2/13/07
I like it! After just one cycle of the battery pack that seems to be the best way to sum it up. My Walkera 22D Intruder arrived today. The UPS truck was running late so I didn’t have an opportunity to try it at lunch, but did get in the 1st test flight right after clocking out at 5:00.

Very close in overall size to the Century Hummingbird I’ve been flying for the past month. The main blade holder and main blades look almost identical. They might even be interchangeable in a pinch but I haven’t checked yet. There the similarity pretty much ends. The 22D is a bit heavier than the Hummingbird which should make it flyable outdoors, and it’s much more responsive to stick input.

Minor disappointments included a transmitter antenna that had a small kink in it at the base where it screws into the transmitter. It attaches to the transmitter looking like the leaning tower of Pisa but doesn’t seem to hurt the way it flies as I had no radio glitches during the brief test flight. I also noticed the servo lead on the forward/back pitch (elevator) servo was resting against a collar on the main rotor shaft. With time it would probably wear through the wires. That was easy enough to remedy with a small nylon tie to secure it out of harms way. The aileron servo linkage rubbed slightly against the canopy. That too was easily fixed by removing about 1/16 inch of material from the rear edge of the canopy in that area.

I won’t say it was perfectly trimmed for flight right out of the box but it was a lot closer than the Hummingbird was when I received it. No noticeable vibration like I had on the Hummingbird when it came out of the box. Actually it probably would have been much closer if I had not centered the trims before trying it. I wound up with them back in very close to the same positions they were in when the radio came out of the box. I’ll be making minor adjustments over the next few days as I like my trims centered on the radio.

2/15/07
Now up to 5 flights on the 22D with no mishaps so far. Guess I’m being a little on the cautious side since the main blade replacements are currently “out of stock”, and it didn’t come with a spare set like the Hummingbird did. I’m still getting the feel of it and find myself over correcting if it gets a little out of shape. Going to have to learn a little more finesse on the sticks instead of banging them like the Hummingbird required. Regardless, I can still hold a hover at about knee high for 30 seconds or so, and non stop flight times are close to the 5 or 6 minute range . That’s with varying altitudes 6 inches to about 10 feet, doing “touch n go’s”, trying to “gently” land on a dark spot in the floor, etc. I’ll get a more precise duration times when shooting the video.

I really find myself wishing I’d discovered this little jewel before buying the Hummingbird. It does everything that the bird could do, is far more stable and consistent in flying characteristics and was about half the price. And, I don’t have to worry about replacing the tail motor every 20 or so flights. I paid $189.90 for the Hummingbird and got free shipping from Helicopter World (Century). The 22D from Hobby-Estore hit my wallet for $155.42 total and was ordered with a bunch of extra parts. 1 spare rotor head, 2 main blade holders, 1 spare tail rotor blade set, 2 gear sets, 1 tail rotor hub, and 1 tail rotor steering set. That figure also included $21.95 for shipping all the above via UPS. The 22D RTF by itself was only $108.90 at the time of purchase.

On the down side, the 22D doesn’t come with the flight simulator software, buddy cord to serial interface or trainer cord that the Hummingbird did, and it’s radio is not compatible with the simulator. (I tried that this evening, and it doesn’t recognize it). For the “beginning beginner” I would recommend spending the few extra bucks ($22.80 from Hobby-Estore at the time of this writing) and getting the Esky flight simulator. Crashes on the computer are much easier and cheaper to fix. It looks like the same program that came with the Hummingbird, but includes it own “transmitter” that attaches via USB to your computer. Chances are it would be a good idea to pick up the trainer gear as well.

2/17/07
With it being a cold & windy “no fly” day here I took time to closely check over the 22D and make some closer comparisons between it and the Hummingbird. Even though there was no vibration in flight, the fly-bar was a bit off in side to side adjustment. I’m looking forward to trying a flight after the adjustment once the wind dies down or maybe at work on Monday. I did take it out and tried flying today, but without much luck. The wind was just too gusty to allow it. It was capable of flight, but was a constant struggle to keep from crashing and I gave up after getting it back on the ground with no damage. Under the same conditions, I wouldn’t have been able to even get the Hummingbird off the ground without it 1st blowing over on it’s side.
In a close comparison of the two machines, the Walkera is about 2 inches longer than the Hummingbird from front of canopy to rear of tail boom. Rotor center to end of tail boom is the same on both and the extra length comes from a more forward canopy on the 22D. I don’t have a scale suitable for weighing them, but the 22D does feel heavier when lifting them. Walkera shows the 22D to be at 330g with battery, Century lists the Hummingbird at 155g without battery. Comparing the two rotor heads side to side shows some differences which would keep them from being interchangeable. (different diameter ball links and bearing races) However, the main rotor blades are identical other than the Hummingbird’s blades having the “Century” logo on them and being a little more flexible. Dimension wise they could be used on either of the two.