V3 Lama by E-sky
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When the helifreak known as Zen was searching the Internet for an airplane to build he saw a video of the V3 Lama flying indoors and reflexively clicked 'buy'. Four channel radio control indoors ... in a helicopter no less! How can anyone resist this little jewel?
The V3 Lama, also called the Co-co Lama (co-axial, counter-rotating main blades), comes as a ready to fly (RTF) package from E-sky: helicopter, spare main blades, lithium-polymer (li-po) flight battery, charger, and transmitter. Like all E-sky helicopters, it is available only on the Internet, where suppliers and spare parts abound at reasonable prices.
The Lama is a great beginner's model. The manual advised Zen to have an experienced RC heli pilot on hand to assist him. No such person was in view, so he turned it on and flew it unassisted. The Lama is so stable and powerful that a thoughtful beginner can figure out how to fly it. Once you take off and pick it up out of ground effect (higher than the diameter of the rotors) it will hover 'hands off'. Flight times average 7 - 10 minutes, and the four channel radio has the full set of controls used to fly medium and large RC helicopters.
If you have not flown RC before the Lama presents the challenges in flying in digestible stages. Hovering—the most basic flight maneuver—is as easy as it can be. It is so stable in the air that new pilots can afford to venture into the side-in orientation without crashing if the helicopter is flown in a reasonably large area. Even hovering nose-in this co-axial heli gives the pilot every break. In fairly short order most pilots will be able to fly circles, figure eights, sideways and backwards.
Precision landing and take-off is possible with this ultra-controllable heli, from table top to floor—even on a chair:
Some people like to deck their Lama out with anodized aluminum parts, though these do little or nothing for performance. There are, however, a few modifications that make sense:
- Extreme blades from miracle-mart are virtually unbreakable and worthwhile.
- Flexible tail from the same source is not brittle, like the stock tail.
- Flybar weights can be removed from the rubber covers for faster response.
The Lama flies so well that anyone can get right into RC helicopters with a minimum of expense.There is now a V4 Lama with a fuselage rather than a truss tail. But in other respects it is the same as the V3.