The Walkera #52 helicopter is a very enjoyable little helicopter
to fly.
Definitely not a beginners helicopter. This palm size 3D capable
helicopter
is very twitchy to fly, but if you set it up correctly you will
have lots of fun.
The Walkera #52 is also a RTF kit, so you only need 8 AA
batteries for the transmitter and to charge the helicopters LiPo battery to get it
in the air.
Many people will find that the setup for the Walkera #52 is a
total nightmare.
I will give you my setup settings, but keep in mind that if may
differ from
helicopter to helicopter, and that my settings are for upgraded
brushless motor
helicopters.
I found that the factory supplied 270 mAh LiPo battery gives you
only about 4
minutes of flight time and that the main motor is not that
powerful. That’s why
I did the brushless motor upgrade. With the brushless motor and
460 mAh LiPo battery, I get about 9 minutes of flight time.
What you need for
upgrade
My choice of brushless motor :
Feigao from HiModel
Speed controller: 12A ESC from HiModel
450mAh HiModel LiPo battery
One pair of micro Dean plugs
Heat shrink sleeves for the wires that need to be soldered.
Cable ties.
How to install
brushless motor and ESC
First remove the main rotor blades
to make it easier to work
on your helicopter.
Remove the skids and battery holder from the helicopter.
Pull the canopy’s carbon fibre shaft, in front of the motor, out so
that
you have access to the two little screws from the top. Unscrew
them
so that you be able to remove the motor. Unplug the motor from
the receiver.
Unscrew the two motor screws from the bottom. Now you would be
able to remove
the brush motor. Remove the pinion gear from the brush motor
(use a pinion gear
puller so that you don’t damage the pinion gear). I’m using the
same pinion gear
on the Feigao brushless motor with no hassles.
TIP:
If you didn’t get two screws with your new Feigao brushless
motor,
take the brushless motor to your nearest Optometrist and get two
screws from
glasses that will screw into the motor. Take care that the
screws aren’t to long, so that they don't damage the inside of the motor when you
install the motor to the
helicopter. You also need two small washers for the motor
screws.
If the pinion gear doesn't fit tight on the shaft of the Feigao
motor, use locktite, but
make sure that the pinion gear will mesh correctly with the main
gear of the helicopter before locktite is applied. So far my
pinion gear that I have fixed in position with locktite hasn't gave me any problems.
You will find that you need to file the hole in the aluminium plate of the motor mount a bit
larger so that the brushless motor can fit perfectly. Fit the
motor so that the pinion
gear doesn’t mesh to tight with the main gear. Don’t forget the
washers when fitting the motor.
Now that the motor is fitted, you can screw the canopy carbon
fibre rod mount
back on. You can also screw the skids back on, but leave the
battery holder because you are not going to use it anymore.
Lets do the electrical
part
If you look at your receiver you will find that the wires that
connects to the
battery are white and pink. Cut the plug off with a cutter and
solder the micro Dean plug onto the receiver. Don’t forget the
heat shrink sleeves to prevent a shortcut.
The white wire is the negative and the pink wire is the
positive.
Now you can solder the Dean plug onto the Kokam LiPo battery.
Don’t forget the
heat shrink sleeves and make sure that the polarities of the
wires are correct. White on white, and pink on red.
Take the old brush motor and desolder the red and black wires, because you are going to need the plug. When that
is done,
you can move to the speed controller.
If you look at the speed controller, you will see two wires (
red and black ). Solder the plug that you have removed from the
old brush motor to these two wires. Again,
don’t forget the heat shrink sleeves and make sure that the
polarities of the wires are correct. This plug will be plugged
into the receivers motor port.
Now you can connect the signal wire (orange, red and brown ) plug
of the speed controller into the receivers throttle port. Make
sure that the brown wire is closest to the motor. This will be
the correct way for the plug.
To connect the three yellow wires of the speed controller to the
Feigao motor, you must firstly make sure that the direction of
the motor is correct. Connect the three yellow speed controller
wires with the three black wires of the Feigao motor by hand.
Make sure that they will not short. Switch on the transmitter
and make sure that the throttle is in the closed position.
Connect the Kokam LiPo battery to the receiver. Give the speed
controller chance to finish with its beeps, and then advance the
throttle forward. The motor will start turning. If the direction
is wrong, switch only two of the wires around. Unplug the
battery from the receiver. Now that the direction is sorted out,
you can start soldering the wires. Again, don’t forget the heat
shrink sleeves.
Take some double sided tape and tape the speed controller to the
top of the receiver.
Now you can neatly bind all the wires together over the receiver
with one cable tie.
Put the main rotor blades back on.
Congratulations, you have just upgraded you Walkera #52 with the
brushless motor conversion.
Setup off the transmitter
By now you must have noticed that the Walkera #52 transmitter is
quite confusing to setup. I’m going to give you my settings that I’m
flying my Walkera #52 on. Keep in mind that the settings are for the
helicopters with the brushless conversion.
You can try these settings on the
standard
Walkera #52, but I’m not sure how it’s going to fly.
Keep the DIP switches on the back of the transmitter the same as the
Factory Default Settings. The only switches that you will change are
the No.10, No.11 and No.12 DIP switch, and that will only be with
the programming of the transmitter.
You will notice that the V1 and V2 knobs
on the front of the transmitter can be turned negative or positive
from zero in 20 % intervals. For the setup, the transmitter must
be set in the normal mode, and the throttle in the closed position.
Lets start the programming.
No.10 DIP
Turn the transmitter ON.
Connect the battery to the helicopter.
Wait for the ESC to complete all the beeps.
Turn the transmitter around and switch the No.10 DIP switch to the
ON position.
Adjust the V2 knob to - 60%.
Adjust the V1 knob to + 60%.
Turn the transmitter around and switch the No.10 DIP switch to the
OFF position.
No.11 DIP
Turn the No.11 DIP switch to the ON position.
Adjust the V2 knob to + 80%.
Adjust the V1 knob to 0 %.
Turn the No.11 DIP switch to the OFF position.
No.12 DIP
Turn the No.12 DIP switch to the ON position.
Adjust the V2 knob to + 50%.
Adjust the V1 knob to - 10 %.
Keep the No.12 DIP in the ON position.
Unplug the helicopters battery and turn the transmitter Off.
The programming is complete.
By now you are wondering why the No.12 DIP must be kept in the ON
position. I have found that the transmitter doesn’t keep the rudder
trim setting after I have done the brushless conversion. The way to
overcome this is by leaving the No.12 DIP switch in the ON position.
You have to follow the following sequence to have a nice flight with
the Walkera #52, otherwise you will have to give lots of right
rudder during flight.
With the transmitter in the OFF position, put the rudder trim full
left. Turn the transmitter ON. Connect the battery to the
helicopter. While the ESC is busy beeping, move the rudder trim to
the neutral position. Now the helicopter is ready to fly.
Unfortunately you have to go through this sequence for every new
flight.
If anyone knows of a way for the
transmitter to keep the rudder trim setting, please e-mail me your
solution.
Setup for the helicopter
I found that the main rotor blades must be quite tight for a nice
smooth flight.
Make sure that the centre of gravity is correct.
My Walkera #52 was a bit tail heavy, so I had to glue some
weight to the inside of the canopies nose.
Use Velcro to attached the battery to the helicopter.
Check that the blade tracking is correct.
Main rotor blades
You will find that the original main rotor blades are very sensitive to any
mild crashes. I have build my own rotor blades from
hard balsa wood. Not only are they much stronger, but they are also
lighter. I covered them with solar film. If you look at the video
clips you will see that I have crashed my Walkera #52, but we did
three flights after the crash. The balsa wood rotor blades can
really take some punishment.
My reason to buy the
Walkera #52
The Walkera #52 is a nice indoor and outdoor helicopter in light
winds.
It is 3D capable, but also nice to fly in the normal mode.
With the brushless motor upgrade, the Walkera #52 got lots of power.
The parts are easily obtainable and available.
The Walkera #52 is quite crash resistant although it looks a bit
flimsy.
Transition into forward flight is really good.
If you are looking for a really small helicopter, this one is for
you…
Here
I'm flying my Walkera #52 after I did the brushless motor
conversion. I haven't tried any 3D manoeuvres yet, but a friend
of mine has looped and rolled his Walkera #52. We did the
brushless conversions at the same time.
The Walkera #52 is really a
small little helicopter. I have painted my canopy white and
black, and also added a vertical and horizontal stabilizer. I
think it's more for the look than any aerodynamic effect.
This is the
HiModel 11.1 V
(450mAh) LiPo battery that I use. I have used many different
brands of LiPo's, and I find that HiModel's LiPo battery to be
of high quality.
Make use of a cable tie to bind
everything neatly together. Notice the ESC on top of the receiver.
My Walkera #52 fly like a dream with
the HiModel 460mAh /
11.1V 15C Li-poly Battery Pack w/Balancer and a 12A HiModel
Brushless ESC. Absolutely worth while to do a brushless upgrade.
If you are interested in making you own
main rotor blades for the Walkers #52.