Dissecting the Micro
From the outside, the Micro Mosquito is obviously a clever work of engineering. However, as the cliché goes, it is what’s on the inside that counts. So, to see if the internal design was as impressive as the outer design, I took it apart. Plus, I had a minor issue with the tail rotor that caused it to fail to operate in forward mode, so I actually had a valid reason for my disassembly adventure. This was easily fixed by repositioning the tail rotor wires (detailed later in this article).
The following steps only require a small Phillips screwdriver:
- Remove the small plastic tube at the top of the main rotor shaft (see Figure
4). I dropped this piece and spent 15 minutes looking for it, so be careful! If
you do lose it, you can use a piece of a cotton swab tube as a replacement.
Figure 4 Plastic tube piece on top of the rotor shaft.
- Pull off the top blade assembly. It slides straight up. Note that the blade assembly is "keyed" in a D shape as to only fit on one way onto the shaft. In addition, when you put the blade assembly back on, the blades need to be slanting downward, otherwise the Micro will try to fly down or not move at all.
- Pull off the 1.5-inch separator tube (see Figure 5).
Figure 5 Side shot of the separator tube.
- Pull off the lower blade assembly. Note the lower blade has a small piece
that interconnects with rotor gear assembly (as shown in Figure 5). If your
helicopter doesn't rise as fast as it should, check this connection to be
sure it is firmly together. Figure 6 provides a shot of how the rotor/motor
gears are designed.
Figure 6 Gear assembly.
- Carefully disengage the rotor gears from the motor gears, and pull the top gear off the rotor shaft.
- Remove the clip from the bottom of the helicopter's rotor shaft (see
Figure 7).
Figure 7 Rotor shaft clip.
- Pull the rotor shaft out of the body of the helicopter. You’ll need to apply firm pressure—just be sure to pay attention to the gears so they don't get stuck or break.
- Note the location and position of the motor gears and pull them off the motor shafts. These need to be put back on in the same position and direction, or the blades will spin in the wrong direction or not spin at all.
- Unscrew the four small screws that keep the motors in place (see Figure
8).
Figure 8 Motor screw details.
- Flip the helicopter over and remove seven screws from the body (see Figure
9).
Figure 9 Bottom side of the Micro Mosquito.
- Next, carefully split the top and bottom pieces from each other. The tail
end of the Micro will be the hardest to take apart. Once you get the parts
separated, carefully lay the bottom over the top. Take note of the main motor
wires that are connected to circuit board. Figure 10 shows what the internals
look like at this stage.
Figure 10 Internals of the Micro.
- To remove the circuit board, you will need to remove one small screw from
the middle of the board (see Figure 10). Once this is done, carefully lift out
the circuit board from the Mosquito's shell. There are two very fragile,
small wires that lead to the rear motor through the boom, and two other antenna
wires that lead to and wrap around the tail legs. Figures 11 and 12 provide a
shot of the internals and the tail rotor.
Figure 11 Tail rotor.
Figure 12 Internals of the Micro (flip side of circuit board).
That's all there is to taking apart this little gizmo. Any further disassembly would result in permanent damage to the components. To reassemble the device, place the circuit board back in place and reinsert the circuit board screw. Then close the body shell and firmly snap the rear together. Next, put all the screws back into the body and motor mounts, put the motor gears back into place, insert the main rotor shaft into the body of the helicopter, and put the rotor snap in place. Finally, place the gears back onto the main motors, and install the gear assembly with the blades. Be sure they are assembled correctly or you will end up with a Micro that wants to fly down instead of up. With that done, place the small rubber hose on top of the main rotor and resume the flying!
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