Double Take: Heli-Max Novus CX RTF
Jacob and William Ramsey
PRINTED IN LARGE, friendly letters on both the front and back of the Heli-Max Novus CX box are the words, "Fly it now!" We're both into flying RC helicopters and, after school, spend time with our RealFlight RC simulator.
But there's nothing like the real thing when it comes to flight practice. The day Dad came home with the Novus, we literally flew the helicopter just a few minutes later.
Okay, we flew as soon as possible; the single-cell LiPo battery needed to be charged first. The included wall charger had two LEDs to indicate the state of the power cycle. We eyeballed the helicopter for a few minutes and moved the coffee table out of the way to make more room. (Turns out we didn't need it.) After close to 15 minutes, the pack was charged.
Apparently the Heli-Max 2.4 GHz radio goes through the bind process each time the power switch is activated, so there's a particular way to power up so that everything works properly. The 400 mAh flight pack is installed in the forward-most position so the model has the correct center of gravity (CG). When the CX is powered up, it automatically calibrates itself and waits for the transmitter signal. The transmitter brightly flashes the battery indicator, indicating that it's looking for a Novus receiver to command when it's first turned on. The bind process takes less than 10 seconds; for safety reasons, the motors won't work until a low throttle and trim position is shown.
William test-flew the Novus first and said that it hovered practically hands-off. He got nervous and jittery with it only when Dad tried to get close to the flying helicopter. We're used to transmitters that have firm stick tension; the Heli-Max transmitter seems to have soft springs, but the collective movement is butter-smooth. Getting used to the transmitter didn't take long.
The Novus performs really well in flight (forward or backward) and goes at a good clip if the pilot wants it to. There are no ways to change or modify the control throws other than pushrod length or stick sensitivity, which is okay since the helicopter is so stable. The gyro is a heading-hold type, so turns need to be coordinated, but sideways and backward flight can be done with almost no corrective tail-rotor input from the pilot. It's easy!
Jacob, who is just getting started in helicopters, couldn't wait to try the CX. During the middle of his first flight, a smile started to appear on his face and you could tell he was beginning to have a good time. "This is easy," he said a number of times. The oversized canopy makes this hummingbird easy to see. The three-blade tail rotor doesn't do anything to help the model fly, but it does make it look like the advanced helicopters we'll graduate to later.
The twin motors are quiet, and the plastic rotor blades have been holding up well, even though we've bumped the model into the wall a time or three. We have close to 50 flights on our Novus CX and frequently fly it to relax after school or an afternoon of soccer practice. We don't fly the helicopter outdoors unless it's dead calm; a gust of wind easily throws the blades out of track. The wire landing gear bounces quite well. We've collected spare batteries, but the brushed motors can get warm during the roughly 10-minute flight.
Tech Notes:
- Blade tension is set properly when you can hold the helicopter sideways and the blades remain straight—until you shake the model slightly, which causes the blades to fall. The exact amount of tension is not critical, but both blades must have the same amount. Our blades were a bit on the loose side out of the box.
- Excessively tight blade tension on the CX will cause vibration during flight until each blade finds its center. If the blades are too loose, the helicopter might hover in a circular pattern.
- If you like your Novus CX as much as we do, optional parts are available to replace worn or broken plastic mechanics with anodized aluminum pieces. These will increase sensitivity a bit in a hover and help the model perform more crisply in flight maneuvers.
William Ramsey Jacob Ramsey [email protected]
Manufacturer/Distributor:
Heli-Max / Great Planes Box 9021 Champaign, IL 61826 (217) 398-8970 www.helimax-rc.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
