User's Manual

balloon is full, be sure to hang on to it, it has quite a bit of lift!
This balloon is very durable and can be refilled many times. If you would like
to deflate the balloon for storage, you may do so by inserting a small plastic
straw into the balloon self sealing valve approximately 6 inches and allowing
the gases to escape from the balloon. Insert the straw carefully so as not to
puncture the balloon. You can speed the deflation of the balloon by gently
squeezing the balloon with the straw inserted into the self sealing valve.
A
TTACHING THE
M
ICROBLIMP
G
ONDOLA TO THE
B
ALLOON
There are a few ways to attach the Microblimp gondola to the balloon.
For your first flights, it is recommended that you use method #1
below:
METHOD 1. Without Gondola Plastic Dome - Easiest Method
Hold down the inflated balloon on the floor or table and place the
Microblimp Gondola unit on the center of the balloon - This is
marked with a small black circle printed on the balloon. It is a good
idea to place the filling valve of the balloon towards the rear for orien-
tation in flight. The Bahoma battery will be at the “rear” side of the
microblimp gondola. You can fasten the Microblimp gondola to the
balloon by using the supplied Velcro stickers, or you can just as easi-
ly use Cellophane (Scotch) tape. This method provides you with the
lowest possible flying weight, the highest performance, and the best
access to the Bahoma battery.(See Fig. 4)
With the Microblimp gondola attached to the inflated balloon, you can
now skip ahead to the “Ballast” section of the manual and you’ll be
ready to fly in a few minutes.
METHOD 2. With Gondola Plastic Dome
This method is really just a continuation of what you did in Method 1.
Line up the plastic gondola plastics with the Microblimp Gondola that
is already attached to the inflated balloon, and slip the plastic dome
over top of the middle propeller. If you slide it a bit sideways, you
can slip it over the prop without too much difficulty. (See Fig. 5)
Now get the self adhesive sticker “pockets” from the plastic bag of
small parts. Get one of the stickers ready and then check the align-
ment of the gondola plastic dome - it should be surrounding the
Microblimp Gondola, but not actually touching it. You can move it
around a little bit until you can see that it is clear of both of the
“arms” and the central motor mounting area of the Microblimp Gon-
dola (See Fig. 6) Once your alignment looks good, apply the self
adhesive sticker pockets around the tabs of the plastic dome. (See
Fig. 7) You can now see that the gondola plastic dome is attached
to the balloon, but it is actually free to be removed - we just have to
slide the tabs out of the pockets. Since the plastic is quite flexible,
this is a fairly easy thing to do - we just squeeze the ends of the plas-
tic gondola dome a little bit and then slip the hole over the central
propeller to remove it. This only takes a second or two.
When you want to attach or remove a battery, you only need to
squeeze the plastic dome a little bit to slide the tabs out of the pock-
ets, and slip the dome over the central propeller The gondola plastics
have been manufactured as lightweight as possible - due to this spec-
ification, the plastics are very “bendable” so this technique works very
2
3
leakage of helium from the mylar balloon - This helium leakage is
normal, and cannot be prevented. One helium fill will last approxi-
mately 1 - 2 weeks, this may vary according to your local atmospher-
ic conditions. When the balloon begins to sag, you may add a “top
up” fill of fresh helium and continue flying. If the saucer or blimp
balloon does not have enough lift after a few weeks of usage, even
after adding a “top up” fill of fresh helium to the balloon, the helium
may be contaminated with air. Deflate the balloon (by inserting a
drinking straw through the valve) and refill it with fresh helium.
P
ILOTING
Y
OUR
M
ICROBLIMP
Flying the Microblimp can be both easy to learn and challenging to
master!
We like to describe piloting the Microblimp as Challenging and
Relaxing at the same time. It forces you to concentrate on your con-
trols, and while you are doing this, you won’t have any time to worry
about any other things - It is a great escape!
The best way to learn to fly the saucer is to just get out there and have
fun. After a few minutes you will understand how propeller thrust
affects your airship, and you will be wanting to fly an obstacle course
around your living room.
The default airplane style mixing is the best way to start flying.
The Left Joystick controls your forward and reverse thrust of both
Left and Right motors simultaneously and equally. If you use the Left
stick alone, you will cause your blimp to thrust forwards or back-
wards. Side to side motion of the Left joystick has no function on
this model.
The Right Joystick is used for steering Left and Right, and also to
ascend and descent - Just remember to Pull the Right stick to go UP.
PULL-UP - just like the old war movies “you’re too low! Pull Up!, Pull
Up!” - it is an easy way to remember that when you want the Microb-
limp to go up, you pull back on the Right stick. Conversely, if you
push the Right Joystick forwards, you will descend. Now for steering
Left and Right, you should remember to go easy on the sticks - you
don’t need to move a whole lot to get the Microblimp to turn one way
or another - you have precision proportional control, so remember to
take it easy - small and slow stick motions will be better for learning.
With any R/C aircraft, the biggest challenge for the beginner is when
the aircraft is coming back towards you - you will find that your con-
trols will seem reversed when the Microblimp is coming back towards
you. Every R/C flyer must master the controls under this situation,
and the Microblimp is a good R/C airplane trainer for this purpose.
Try to imagine that you are inside the Microblimp looking out. If you
can put yourself in the cockpit, you will be well on your way to
becoming a good pilot. Once you have mastered flying the Micro-
blimp you’ll be ready to try an R/C airplane or any other R/C aircraft
For the Blimp/Tank Style Mixing, the controls are situated so that
pushing the two transmitter sticks forward causes the saucer to thrust
ahead. Pulling both sticks backwards will cause the saucer to thrust
backwards. To turn right or left, you may push one stick forwards by
itself and the craft will turn the opposite direction of the stick you are
pushing forwards - ie: pushing the right stick forwards will cause the
saucer to rotate and turn to the left. Sharper turns can be achieved by
reversing one motor while forward thrusting the other. To gain alti-
tude, push the Right Joystick to the Right, and to descend, push the
Right Joystick to the Left. Ballast can also have an effect on rate of
climb, so you can fine tune this according to your flying style.
P
ILOTING
T
IPS
Most new pilots tend to use too much thrusting power when begin-
ning to fly and find that they are crashing into walls and generally
losing control of the Microblimp. When learning to control the airship,
it is best to use the thrusters conservatively. Don’t move the joysticks
so much - you have proportional control, so try to use it, small
motions will give you better control when you are just starting to
learn. If you are using extreme joystick motions when you are just
learning to fly, you will always be overcorrecting the course of the
saucer. The best method of learning to fly the saucer is to go slow,
throttle your power and then observe the Microblimp to see how it reacts
to your control. What is most important is what the Microblimp is
doing, NOT what position your joysticks are in - you will react to the
motion of the Microblimp and modulate your controls to achieve the
desired flight path. Envision a NASA Astronaut controlling his jetpack
during space walks on shuttle missions - the same methods of con-
trol apply to the Microblimp! Try to imagine that you are inside the
Microblimp and facing forwards from the saucers viewpoint - this
helps to keep track of Right and Left - Especially when you are turn-
ing around to come back.
If you like, you can tape a small vertical “fin” to the rear of the balloon
to make the balloon more stable, and less reactive to your controls -
Experiment with the size of fin until you get the desired level of
“damping”. This will make the airship less reactive to your controls,
but it may help beginner pilots.
Eventually when you are a seasoned pilot, the sky is the limit in what
you can do with your RC saucer!
A
ERIAL
S
PORTS AND
C
OMPETITION
!
Aerial Obstacle Course
• Test your skill in maneuvering your saucer by seeing how quickly you can fly
a course around objects in your living room! For example, you could have a
timed race to a houseplant and back. Use a wristwatch to time each run.
Aerial Sumo Wrestling - Aero Derby
•
Fly two blimps or saucers at once, and have a “Smash Up Derby In The Sky”
• Race two saucers at once on a flight course of 3 laps around a room. Bump-
ing each other out of the way is allowed! The first saucer to complete the
course wins the race! This is a lot of fun - especially if you like competition
with your friends!
• Put a small hook on your balloon and try to pick up small paper cut out
“men” that you can make. Just remember to keep the weight of the paper
men to a minimum so the Microblimp will be able to lift it.
Create Your own Flying Games- The Sky is the Limit!
6
Fig. 4 - It is pretty simple to attach the Microblimp
Gondola to the balloon with the supplied velcro or
you can even use cellophane tape
Fig. 5 - Slip the plastic dome over the central
propeller, and align the slots with the motor
arms, getting ready to attach to the balloon.
Fig. 6 - Ensure that the plastic dome is not touching
the Microblimp Gondola circuit board, and get ready
to use the self adhesive sticker “pockets”
Fig. 7 - Finish off the gondola plastic dome installa -
tion by attaching the stickers over the tabs to make
pockets. The gondola is attached, and removable.