E-Sky Honeybee King V3
Length 550 mm
Height 200 mm
Main blade diameter 600 mm
Tail blade diameter 130 mm
Motor gear 10T
Main gear 140T
Weight excl. battery 390 gram
Motor 400 Brushless
ESC 25A
Battery 1500 mAh - 1800 mAh
Gyro head lock
I purchased a King because of the low cost. Sinds I'm learning to fly a CP heli it is likely I'm going to crash.
The replecement parts are cheap and common. You can buy them almost anywhere. You get much value for your money,
because everthing you need is there. The quality however is less in example with a Align T-Rex. But you must take
in consideration that a T-rex is twice the amount of money without a transmitter.
There is going to get slop into the steering. This however can easily be fixed with cheap spare parts. The downside
is that you always have slop or likly to get slop in the steering. Some people say on different forums that the King
isn't a nice CP heli to begin with. It is light and very agile and sensitive on your steering input. Some people say
if you can fly a King you can fly everything.
I'm first using the stock transmitter for now. It has its downside because there is nothing you can change. The pitch and
throttle curve is preset. For now it will do. After that I'm planning to use my own transmitter the MX-12.
With my own transmitter I can program the heli. This gives me adjustable pitch an throttle curves. Also expo and so on.
After charging the battery I started to hover for the first time in the backyard. But only after two battery charges the
belt started to wear? I have checked everything but not the belt tension. This was to tight and causes the belt to wear.
The belt had to be replaced. This isn't a difficult job. Only for one thing though. The pin in the belt pully.
Not easy... After this I went on hovering. I even attempt for nose-in hovering. I decided to keep the heli low so I can
land quickly if things go wrong. It went pretty good for a few second with no crasshes.
I have noticed when you want to lift up from the grass the vertical tail fin hooks into the grass.
I have fixed this to cut and sand down the little hook on the bottom of the fin.
I also find the rudder control way to aggresive. When you steer only a few milimeters with your transmitter the tail moves
to quick. I have changed the control rod on the servo arm. This will help but not enough. The only thing to do now is to
change the transmitter for mine own one.
After several batterypacks practice hovering in the backyard things got better. I was able to take off nose-in,
hovering nose-in and fly a little nose-in. I now can pirouette 360 degrees both ways and I think I'm almost ready for my
next step to fly around. I'm waiting for less windy conditions.
Didn't wait for the wind to calm down and still went on hovering in the backyard. Not that smart though. After a pirouette the heli drifted off and came on his side on the grass.
One rotorblade tip got damaged because of this. And later I discovered that the flybar was a little bent. Bent it back into almost a straight line and screwed it back on the King.
A couple off days later the wind was much more calm and I went on practice hovering in the backyard.
After upgrading my transmitter with a DIY Corona 2,4 GHz module I fitted te receiver in the King. I did have to change the throttle from
normal to reverse. This way the pitch moved the right direction. One disadvantage the curve adjustment is also inverted.
I programmed the upper movement of the throttle stick the same as in Idle up. There is no different flying characteristic when you switch to Idle up.
I'm now tweaking the throttle curve to suit my needs.
The basic E-sky Gyro wasn't easy for me. It still isn't 100%. When I switch to HH mode the tail sweeps out so now and then. After changing
the gain in normal mode the tail holds better. It now sometimes sweeps out but not as far as before. It turned 90-180 degrees and now only a few centimeters.
The benefit in useing my programmable transmitter is that every thing can be adjusted. Expo, Dual rate, pitch curve normal and Idle up,
throttle curve normal and Idle up. Reverse servo's, endpoints, subtrim, etc.
The ESC setting changed after switching to my one transmitter? It was now on brake. Not so good for a heli, but how to fix this? There
is no explanation in the manual.
To change the ESC for no-braking handle as follows:
1. Move the throttle stick al the way up. Be sure that you use maximum endpoints and full up trim.
2. Connect the battery and wait a few seconds.
3. The motor starts to make little beeps and twitche a little.
4. Move the throttle stick before the beeps stop al the way down.
5. The engine ends with the normal activation sounds.
6. Unplug the battery.
7. Connect the battery and listen to the beeps:
BI-BI-BI means no brake (this is what we want);
BIBI-BI-BI means brake is on ( not desirable for a heli).
I was time to fly in some larger area. It was a bid windy so I kept it by one battery. I have reduced my swash mix to 57%. With
this the heli isn't that agile anymore so I can keep track of it. When or if I get better I will cranck it up some. The wind suprised
me sometimes but no crashess.
Throttle curve
For now I have a docile curve which doesn't get me into trouble:
Normal 0-INH-50-INH-70
Stunt 70-INH-50-INH-70
Downside in normal mode is to get the heli down when there is some wind. The best solution is to switch to idle-up. This
gives you full negative with power from the brushless motor. I'm not used to Idle-up yet so I'm in between.
Data sheet
To use throttle curves and so on you can't without a programmable transmitter. When tweaking with the settings it is easy to
forget your first settings. It is easier to write it down in a Data-Sheet.
Download your Data-Sheet for free and keep track of your settings:
Conclusion Esky King V3 IMO
The complete package and good looks of the heli make me buy the helicopter. You get everything you need to start flying for not to much money.
However...
After several flights there is already slop in the tail and head from the helicopter. I find this annoying because
you have to steer through to slop before the helicopter responds.
Even the electronic isn't all that. The servo's are o.k. so far but the gyro is really a pain in the .....
I never got it right with it. So I didn't enjoy working and flying with the King anymore.
I think after this journey it is better to buy a bid more quality. It cost more but in the long run you are better of.
I don't have the Esky King V3 anymore and I'm o.k. with it.
The next time I want to buy a 450 size helicopter I'm going for a real brand and check to forums for comments.
