Walkera #52 discussion/review

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.