Walkera Flying Boat: Got one for Chrimbo!

[Gruntfuggly]

Well I dropped a few hints to the missus, and lo and behold I got one for christmas - one of those flying boat things that you can see in the video here:

http://www.flyingpowerboat.com/?aff=goog1

This is the auction showing what is actually included:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...item=6018043910

The first surprise was that it actually arrived - I'm always slightly wary of some of the overseas sellers (shipping to the UK), especially when there is a fair bit of money involved, but apparently the seller even agreed to make sure it arrived before christmas.

The whole thing is pretty well packed into the box - the contents of which are:

* 6 channel transmitter - feels quite decent, but I don't know much about radio gear

* The boat/plane itself

* Spare parts (nearly all of them)

* Li-Ion (I think - even though it is advertised as Lithium-Polymer) battery pack

* Battery charger

* 240v adaptor

The boat/plane is almost completely assembled - the tiny servos, receiver, ESC and brushless motor are all already mounted. All you have to do is plug the battery in and put the cover on and you are away.

The left stick controls throttle and rudder, the right stick does the ailerons for either together (up/down) for pitch or opposite (left right) for roll.

So far, I've 'driven' it around the garden a bit, but it obviously needs more space than I have in the garden - it's pretty fast. I haven't taken it off the ground yet either.

I'll post more details when I've given it another go...

[XanderP]

WOW! That thing looks like so much fun, I bet it'll take a while to learn how to fly it like they do in the videos.

[richytanimal]

Definitely keep us up to date on it please[] thinking of getting one myself[<)]

[Gruntfuggly]

Well I've hit the first problem. I was messing about in the living room when I accidently knocked the throttle and the thing shot off across the room and hit the dog (she was suprised to say the least) and it seems that the pinion has become detatched from the motor spindle. It looks like it was only ever glued on and is retained by a brass collar. I need to somehow get the collar off - haven't tried yet, but I guess I'll have to knock it off with a hammer or something...

[MikeT]

Hahahaah, Sounds GREAT!

As for the pinion, when you have removed the collar ( sorry, no idea how do remove it ) i would drill a 2mm hole in the pinion, follewed by a 3mm tap, then use a grub screw to secure the pinion on in future!

Thanks

Mike