Heliguy Forum - RC heli forum

There have been many posts with beginners asking which CP helicopter to buy or what upgrades they should apply. Here's my take on the subject;

The Honeybee King 2 is a good helicopter and a much better value than a Blade CP. The King 2 also has the advantage of belt drive tail and separate electronics so upgrades are pretty easy. Parts are also readily available and inexpensive. The King 2 can be purchased for about $200 delivered BUT, you will spend more to get into this hobby. Here's a breakdown;

Essential Upgrades:

1. Brushless Motor and ESC - This is a given as the stock motor is garbage and will die very soon after purchase. An Esky 3900kv motor, 25A ESC and 10T pinion will set you back abou $60.00. You can also spend more but the combo above works well and is used by many people.

2. Xtreme 43T Pully and Belt - This is essential if you ever want to have decent tail control. This can be bought for about $15.00.

3. Servo's - The stock servo's are not bad but better servo's like the HXT900's can be bought for under $4.00 and spare gear sets for $0.99 so it's a really low cost improvement. Start with the tail servo when you apply the 43T pully, the cyclic servo's could wait until the first one dies.

4. Better and Spare batteries - A second battery is essential, waiting hours between flights does nothing to help the learning process. Batteries can cost from $15.00 and up. There are many good posts about battery choices. I opted for two 1500mAH which give me > 10 minutes each of flight by which time I'm ready for a break!

Optional Upgrades:

1. CNC Parts - I think the best CNC parts to upgrade would be the swashplate (stock is not very precise) and the washout base (stock one breaks easily). In my case I went for a full head and tail set that I bought for $70.00 because I got tired of spending hours in teardown and setup for a $5.00 part. There are also expensive parts by MicroHeli and others ... see my comments at the end regarding these.

2. Heading Hold Gyro - If you plan to do 3D flying, this is a must but most flyers will never do 3D because the crash risk is too high. The stock gyro does a reasonable job but does take more work, this really helps with your skill level though.

3. Radio System - While the stock radio system has it's limitations, it works well for most flyers and does allow for some 3D flight. The DX6i and 6EX are nice but at ~$200 .. well, see my end comments.

4. CF Parts - For most back yard flyers, these parts won't add much to the experience other than draining your wallet. CF Frame $70.00, Main Blades $25.00, Tail Blades $15.00, Tail Boom $10.00 (I bought this only because my supplier was out of the stock booms)

5. Fibreglass Canopies - Pure Bling.

Must Have Spares - Main Blades, Tail Blades, Flybar, Main Shaft, Feathering Shaft, Main Gear, Linkage Set, Hardware Kits, washout base (if plastic). Expect to spend about $60.00.

Nice To Have Spares - Skids, Belt, Canopy, Rotor Head (if plastic), swashplate (if plastic), servo, tail booms, knightheads, stabilizer's. Add another $70.00.

So in conclusion, expect to spend at least $360.00 on this hobby, I have about $400 in the helicopter with another $100 in spares. Much more than this is really not worth spending on this helicopter, a 2.4Ghz Radio system and costly gyro and CF parts are better applied to a T-Rex or Raptor.

Please don't get me wrong, I love my King and have had lots of fun with it but if I had known the real cost of the King 2 I would have just bought a T-Rex and gotten a better chopper for not much more of an investment.

Hope this is helpful, comments welcome!
Glen
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GEHALL63
HBK2
3900KV / 25A Esky ESC
HXT900's, GY400 Gyro
Full CNC Upgrade, CF Tail Boom
Xtreme 43T Pulley, AR Bracket, Frame Stiffener & Angled Battery Tray.
Lama V4 w' Xtreme inner shaft & blades.
Futaba T6EXHP for both.