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Twister Ninja 250


Rich Griff
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Yep, that's the advert that sold this helo to me, and many others I suspect.

 

Anyways, I re emailed Geoff at Perkins this morning and had a reply this afo saying they/he e mailed me yesterday, but it's not on my phone anywhere.

 

No matter.

 

Today's reply asked if I was doing auto take off from the floor, yes.

He also said that the throttle trim was a "mode change" function ? Doesn't mention that in the manual.

He said that there "test" one also moved to the left on auto take off.

He has asked for a video of an auto take off etc. but I will need the lads help with that one, to film and attach to an e mail.

It was dry and warmer and virtually breezeless this morning so was gunna go to the football field ( it's big enough ) but covid prevented such.

The covid report today clearly shows covid progress along the A55, with a red dot in peny, about a mile from home.

 

Stay safe dudes.

Edited By David Ashby - Moderator on 22/01/2021 16:13:49

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Jeff, that’s really helpful, thanks. I’d read speculation that these were the same machine but you’re the first person I know of who’s actually compared the two side by side. The fact that the batteries are interchangeable could come in handy.

Edited By David Ashby - Moderator on 22/01/2021 16:14:02

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Hi guys

Been doing a bit more experimenting, and found a couple of interesting things.
Not sure if they help at all, but hey ho.

So, first of all, in the Ninja manual it describes the top right hand button (button B) as a flight mode switch, and the throttle trim button as mode switch.
This can be confusing.
Turns out that button B is actually a rate switch. Pressing the button, if you get one beep you are in low rates, two beeps you are in high rates.
I only have a small space to fly in, so low rates are fine for me, but in a bigger room, or outdoors high rates are a load of fun.
The throttle trim button is more correctly described.
Pressing this button in while you switch on changes the stick layout from mode 2 to mode 1, or vice versa.
Bear in mind that mode 1 switches the elevator to the left stick, and throttle to right stick, but aileron and rudder stay the same.
So, in the cause of science I tried flying in mode 1. I have flown mode 2 since gods dog was a puppy, so this was an adventure.
All went well until the model started drifting back towards me, when instinct took over and I pushed the right stick forward.
Of course in mode 1 this increased throttle and the model went up till it hit the ceiling and everything went mad. Sound familiar, Rich?
At least I proved how crash worthy the model is.
Not really relevant here, but the Eachine transmitter has these functions reversed. Button B switches mode 1/2 and the throttle trim button switches high/low rates.
Seems more intuitive to me and certainly better described in the manual.

Second is this. Both my models, on take off, do have a slight left drift. This apparently is common on fixed pitch models, and easily sorted
Sounds like Rich's model has this as well, but may be more severe.
Thing is you can trim this out in flight, but that trim only remains until the transmitter is switched off.
Not mentioned in either manual, but I picked up from a thread on RC Groups. Once you switch the transmitter off, all trim positions are lost, and next flight you have to start from scratch again.
If you do have a severe left hand drift you want to trim out, best way is to manually adjust the links from the servos to the swash.

Not sure if this helps but worth knowing anyway.

Cheers

Jeff

Edited By David Ashby - Moderator on 22/01/2021 16:14:16

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Well, mine arrived today - thanks David.

With the battery charged and fitted, I placed it on the lounge floor and went through the arming procedure as advertised. Mindful of the pendant light fitting directly overhead, I opted for a manual takeoff. Advancing the throttle brought it straight into the hover, with a bit of drift as others have reported. With the drift trimmed out, it is very stable and the altitude hold works really well.

It starts off in beginner (low rate) mode but it feels like they have got excessive exponential in this mode - a slight movement on the stick does nothing, so you apply more and then it responds quite suddenly. A push of button B to switch to high rates seemed to confirm this - the heli was still not over sensitive around neutral but of course, if you’re given to over control, then the increased travel could get exciting.

I look forward to the day when we can resume our indoor flying sessions in a school hall and explore it further. Mind you, with the current lockdown, I might be tempted out into the garden!

Incidentally, although trimming out the drift isn’t a big problem, I wonder whether there is a way of avoiding the need to trim it out on every flight? The drift is due to the thrust from the tail rotor so, to maintain station, the heli has to hover with a slight tilt to the right. So would doing a gyro recalibration with the helicopter tilted slightly to the right (a piece of card under the left skid, perhaps) help?

Trevor

 

 

Edited By David Ashby - Moderator on 22/01/2021 16:14:31

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Just to add, I did take it out into the garden this afternoon and it flies very nicely. My first feeling is that it’s a bit like a flybar less version of the WLToys V911. It’s got the same strong stabilisation so that you need to maintain forward pressure on the cyclic stick to keep it moving and if you release that pressure it pulls up pretty sharply.

Trevor

Edited By David Ashby - Moderator on 22/01/2021 16:14:48

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've just merged the two Ninja 250 threads folks, hope that's ok.

I decided to buy one last week and have been flying it indoors and in the garden this week. I'm not a heli' flyer per se, so have little to compare it to but it seems to fly well enough in the circuit and isn't too sensitive (for me at least).

A question though, can anyone suggest a follow-on machine, perhaps larger, with which to practice at the field in due course?

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Hello David. I’ve always found the WLToys V912 to be very good. It’s quite heavy, so copes well outdoors as long as it’s not too windy. It’s also incredibly robust. However, I see that Banggood are only offering the brushless version now and it’s a fair bit more expensive than the old brushed version that I’ve got.

Hopefully someone will come up with a more up to date recommendation.

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Ordered the Eachine E129 from Banggood on 30/12 and arrived 12 days later 11/01 - £37.49. Yes a lot cheaper than the Ninja but then not the same buyer protection.

Flies as per book either using auto-takeoff or manual takeoff. The first couple of flights altitude hold worked very well but the last flight not so good. It would hold altitude but gradually drifted down and up on it's own. No idea why ? I am a Mode 1 flyer but fly Mode 2 with these heli's. Did try Mode 1 but had the same outcome as Jeff above. Can vouch for its sturdiness having had a few collisions with the furniture.

Not had chance to fly outdoors yet - too cold and windy.

John.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, my Ninja 250 (courtesy of RCM&E subs department) works perfectly with the first flight being auto take-off up to a steady 1.5 metres followed by, 10 minutes later, a perfect auto-land. Both take-off and landing were achieved with a simple press of a button! No adjustment to trims were required, it was rock steady in the air.

For the next flight I put both sticks into the bottom outer corners, as instructed, and then let them go back to centre. The main rotor ran up to a gentle idle just sitting on the floor quite safely.

Pushing the left-hand stick forward from the spring loaded centre position increased rotor speed, the heli took off and I flew it around normally, varying the rotor speed and height as wanted with the left-hand stick.

To land I just lowered the left-hand stick from its centre position to achieve a gentle scale-like landing. Keep the left-hand stick at the bottom of its spring-loaded travel and the motor will shut down automatically.

When doing a manual take-off, make sure that you rise to at least a metre above the floor to get away from ground effect and turbulence. Don't try to hang around at very low level, have courage and go straight to at least waist height!

I am very pleased with the Ninja 250 and would recommend it to anyone wanting an easy, gentle start into helicopter flying.

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On 22/01/2021 at 16:30, David Ashby - Moderator said:

I've just merged the two Ninja 250 threads folks, hope that's ok.

I decided to buy one last week and have been flying it indoors and in the garden this week. I'm not a heli' flyer per se, so have little to compare it to but it seems to fly well enough in the circuit and isn't too sensitive (for me at least).

A question though, can anyone suggest a follow-on machine, perhaps larger, with which to practice at the field in due course?

 

Hi David, I've spotted your request for suggestions for a follow on machine before the big changeover and posted the below text, but as pre-warned it disappeared, so I'm posting it again. I hope that my experiences may be of some assistance to you.

 

I originally asked my son to buy me a Blade 120SR for a Christmas present as I felt I needed a challenge, as I have been flying fixed wing for a very, very long time, as you know.

I struggled for a while trying to get to grips with it, skidding around the floor and crashing into the furniture and it was only when I chanced on the 'NitroKyosho' YouTube channel that there was a breakthrough. Its presenter, who was doing a 'Learn to Fly Helicopters' series of videos using the Blade 120 SR, said most crucially to have courage and take off quickly and rise to at least 3 feet altitude (well he is American), to get away from ground effect and low and behold, I had it cracked!!! I was then able to start learning to fly the little beastie and keep it out of trouble.

Regarding a suitable model, I see that the Blade 120 SR has been upgraded to the Blade 120 S2 with the added benefit of new additional electronic trickery which wasn't available when my 120 SR was bought for me some 10 years ago.

Without any electronic help I learnt the hard way, but that experience set me up to be able to fly very gentle manoeuvres with a couple of slightly larger helicopters that I have, namely the Blade SR and the Blade 400 3D. No, I don't do clever stuff, I'm just happy enough to be able to keep these larger beasts under control and be able to fly gentle circuits and figure-of-eights.

So, I would recommend the Blade 120 S2 as it is a jump larger than the Ninja 250, and as you get better you can turn off the electronic assistance to enable you improve your helicopter skills even more before moving on to even larger machines!

I hope that helps a bit.

Best regards, Eric

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I realised my posts had gone following the change over to the new web site so for anyone it may help I will summarise a couple of things about the Ninja 250 that I have discovered since I got it as the subscription gift....

It does seem in essence to be the same as the Eachine E129 on Banggood and Firefox C129 on HobbyKing.

It uses the same radio protocol as the E129 so if you have an up to date OpenTX with multiprotocol module you can fly this using E129 - 83 : https://github.com/pascallanger/DIY-Multiprotocol-TX-Module/blob/master/Protocols_Details.md

Channel 16 on a momentary switch will also act as the bind to make connection easy when powering it up.

The batteries from HobbyKing should fit but aren't usually available and postage is high but Ihave just had 2 from AliExpress and although they took a while to arrive (mainly because they sat in the Hermes distribution centre for 2 weeks!) they are the right size: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002029542870.html?spm=a2g0o.placeorder.0.0.90aa321e9rR41E&mp=1

They are on offer at the moment so will cost £11 for 2 so a bit cheaper than HobbyKing unless you are spending enough to get free shipping.

Mine flies great ... it dips as you go fast forward, presumably due to pressure change on the barometer but then returns to the original height as you slow down but loads of fun to just blast it round fast (at least fast for a little thing like this)

 

Much nicer flying it on the Taranis I have to say ... if anyone needs an original TX let me know as I am happy to sell it.

 

So ,... I now need to learn properly with my XK K110 before my ALZRC X360 arrives, although I am putting a H1 controller on that so anyone could fly it ?

 

 

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Nothing very special .. and I am not sure all of this does anything as I just fly it "as is" ... main thing is to be sure it is totally level when ittakes off.

Although trims are programmed on sliders it actually trims perfectly using the normal trims.

The logical switch is for binding via ch16.

This is it really but half of this isn't even needed! I calibrate with sticks each time then start using the two stick method and then just throttle up to take off... if it wanders a lot if probably wasn't level when calibtated.

ninja_02.thumb.jpg.9745140db3c37e909f7d78780e2277e3.jpgninja_01.thumb.jpg.cc6dbce525d9e69d925a773c922595b1.jpgninja_03.thumb.jpg.8e806db673ce2067ae67dc8c8afb169a.jpg

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OK - if it doesn't have a very big flash on it you may need tocustomise it.

Mine is URUAV TMX5 which is 64k / 20k and wasn't big enough for the latest version so had to use Arduino to load the firmware with just the protocols selected that i wanted .. sounds daunting but was Ok and straight forward to do.

These may help:

https://github.com/pascallanger/DIY-Multiprotocol-TX-Module/issues/393

https://github.com/pascallanger/DIY-Multiprotocol-TX-Module/blob/master/docs/Compiling_STM32.md#option-3---compiling-and-updating-firmware

Edited by Mark Stringer
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I take it back - do the side sliers for trims too like in my setup!

I haven't used them up to now but I just spent 15 minutes zooming around my living room and they are really effective to correct any drift - you could pretty much fly it using the sliders!

They did let me quickly get to hover hands off and rock solid without drift and without using normal trims.

Very handy and so fast to respond... you may need to reverse them though so test gently first ?

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Did it fly ok straight out of the box after charging the battery, on its oe tx, before you "tuned" it to your "personal" tx ?

 

Mine didn't, it took off shooting to the left and up and bouncing off the ceiling. I followed the instructions to the letter and the helo was " gyro stabilised" on the floor.

 

I have trimmed the helo with tethered flights, needing about 15 bleeps right and about 10 bleep back, for a reasonably stable hover.

 

I have left it alone patiently waiting for unlockdown and April, then on a flat calm day, I am off the the football field which should be big enough, just.

 

All the legal stuff is in place...

 

I will report back after an outside flight, which hopefully will be successfully.

 

Stay safe out there...

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Rich

If it isn't perfectly level when turned on it can be all over the place.

I always do the calibration before every flight as it only takes 2 seconds.

I have never tried the aut take off - didn't feel right for a heli to do that when it has no GPS so I take off manually gently so you can immediatly see if it is going to head off somewhere.

Just flying in the living room it was going forwards and right even after a calibration on the level floor.

Took almost full "normal" trims on the Taranis but just at the end of the trims they seem to really kick in and work - almost like they have expo on the trims so they don't do much until almost full both ways.

I assume you use the auto take off .. if so try it manually so that you have control right from the start and can pop it straight back down if it starts to go off one way or the other.

I would be happy flying this in about 6ft square (cubed!) to be honest doing it all manually anyway.

Find a quiet room where you won't damage anything and give it a try ... but no auto takeoff!

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Yes I have tried that and it always wanted to go forward and to the left.

 

I will wait until April, having made a helicopter pad with adjustable feet and two small spirit levels to adjust the pad so it is as level as I can get it, to rule that problem out as best I can.

 

I suspect it's still going to go forward and left but we shall see.

 

Some say be brave in take off to get out of the air reciculation/ground effect area.

 

Looking forward to the outing to the football field on a warm flat calm day.

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  • 4 weeks later...

At half eleven I watched the tree tops on the football field, no movement at all. All the washing on the line in the terrace gardens similar, so charged the ninja helo battery.

 

Ten mins later the Lidl chuck glider, the ninja and me are walking to the field.

 

At the field there is  some wind, with the flag flying.

 

I bit the the bullet, first with the chuck glider, some trimming needed but it s gunna make a great very small RC glider, but must get the lightest radio gear possible. Would also fly well with a small electric motor, but have to sell an RC boat first.

 

Anyone like a Vic Smeed sea rider x 1 1/2 scale complete ?

 

Ninja, set it up, press auto take off and gained hieght, I can control it with very large and ragged circuits, but I can control it.

 

I keep using mode 1 aeileron which is instinctive for me, so turning using "rudder" is slightly delayed.

 

Auto land safely.

 

Had about 10 flights, it's quite small and drifts away quite quickly due to the breeze, but does penetrate and make its way back to me when commanded/ controlled to do so.

 

I will be great on a flat calm day.

 

I consider this first outing with the ninja to be a success.

 

Nice and good fun, and very very quiet. It's easy to get a bit t disorientated with it so will colour one side, but it was quite distant and running out of battery at the time.

 

A happy bunny !

Edited by Rich Griff
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Nice t as breezy today but warm and variable breeze.

 

About 6 longer flights today and structured, closer to me, circuits and ragged figure of rights, both directions.

 

Landed it by my self, even a touch and go.

 

More practise and stricter control next time, but I am getting better.

 

Must do something about one side as it's easy to get disorientated.

 

Happy bunny.

 

Even the Lidl chuck glider was better today but needs some more trimming, the fuz is slightly banana, the tail curved and wing tip kick up not equal.

 

The other one I have is better which will become an RC s/soarer...

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I have started to do a brief review video for YouTube of the Ninja 250 (or Eachine E129 / Firefox C129) and just need to do some flying videos to add to it.

I was wondering whether to do the full Taranis setup as part of the video (or an extra video) using the multi-protocol module - would that be of interest / help to anyone?

Mark

Edited by Mark Stringer
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  • 2 years later...

Just bought one of these today. I'm returning to heli flying after a break of a few years.To be honest it was on a whim £49 Mikes Models in Brum.. Partly because I the 1st he'll I bought was a Twister Medivac from that shop  What's the worst reversible happen.

I'll tell you what happened..... I had a ball! I used to fly a 450  on a spectrum DX7

I was never that good but could fly figure 8's hover nose in ect.  I think it's been a decade since I've flown ( 2 kids ago anyway) . 

Last heli had was a a little blade 230s.  I think!! The little Twister felt strange and there seems to be a lot of dead zone on the sticks in more 1 ( beginner) but  3 batteries in and I'm doing figure of eights in my 15 ft X 20 ft ( minus wardrobe/tv space)  bedroom. What a ball !!! The bug has come back.and bitten me.

 

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