Newbie, Just Starting Out...

[venom]

i'm just starting out and i'm looking for a good/decent heli. any suggestions? btw, i'm looking to spend about $250-$350. :?:

[DebianDog]

Welcome!

For a helicopter or total? :smokin:

A good helicopter kit is $300 + radio + gear

[Gixxer]

IF you dont have a simulator yet purchase one NOW!!!

Great Planes G3 Simulator or Reflex XTR sim. A simulator can keep you busy for months learning how to fly and its a blast! Most people in the sport fly a sim regularly. So dont think its a toy and a lame way to learn, They are very realistic!!!

G3 will run you $200 XTR about $300 i think


30/50 Size Heli....
To get started you probably gonna need between $1000-1500

With a radio, 30/50 size heli kit, electronics, field support ........etc.

(It not uncommon for people to have $5K-20K worth of helicoptors & equip, so its not a cheapo wing it sport! Better to realize this now then later!)


PREPARE FOR THE HELI ADDICTION!!!

[Espeefan]

I agree. I highly recommend you buy a simulator first. That way you'll find out if you have what it takes (the desire and interest) to go further in the hobby. Learning to hover is not something that happens overnight, and a simulator will save you thousands of dollars during the process of learning the basics.

I bought Realflight G3 about 3 months ago and it is the best investment I've made. I'd recommend G3 because it comes with a radio, so you don't need to worry about buying one, even though you will eventually need one for your actual RC heli.

I don't even have a helicopter yet, but I have one on order now (finally after getting really comfortable with the sim). I'm stoked. Can't wait to get it. After lots of research and asking questions I decided on Audacity Models. I was going to buy a Tiger 50, but decided to wait for their new Pantara 50.

Hopefully your $250 to $350 is for the heli itself. It takes much more then that to get everything you need.

[venom]

originally i was thinking something small to medium sized and electric for about $250-$350 (total), but from what i hear from you guys, you're totally turned my idea on it's head. looks like i might need to re-think my initial assessment.

what about something like the blade cp, to start out with?

[Seeker]

I would start with the simulator... add to that the blade CX (for quick stick time in your livingroom).

You'll be just under $400 for both of those. The blade CP is the next best for a "real" helicopter vs the blade CX.

[venom]

what about these helis "Piccolo fun, Hummingbird elite FP, Dragonfly, Skylark, or XRB Lama, Caliber M24" any comments. :?: :?:

[DebianDog]

what about these helis "Piccolo fun, Hummingbird elite FP, Dragonfly, Skylark, or XRB Lama, Caliber M24" any comments. :?: :?:

I thought you wanted a "helicopter" :lol:
Now seriously.. IF you HAVE to buy a cheap one than get a Blade CX. $189 bucks and tons of fun.

A simulator is a WAY better use of money in my opinion.

[Seeker]

What da'Man said...

You go DebianDog :D

[WayneBrown]

There are pros and cons to all the helicopters You mentioned, but one thing rings too true, buy and fly a sim.
In all honesty, the EBay specials are mostly poorly made and/or inadequately maintained toys.
Even a free download of Flight Model Simulator (google search it..) and a Nintendo-style gamepad for your PC are worlds better than starting from nothing, they will give you a chance to 'feel' the response to inputs, and see the results.
A bit of research, and looking for established pilots in your area will give you enough knowledge to make an informed decision, and keep you from wasting dollars.

[venom]

just purchased a blade cp for now, to get my feet wet. i'll keep you posted on my progress.

btw any idea on how-to install that damn training gear?

[Espeefan]

Congratulations on the purchase. I really do hate to say it, but I honestly think a simulator would have been a much better purchase, but it's your decision! I hear those little buggers are hard to start learning with, but they are pretty cheap to repair, so good luck and have fun!

[Gixxer]

The only problem is you will be pumping money into that thing for parts as you crash it. On a sim you crash and hit reset...... Should have gone sim. Sounds like a single scrash to the trash situation.....

[DebianDog]

I am sure it is wreaked already ;) I have flown 2 Blade CP's

"Not impressed" is an understatement.

[venom]

having fun with my blade cp. i have logged some time with the g3 sim. but it's nothing like getting your hands dirty with the real thing. and no crashes... yet...

[Rick Rotorhead]

Hi Venom, I've started out much like you and to be honest its a bit 'arse about face'. I bought a Twister CP (similar to a Honeybee) to learn on though I intend to get a TrexSE soon and now I can see that the Twister is not really good enough to prepare me for the Trex (its very twitchy and not that stable and has a motor driven tail with a mind of its own!) so I am getting the Reflex XTR sim as well. With hindsight and had I seen this HF site earlier I'd have just bought the sim and the Trex. The cash I spent on the Twister would have bought a lot of spares, if needed, for the Trex. To be fair, I am enjoying mucking about with the Twister and it has taught me to tail-in hover even in horrendous turbulance (though the Twister always flys like its in turbulance Lol) is just that the Twister cost in $ equivalent about $260 which I would rather have spent on the better quality machine. Lesson learned (saving a dime will cost you a dollar!).
Best advice I can give is keep your Blade down to about knee height until you can give it cyclic and tail corrections for a tail-in (ie. pointing at you) hover almost without thinking - cos then it will only get grazed rather than smashed if you get brain fade and input the wrong stick direction. Keep the training gear on not just to stop tip overs but also cos it adds a bit more shock absorbance on hard landings. You've probably already found that training your hand to keep the tail pointing at you is the first thing you must achieve, cos if she spins around on you theres no time to work out which way to push the cyclic and into the dirt she goes.... Good luck, keep us all updated with your progress....... Rick

[Crash Gordon]

Hey Venom,

I have a Blade CP as well. I have been having fun with it and I am fully addicted to flying helicopters now! Did you finger out the training gear thing? I had to ask about that too. I only have about 15 packs or so on the heli, but that's mainly because I had to wait for the crap weather to go away. I basically got mine because it was so cheap and RTF. I didn't know anything other than "I want to try that". I still don't know very much at all about them, but I have gotten pretty good at hovering tail-in. I actually stayed airborne for an entire pack last week, I managed to get some really good forward/backwards flying as well, tail-in of course.

I'm glad to see someone at the same basic level as me. I found a sim made just for the Blade the other day, if you're interrested in it let me know and I'll point you to it, but if you have a G3 I'd think it is a better sim, but I don't know.

Feel free to PM or whatever if you wanna BS or anything, I don't get to my computer everyday so I might not reply too quick but I will reply sometime.

[Col9]

Hello I think i have a minority opinion but hey.....

My mind is not really made up about sims. I don't get the same level of feedback from a sim its just like playing a game and I find I either get bored or just get complacent and crash over and over again cause I cant be bothered to put any real effort in.

That said though it is certainly cheaper to crash, BUT I don't enjoy it so don't tend to use it.

Very very careful practice works for me I have all the patience in the world and if it takes ages before I get off the ground into a hover then fine the main thing is I enjoyed trying. It's nice to have something I cant do yet as a hobby as means I put in the extra effort.

I would have thought 95% of people would rightly recommend a sim as a cheap and easier way to learn, but i just cant from personal experience its too dull.

crashing is going to be an ongoing cost, but t-rex/x400 parts don't cost a fortune so I dont mind. that's what overtime is for :D :D :D

see ya
Col.

flying Helli's for 5 weeks now :arggg:

[flippychick]

I honestly, did not like the sim when I first started. I got a blade cx at the lhs that comes with everything and ready to fly, for $200. It is very easy and great to have around the house to practice, or on a rainy day. I just started recently, but I am glad that I started with a blade cx, very cheap to crash lol. Now that i have done that, I am getting better on the sim and starting to think about my next heli. Good Luck..... it is addicting lol.

[Rick Rotorhead]

I'm using Reflex XTR to learn nose-in and fff. Then I practice what I learn with my Twister(Blade CP). I've been at it 10 weeks and I'm just able now to do circuits and fig eights with the Twister. Important thing for me is the sim allowed me to learn circuit flying in just one weekend. However, theres nothing like the real thing to get the heart racing. So my advice is you need both a sim and a heli. Also. if flying outside, small helis are knocked about by even light wind (worst of all is the swirling turbulance) for this reason alone I would go with a CP model because if she's hit by a gust you need quick altitude control - up and down!
Interestingly, crash situations in XTR happen exactly like real life - no, not blades coming off etc, I mean like when you think a slightly decending turn is shaping up well and suddenly she drops about 5 feet and then you find the gutless little heli has run out of collective/power and she takes a dirt bath. It just happened to me today with the Twister exactly like it has on the XTR using the Piccolo Pro sim model (handles just like a Blade CP). Maybe I'm just learning how to crash :lol:

[ronfoll]

HI, all new to the rc heli world. I resently got the MS-hornet 2 with the hitec eclipse 7 radio. it was almost built. It's time for the electronics . This is what I have, electrifly c-25 speed control - kokam lithium polymar batt. hitec super-slim 7ch rereceiver - hs-55 servos and gy401 gyro. I fried the the c-10 speed controler so I got the c-25 and now I can't get the servos to neutral ch1 seems to keep going when you turn it off and on . could this be the rereceiver ? the books say to get an experienced pilot for assistance with setup and I don't know one. :dontknow thank you Ron

[woodturner]

RonFoll

I'm not familar with the MS Hornet, however...

Do you have the receiver battery that came with your radio? If so you can use this to test the radio / servo setup. Unplug the c-25, no lithiums should be used...

Attach charged defalut NiCad battery to the RX, plus up the servos and check movement / re-action. If everything moves as expected, your RX and servos should be good to go.

If just one servo is acting weird, swap it for another. If the new / switched servo is acting weird, you may have a RX problem.

Good luck testing. Keep us posted.

Frank

[ronfoll]

Thank you Frank
I think it might have been me. I turned it on and it did the same thing but then I turned the radio on and all the servos seem to go to a neutral spot . I did not hook them to the swashplate yet . it looks like the controls are wrong so now I'm going to program the radio. would you know the swashplate arrangement? here are my choices
NOR
120
180
If I'm jump the gun please let me know thank you ron

[No_Gassers_Here]

you should always turn your radio on first. you will lewarn a very costly lesson if you do this when shes ready to fly as it may spool up or short out .

to fly.
1. turn on radio
2. plug in batt.

when done flying (for me it's usually after a crash)lol
1. unplug batt.
2. turn off radio

[ronfoll]

Thanks No_Gassers_Here
like I said I am very new to this. would you know the settings for the swashplate
NOR
120
180