SBOTI's QR-1 and experience... On-going

[SBOTI74]

Hello Traxxas forum. Well, I thought I would start up a thread to give my experience with this little Quad. I saw it first when a co-worked picked one up and brought it to work. Being a 20 year RC addict, I couldn't beleave how cool it looked and how small it was. I just had to have one to add to my collection. So I searched and finally decided on a green one from Ebay for $87 shipped. Not too bad seeing that I would spend that on a few parts for my 1/5th scale Losi 5-ive or HPI bajas that I race on a regular basis. Anyway, I'm really happy that I decided to pick it up.



It's a mean looking little booger!



So I opened the package and threw the 2 batteries on the charger. Flipped through the manual and waited for the lights to go off on the charger. 30 minutes later, lights were off and I could only be found out in the garage. Followed the steps to reset the stabalizers and set it on the ground. Slowly gave it throttle and straight off she went into a very stable hover.... WOW.... This thing is really nice! A few clicks here and there and she wasn't moving at all! Hands off, what a dream! Messed around in the garage for a few minutes more and the lights started to flash. About 7 minutes.... Not too bad but I tell you what, I'm going to be ordering some more batteries!!!

Brought it into the house where I had a little more room and set the transmitter to expert mode. Wow, it's pretty touchy if you're not ready for it! But after a few minutes, I had it under control and was running around the house chasing my Jack-Russell around. Practice landing it on my laptop, dinner table, and coffee table. It's really fun and I hope I get some time tomorrow, before the sun goes down, to take her outside and try some flips and rolls.

Anyway, I stoked about this little quad and I'll be updating this thread as I fly some more. I'm on quite a lot of other forums so I hope to be around here as well. Please let me know if you guys have any questions and I'll see if I can help you out.

Take an easy and keep the blades up!!! That's unless your flipping it around.

[c.greer]

Keep the post up! If I don't get one for christmas from my girlfriend, I'll be off to the shop the next day! Assuming the longer-term reviews are good!

[Petertje60]

Nice writeup. You forgot to tell you did the prop switch

[Dadx2mj]

My experience has been very similar. My kid brought one home a few days ago and I thought I would get to fly it enough to keep me content WRONG!!!!! He takes it to work with him he likes it so much. So today I bought my own. I was a little rusty on the sticks it has been a while since I have flown but it comes back to you quick. The little Quad is so stable and so fast and easy to maneuver once you get the hang of it. Definitely going to want another pair of batteries.

[Petertje60]

It's nice to have a bird and a transmitter which are small enough to put in your briefcase.
When you get more Lipo's you might have to watch the temps if you fly them close enough after each other.
Especially if you do enough loops and stuff. For some reason I like to "Bounce-the-Couch"... that is making a flip above the couch just low enough that just touches it and it bounces back in the air.

[SBOTI74]

Keep the post up! If I don't get one for christmas from my girlfriend, I'll be off to the shop the next day! Assuming the longer-term reviews are good!

I think that's a good plan. I was thinking of not getting it and tell my wife it's something I would like for Christmas but.... I didn't want to chance it and have her get something else. But, you've got a good plan and more will-power than I have.

Nice writeup. You forgot to tell you did the prop switch

Thank you and you're right. I think I was going to add that bit in there but my daughters started screeming at each other and I got side-tracked. So, you or correct and I did the prop swap while the batteries were getting charged. And now that I've been thinking about it, I think Traxxas needs to start sending them this way! It just didn't look right to me and I couldn't figure out why it was bugging me. Now I've realized it's because you don't fly anything R/C by the tail!!! Planes, you're not looking at the tail, you're looking at the attitued of the nose, Helicopters your watching the nose and using the sticks to change the direction of the nose, not the tail..... So for those guys new to the flying part of R/C and pick one of these up, they are going to have a harder time transitioning from the QR-1 (where they are used to watching the colored blades on the back) to anything else where they have to start watching the nose... TRAXXAS, SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!!!

My experience has been very similar. My kid brought one home a few days ago and I thought I would get to fly it enough to keep me content WRONG!!!!! He takes it to work with him he likes it so much. So today I bought my own. I was a little rusty on the sticks it has been a while since I have flown but it comes back to you quick. The little Quad is so stable and so fast and easy to maneuver once you get the hang of it. Definitely going to want another pair of batteries.

Yes sir, I've been reading your posts and it seems we are of the same mindset. Funny. Anyway, I'm still checking into other batteries. I have some older 1S1P 240mah packs I used in an old Ultra Micro P-51. Different connector but I'm trying to sorce out the Traxxas connectors as well as finding the C rating. 2 x 7 minute flights just isn't enough with these little guys.

It's nice to have a bird and a transmitter which are small enough to put in your briefcase.
When you get more Lipo's you might have to watch the temps if you fly them close enough after each other.
Especially if you do enough loops and stuff. For some reason I like to "Bounce-the-Couch"... that is making a flip above the couch just low enough that just touches it and it bounces back in the air.

Good points! I think tonight I'll fly the 2 packs back to back and see how hot the little motors are. I'm liking the Bounce-the-Couch move. While I was messing around with it in the garage, I did hit a wall a few times. Small garage with a lot of crap..... Anyway, no marks and I'm really impressed with the toughness of this little guy. I feel bad for the people having issues, they must have hit something pretty hard or not taking their time to read the manual and get things set-up correctly...


Anyway, I'm off to register the little bird with Traxxas. Thanks for reading and posting up. Good info, loving it!!




**Watch the language. The filter was tripped which replaced your word(s) with **. Offensive and profane language is not allowed here in the forums.**

[SBOTI74]

Alright, got the QR-1 registered and I had a little issue with finding the page to register so I though I would post some info up.

Here's the link directly where you can register your QR-1 or any Traxxas vehicle in fact:

http://traxxas.com/register

And here's where the S/N is on your QR-1. While you've got it flipped over, rub the tummy a little for good luck!

[SBOTI74]

Sorry about the picture being moved... Here's where you can see the S/N:




Also wanted to give you guys an update. I got home last night just in time to get about a 10 minute flight outside. It was the first chance I had to get in the open air and really see what this quad has got. WOW!!! It's all kinds of fun outdoors in calm wind!

First up, I gained some alt and flew a couple circuits around the yard. It's pretty darn fast and if you don't stay on top of it, you can lose orientation really quick simply because it is tiny!

Next was some attemps at flipping and rolling. I would suggest for the first couple flips, you have some pretty good distance from the QR-1 and mother earth! It lost quite a bit of altitude when I did front and back flips! But once I got the hang of it, I was quickly able to throttle up and by the end of the session, I would only lose about 7-10ft during front/back flips.

Rolling on the other hand, I didn't lose that much alt at all! Maybe 2-3 feet at the most. Really fun to do and I think I can get away with them in the house.

All in all, that flight was a blast and I'm more in love with this little guy! Almost to the point where I may still ask for one for Christmas, in another color, to have as a spare!!!

Now some bad news. My co-worker let me take a look at his QR-1 that he was having issues with after his attempt at flying it. He had never flown one and attemped to do it before I knew he had it. Anyway, he told me everything happened so quickly that he couldn't tell me anything other than it landed upside down a few times. (I'm thinking he may have accidently put it in Expert mode) Well, I pulled the motors out to take a look and 3 of them had the end bell fully off of the motor can! Not good. I attemted to use pliers, as suggested, to push the bells back on but after I re-installed them, they still didn't work. So, I returned it to him today and he's going to have to send it in to Traxxas...

But, that got me thinking about how to protect the wires and motors a little better and I read on another forum where someone put foam or padding on the bottom of the QR-1 to help cushion on hard landings. I have to admit, I'm pretty good with the Quad and I'm not too worried about it but, why not.... So, I pulled out some old ear foamies and cut the ends off of four of them. A little Gorilla glue and presto!!





They weigh next to nothing and give that extra protection! Also, they help with keeping an eye on the little guy.

That's it for now, thanks for reading.

SBOTI

[Stampeedee]

That's a great idea with the foam plugs. I have a bunch of fluorescent yellow ones. I think I would like to try something less permanent than gorilla glue to make sure I like it though. I assume you only dabbed the glue around the motor cage?

[SBOTI74]

Yeah, just a tad bit in a couple spots around the motor cage. I only used enough to hold it on there and I didn't want them popping off if I do hit something or flipping the Quad around. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to pull them off and clean up the gorilla glue if needed. But, I flew it earlier today and was able to show off with a couple flips and rolls and the added little pluggs didn't effect anything. Not the best looking job but, it sure makes for a soft landing.

[SBOTI74]

Morning Traxxas...

I can't wait for the weekend so I can actually get some stick time in daylight... Anyway, the 3rd co-worker got hit QR-1 in yesterday and asked me to take it home and make sure everything was good to go. So, after the kids were in bed, I got out in the garage, and went through the same steps I did on my QR-1. Lifted straight up and with a couple clicks on the right aileron, it was hovering hands off! Dialed in, I ran it around the garage and few times, threw it back in the box and he's all set.

Ran a few more battery packs through my QR-1 after that and even though I was stuck in the garage, I had a great time. Practiced some more nose in and just messing around. Even though I'm pretty confident with Helis and planes, it never hurts to get more "nose-in" stick time. Perfect little quad for that.

[c.greer]

Okay so just getting a little more background info so I'm better prepared for when I get the QR-1... What exactly do y'all mean by "nose-in?"

[Rastus]

Okay so just getting a little more background info so I'm better prepared for when I get the QR-1... What exactly do y'all mean by "nose-in?"

Front facing you as opposed to facing away from you (nose out)

[c.greer]

Gotcha, makes sense. I'm guessing this is a similar (but much more difficult version) of driving an rc car towards you correct? Turning controls are opposite of what seems right?

[Rastus]

Gotcha, makes sense. I'm guessing this is a similar (but much more difficult version) of driving an rc car towards you correct? Turning controls are opposite of what seems right?

Yes the elevator and aileron controls are backward with nose in flying same as a land vehicle...

[SBOTI74]

Yes sir, Rastus is correct and I'm going to take it a little further and I really hope I don't scare anyone off... It really does become second nature if you stick with it and TAKE YOUR TIME! Look, this is all baby steps... I'm talking baby, baby steps.

The controls are the same but you need to train your mind, fingers and eyes to think, work, and react to something that your mind naturally thinks is wrong! So I suggest that when you start follow these steps, you talk out loud. IE, when you try nose in, and you want the quad to go away from you, you have to pull back on the right stick. So as you're pulling back on the right stick, say out loud, "back", "back". I know it sounds goofie and it is a little but trust me, I've trained a few people to fly this way and it works!

Okay, I'm going to try and brake this down a little more:

Normal flying "Nose out or facing away": This is for U.S. Mode 2 controllers only

Left Stick: forward and back: Throttle (Quad moves up and down)
side to side: Rudder (Move stick to the left and quad rotates nose to the left, stick to the right - nose moves to the right)

Right Stick: forward and back: Elivator (Move stick forward and quad moves foward, move stick back and quad moves back)
side to side: Aileron (Move stick left and quad slides left, move stick right and quad slides right)

Now here's how it works for "Nose in" or with the quad facing you so you can see the lights:

Left stick: Foward and back (does the same as above)
Side to side: (Move stick to the left and the nose still moves left however, it will be moving to your right. Same as moving the stick to the right. The nose still actually moves right but it will be to your left now.)

Right stick: Foward and back: (Move stick foward and the quad still slides foward but now that it's facing you, it's coming towards you. Move stock back and the quad still slides back but it's now going away from you.)
Side to side: (Move stick to the left and the quad still slides left but it's to your right. Move stick right and it still slides right but now it's moving to your left)

Look, it sounds complicated but once you practice, practice, practice, it's actually quite fun. Just talk out loud while you are learning and take baby steps. Once you can hover, start moving quad forward and then back to the same spot. Move more foward and gring it back. Then slide it left, bring it back. Slide it right and bring it back............. When you got that down, I suggest you turn the quad nose in. Some people with say to turn it sideways and practice that but personally, I like to go nose in as the second step simply because you're just reversing what you've been practing on the same sticks. If you turn it sideways and practice, this is what's going on;

Left stick will still be the same but the right stick is where people get in trouble with the quad sideways. Moving the right stick forward and back will now make the quad move to your right and left. And moving the stick side to side will make the quad move away and towards you........ Way messed up if you ask me.

Alright, I know there are books and tons of videos to help you guys but I thought, and hope, this helps someone a little. If I made it worse, sorry. The bottom line is take your time. Flying a heli or quad is tough to learn! No doubt about it! Practice over carpet or grass. Concrete and hard floors will just cause a lot of damage.

Take an easy,

SBOTI

[c.greer]

Awesome! Really appreciate SBOTI. All makes great and perfect sense! Great explanation and thanks for clearing it all up

[Rastus]

The quick reference for me especially in a panic when your about hit something you don't want to is to always remember when nose in to move the stick toward the the object you want get away from otherwise it's like a land vehicle where you put your head in the drivers seat and visualize what direction you want to go....

[c.greer]

Makes sense. Might be a good idea to take the MERV and just spend a couple extra runs just driving towards me to get the idea of it before it gets here.

[maxi single]

In a panic situation can you 'let go of the sticks' and save it? will it return to a hover by itself?

[Rastus]

In a panic situation can you 'let go of the sticks' and save it? will it return to a hover by itself?

Eventually that is true but it takes time for that to happen, they will continue to drift in the direction of travel for several feet before fully stablizing provided the trims are set for a stationary hover. If your close to and moving toward some object you will hit it without corrective action. Also the air current from the rotor wash will push it around if it's close to a wall or other things so you have to fly it...

[SBOTI74]

I snapped an arm on mine today!!!! I was about 25-30ft in the air, and I wanted to see what would happen if I cut the throttle and go back to full throttle with about 10 ft to spare. Well......... I cut the throttle and about 15 ft above the ground, I threw the thottle to full and it was the ungliest thing I've seen. It was throwing itself back and forth and was simply out of control... Smacked right into the ground, in my back yard, and when I walked to grab it, one of the arms was just hanging there!!! That sucks bad but, now I have to wait for spares I guess...

[Dadx2mj]

My son snapped an arm on his as well. He used some CA glue and glued the arm back on as a temporary fix until the parts become available. So far it is working just like the break never happened. He has probably flown a half dozen packs on the QR-1 since he broke it.

[Abyss]

Broke 2 arms on mine, tried the same thing as sbot. Worked first time, second time not so much. I used Losi tire glue to glue them back together and it works good enough so long as it doesn't take a hard hit.

[SBOTI74]

Oh man, I'm glad you guys posted up... So Abyss, tire glue is holding up pretty good..... Copy.

Dadx2mj - Which CA glue did you use? I used the gorilla CA glue and it didn't last but a flight and broke again as soon as I landed it....

Did either of you guys notice a severe change in flight characteristics with the added weight of the glue? I did notice one of my blades was bent pretty good but it really was pulling to the side I added the glue to. Do you think it was the glue or the could the blade effect it too. What I mean is I know the blade will effect it, just trying to see if the added weight of the glue is an issue as well....

Thanks guys.

[Dadx2mj]

I'm not sure what brand of CA my son used and he is not here right ow to ask hm. I know he did use a CA activator to instantly harden the glue. In his case he saw no changes in the flight characteristics, it seemed as though it had never broken in the first place. He does plan on replacing the hull as soon as parts are available though.

[Abyss]

Didn't notice any change either, however one of my motors actually came apart so now I have to call traxxas.

[SBOTI74]

Alright, I got home this afternoon and fixed her up. This time I used some quality thin CA I had around for use on my big planes. Worked like a charm! I was a little nervous about it breaking again so I went a step further and used some thin Carbon fiber strips I had laying around. Put a small piece across the break and now I'm happy. And it must have been the messed up blade as I replaced it and it's flying just like when I got it! Boom, I'm back in action!! Thanks guys.

Also, I have a black and white body coming in... So I'll have that as a spare and thought it would be funny to swap the Traxxas guts into another un-named body. Still a Traxxas..

[SBOTI74]

Here's some pictures of the broken arm fix I did last night.. Not the prettiest but, she's up and running.

[Foxprogt]

Maybe RPM should make a replacement hull. It would be lighter, stronger and have reinforced motor mounts plus there famous parts replacement guarantee XP

[clongpre]

I got mine the other day and broke an arm and a motor came apart within the fist 3 packs, really tried to take my time and be carefull not to go out of controll just master movement at a slow pace. Did not expect it could break so easily. My blades are in good shape but that motor never went back together the same.

Expensive Hobbie maybe stick to trucks

[SBOTI74]

Maybe RPM should make a replacement hull. It would be lighter, stronger and have reinforced motor mounts plus there famous parts replacement guarantee XP

I'm with you on this idea! An RPM body would be awesome! I have ran RPM arms on my 1/5th scale stuff so I know they'll handle the beating this little quad will give...

I got mine the other day and broke an arm and a motor came apart within the fist 3 packs, really tried to take my time and be carefull not to go out of controll just master movement at a slow pace. Did not expect it could break so easily. My blades are in good shape but that motor never went back together the same.

Expensive Hobbie maybe stick to trucks

Man, that's aweful! They are pretty tough little guys but maybe the plastic being used is a little too brittle... But then again, if it was softer, maybe there would be too much flex??? Keep at it. Traxxas will have replacement parts available soon I hope. If you do some searching, I'm sure you can find a suitable replacement body till traxxas releases theirs... Just saying, at this point, we just need to keep them in the air.

[SBOTI74]

Well, my QR-1 is down and I'm so upset with Traxxas and thier "Support", I could almost throw the darn thing in the trash! I've spent all this time updating a thread so other customers can get some good info and now that I'm having an issue after only 2 weeks of owning it and maybe 25 flights, I'm getting told by Traxxas it's going to cost me $20 for 2 motors or $50 plus shipping to replace the QR-1...

He's what's been going on. I've cut a pasted from my posts in RCG:

Post 1) I'm having the same issue, noticed it today. Same exact problems but around 20 flights. It seems one of the motors is humming/vibrating. It's something pretty wierd and I've been dealing with it but after I saw your post, maybe it's an issue Traxxas needs to know about...????

(Post 2)Anyway, I'm going to call Traxxas tomorrow and see what they have to say about it. To be honest, I'm worried that if I send it in to Traxxas they may blame me for the issue though. About 10 flights before the motor started the vibrating noise we're talking about, I was about 30ft up and cut the throttle to see what she would do when I brought the throttle back up at about the 15ft mark. Well, it didn't stabalize and ended up breaking one of the arms after landing in some grass... No kidding, grass. I've been around long enough to know that was my fault and must have been some freak thing to have it land just perfect to stap the one arms and no damage to the blade or anything else...

Anyway, I fixed it with some CA and a small, thin piece of Carbon rod. Worked like a charm and flew as good as new for the next 10 flights till this started happening. And, it's not the motor on the arm that broke....... Anyway, I'm going to see if they would just mail out a new motor and I'll take it from there...

Now that I've typed all that out, it came to me that I don't even know which motor is the one causing the issue... They all spin freely and when it's in the air, doing the vibrating thing, it's hard to tell which side is the issue... The way it rocks it's either the front left or rear right motor... Hmmmmmm I'll let you guys know after I call Traxxas. Good thing I already registered the QR-1 with em.

(Post 3) Well, I guess my QR-1 will be down a while..... I called Traxxas this morning and I'm pretty upset with the results...

I mentioned to them that I've been flying for 20+ years, been all over electrics both surface and air for most of that time. I told the guy that the little QR-1 has been going great for about 20-25 flights and that I've only had it for 2 weeks and it seems one of the motors is going out because it wables/vibrates when in the air, kinda like rocking back and forth. Anyway, I mentioned that I was aware that there might be a 30 day replacement or at least a $40 cost for a new machine or possibly if they could just send 2 motors to me to replace the ones that are going bad would work to. Well, all the guy said was the motors are $10 each, the replacement QR-1 is not $40 but $50 and it's up to me what to do but they have the motors in stock. So I asked that he wants me to pay $20 for 2 motors for the quad that I've only had for 2 weeks and 25 flights on. He said yes or get the preplacement for $50 plus shipping.....

Crap!!!! I'm not going to spend $20 on a "Hobby Grade" quad every 20-30 flights! I'm not happy that I only had it 2 freakin weeks and they weren't able to help at all!! Crap!!! Not a happy Traxxas customer at all!

[jcanuck]

I`m having similar problems with my Qr-1 and to top it of the mistake of having the incorrect rotor blades on the QR-1 when I bought it,kinda makes me think that their my be quality control issue.