When I get my ESP8266-01 I tried to flash nodeMCU on it, but it does not work. I searched into the internet for the reason of my problem and found it. A wire between Vcc an CH_PD was missed. After adding this, it was possible to flash the ESP, but there was a chaos of cables and needed devices like resistors, LDO an my table.
So I searched for a solution to flash the ESP8266 quick and easy. I found it into a German forum.
http://www.forum-raspberrypi.de/Thread- ... ieradapter
When getting the adapter from the board member, I tried it out and it works "out of the box". Just connected USB cable, put the ESP8266 on it and flashed it. It works perfect for me. With the two buttons it is possible to reset it and also possible to flash nodeMCU on it. 3,3 V LDO is on board an the level-shifter is not just builded with two resistors. It works with mosfets.
So this is the solution for my problems with the "cable-chaos". Perhaps it would be a solution for other members too?