I recently purchased this heli,and my girlfriend just bought me a 150s. I have been flying the 120s2 for about a month,and just today realized I had not set up the flight modes properly. Oh boy are helis hard to control without stabilization! I've crashed 3 times. The tail rotor blade must be glued back on in many cases,if you simply stick it back on,it will fling off again on take off. The main bearing for the swashplate likes to pop out,I simply pop it back in. I think one thing that makes this heli so hard to fly without stabilization is the lack of power /delay in power caused by it being a gear driven fixed pitch. My crashes were usually caused by my inability to power out of a descent in time. Perfect beginner heli.
I am new to this hobby, mainly airplanes. A few weeks ago I got the Heli bug. I also have a DJI Mavic Mini. I used to do control line airplanes in the 60's. That was fun until you got dizzy. My main comment is, Joe was saying there is no "I" switch on the DX6e. The "I" switch is the Bind/Panic button/switch on the transmitter. It took me a while to figure out. By the way, I enjoyed your video and I liked that you went through the programming. My suggestion would be, zoom in on the display so we can see what you are doing. For me, a little slower would help. I'm one of those kids from the 1960's Great Job!
hi joe, i noticed when i created a new model with acro i was able to set up reverse for aux1. not sure if i could do that with heli or at least i could not locate the setting at the time. maybe when the wind dies down here in the northeast, i can test it out. thank you
Cut that tag off the battery wire! lol I had the earlier version of this, I think the Blade 120 S? It was about 10 years ago or more. Lots of fun, mostly indoor but outdoors in a protected area like a courtyard or behind a tall building, or even very light winds in an open area. The best part about it was for me, the components are tough enough to survive most crashes/mistakes as long as you completely cut the power OFF right before you hit something. As long as you don't shear that drive gear, the blades and everything is actually tough enough to survive hitting things at the low speeds this trainer usually operates at. Cut the power before you hit! Now, obviously with repeated hits, components will begin to weaken, but it will fly for a long time on the same parts as long as you don't hit things with the blades under power and shear that drive gear(s). Edit: I found my old heli! It is a Blade 120SR. I found the controller too. MLP4DSM I flew it a lot and got pretty good with it, I could land it on top of a 4x4 post eight feet in the air! :)
Hi there 120 S2 pilots, I have finally received my aluminum swash plate from Rakon Helicopter Co.Ltd, swapped it out with the stock one and upon taking hold of the blade grips to set her up for flight there was a notable difference, there was a slight increase in the helis weight I could also feel that solidness about it and on spool up you could see the rotors were holding steady, after a few laps around the field there were a couple of wags though, then there was a nice smooth rotation of main blades, then wag, but for the most part you could see/feel the difference for sure, I still however agree with Chad,and that the main blade grips should as well be upgraded to the aluminum ones, it really felt good, perhaps give it a try guys ?
I will post an updated video on my channel with the new swashplate installed I forget to mention I have a couple videos under Melvin Quinene on the tube, excuse the video quality since it was my first upload. I did not have any of my family members available for filming today, the winds were calm,the sun was setting beautifully ugh !
Good on you, not many people review this Heli. I bought it and to be honest I'm not impressed. I find it a bit big for indoor and struggles in any kind of wind outdoors. Also once you've flown collective fixed pitch doesn't really teach you anything. Although you get a five minute flight time the throttle response soon drops off and changing altitude feels spongy. As a first Heli just to see if you like it, it's ok but you very quickly outgrow it. Cheers Paul
I do agree, I like the nano because it’s perfect to fly indoors and is super capable. You are 100 percent right, needs to be really calm to fly this heli outdoors! Thanks for the comment!
hey joe, product support at horizon hobby said the manual is correct. it is not suppose to be heli. acro/airplane type. i don't know what difference that makes but they are emphatic that the manual is right.
Great video, Joseph. I did an Unboxing as well that was very similar on this. I do want to make one correction, however. Where the manual suggests acro/airplane, that is actually not incorrect. The helicopter setting is specifically for collective pitch models and this one is a fixed pitch. Not a big deal, really. The main thing is that there are functions in the heli setting that you simply aren't using. Acro is fine, though and definitely not incorrect. Similar to when you set up a racing quad, you always use acro. The heli setting is basically just wasted space for this one because you aren't separating positive and negative pitch on the throttle stick. Hope that makes sense.
While all that you said is correct for sure, for me I could not get Throttle Hold to work (DX6G3) using the settings in the manual. On setting up as a Heli,Throttle Hold works fine. Being a trainer type Heli I think it is important to learn to use Throttle Hold. Could have been just me being clueless though lol.
@@TheRaidooo I I haven't figured out throttle hold either (of course I have only had mine since yesterday). I mean, yeah, you can use the heli setting. The main purpose for it's existence however is for the collective with the left stick function as well as idle up. Neither of which a FP has. The main point I was trying to get across to Joseph is that the manual was not wrong in recommending acro. It's what is generally optimal for fixed pitch helis.
@@josephtiani6145 All good, my friend. And just to be clear. You aren't hurting anything by using the heli setting. You really could use either without a problem. The main difference is two functions that a Fixed Pitch doesn't have. Pitch curve (which is on the throttle stick) and idle up (which is different RPMs). See....on a CP, the throttle is actually "fixed" instead of the pitch. You'll notice on your CP helis (your 230 etc) that the RPMs only change when you click the higher head speed switch. On a Fixed Pitch, the RPMs change with every move of the throttle. So essentially, the stick functions on a fixed pitch are identical to a plane, which is why they recommend you use the acro function. But it really isn't a big deal if you want to use the heli setting because you still have a throttle curve that will work the same way on a FP. But now....having said all of that, the person who responded above yours has a valid point. I don't think you can get a "throttle hold" on acro. Something that I think is a very important habbit to use if you fly CPs. So....now I am having second thoughts myself. Lol. I may switch over to the heli setting just to have that. 🤔 In any case. Great video. Liked and subbed btw.
@@sdssteward slight correction, CP doesn't mean fixed throttle at all. Depends on the throttle/pitch curves programmed. Lots of CP helis fly with variable throttle to keep head speed relatively consistent regardless of pitch change.
Yeah, I agree! For an entry level heli to not come with those few inexpensive extra parts out of the box is upsetting. The Nano S2 does come with those extras and will allow you to progress to 3D and fly indoors in a smaller space. The little extra size of the 120 S2 doesn’t really make it any better outdoors. Is still stuck to 5mph wind or less!
I literally followed all of your instructions, but when I plugged the battery into the helicopter, I got a blue flickering light in the "cockpit". Is that a battery issue or ?
I would try to rebind the heli. Also, when you plug in the battery let the helicopter sit on a flat surface for a few seconds, this is hope the gyros initialize for safe.
As a former mail carrier, what your mailman did was wrong it didn't fit in the box should've been taken to the door I'd would've reported him to the postmaster
Yeah, this was the most bizarre thing. My typical mail carrier does a good job so I don’t know what happened this day. To leave the box sticking out and on a rainy day!
It should be able to be bound to that radio. Maybe look at the users manual for the help on horizon hobby and see if it has the setup for that specific radio, but I wouldn’t see why not.
5 minutes. The heli will reduce rpm as it runs low on power and will blink red when the voltage gets low. The manual says not to let the battery discharge all the way on a consistent basis or it will get damaged.
I just purchased a DX6e and there is a Set Up File for the 120 S2 at www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdId=SPM6700#prod_manuals ( I'm using it to fly my 120 S).
Also once again Horizon Hobby got there manual all wrong again with he transmitter and binding setting it up!!! totally wrong (you was correct!!) on the set up first was the tip of craft the manual says airplane..no horizon hobby its a helicopter..they really make me angry bc I followed horizon and set to airplane and it didnt work so it took more time to set it up!!! another piss me off situation..you did a great job on that and they need to get there manuals correct!! EVERYONE JOSEPH IS CORRECT ITS HELICOPTER NOT AIRPLANE WHEN SELCTING THE AIRCRAFT IN SET UP!!.. oh btw im a rc plane guy and It took me hours to get there gps mod on the apprentice sts to work bc im the only one that has a video up to get it to work..so yes you did a great job on this!!
I appreciate the comments and the the video was able to help! Yeah it is disappointing they do not have a set up file to download for it and that the manuals instructions have it listed as an airplane!
They make 2 versions of the same model. The RTF (ready to fly) model comes with the remote and battery. Since I already have a remote I just purchased the BNF (bind and fly) version. Sorry for any confusion!
Threw my S2 away 😅. Why ? S2 is battery specific .. Servo stopped , $15 dollar replacement.. The supplied controller is terrible. Small crash landing cause control arm break ... 😮 Dumpster
