RC helicopters | Gumballs Plays Games

Quadcopter fun (and tragedy): Ares QX 130

Posted on June 1, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

This weekend my girlfriend got me an Ares Ethos QX 130 quadcopter for my birthday. I started flying RC helicopters a little while ago and have enjoyed it, however lately my helicopter had been flying poorly (it has a vibration to it that messes with the video but also seems to cause erratic flying).

We headed out to the park and I immediately had a blast flying the QX 130 quadcopter. It was incredibly easy to control and zipped around quick and with style. The video it took was also pretty neat, especially from some pretty impressive heights.

The first two flights went quite well, however I soon learned that the QX 130 can fly incredibly high and has more range than I imagined. During the third flight the quadcopter flew higher than it had previously (which I at first thought was cool) and before long it was just a speck in the sky. I figured it was probably best to lower the altitude, however at this point I lost sight of the quadcopter in the sun. When I found it again it was much further away than I anticipated and I tried to bring it back toward me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell which direction the quadcopter was facing and I couldn’t bring it any closer to me. At this point I panicked and shut off the throttle but also lost sight of it again.

Long story short, I dropped the quadcopter to the ground outside of the park and somewhere past the road, however I couldn’t see where it landed as the road was up an hill. I spent a few hours walking around the thick brush trying to find it and couldn’t locate it. We ended up deciding it was lost for good and headed home (as it was 95 degrees out). Luckily after a few hours I was able to convince Vanessa to come back out to the park with me and we ended up finding the QX 130 much further away than I had anticipated.

I’m glad we were able to find the quadcopter, however one of the motors is now broken (probably because I kept trying to run up the throttle while looking for it). At least I got some pretty neat video out of the ordeal, which you can check out below. I’m going to order a new motor and hopefully get the quadcopter back in the air this weekend (if I can figure out how to change it).

Fun with RC helicopters (Ares Chronos CX75 and CX100)

Posted on November 9, 2014 by GumballsPlaysGames

I had never flown an RC helicopter before but recently had the urge to do so, so last night I visited the local hobby shop and purchased the Ares Chronos CX75 and CX100 RC helicopters. The CX100 immediately caught my eye because it comes with an onboard camera that can shoot video and take still photos (a 2gb SD card is also included). Both helicopters are ready to fly right from the box after their batteries are charged.

Last night I flew the CX75 indoors to get used to the controls, and it wasn’t incredibly difficult to get the hang of flying it (I could fly it, just not necessarily well). I also flew it outside in the dark which was fun (it has a bright light on the nose) though I almost landed in on the roof of the house.

Earlier today I took the CX100 outside and flew it for the first time. It’s a bit more difficult to fly, but there are also many more modes on the transmitter and I only skimmed the manual before I started flying. In mode 4 it controls like the CX75, however for whatever reason I found it hard to control pitch. It wouldn’t fly forward and backward as easily as the CX75, it seemed like it was slower to respond. I assume this may be because I was flying in the ‘low’ control rate setting which is recommended for beginners which limits control authority for smoother flying. I may try out the ‘high’ setting on a short flight to see if that will make it more responsive (though I imagine I’ll probably crash it more often).

I wasn’t flying in a very wide open space so ultimately I crashed the CX100 about 15 feet up in a tree and had to knock it down with a tennis ball. Luckily the helicopter didn’t suffer any damage. Initially the propellers were blocked by the branch, but I was able to hit it so that it fell and was only hanging by its tail and from there I was able to fly it out of the tree. After that it wouldn’t take off anymore, but I believe the battery drained during the 5 minutes it was in the tree.

The video I was able to capture with the CX100 is pretty cool. The quality is higher than I expected from a camera included with a $70 helicopter. I also didn’t expect it to have sound which is a neat addition, although all you really hear is the buzz of the rotors. So far I’m having a blast flying the CX75 and CX100 around. Both say they’re intended for indoor use only, but I find most of the fun comes from flying them high in the air outdoors. I’m excited to learn to fly them both better and get some cool video with the CX100.