Piccolo pages
Here is a pile of stuff about my Piccolo indoor heli. It is a radio controlled electric micro-helicopter manufactured by Ikarus. It weighs about half a pound (230g) and has a rotor span of only 20.5 inches (520mm), and is popular around the world. It is less stable than a larger heli and quite a challenge to learn on.
In the summer of 2000 while on holiday I saw a couple of Piccolos flying. They were inside the disused control tower at Jurby airfield, Isle of Man. Until that point I hadn't paid the model much attention, and my helicopter interest was long dormant. They were absolutely hypnotic, just hanging in the air in front of us, quietly whirring away. I was hooked immediately! I knew I had to have one. August the same year the cash came together and it was off to the model shop at Crossgates, Leeds, who were (and still are) one of the cheapest places for a Piccolo deal in England.
Above is my own Pic modelling the finest Sheffield Made carbon blades, from * Robert Lee. These cool and posey looking items are tough and very stiff, and intended to improve forward flight. The standard set has the habit of pulling the nose up when pressed into forward flight. Since I've been doing lots of hovering and slow flight, I've put my carbon blades into protective storage and reverted to using standard blades.
*Robert was unable to continue production of these fine blades, and arranged their continuation with an enthusiast from the USA , Kelly White of Oregon. However, Kelly's site has gone, suggesting they are sadly no longer available.
You can see photos of my first wobbly hovers if you click here and here. These photos are from my indoor meeting pages. Nowadays I tend towards a more casual style. And bigger crashes. Not to worry, Piccolos are tough, easily repaired, and have a comparatively simple rotor head.
I used to hang out on the Ikarus bulletin board, but it seems sadly moribund at the moment. I check in and see if I can help now and again. Mostly now I socialise and swap tips and tall tales on the free and easy RCHelispot site.The link below takes you to the registration page and gets me brownie points if you join up, but it isn't compulsory, just reclick on the header to go straight to the forums for a poke around if you want. Newcomers welcome!
Besides flying in the village institute hall, Kevin, Baden and myself have also been trekking down to Halesowen, here is a page of stuff from there. Lots of pictures, will take a minute or so to load via 56k modem.
My little Pic has been modified a bit, follow these links to see what has been done:
CD-ROM motor
-Very cool miniature brushless device.
Chassis and landing
gear -Bell 47 bits.
Moth
-Dwarf Piccolo - by John Kallas of California.
And some useful Piccolo related links:
Manufacturers:
AstroFlight for
motors.
Schulze-electronic
for speed controllers.
Jeti speed
controllers (JES 06 Ok for non-heli use).
Hacker
motors.
Castle
Creations speed controllers
and suppliers etc. NOTE this list is not exhaustive! I know there are other good suppliers, these are the ones I happened to use or know ;o)
Engconcepts:
Magnet supplier in the USA. I haven't ordered from George but he has a good
reputation.
Gordon
Tarling: Hacker motors.
Modelfixings:
Bearings for my cdrom motors and Piccolos - rapid service and good prices.
Modelfly: Where
I got my Astro, pinion and several Piccolo spares. (Graham Stanley-nice chap,
very into indoor flight. don't let the semi-complete web site put you off, give
him a ring or e-mail).
Supermagnete.ch:
Neodymium magnets for cdrom motors.
West London
Models: I
seem to recall this was where I got the Schulze from in England. Prices seem to
be the same wherever you buy here.
This page is a work
in progress, the bits below aren't fit to go out in public yet.
Swashplate
-Many mods out there for this item.
