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Impossibly small.
That's the first thing that sprang to mind unboxing the 4#3B. The next thing I noted was the (for Walkera) improvements in overall build quality - this is a great sign that lessons are being learned and improvements are ongoing.
The component fit and workmanship puts my old (and impossibly hard to fly) Walkera 22E to utter shame. The old days of poor performance and hours and hours of work are long gone.
The skids are spring steel making them remarkably strong. Unlike a lot of prior Walkera models, tending to sport weak aluminium and plastic skids, these are built tough and take a rough landing. They'll bend on a solid strike and will bend right back afterwards.
This is probably not a model for absolute beginners. I'll say that right now. If your a newbie, this really is a bit nimble and will be a bit frustrating. But, if you've flown a counter-rotating 4 chan, or one of the 2 and a half channel tiny PiccoZ's (or a clone) and have mastered the art of minor course corrections (i.e. less control is more) then you'll have no trouble with the 4#3B.
Like any traditional heli, it really needs fine tuning to bed down stability. Pay very close attention to the servo arms, I found that ex-factory it was crabbing badly to the left - you'll also find the main rotor's motor torque is considerable (the rotor head speed is pretty high) and it will take a few test 'hops' to stabilise.
It climbs very quickly if you apply too much throttle. Airborne RC shipped the heli with the throttle adjustment all the way down, and for the first few flights I recommend leaving it there.
By the third test flight, I was able to hand launch and have the 4#3B pretty much hover with almost no stick input. This thing is very very fast to respond, the metal head is very authoritative and snaps to attention, so it only requires very minor stick to move around, it picks up speed rapidly and fast-forward flight is very fast forward!
The only downside is that the battery pack can move around a little in it's holster, there is nothing to hold it in place apart from the battery connector. I'm sure a small amount of cellulose tape along the top would help 'grip' the holder a bit better.
All in all an awesome little heli that will have you grinning from ear to ear after your first flight - and is challenging enough that it'll remain a fun fly.
Rating:  [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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Airborne RC Hobby Supplies » RC Helicopters » DF4#3B24G » Reviews
