Falcon 3D Radio Controlled Helicopter

25-1/4" main rotor diameter, 23-3/4" overall length, 20 oz. flying weight. Falcon 3D RC Helicopter comes completely assembled and ready to fly. Falcon 3D RC Helicopter has plenty of power and head speed for sport flying and aerobatics. Includes a brushless motor, brushless controller, gyro, 1300 mAh Lipo battery, wood blades, aluminium tail boom, wall charger, training landing gear, and 6-channel 72 Mhz FM helicopter transmitter. Gear driven tail has all conical gears for smooth reliable operation. Transmitter has pitch range centering and pitch curve end point adjustment knobs, and an Idle-up switch for aerobatic and inverted flight modes. Also includes training gear with Ping Pong balls and a blade holder.

The Falcon 3D RC Helicopter also comes with a cd to put into your computer and a wire to attach from the pc to the controller so you can learn to fly a virtual helicopter on your pc to train for the real thing.

Falcon 3D Radio Controlled Helicopter Review

For the past several weeks I have been testing the new Falcon 3D electric rc helicopter. This new helicopter will be geared towards those that want to get into rc helicopter flying on a limited budget while still being able to have an rc helicopter that's capable of 3D flight. The street price is expected to be around the £300 price range and will be ready to fly out of the box.

Here are the specifications for the Falcon 3D Electric RC Helicopter.

Falcon 3D Electric RC Helicopter Specifications

* Main rotor diameter: 630mm 24.8"
* Tail rotor diameter: 152mm 5.98"
* Length: 670mm 26.37"
* Weight: 530g 18.69 Oz


Falcon 3D Electric RC Helicopter Packaging

The Falcon 3-D electric rc helicopter comes in a very attractive box that not only protects the helicopter but will also serve as a carrying case if you like, it even has a handle on the top. It is well packaged in foam, which should protect it from anything but a Gorilla deliveryman. The kit contains the following parts.

1. The electric rc helicopter and blade holder, 30 Amp brushless speed controller, brushless speed 400 class motor with heat sink, 6-channel micro receiver and heading hold gyro. Four micro servos to control pitch, yaw, rudder, and collective.

2. 6-Channel Transmitter with two switches and two rotary knobs to control pitch. Note: you will need 8 AA Alkaline batteries to power the transmitter.

3. Lipoly 1300 Ma 3-Cell pack made by Art-Tech.
4. Training gear complete with ping-pong balls, carbon rods, wire ties and fuel tubing to hold the balls on.
5. Lipoly 115V Wall charger.
6. CDROM with videos of various aircraft and helicopters that Art-Tech manufactures. The CD Also has FMS Flight Simulator on it and there is a cable included in the kit to plug into your transmitter and computer, a nice touch.

7. A small bag of tie wraps, (to attach the training gear to the skids) and two Allen wrenches. There is also a set of stick on decals so you can decorate the canopy if you like. And instruction booklet with exploded views of the various parts. Note: The instructions are written in English and the important information is covered as well as some diagrams and pictures.


The blades are constructed of wood covered with white heat shrink. The tail boom is made of aluminum and the landing gear are constructed of some type of very strong yet light plastic. The frame is made of the same type plastic as the landing gear and appears to be very strong. This material should be able to take hard landings without breaking or cracking. The tail is driven by a steel torque rod with plastic bevel gears on both ends. This type of drive system is tried and true and has been used for a number of years. The canopy is constructed of a very light yet strong plastic and the windscreen is slightly tinted and looks attractive. The tail fin and horizontal fin are a tough plastic with cutouts to reduce unnecessary weight. The color of the canopy is a nice color of red which should aid in being able to keep orientation during flight.

The only thing needed is 8 AA Alkaline batteries for the transmitter and the electric rc helicopter is ready to fly. I opted to use some rechargeable 2250Ma NIMH AA's instead of using alkaline batteries. There is a charging port on the side and standard wall charger plugs. As with any helicopter the proper setup of the controls and balancing of the main rotor blades and tail blades is critical. The blades were balanced and required no weight. After checking all of the controls I found that they needed no adjustment, everything was centered except the throttle trim, it was at its lowest position which is correct.

Falcon 3D Electric RC Helicopter First Flight

The first flight consisted of hovering the helicopter at head height to check blade tracking. The blades were in track and required no adjustment. At this point I did several strong climb outs to check the gyro authority on full collective stick there was no tendency for the tail to loose lock. After hovering approximately 5 minutes the motor was warm to the touch and the battery was just barely warm. The speed controller was also slightly warmer than air temperature. Prior to the next flight I removed the back of the transmitter and turned the ratchet on the throttle over so it would glide smoothly and give a nice feel on bringing up the throttle. I personally don't like the racket action on the throttle for helicopters since it always seems that one click more of throttle either causes it to climb or descent.

Falcon 3D Electric RC Helicopter More Flight Testing

After charging the battery I flew the helicopter and switched to idle 1 on the transmitter after reaching 50% throttle. Please note: You want to be sure you have the throttle open to at least 50% prior to switching to idle 1! If you were to switch to idle 1 upon initial startup it could cause the helicopter to spin or loose control since it would not have time to spool up correctly! After switching to idle 1 the RPM increased substantially and the electric rc helicopter felt rock solid while hovering! I then flew several figure 8's and circuits getting a feel for the helicopter. I have to say that it flies like a much larger helicopter, it tracks true with no tendency to pitch up. The heading hold gyro works as advertised and held the tail with authority.

I have now had a total of 20 flights on the Falcon 3D with no issues. I did purchase a slightly larger battery pack so I could get extended flight times. I am using the Thunder Power 2100ma pack and it just fits in the battery bay, albeit tight. The run time on the stock battery is just a shade over 6 minutes, with the Thunder Power pack just over 14 minutes. The Thunder Power pack is 3 ounces heavier than the stock 1300ma pack but it seems to fly just as well. The Thunder Power pack makes the helicopter slightly nose heavy but I did not need to change the trims and I had no problem holding a steady hover with the larger pack.



Falcon 3D Electric RC Helicopter Conclusions

The Falcon 3-D Electric RC Helicopter by Art-Tech would be a great addition to anyone’s fleet. With its good looks, great handling characteristics, small size, and price I think it will fill a niche that presently does not exist. A novice can purchase this helicopter and gain useful experience at a bargain price while learning and gaining their flying ability. I know from buying and flying helicopters during the past three years, I've spent more on one radio than the cost of this complete helicopter. If you’re looking to enter the exciting world of electric rc helicopters now’s your chance, I just wish this had been available when I was starting out.