Newbie Here

[BlizzardBoy]

Hello,

I'm pretty much completely new to r/c flight -- a few years back I had a r/c foam plane that I used till it died (I thought it was great). I've played with r/c cars and I've also used a r/c sub. Now I'm interested in r/c helicopters, and while searching the web, found this place.

In the past I've always been fascinated by r/c helicopters (not so much planes), and now I can afford the hobby - to an extent. While looking into various helicopter models, I found the Blade CP. This helicopter seemed relatively serious, and was within my price range.

However trying to get ahold of one of these helicopters, where I live, is difficult, but the stores carry the Blade CP Pro. To get a Blade CP, it'd cost about 300$ CDN, plus about 75$ CDN for the upgrade kit, while the Blade CP Pro costs 300$ CDN. I looked into the Blade CP Pro, and it looks like the Blade CP except with a Li-Po battery, and symmetrical blades.

My plan with the Blade CP was to figure out just how to fly around first, and if I was really into it, upgrade with the acrobatics kit. I didn't want to buy it all at once, cause I'm not made of money. I've also looked into buying a cheap helicopter to experiment with first to see if I liked it, but all the "cheap" helicopters are about 135$ CDN, which is almost 1/2 the price of a nice helicopter.

Sadly, I don't have an indoor space to fly my chopper, so I'd have to stick to doing it outside. I do, however, have a nice open field within walking distance, and there almost no wind during the mornings and evenings. I was planning on bringing out a landing pad (made out of pizza boxes), and starting off in the field.

Anyways, since a lot of the people here are pros, or at least have an idea of what they are talking about, I was wondering if anyone could give me some tips or advice? If by chance any of the readers here own or have used this model of helicopter (CP/CP Pro), and could give me some more specific advice, it'd be most appreciated.

A fellow in one of the other ?channels? told me that I should buy training gear before I start out cause it could save me a fortune in having to replace broken parts. I tend to agree with him, but was wondering if anyone else had any input.

Learning to fly:

If anyone has any tips on learning how to fly, I'd love to have 'em. A lot of people are telling me that first I should just learn how to hover, and get control over the chopper. Well, once I get an idea of how to keep it steady, where do I go from there?

BTW: sorry for posting this in more than 1 channel.

Thanks for your patience,

-- Zan

[Jonty]

Hopefully someone here with Blade can help you out, but have you considered a nitro heli? If you can't fly inside then you may want to consider a 50 sized machine like a Raptor or Hirobo. I went straight into nitros and it was a lot easier than the electric I tried forst. They are more stable and parts are around the same price.

The nitro will cost more than the Blade but you may end up wanting to upgrade anyway.

[ClayK]

In my case, I found it better to have a simulator as well as a trainer helicopter. Realflight G3 (http://www.realflight.com/products/g3_main.html), Realflight G2 (you can find a good deal on a used one), Reflex XTR and others (Aeroflight Deluxe, etc etc) are highly helpful in learning how to hover and fly a RC helicopter. The simulator will give you some good building blocks for learning how to hover, orientations, forward flight and aerobatics. Applying these learned skills on a real RC model are easier after practicing on the simulator, not to mention cheaper.

I've tried the above three simulators and seem to enjoy using G3, made by Realflight (http://www.realflight.com/), the most. However, there are pros and cons with each simulator. G3 is a resource hog and you need to have at least the minimum specifications (http://www.realflight.com/requirements/g3_system.html). I'd go as far as saying you want to exceed the minimum in this case. G3's predecessor, G2, is adequate to the job of learning and can be purchased used at a significantly reduced cost. G2 has an "entry level" virtual flight instructor (a visual and audio tutorial) for learning the basics. G3 lacks this and really shows you how to do the more complex manuevers.

Reflex XTR (http://www.reflex-sim.de/) is another great product. I had also purchased this when I was toying with simulators. XTR doesn't have an interface box like G3 does, so you have to provide a radio to interface with the computer. XTR has realistics physics and helps you learn about your radio, but I found it too cumbersome for my purposes. I don't want to take anything away from XTR as it has an excellent tool for learning hovering, upright and inverted. I liked XTR, but not as much as I liked the simplicity of G3.

Blade helicopters are more than adequate to enter into the hobby. Parts are cheap and pretty available on the net, if not at your local hobby store. However, I would recommend that you find an RC pilot near you to "learn the ropes". It's terribly tough trying to go the road on your own. Having an experienced pilot to walk you through some things is irreplaceable. Ideally, you want to choose a helicopter that's similar or identical to the one used by a majority of pilots near you. The smaller micro helicopters can be somewhat difficult to learn on compared to a larger bird but they are cheaper to repair. For learning, you can go with the basics, you don't really need anything fancy. It's not really a question of if you will crash, but when.

[sdboogieman]

i would recomend the sim first. i bought a logo 10 first(no electrics) and then the sim g2. three years pass (1 humming bird, 1 shogun v2, and now a trex 450 se)
after weeks on the sim and lots of crashes with shogun i am now able to hover full packs and land without broken stuff. strongly suggest you at least try a sim and see how you are with it.

[Bayou Talker]

I agree with the sim idea. I bought the sim and started on it while I was building my first Raptor 50 and it was well worth the effort and cost the first time that I went to the field. I flew 3 tanks of fuel with no crashes and acheived a decent hover.

The other advantage of the sim is that you have a way to practice when you can't make it outside to fly. It is also a great stress reliever after a hard day at work.

As for the Blade CP, I bought one after I had been flying a while and I was not really happy with the way it flew. If I had started with the Blade first, I probably would not be flying helis today. I found it to be very unstable and "twitchy". I would not have rebuilt it after a few crashes and gone on to something else. That is just my opinion. Lots of other people have been very successful learning to fly with the Blade but most upgrade it very quickly after purchasing it to make it fly better. One thing about the Blade is that if you do learn to hover it and fly with it, then a bigger heli should be a piece of cake after that.

If you want to start with a small electric I would suggest you invest in the TREX. It is a much better handling machine and you will be able to do more with it before you will need to start upgrading. Other than that, I would suggest a 50 size nitro machine for a starter. They are much more stable and easier to see at distance. The small machines get very small, very quick and it is easy to lose orientation and cause a crash.

Whatever you choose, I wish you good luck with it.

[kgfly]

Starting with a sim is a great idea.

Reflex/XTR and G3 are the leaders, both around USD$200. Well worth the money.

Phoenix is brand new. It is targeting to compete with XTR/G3 but at around half the price. Quality/performance/realism is unknown. Doesn't yet have models for BladeCP, TRex or Raptor.

ClearView is almost as good as is only USD$30. Great value. The physics is perhaps not quite as good, but it's close.

FMS is free and is quite good enough for learning basic orientation, hovering tail in, side-in, nose-in, basic circuits and figure-eights. Then you will want to upgrade to one of the others for sure.

Google for "RADDS flight school" for an excellent and detailed guide on learning how to fly an R/C helicopter.

A lot of people have had fun with BladeCPs. A lot have found them too hard for a beginner and much more expensive than they seemed at first. If you can, buy a TRex instead, a lot more money to start, butyou might find it cheaper in the long run.

Good luck. :D

[COOKIEULT70]

I started with a Blade CP Pro and wish I had bought something else. Now that I know a little more about what is available I wish I would have started with a Trex 450X or XL. With the videos Bob has done on the Trex you can't go wrong. The Trex will cost you more to get started than the Blade but the Trex flys soooo much better. You will spend more time flying and less time fixing. I have not had the CPP more than 2 months and I allready bought an HDX300 to replace it.

Edit
http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html

Here is a link for the RADDS school.
(is it ok to post that here?)