Learning to Hover with the Hoverfly

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rickhg12hs - 26 Feb 2006 07:29 GMT

Just now learning to hover with the Snelflight Hoverfly. My only
previous RC experience was about 30 years ago with mostly sailplanes.

First impressions:

Snelflight company/personnel: Friendly and responsive
Hoverfly: Very light, _very_ tough (except for props and canopy), well
designed, responsive

What I've learned so far:

My ability to hover: Limited but improving
My living space: Smaller than I ever knew! 8-)
My wife's concern for furniture, lamps, walls, etc.: More than I ever
knew! 8-)

I've been having a great time but have yet to master hovering. It's
just a matter of time, which is anytime really since it's indoors and
powered from the mains (wall socket). While learning, I've crashed into
everything within tether range and have yet to leave a mark on any
furnishings. I have hit myself and my wife once (she wasn't impressed)
- it stings but hasn't done any damage. I imagine if it hit you in the
eye you'd be in trouble, but this hasn't happened and my eye glasses
would protect me.

The props spin very fast and break apart if they hit something while
running. While I'm sure this makes it safer, it does mean that wild
newbies will go through a lot of props. They're available from
Snelflight and I'm sure I'll order some more when I've mastered the
machine a bit more. The Snelfight props work the best, but I've found
that the 2.5 inch GWC props also work okay and are widely available and
cheap on this side of the pond. I had to buy a wire gauge #54 drill
bit to make the hole bigger in the prop so that it would fit on the
Hoverfly's 1.5 mm Mabuchi motor axle. Those particular GWC props were
meant for 1mm axles. I couldn't find any metric drill bits at the
local hardware stores but the #54 is close enough though a bit small
(the post-drilled prop is a _very_ snug fit on the Hoverfly motor).
Everything seems well balanced as well (until crashes begin to deform
the props 8-)

The canopy has taken a beating and _almost_ always shows no damage.
The Hoverfly comes with a bunch of stickers so I put virtually all of
them on the canopy to help hold it together. I also used a bit of
clear tape on a small rip that occured on the underside near the nose.
So I guess I'm using the supplied vacuum-formed canopy as a surface for
all the stickers and a bit of tape as well. It looks cool! (I think
NASCAR does the same thing with all those advertisements 8-)

All this "resourcefulness" will be unnecessary once I've master flying
it. It's responsive so I know I'll have a great time slicing through
my airspace and around/over the furniture rather than into it. 8-)

Once I am comfortable flying the Hoverfly controllably, I think I've
selected my first outdoor model. The Quick of Japan QJ-8 looks like a
nice model that I can grow with. I'm in no hurry and I'm still in the
research phase but it looks like the QJ-8 has virtually all the
features that I'm looking for.

I think I'll go practice hovering a bit now. 8-)

Helpful comments/suggestions welcomed.

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Nigel Heather - 26 Feb 2006 08:57 GMT

If you do buy any Snelflight props please take note they are are sold in
thrust groups.

You MUST fly with all props from the same thrust group
It is BENEFICIAL to fly with the same thrust group that was originally
supplied. This is because each hoverfly is tested before dispatch and
matched against the best thrust group. You can use other thrust groups and
probably won't notice much difference but if you can stick to the original.
The Thrust group number is marked on the prop and probably on a label on the
hoverfly box.

Cheers,

Nigel

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rickhg12hs - 26 Feb 2006 21:40 GMT

Point well made about the thrust groups. I know my model's thrust
group (9).

Upon reflection, I thought it was a bit comical for me to get stressed
about matched thrust groups since my initial "wild newbie" flying
resulted in handfuls of shattered props - a few minutes of uncontrolled
flight and I'd have to replace all of them. I thought about the
hardworking Snelflight technician that dutifully measured the prop
thrust, only to have me shatter it in less time than it was probably
tested. I wonder how concerned Pete Townsend was about the guitar he
was just going to smash at the end of the show anyway? 8-)

My frequent prop replacement is no fault of the Hoverfly, in fact, it's
a testament to it's overall robust nature. I could dramatically crash
it sideways into a wall (no wall damage), reposition any components as
necessary, replace the shattered props, double check everything, and be
back into the air in a few minutes. Surprisingly, the GWS props are
fairly well matched and balanced. I was worried that I'd have to sort
them by their own "thrust groups". In fact, I purchased a GWS
motor/prop set that I was going to mount to a make-shift weighted
pendulum to measure the individual relative prop thrust. It hasn't
been necessary. I'm getting better at hovering so I'm spending much
more time in the air now than time replacing props. Still, with all
the abuse my poor Hoverfly is taking it seems like something else has
just got to break ... but it hasn't yet. When something else does
break, or when I've mastered control of it, I'll order more props from
Snelflight since I'd expect that they are superior to my drilled out
GWS props.

I contrast my learning experience to some friends learning to fly other
helicopters who go to an outdoor field, fly for a couple of minutes,
crash, pick up all the pieces, go home, order replacement parts, and
wait until they can get into the air again for a few minutes. I won't
be too judgemental though since I haven't tried outdoor flying yet.
After mastering the Hoverfly, I'll progress to an outdoor electric
powered model. I think even then I'll still be flying the Hoverfly for
fun.

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chinlin0924 - 30 May 2006 11:48 GMT

they are out of sale (hoverfly). any website selling the products?

--
chinlin092

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rickhg12hs - 31 May 2006 15:05 GMT

> they are out of sale (hoverfly). any website selling the products?
> :(

Their website:

http://www.snelflight.co.uk/index2.htm

says...

> Shop is Shut! Due to relocation
> We hope to be back online by the 9th of June.

Hopefully this is accurate and you can purchase in June.

(Too bad customers have to feel some of the moving pains.)

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Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Helicopters / May 2006

Learning to Hover with the Hoverfly