Hobby Lobby’s new Co-Co Lama helicopter is designed to eliminate many of the RC helicopter’s basic difficulties that have restricted the growth of this aspect of the sport. Up to now, it has been difficult for an experienced fixed-wing pilot to transition to RC helicopter flying. There are many reasons for this.

The Problems

In the full-size helicopter world, there is one invariable rule: The smaller a helicopter is, the more difficult it is to fly. It is not hard to imagine then that shrinking a helicopter down to model size will make it extremely hard to fly. And yes, it does and they are. Even with modern gyroscopes that help reduce the pilot’s workload, model helicopters require total concentration, much extra training and the help of an experienced model helicopter pilot. This last applies even to RC pilots who have 30 or more years of fixed-wing flying experience. While there are many reasons for needing extra help, here are a few of the more important ones.

First, a model helicopter needs to be perfectly trimmed before its first flight. Blade tracking, both blades spinning in the same horizontal plane, must be preset. So must be their balance. The gyroscope must be properly adjusted to insure the helicopter remains straight under power regardless of the amount of power being applied to the rotors. In short, only an experienced model helicopter pilot can properly set all the pre-flight parameters to insure a successful first flight.

Photo 1

Second, a model helicopter “presents” differently during flight. With the pilot standing behind the helicopter during hovering, the “rudder” control can appear to be reversed even though it is not. From behind, most new helicopter pilots focus only on the tail to keep the model pointed straight ahead. But focusing on the tail boom means that left “rudder” makes the tail move to the right since the “rudder’s” direction is set for moving the nose of the aircraft.

“Aileron” or bank control remains the same, reversing direction when the helicopter points toward the pilot. But those small spinning blades are very hard to see and the new helicopter pilot needs to learn an entirely different site picture to keep the helicopter safely away from the ground.

The “elevator” performs two functions and also presents differently from a fixed wing aircraft. Applying “up elevator” pulls the nose upwards but also puts the aircraft into reverse, flying backwards or functions as brakes, slowing forward motion. The helicopter can also gain altitude during this time. Pushing the “elevator” control “downwards” raises forward speed, increasing lift, so the aircraft climbs with the same power levels while gaining airspeed.

Finally, landing requires that the helicopter hover in one position while gently descending. Except for extreme 3-D flight, this never happens with a fixed wing aircraft. (The maneuver is called a Harrier Landing and it can be very rough on the airplane’s landing gear.) These, and other, differences make helicopter flying so different, not more difficult just different, that little fixed wing experience is directly transferable to RC helicopter piloting. That is why a trained helicopter instructor is always best when transitioning to model helicopter flying.

These differences have hindered the growth of model helicopters. In many RC Flying Clubs, there are no qualified helicopter pilots to teach others to enjoy this fascinating part of RC model aviation. Combine this with the extra costs involved as helicopters do tend to be more expensive and are easily damaged. A hard landing could force the rotor blades into the canopy and the tail boom, destroying all three. They are more easily repaired than fixed wing aircraft but those replacement parts are not free.

Photo 2

As already mentioned, Hobby Lobby’s new Co-Co Lama solves many of helicopter flying’s dilemmas. The kit box pictured in the photo was a pre-release version created when the helicopter was called the Lama 2. The name has been changed to reflect two of this aircraft’s unique advantages, The “Co-Co” stands for Co-axial and Contra-rotating rotor blades (photo 3) while Lama translates as “helicopter”.

Photo 3

This indoor helicopter uses two main rotor blades that rotate in opposite directions. Just like the contra-rotating propellers on Lockheed’s full-size P-38 Lightning, the two blades rotating in opposite directions balance out torque effects while helping to stabilize the aircraft. No pilot inputs are needed to keep the aircraft pointed in the proper direction. The Contra-rotating blades also mean there is no tail rotor to setup and trim out.

This setup eliminates a lot of weight and complexity. It also makes the helicopter much easier to fly. In fact, it might make transitioning to helicopters possible without an instructor’s help. To see if this is possible, we tried “building” and flying the Co-Co Lama alone. This is the saga of that experience.

Photo 4

Hobby Lobby ships the Co-Co Lama Ready-To-Fly (RTF) and with four extra rotor blades, just “in case” they might be needed. Everything required is included and installed. The power for the twin electric motors is provided by a 2-cell, 7.4-volt lithium polymer (Li-Po) battery. A separate charger designed just for this battery is included.

The charger is powered by either a 120-volt plug-in wall charger or by a 12-volt battery connector. Both are included. Also included are a four-channel transmitter and mini-receiver. The transmitter is on one of the standard 72-mHz aircraft frequencies, not on the 27-mHz “CB” frequencies. The receiver is already mounted in the helicopter. This receiver is actually a four-in-one system that contains a pre-trimmed electronic gyro, the rotor blade control mixer, a speed controller for the twin motors and the radio receiver. A separate gyroscopic stabilizer is not required.

There is also an instruction booklet that applies to this helicopter and to Hobby Lobby’s more traditional single bladed helicopters. This booklet covers charging the Li-Po battery and setting up and trimming a single blade helicopter. There is no section on trimming the Co-Co Lama because it doesn’t need any trimming. Everything is preset at the factory.

Still, the directions should have included how to mechanically set reset the trim should that become necessary in the future. It may be that the production versions, ours was a very early test model, will have more complete directions. 

(Click on diagram to enlarge)

Two micro servos are also mounted inside the fuselage to control the tilt angle of the 13.5 in. diameter bottom rotor and the topmost spinning fly bar’s angle. Tilting the bottom rotor “banks” the aircraft. Changing the rotational plane of the fly bar acts as the “rudder” control to rotate the fuselage as would a conventional tail rotor. For a small aircraft (just 14.5 in. long and weighing under 8 ounces), the Co-Co Lama is very sophisticated. The diagram shows exactly how this aircraft is put together, simple but elegant. And should the worst happen, all of those parts are available separately to repair the helicopter.