Sky Copter woes...

Author
Discussion

Hard-Drive

Original Poster:

4,147 posts

236 months

Monday 28th January 2008
quotequote all
I bought a "sky copter" indoor r/c chopper in the USA last week and had loads of fun whizzing it round my hotel room (look, it was cheaper than hotel porn, anyway!)

However I've now brought it back to the UK and it just wont fly. As soon as it takes off it just yaws madly to the left and spins and crashes. It's as if the anti-torque rotor is not going fast enough...it it turning and if I go left/right on the stick I can hear a change the tail rotors pitch (pitch as in note, not proper pitch obviously!).

I'm gutted as it seemed really good, but I have no idea how to fix the thing, and taking it back is not an option.

Any ideas?

It's this one...


jimmyjimjim

7,540 posts

245 months

Monday 28th January 2008
quotequote all
Funnily enough, I have almost exactly the same helicopter, with almost exactly the same problem, but mine was a christmas present given to me in the UK, and now I'm back in the US!
No idea what to do about it either.

KillerJim

970 posts

210 months

Monday 28th January 2008
quotequote all
I bought mine locally but its got exactly the same problem (infact we got 2 and both are terrible)

They are just uncontrollable (and I spent hours trying to figure out how to make it go!)

telecat

8,528 posts

248 months

Monday 28th January 2008
quotequote all
Could it be interference on the radio control??? US and UK frequencies for them do tend to be different.

jimmyjimjim

7,540 posts

245 months

Monday 28th January 2008
quotequote all
See the little red dome on top of the controller? That'll be the IR transmitter! wink

telecat

8,528 posts

248 months

Tuesday 29th January 2008
quotequote all
Then check any remote controls in the house!!

jimmyjimjim

7,540 posts

245 months

Tuesday 29th January 2008
quotequote all
I did! I even wondered if it might be something daft like interference from fluorescent lights but no, nothing running at the time or since. It feels like it has been over trimmed in one direction and now cannot trim back the over way.
As the trim is electronic and simply controls the speed of the tail rotor (not pitch or anything sophisticated), I can't see why this would be the case.

DIW35

4,160 posts

207 months

Tuesday 29th January 2008
quotequote all
Try giving the tail rotor fins a twist to give you more/less pitch (as required) to correct the excessive yaw you are experiencing. Be gentle though, as they can break off.

Roop

6,012 posts

291 months

Tuesday 29th January 2008
quotequote all
Check there's no fluff round the tail rotor shaft. Could try a dab of WD-40 or similar on the tail motor as well.

Also, if it's had a few bashes, the tail rotor shaft can bend ever so slightly. This puts load on the motor and slowly it begins to fail.

philbes

4,505 posts

241 months

Tuesday 29th January 2008
quotequote all
Roop said:
Check there's no fluff round the tail rotor shaft. Could try a dab of WD-40 or similar on the tail motor as well.

Also, if it's had a few bashes, the tail rotor shaft can bend ever so slightly. This puts load on the motor and slowly it begins to fail.
Mine regularly has this problem and so far it has always been fine threads from the carpet caught around the tail-rotor shaft. Difficult to see the threads but they slow the tail rotor sufficiently to make the little beast uncontrollable. A few seconds with a pair of tweezers solves the problem.

Hard-Drive

Original Poster:

4,147 posts

236 months

Tuesday 29th January 2008
quotequote all
Nope, can't see any fluff on the rotor, but I will try a quick blast of WD40 just in case.

Just gutted, when it was working it was superb and really controllable.

Messer

127 posts

205 months

Wednesday 30th January 2008
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Could it be that the tail boom needs twisting slightly if the tail blade is slightly out of align?

fflyingdog

621 posts

246 months

Thursday 24th July 2008
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Yep had the same problem,it was the tail rotor just bend the blades the way they should be (use a hair dryer to warm them first that way when they cool they remain in trim,)

_Al_

5,594 posts

265 months

Monday 28th July 2008
quotequote all
When one of my Sky Challenger did this it was a broken link in one of the blades. Does anyone know if it's possible to get spares for these things? Seems a shame to throw them both away.

motormania

1,143 posts

260 months

Tuesday 29th July 2008
quotequote all
First things first.

This is a very basic 2 channel helicopter, it will never fly with the grace and control of a fully functional 4 channel one.

However, we've been flying these in the office for well over 12 months now and not a problem with them. What you will notice under the right hand control stick on the transmitter is a trim button which you will always need to use as to adjust the tail rotor's trim. When these thingscrash land the slightest damage can make them very unstable.

However when fully charged up, just adjust the trim when you start up and you'll find they then fly fine, within the limits of a 2 channel model.

They are very robust to a point - we have mid-air fights and they can withstand several hits from another one - great fun.