fact it is remarkable how much
abuse it has taken, especially as I am now trying to fly it with the
nose pointed towards me. God thats hard!

The only thing I don't like about it is the relative coarseness of the
tail rotor control.

I have fitted a new more flexible style of tail rotor which has shorter
drive pins, and while this helps to prevent it hitting the ground, it
now occasionally gets caught on the tailpost. I also added about 5mm of
wire insulation to the tailpost to help with tail rotor clearance.

The twitching in the servo's does seem to be a problem with the servo
itself and better quality ones are on order.

When I broke the flybar I replaced it with a leg from the training
gear, which is a bit longer than the origonal and that seemed to calm
the whole thing down a bit. Might be worth a look at.

I have to say this thing has exceeded my expectations in every area and
I'm really enjoying it, Excellent vaue for money.

I have no connections with Walkera other than being a happy customer by
the way.

Cheers
Phil

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Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Helicopters / March 2005

Walkera Dragonfly comments