I have been flying the Eco 8 since spring of 2001. Since then, it has grown with my skills. I started flying helicopters in September 2000. My first was a piccolo, but I outgrew it when I wanted to fly outside. My friend James Wang recommended the Eco 8 as a next step, and I have been very happy with it. I have seen his Eco 8 flipping and tumbling, and skimming the rotor on the ground inverted. My Eco 8 has looped, rolled, and hovered inverted with ease, and if my skills were better, I am sure it would funnel, and maybe even chaos. Much of the following information I learned from James so, I give credit to him for most of this.
In this article, I will explain how to boost performance and tune the Eco 8 for hard aerobatics. With these modifications, the Eco 8 can become a good trainer for “3D” aerobatics, the nickname given to modern RC helicopter aerobatics that are done inverted, flying backwards, or both. The modifications are put into the following categories: control system/mechanical setup, rotor, power plant (brushless), airframe, and aluminum upgrades.
The Eco 8 design is 10 years old. It did not have aerobatics in mind initially (a 2 minute hover was miraculous for electrics at the time) but over the years, Ikarus improved it and made upgrade parts for it. The secret to getting the Eco 8 to do aerobatics is in its set-up, motor, and gearing. It is a lightweight machine, and modifications required to get good performance are minimal.
This section of the site is split into two parts; setup for basic aerobatics, and fine tuning, for heavier aerobatics. The first section will cover the following topics:
- Control System – Servos, mechanical setup, Bell-Hiller mixer mod
- Basic transmitter setup
- Rotor – Blade choice
- Power – Motor and batteries
The advanced section (under construction) will cover tips on getting smoother flight and will cover:
- Advanced Transmitter Setup
- Flybar upgrades
- Thrust bearings
- 140 degree CCPM
Enjoy!
-Erez
