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Just launched my first helicopter car yesterday, not sure if the result is typical so thought I'd ask.

Followed the directions, 7-10 turns to wind the the car. Seems fairly tight at that point. Added the helicopter and launched. The helicopter propeller spun, and the car hopped up about a foot and then slowly fell to the side of the car about 1 foot away.

Is this the normal flight pattern? Good news, at this amount of flight time the helicopter sure will last awhile!!

tks,
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Worked on it some this afternoon. Added a bit of oil to the propeller shaft, managed to get it up to 3-4 feet in height.

Tried my own from the an older set, flew up 6 feet pretty easy.

Swapped copters, about the same results.

Looks like the NYC version set version needs some tweeking. I'll give Lionel a call this week and see if they have any ideas.

Anyone else have some thoughts they can share??
I believe the newer launching helicopter items from Lionel suffer from the same train of thought as the small whistle tenders. Too much product safety.

I have two of the newer heliports and one operating flatcar and with all three I replaced the shiney, weak winding/launching spring with an older Postwar one, 3419-26, $1.75. Immediate good results.

Old springs are available from some parts dealers, also from junker cars mainly found under sales table at shows and meets.
I have the Lionel Heliport which probably uses the same mechanism. Your statement that the helicopter "hopped up about a foot" would be a 'personal best' for my helicopter. I don't think my helicopter has ever achieved more then about 6" in altitude even with the mechanism wound to max. Most of the time the rotor blades just spin and the helicopter falls off the pad. It is now just a static display.

Earl
Johnsgg1, thanks for the tip about swapping in a postwar spring for the one in the reissued Lionel heliport. I like the look of the heliport on my layout, but so far the best flights I've gotten were a few inches upwards and a few inches horizontally. If I'm lucky the helicopter will fly just far enough to land right next to the heliport. Most of the time it just hops up, then crash lands back on the top of the building, sometimes tipping over, rolling off the roof and falling to the layout next to the heliport. I admit that the crashes can be spectacular (like something from an action movie) but I'd rather have the helicopter actually fly. I'll try swapping out that spring.

As far as helicopter cars go, the helicopter launching car in my reissued Missile Launcher set flies much better, several feet up and several feet horizontally.
I find I get the best flights from the helicopter if the train is in motion when I trigger the car as it passes over an operating track section.
Its got to be a bad day when you can't launch your Lionel helicopter more than a couple of feet. What will the neighbors say when they see such a poor showing but I'll be that the dog still loves it. Just goes to show, they don't make them like they use to! I'll bet that the missle launchers have the same problem. That is a more serious problem as it will leave your layout indefensable from an invasion!
The above flight was my first attempt flying from a flat car and over my layout. I received the little chopper for Christmas. When I fly it in the living room I am able to land on very small targets, so I think with a little practice it can be done easily. I have a couple of Lionel helicopter cars myself, but I think flying and controlling the real thing is much more fun. With these mini-copters being out for many years and improved on as far as stability and ease of flying, why Lionel doesn't have one on a flat themselves.....like a "vision line" helicopter car.

TEX
Steve
quote:
Originally posted by TexSpecial:
The above flight was my first attempt flying from a flat car and over my layout. I received the little chopper for Christmas. When I fly it in the living room I am able to land on very small targets, so I think with a little practice it can be done easily. I have a couple of Lionel helicopter cars myself, but I think flying and controlling the real thing is much more fun. With these mini-copters being out for many years and improved on as far as stability and ease of flying, why Lionel doesn't have one on a flat themselves.....like a "vision line" helicopter car.


HAY STEVE! What helo is that? You're pretty handy with it. Easy to fly? Or tons of practice? Both?

Pete
Good morning Pete. My son got it for me at Christmas. The mini copter is a Syma Model S107, 3 channel w/gyro, metal mini helicopter. He purchased it as one of those stands in a mall during Christmas. But I checked and if you Google Syma S107 mini helicopter, they are available at many places in the States. They cost around $20 - $25.



I had another mini some years back, but it would not fly easily and direction, hover control sucked. This new one is easy to fly and changes direction easily. Inside use only though because of wind. I practice in my living room, sending heli from one small target (piece of cardboard or a book) to another. After awhile you get real good at it. I'm going to bring my Lionel flat car down to the living room and practice take off and landings on it. As I said, I might try putting that little key chain cam on the chopper if it will lift it. Birds eye view of layout from the air maybe.
Take care Pete.

TEX
Steve
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua:
Its got to be a bad day when you can't launch your Lionel helicopter more than a couple of feet. What will the neighbors say when they see such a poor showing but I'll be that the dog still loves it. Just goes to show, they don't make them like they use to! I'll bet that the missle launchers have the same problem. That is a more serious problem as it will leave your layout indefensable from an invasion!



At least they can't kill anybody now! My problem is the lead in the paint,I'm sure theres just as much lead in these chinese trains as there is in the old stuff. Darn kids won't stop chewing on them!
quote:
The mini copter is a Syma Model S107, 3 channel w/gyro, metal mini helicopter.


Thanks, Steve. I've had my eye on several micro choppers with the thought of making a video where it takes off from a flatcar, the train circles my 4x10, and the chopper lands back on the flat. As a RC guy I've been looking at more expensive "hobbyist" products. I had no idea that a "toy" would fly that well.

Pete
quote:
Originally posted by gunrunnerjohn:
Sure, but I want to see the helo land back on the car when the flight is over


Then re-charge the helo from the flatcar! I wasn't putting 2 and 2 together till I read your post but I had modified the "other" company's helicopter car with an LED to flash a beacon as it spun up.



Two metal semi-circular contacts are on the flatcar and two mating metal strips are on the helo. With some head-scratching perhaps something similar could be done by placing the charger electronics in the flatcar and metal-izing the skids. I'd guess some kind of electromagnetic assist at the last moment during landing could insure the helo skids contact properly.
quote:
With your R/C background, you should get the 4 channel mini-helicopter then. Same size but even more control, especially fwd/reverse motion. I don't think the price is that much more. I just have trouble with hand coordination with too many stick actions.


I've seen guys who can fly airplanes lots better than I do turned into sobbing droolers when they tried moving to helos. Not sure more control is better when it comes to those confounded machines.

Pete
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