Big lama

BillyFra56 · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 7:09 am Post subject: Big lama

Can anyone tell me if the big lama flys any faster than the dophin? I have a dophin and it seems to be very slow. I just assumed that it was supposed to be slow since it is a beginner model. I would like to have something a little faster. But not ready for an advanced heli yet.

pjdog · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 7:39 am Post subject:

I've got a Big Lama and it is also slow. I think all helicopters of that type are slow. They are super stable and very slow. Co-axial.

One of the more experienced Heli pilots will be along soon and provide more help.

Jack

BillyFra56 · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 8:57 pm Post subject: Dophin

I have decided that too. Thanks for the reply.

prof_fate · Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 10:29 pm Post subject:

you can speed them up - brushless motors, remove some flybar weight., move the batt forward. google some and you'll find all the info.

tombo242 · Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 4:32 am Post subject:

Hi Prof,

That sounds like a recipe for inter-blade strikes. Moving the C/G forward requires +ve elevator to hover and a lot of +ve elevator to stop a forward movement. That's when the inter-blade strikes occur in sudden direction changes. If a heli will not hover at center cyclic, then there is something wrong with the setup and your battery suggestion upsets the CG balance.

Reducing flybar weight will certainly increase both activity and inter-blade strikes. The more you try to speed the co-ax up the bigger the risk of avoidable crashes.

If you want speed get a heli designed to go fast. A T-rex 450 would be good, NOT a big Lama.

prof_fate · Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:16 pm Post subject:

getting an extended inner shaft fixes the blades strike issue and some say less flybar weight helps as well.

moving the cg forward actually improves the balance - seems everyone's big lama flies backwards much better (faster) than forwards. Fly it outside in some wind and you need better forward motion than you get stock.

tombo242 · Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 1:08 am Post subject:

Hi Prof,

Agreed an extended inner shaft would reduce the blade strike chances. Lightening the flybar will increase reaction speed but not extend the limits of the controls. That means it will tilt forwards faster but not any further so forward speed will not increase.

If it flys faster backwards than forwards then someone does not know how to set up the CG in the correct position. If you are tuning for maximum forward speed you must expect to loose some hovering stability.

Tom.

prof_fate · Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 3:04 am Post subject:

If you're tuning for max speed you may have the skills to hover well, or not care much about it.
The improved performance mods are for better flight characteristics in windy conditions - hovering stability isn't the point, not getting blow backwards is.

tombo242 · Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 6:18 am Post subject:

If you can't hover, you can't land. Using the wind to fly into still requires a good setup to land vertically. (Unless you've fitted wheels that is.)

Tom.

platinum · Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 6:15 am Post subject:

Hi BillyFra56
I also fly two Big lama. They slow and not good for the wind (even in the weak wind). Now I have more two single rotor heli but still the fixed pitch the Kestrell 500 SX and Syma 9104 (Mod to 4 ch). So a litlle bit better for outdoor flying. But I still fly the Big lama in clam day.
Thanks for all interesting posts.

platinum

firedude52 · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:40 am Post subject:

Actually both my Big Lama and E500 are pretty quick. We rarely have calm winds on the beach. We usually have at the very least 1-3 mph breeze. What I've done is some creative swash leveling and trim. I can fly into a headwind of 1-2 mph without any effort. One ship has the battery mod the other doesn't. Tom is right if you can't hover you can't land lol, but in my case with my creative swash leveling and trim set up I know on lift off I need a tad aft stick. Same thing when I pull into a hover and can hover all day like that.

I fly with the sticks. I fly the heli and don't let it fly me. While I can fly easily in a 3 mph breeze it of course is not ideal as calm winds, but I had to get creative here in order to fly and so far has worked out well.

We often hear and I see in every review about blades strikes as well. These heli's are not designed nor meant to be flown aggressively like a FP or CP. Just won't happen by nature of design. They are meant to be flown in an easy slow sport type flying. In over a year I've only encountered ONE in flight blade strike and that was pilot induced to to poor judgement. It was either a concrete wall of abrupt turn resulting in blade strike and tumbling into grass with a bent inner shaft. If anyone plans to fly the BL's aggressively they had better stock up on blades, fly bars and shafts at the very minimum Wink

spoonerrw · Hopping Maniac Joined: 03 Jul 2012 Posts: 29

as FD and Tombo has stated above... a co-axial by design is just not meant for fast or agressive flying. yes, there are things you can do to make them move faster, and both my BL and E500 are pretty quick as well for what they are. much like FD... a bit of forward tilt on the swash making its center hover a few clicks or so aft helps a little, but is more for me to have a bit of additional forward movement in case i get caught in a breeze. i dont use battery forward mods, so this is very useful in that respect. i also switched the servo horns on both heli's to longer ones, used the outer most holes, while using the long balls on the swash. this has given it more throw resulting in better speed, as well as a bit quicker handling, but the balance is unchanged, and its ability to hover stable is still there. the extended shaft helps to "reduce" blade strikes, but doesnt claim to "eliminate" them, but is a necessary upgrade. while there are things you can do to improve their speed and ability... they are still co-axials and just are not intended to be flown like a FP or CP as stated above.