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Corona tips and tricks
The Lite Machines Corona is a wonderfully stable and durable helicopter. Many aspects of the Corona are easy to improve or tailor to work better for specific flight styles and types of flying. I will discuss a few simple tips to help with many situations encountered by nearly every Corona pilot.
Before I begin, it must be made abundantly clear that the #1 tip is to follow the construction manual thoroughly. There is a reason Lite Machines recommends certain steps and setup instructions for the Corona.
Stable hover- Achieving a stable hover is not a difficult task if a few details are followed.
#1 Make sure all linkages are installed and adjusted correctly per the instruction manual.
#2 Balance the main rotor and tail rotor. Most people are faithful in balancing the main rotor, but not the tail rotor. The tail rotor can be balanced with a simple airplane prop balancer. Simply remove the tail rotor with the tail rotor hub and mount the entire tail rotor with hub (removed from the tail shaft) on the prop balancer. This should help the stability of the heli as well as improve flight time.
#3 Make sure the center of gravity is directly under the main shaft. This is not always possible, depending on your specific setup. However, do your best to get it as close as possible.
#4 Make sure to set the “Z” linkages on the rotor head to the outside position as outlined in the instruction manual. This is important for a “soft” cyclic response.
Flying in wind- Flying in the wind can be a very enjoyable challenge as well as improving your fling skills considerably.
#1 Increase the weight of the helicopter. Believe it or not, a light weight heli is not always best. By simply adding weight (preferably under the heli to keep the center of gravity as low as possible) you can increase the Corona’s capability in wind. This is due to the added mass of the heli making it harder for the wind to upset the heli. The added weight also increases the RPM required to remain in hover. This increased RPM gives increased gyroscopic effect of the main rotor (giving added stability) and drastically improves cyclic response for greater control as the Corona is buffeted by the wind.
#2 Install the “Z” linkages on the inside position. This improves cyclic response quite considerably.
#3 Don’t panic! It is easy to get stressed out when flying in the wind. Being relaxed helps you react much better under stress. Remember, one of the reasons you bought a Corona is the extreme durability of it. Just go out and have fun!
#4 Keep the nose of the heli pointed into the wind.
Aggressive flying- This is my favorite part of owning a Corona! Many people don’t realize how capable the Corona is. The Corona is capable of looping, rolling, 540 stall turns, as well as high speed banking at full throttle! A few simple changes to the heli can improve the ability of the heli to be stable when pushed to the limit.
#1 Raise the center of gravity. This increases cyclic response and makes the heli more “Nimble”.
#2 Install the “Z” linkages to the inside position. As stated earlier, this improves the cyclic response.
#3 For loops and aggressive banks and loops, reduce the weight of the heli. This makes the Corona more willing to change direction. For extremely fast forward flight, increase the weight of the heli. This adds a tremendous amount of stability to the Corona and allows it to go much straighter while at high speed. It also drastically reduces gyroscopic procession (gyroscopic procession is the tendency of the nose of the heli to “Balloon up” in fast forward flight).
#4 This tip sounds strange, but works well depending on the setup of the Corona and the intended result. --- I have found that, under certain aggressive flying circumstances, the Corona flies best without the flybar end weights (the large bolts in the end of the flybar paddles). The bolts are there for added stability of the heli. However, they can actually make the Corona a bit unstable and cause it to wiggle with hard cyclic inputs. Now, upon removal of the paddle weights, the flybar reinforcing steel wire will want to slide out of the hole through the length of the flybar. This can be prevented by installing two short 4-40 screws (one at each end of the flybar) into the small flybar reinforcing wire holes at each end of the flybar paddles. Simply thread the two 4-40 screws into the small holes at the tips of the flybar paddles. These screws will prevent the wire from sliding out while flying. This mod helps soften the brutal cyclic response achieved by the “Z” links mounted in the inside holes while running a high center of gravity.
#5 An almost universal tip is to run both 4 degree blade grips. 4 degree pitch seems much better for nearly every type of flying.
Achieving very long flight time- Most pilots of electric helis are constantly in pursuit of the longest flight time possible and Corona owners are no exception to that.
#1 Refer to the earlier tip on stability. A stable heli is a long flying heli!
#2 Keep the weight down as low as possible. Low weight means less RPM to sustain hover. Low RPM means less energy is required to stay in the air.
#3 Make sure the blade tracking is correct per the instruction manual.
The next few tips are expensive, but effective!
#4 Brushless motor- Brushless motors are extremely efficient. Many people nearly double their flight time with the installation of a brushless motor. Brushless motors also last almost indefinitely! I have over 300 flights on mine and it still runs like new!
#5 Lithium polimer battery packs- I am currently running Thunder Power high current discharge capacity lithium polimer battery packs (two three cell packs in series/ parallel layout). My flight time with a Hacker brushless motor and two lithium packs is 22 minutes with more power than the Corona can possibly tolerate! If I run four of these packs in series parallel (four packs are nearly the same weight as a 7 cell standard pack) I get over 35 minute flight times per charge! If your budget can handle it, I highly recommend a brushless motor and high current lithium polimer packs (please be sure to make sure the motor and speed control are compatible with the voltage of the lithium pack you are considering).
The last tip I have for you at this point is to try out our upgrades for the Corona. Each upgrade has been designed to improve the durability, stability, and handling of the Corona (not to mention the looks!). Please refer to our LMH upgrade section for a complete list of each upgrade as well as further information on each individual component!
Thank you very much for the time !!! Matt Shumaker
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