by Mo Bruce

Created on: February 18, 2010

The Honeybee CP2 is a pint sized radio controlled helicopter manufactured by Esky at a pint-sized price.  Although it is now superseded by the CP3.   Its compact size (52cm with a blade diameter of 53cm) makes it perfect for flying in restricted areas.   Its ideal flying ground being small gardens, or in large indoor areas.

The helicopter is controlled using a six channel transmitter, and is capable of aerobatic flight.   The CCPM rotor head allows quite radical moves to be performed but does leave the helicopter quite twitchy.   This can be difficult for the novice to cope with at first.

Although there is no separate gyro to stabilise the tail movements, it does have a unique control box.   This box is called a 4 in 1, and it controls and mixes the speed of the tail motor, the main rotor motor, and the servos as it is also the receiver. 

The build quality of the CP2 isn’t great, and although it is sold as RTF (ready to fly) it is usually anything but RTF.   It is recommended that before you attempt fly this helicopter, you should do a full rebuild.   This may seem excessive, but there a several areas on the CP2 where the quality of the build lets it down.

The CP2 suffers from what is called a ‘sticky collective’.   This is where the feathering shaft does not control the pitch of the blades smoothly.   The sticking causes the helicopter to be almost unflyable.   The resulting sticky collective leaves you with a helicopter which refuses to lift when the throttle is applied, then suddenly shoots up into the air.  

The links controlling the swash plate are also usually set up badly and have to be levelled off properly.   You will probably have to adjust the 4 in 1 controller to optimise the tail motor performance.   It is also advisable to make sure the controls on the transmitter have been set up correctly as well.  

Don’t be put off by all this adjusting you may have to do.   Doing all these check on your CP2 will allow you the opportunity to get to know the workings of your helicopter.   This knowledge will stand you in good stead as the key to flying any radio controlled helicopter is having the best set up possible.   You will find all the information you will need to do this on the Internet.   There are quite a few very good forums out there who can give you all the advice you will ever need,   So don’t be shy about visiting them and asking questions.  

The CP2, being so small and light, is susceptible to any winds above about 8-10 miles an hour.   It is fussy about being set up properly, and the ring type links do seem to wear quite quickly and fall off their connections.   Parts are pretty cheap to buy, but the quality is not always that great.

A lot of people hate the CP2 because it is so ‘flighty’ and hard to control.   It is also said that if you can fly a CP2, you can fly anything.   So is the CP2 worth buying?   Those enthusiasts who have soldiered on and overcome the CP2’s faults would say yes to that.   They have been rewarded with a radio-controlled helicopter, which can be real fun to fly about the garden, and when it crashes (as all RC helicopters do) it can be stripped down and rebuilt in no time at all.  

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