Foreword

I have owned an E-Sky Honey Bee King v2 for about 2 months now and man did I start off on the wrong foot. The first day I owned it I accidentally hit the idle-up switch and things got exciting fast! Luckily I wasn't hurt but the event broke a few small plastic pieces and gave me a quick lesson in respecting the small one pound heli. Not long after I had another mishap involving the stock ESC and that was enough for me. If I was going to really DO this hobby, I was going to need to get some quality components. So I ordered a Futaba 6EX, Futaba GY240 gyro and all new servos. Man was I excited. Then I got everything and it dawned on me that although I could physically install all the parts, I had no idea how to set up my heli correctly. That's where the RunRyder.com forum came to my rescue. I learned how everything worked and how to correctly set up my heli from the ground up. Now I can setup my heli in my sleep and I am so grateful to the guys on RunRyder for that, thanks guys!

My vision for this how-to

My vision for this how-to is simple. Give a newbie heli pilot the information needed to mechanically set up a HBK2 and configure a Futaba 6EX to control it. I don't plan on going into the basic assembly of a HBK2 because that is something you can learn from the manual. What the manual doesn't tell you is how to adjust the rotor assembly, set up the tail, and many other useful items. That is where I see this how-to helping others. Although this how-to was written specifically for a HBK2, it should help with the setup of any direct-to-swash, 120 degree CCPM heli including a Blade CP400, T-Rex 450, Mini Titan E325 and many others. And again although this how-to is also written specifically for a 6EX radio, the information in it can be applied to programming any computer radio.

What you will need

Let me start by posting a link to the actual E-Sky HBK2 web site. They have a color manual there that is far superior to the b&w one that shiped with my HBK2 and I strongly recommend that you download it if you don't already have it.

The tools are simple. You will need a pitch gauge and a set of screwdrivers/hex drivers for your heli. You may also find a pair of ball link pliers handy but the HBK2 is so small that the pliers will only work on about half of the ball links. The other ones I either remove by hand or with a pair of needle nose pliers.

You will need clean and level work area. I use my workbench. You will also need a level reference line to use. I use the peg board on the back of my workbench.

Lastly you will need to have a charged battery for your heli. I use a power supply to power the heli and that is not only safer but it also saves my batteries for flying. You will also need to make sure your radio is charged up.

Before you begin

While working on your heli you need to make sure the motor is not going to suddenly come alive. Trust me, this is not a good way to start. The way I handle this is by either unplugging the motor or for quick stuff, I use throttle hold. Because this is going to take a while and you will be adjusting the throttle a lot, I think it is better to unplug the motor. That way there is no chance of it spinning up. I guess your third option would be to disengage the pinion from the main gear but that would require more work. It is your choice.

So at this point you should have your heli fully assembled, with the servos installed, esc installed, and receiver installed and bound to your radio.

Here is what's next: 1) Basic setup of the radio 2) Level the servo arms 3) Level the swash and washout arms 4) Set the pitch on the main blades 5) Set up the tail 6) Final radio setup and test spin-up

Step 1: Basic setup of the radio

I am going to give you some simple instruction for using your radio but be ready to use your manual for explainations. For this part you will be only using the radio, so leave the heli turned off for now.

Initial model setup: Okay so lets setup a new model on your heli, so enter programming mode on your radio (press both the MODE and SELECT buttons at the same time). You should see MODL 1 on the screen. Use the DATA INPUT lever (press it UP or DOWN) to select a model. If this is you first one, then choose MODL 1 and press SELECT. Now you should see the REST 'CLR screen. Hold UP until CLR blinks. Press SELECT to advance. Now you need to choose the model type. Press UP until HL is on top. Press SELECT to advance. Time to name this model. Press UP or DOWN to select a letter and then press SELECT to move to the next one. Once you are done, press SELECT to return to the MODL 1 screen.

Now that I have walked you through setting up the model, I will be using less detail in explaining the rest of the setup. Also you will be adjusting the different mode screens at different times, so just find the mode I specify and don't worry about the rest right now.

Set TH.HOLD and SWSH: Next move through the modes until you find HOLD and enable it. As a note INV will change to either OFF or ON depending on where you have your TH.HOLD switch and you should move the switch at this point to note which way is on and off. Next find the mode named SWSH and set it to 3-S. That is all you need for the moment, so press both the MODE and SELECT buttons to leave programming mode.

Setting servo directions: It is time to power up the heli so that you can continue. Make sure the motor is disabled before you turn it on! Once the heli is on, you need to set the servo directions. So enter programming mode on the radio and find the mode REVR. The number on the left specifies the channel and the little arrow above or below the number shows the current direction. You can adjust the direction by using the UP and DOWN lever. (Note: Adjustments you make in the radio take effect in real time) The first thing you need to figure out is which direction your ESC is expecting to work correctly. This can be found out by using the programming mode of most ESCs. Refer to your ESC manual and determine if your throttle stick is moving the correct direction. If it's backwards you will need to adjust the direction of channel 3 in the REVR menu. Once you have channel 3 set up correctly, move the throttle stick up and down and watch the swash, it should move the opposite direction of the stick movement. So if you move the throttle up, the swash should be pulled down. The swash is controlled by channels 1,2 and 6. If one or more of the servos is not moving in the correct direction, adjust it in the REVR menu.

Setting swash directions: Now that the swash is moving up and down correctly, you need to set the direction of the the right stick controls. For this you will be will be adjusting the settings under the SWSH mode menu. First move the right stick up and down. The swash should tilt forward for up input and backward for down input. If the direction is backwards, find the E setting under SWSH and make it negative. In other words if the current setting is +50, adjust it to -50. This will change the direction of the movement. Try the right stick again. The movement should now be correct. Now move the stick left and right. The swash should lean left for left input and right for right input. If it is backwards, adjust A under the SWSH menu.

Step 2: Leveling the servo arms

Now it is time to start the hardware setup. I am going to assume that you have replaced the servos and the servo arms still need to be aligned. If you have already done this, feel free to skip this section.

Up to this point you should not have adjusted the trim on any of your channels but lets check them anyways. This can be done in two ways. You can click each trim lever until they all say 0 or you can enter programming mode and look at TRIM mode and adjust them from there. Either way all your trims should be at 0. Now turn on the heli and let all the servos center. Each servo arm should at 90 degrees to the servo. See the photo below. If they are not aligned properly, you will need to pull them off and put them on at 90 degrees. There is a good chance that you will be unable to get them to be exactly 90 degrees and that is fine, just get them as close as possible. At this point do not adjust the trims to try and level the servo arms, just leave them be.

Step 3: Leveling the swash and washout arms

Next up is the tedious task of leveling the swash and washout arms. (note: I use the term level but what you are actually trying to do is get everything perpendicular to the main shaft) It is actually not that difficult but it will take some time and patience. The goal is to get the swash level while also leveling the washout arms. The servo arms should also remain level and you should not use your radio to trim until you run out of mechanical adjustments. You should start this process with your radio on and your servos centered (have both sticks centered). The only linkages you will be adjusting will be the three servo-swash linkages. Adjust all three links so that your swash is level. Then adjust them all equally to raise or lower the swash in order to level the washout arms. See the photos for reference. Once you get the swash and washout arms as level as you can by adjusting the length of the linkages, use your radio to trim everything to be exacly level and you are onto the next step. Tip: I use the set collar (the collar with the green line through it) as a reference to level the swash.

Step 4: Set the pitch on the main blades

Before you begin: For this part you will need to have a pitch gauge and a level line to use as a reference. See the photo for a better idea of what you should be looking for. (note: The blade oposite the pitch gauge in the photo is only moved to the left to counter weight the pitch gauge for the photo. You should have the blades as straight as possible for your measurements) There is one other thing that you need to check before you begin. You need to make sure both swash-mixer arm links the same length. This starts both main blades at the same pitch.

Set 0 degrees pitch at mid-stick: Before you measure your pitch for the first time, you need to check the radio and make sure it is set correctly. Enter programming mode and find the mode named N-PI. This is the normal pitch curve menu and will have 5 items under it. Each of these items refers to a place on your throttle stick with the 1 refering to your throttle stick at it's lowest point, 2 refering to 1/4 stick, 3 refereing to mid-stick, 4 refering to 3/4 stick and 5 refering to full throttle. For the purposes of setting the base pitch of the heli, you need to have 1 set to 0%, 2 set to 25%, 3 set to 50%, 4 set to 75% and 5 set to 100%. This is refered to as a 0-25-50-75-100 pitch curve and should be the default setting in your radio.

Set base pitch to 0 degrees: To take your first measurment, place your throttle at mid-stick, turn on your heli and let all the servos center. Now measure the pitch of the main blades using your pitch gauge. Be sure to keep your flybar level! Both blades should be same pitch but probably won't be set to 0deg. Next you need to adjust the links to level the blades. Try to wrap your head around how the links control the blades. If you lengthen a link, it will increase the pitch and if you shorten it, it will degrease the pitch. Now adjust the links and take another measurement. You can either adjust both blades simutainously or each blade individually but in the end you want to have both blades set to 0 degrees pitch. This will probably take a little tinkering but once it is compete, you will be done adjusting the rotor assembly! Time for some more radio adjustments and the mechanical setup will be complete!

Set the max pitch range: Now that you have the base blade pitch set to 0 degrees, you need to adjust the pitch travel. Start by moving your throttle stick to zero throttle and take a measurement. Next move the trottle to full throttle and take a measurement. Both pitch readings should be the same, or very close at least, and will probably be somewhere around -13 degrees and 13 degrees. You are looking for -10 and 10 degrees. The good news is that this is adjusted in your radio. So enter programming mode on your radio and find the SWSH mode again. Now press SELECT until you find the P item. It should say +50 or -50 depending on the swash movement direction you set earlier. To limit the pitch travel you need to adjust that number towards 0%. In other words if you have +50% right now, try lowering it to +45%. If you have -50% right now, try lowing it to -45%. Now check your pitch again. You are looking for -10 to 10 degrees of range.

Set up a proper pitch range for normal flying: Up to now you have been setting up the rotor head to be neutral for the purpose of the setup process. Now it is time to set it up for actual flying. The goal here is to get a pitch range od -2 degrees at zero throttle, 0 degrees at mid-stick and 10 degrees at full throttle. To asjust this you will nee to enter programming mode and find the N-PI mode. A good base pitch cure is 40-45-50-75-100, so enter that. Notice that you are only changing the 1st and 2nd pitch settings. This is because the 3rd, 4th and 5th are fine like they are. Now turn on your heli and check the pitch at zero throttle. You are looking for -2 degrees, so adjust the 1st pitch setting as nessesary. Once you get that set, adjust the 2nd to be half way inbetween the 1st and 3rd. In other words, if you find that 42% sets your pitch to -2 degrees then set your 2nd pitch setting to 46%. For now you will always want 50%, or 0 degrees pitch, as your 3rd pitch setting. There is an additional throttle/pitch curve setup you can do if you want to enable IDLE-UP mode. This are the modes named I-TH and I-PI. I would recommend leaving them off for now, just leave I-TH as INV and I-PI will stay as --.

You now have your main rotor assembly setup correctly with your 6EX radio. Not long now and you will be hovering!

Step 5: Tail and gyro setup

Alright next up is the tail setup. Let me start by explaning a few things. The whole purpose of the tail is to counteract the tourqe of the spining main blades. This means that you can only do a preliminary setup on the workbench and all the fine tuning must be done once you can hover the heli. Adjusting the amount of pitch on the tail blades means phycically moving the tail servo forward and back on the tail boom. Along with the tail servo setup, you also have to set up the gyro. The actual gyro setup will depend on the gyro you are using but the concepts are all the same.

Start out by turning on your radio and making sure your rudder channel trim is centered. Now power up your heli and center the servo arm on your tail servo. Next adjust the servo on the tail boom so that the tail control arm is at 90 degree to the tail boom. Make sure you watch the tail push rod, you want to keep it as straight as possible while also making sure it is not binding. This should add I slight amount of pitch to the tail blades. See the photos for a visual.

Okay now that you have the servo basically in the correct location, it is time to adjust the radio.

Step 6: Finish radio setup and test spin-up
There is not a whole lot left to set up but you definitly need to check your settings and probably add some EXPO.

Setting up EXPO: EXPO is short for exponential. This setting lowers the sensitivity near center stick of your cyclic and rudder controls. If you are reading this there is a very good chance you are new to rc helis and this setting will make your flying experience much better. Okay so enter programming mode, find the D/R mode and push SELECT until you see EXPO 1 on the screen. Futaba radios use EXPO backwards from other brands. So a negative value means less sensitivity and a positive number means more. Makes sense to me :) These is one more thing to note. There is a switch located on the front upper right die of the radio that has a D/R label on it. This switch allows you to change between two different EXPO modes. So start with the switch in the up position. Okay now set something like -20% for channels 1 and 2, and -15% for channel 4. Now flip the switch. The values should change back to 0%. You can now set up a less sensitive verion here. Maybe something like -30% for channels 1 and 2, and -20% for channel 4. Now when you hover the heli you can switch between the two modes to see which you like better. As time goes on you can adjust these settings to your taste.

Final check before spin-up: Now it is the time to check all your settings and then spin up the heli for the first time. Start by turning on the radio, setting TH.HOLD, make sure IDLE-UP is off, set your throttle to zero and then turn on your heli. Before you connect the motor, here is a check list of questions to ask yourself

• Aileron movement: Does left and right stick movements make the swash lean left and right?
• Elevation movement: Does up and down right stick movements make the swash lean forward and back?
• Pitch movement: Does the swash lower with increasing throttle and raise with degreasing throttle?
• Pitch measuements: Do you have -2 degrees at zero throttle? How about 0 degrees at mid-stick? And 10 degrees at full throttle?
• Tail movements:

Still under construction