Report on the Piccolo Pro by Bob Johnston

I have to say I have really enjoyed flying the Piccolo Pro, it is very enjoyable to fly compared with the fixed pitch versions of both the Piccolo and the Hornet, that's not to say both of these models aren't great fun, more that the Piccolo Pro is just that much more accurate to fly and such a bigger flight envelope that for the experience flier it just leaves the fixed pitched models well behind! 

I won't go on about the construction too much as it is still a very straight forward model to build that only takes a few hours to throw together, the only fiddly bits are putting the canopy together and covering the blades, the canopy is fiddly as it is by necessity small and lightweight so the plastic is very thin, not a big deal really just a little care is needed. The main blades are wooden and just need the lead strips gluing in, I have no problem with using cyno to do this on blades this small and then you have to cover them with the supplied self adhesive film, this is a little tricky to do neatly but not that bad, heatshink tubing would be nicer but you would have to be carefull not the damage the trailing edge of the blades. 

The Piccolo Pro is not really any bigger than the standard Piccolo but the Canopy makes it look bigger and certainly a lot meaner than the std model, the Pro has a much larger motor (G410) and runs on a 9 cell (10.8v) 700ma pack because of this the PicoBoard is also a uprated version. The tail rotor motor is also a fair bit bigger than the standard one to cope with the extra torque. 

So on to the flying, the first hovers in the shop were with mixed results, I found that if the head speed was not kept quite high then the model would rapidly build up a very strong resonance but as long as the head speed was high then the model was very smooth and also surprisingly stable for such a small model. One thing worth noting is to be careful not to over pitch the model, if you do then it will be ok while the battery is fully charged but when it is getting a little tired you can easily find that rather than the model climbing the extra pitch kills the head speed and the model slowly descends. In any case if you are flying the model mainly inside then the last thing you need is a ballistic climb rate which will only allow you to run it to trouble that much quicker and the large pitch range will also make the model that much more sensitive on the pitch. 

Where the model really shows it's stuff is flying around as it has a fair turn of speed and loops and rolls quite nicely although the rolls take a little practise to get really axial, the model is just as nice inverted as long as you limit the negative pitch even more so than the positive other wise a fairly slow speed nod sets in and builds up if you don't reduce pitch and let the head speed build up, this has not caused a problem (yet) but I have a feeling the model might boom strike if the nod is allowed to really build. 

I can't say the model in it's standard form is out and out 3D capable but it is capable of rolling or flipping in and out of inverted, 540's, loops, rolls etc so really not bad at all for such a little model and I am sure with a little tweaking it's envelope can be further expanded. It even auto's but needless to say there is very little energy in a model so small so no margin for error! 

Our model has the optional Head Hold gyro module fitted and this works well with in the limits of the Piccolo's fixed pitch tail rotor, 540 stall turns take a little getting used to for some one used to a modern tail set up as the slow response of the tail means it acts a little like a old model with a mechanical gyro, i.e. the tail starts to rotate slowly at first then speed's up, the stop is also slow so you need to centre the rudder stick a fair while sooner than you normally would or you will find the model rotates half a turn or so further than you wanted it to. 

All in all I think it is a fun model and great for any one that wants some thing to relax with around the office, a hall, garden, park or even your regular flying site. I hope no one thinks I am being negative about the model as I am not, I think it's great and is certainly the most capable of the micro models I have flown but just bear in mind what it is and don't expect it to be miniature Millennium, we are still a few years away from a model that is truly 3D capable around the average living room, if that's ever going to be practical, you would need some seriously fast reactions for that! 

I have some reservations about the suitability of the Pro for a beginner for although it is certainly more stable than other micro models it's added complexity compared to the standard Piccolo means that it won't be quite as strong in a crash, the high head speed and wooden blades will also mean that bouncing it off a wall will almost certainly result in some damage but it's still going to be a lot stronger than a conventional 30 sized model so maybe it won't be that bad a choice.

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