I have bought my first Walkera #4 two years ago, so I'm very familiar with this helicopter. Walkera made some changes with this new Walkera #4 metal version compared to to first model. Overall it looks great, as specially the metal rotor head and new canopy. I'm sure that this little fixed pitch helicopter will give anyone hours and hours of fun just like the older version.

The Walkera #4 helicopter is simplicity at its best. Everything about this helicopter is uncomplicated, and that's why it is such a nice helicopter to own and fly. The plastic fixed pitch main rotor blades are strong, and generate lots of lift with low rotor head speed. Two plastic paddles with aluminum weights are secured with screws to the graphite flybar. The main rotor blade holders, rotor head and swashplate are all metal, so this is a great improvement of the older Walkera #4 which had a plastic rotor head.

Two micro servos are connected to the 90º red and blue anodized aluminum swash. One servo controls elevator inputs, and the other servo aileron inputs. The main rotor shaft runs on two ball bearings that are situated inside the plastic mainframe. A brushed main motor drives the plastic main gear with a metal pinion gear. The four channel 2.4 GHz receiver is situated in front of the main motor. Servo extend and gyro sensitivity can be adjusted on receiver with the supplied plastic tool.

The 7.4V 800 mAh LiPo battery is situated below the receiver inside a plastic tray. The battery tray is connected to a glass fiber plate that runs between the main frame and landing skids. This forward position of the LiPo battery ensures for a perfect center of gravity, so you don't need to move the battery around. I really like the strong plastic landing skids with aluminum tubing. They will handle hard landings with ease, which makes the Walkera #4 a perfect helicopter for training.

The tail boom is made from a stiff round graphite rod to cancel out any tail vibrations during flight. A powerful tail motor with strong magnets drives the tail rotor through reduction gears, and gives the tail rotor plenty of power with rudder inputs. A newly designed plastic canopy gives the Walkera #4 a new sleeker look, and fits tightly to the helicopter.

The supplied LiPo charger output charge rate is 0.80A, and will take about 50 minutes to fully charge the 800mAh LiPo battery. A flashing red light indicates that the LiPo battery is busy charging, and a solid green light indicates that the LiPo battery is fully charged.

The 2.4G transmitter allows the transmitter to bind to the helicopter receiver with precise code pairing and strong anti-jamming (no more worries about interference while flying). The transmitter needs eight AA batteries to operate. Batteries for the transmitter are not supplied with the Walkera #4 helicopter kit, and should be bought additional.

• WK-2401 four channel transmitter
• Walkera #4 helicopter
• One 7.4V 800mAh LiPo Battery
• Plastic screw driver for adjusting servo extend and gyro sensitivity
• LiPo battery charger
• Walkera #4 English And Chinese Manual
• Simulator Cable
 

• 8 AA batteries for the transmitter
 

Although the Walkera #4 is a ready to fly out of the box helicopter, no setup is needed, but you have to do the following adjustments and checks before your first flight.

• The main rotor blades need to be set really tight in the blade holders, otherwise the helicopter will start
  shaking just before it gets airborne. Use a screwdriver to tighten the rotor blades.

• Make sure that the tail rotor gear is perfectly in lined with the tail motor pinion gear.

Click Here To Buy The Walkera #4 2.4GHz Metal Edition Spare Parts

Read the manual carefully before your first flight, and make sure that all batteries are fully charged. The default factory settings ensures for a docile flying Walkera #4 straight out of the box. These settings are for beginners in mind with no prior flying experience. The gyro sensitivity and servo extend can be adjusted if needed. For faster pirouette speed with rudder application, the gyro sensitivity need to be turn less sensitive, and for faster cyclic response with elevator and aileron application, the servo extend need to be turned up (+).

Because the main rotor blades are set tight, you have to make sure that they are aligned straight before flight. At 50% throttle, the Walkera #4 will start to hover. I'm always amazed at the low main rotor head speed during flight. I have set my servo extend to the maximum travel for fast cyclic response, and gyro sensitivity at 50%. These settings makes the Walkera #4 a very nice responsive little helicopter, but if it is your first helicopter, rather try to fly it first with the factory default settings.

The build in gyro works very well for the whole duration of the flight. Pirouette speed left and right is equally fast, and makes the rudder very effective. Transition in to forward flight is very good. At first I thought that the Walkera #4 is a bit underpowered, but the main rotor blades are so effective that the helicopter will sustain forward flight and level turns at 60% throttle. A little bit of forward trim makes the Walkera #4 a very nice helicopter in forward flight.

I did several timed flights, and the average flight time on the 800mAh LiPo battery is 12 minutes. Not bad for such a small LiPo. This new Walkera #4 metal version flies just as well as the first Walkera #4, and I'm sure that it will gain popularity amongst R/C helicopter pilots all over the world.

If you are looking for a helicopter to fill the gap between co-axial and collective pitch helicopters, the fixed pitch Walkera #4 will do the job perfectly. Overall the Walkera #4 is a great looking helicopter, flies well, and I can highly recommend this product from Walkera. Happy Flying...