Blade CP, what's next?

[Celsian]

Ok, so I'm getting to the point where I feel very comfortable with my Blade CP. I can hover and fly tail in, however, I have trouble flying with the tail away from me or flying with either side of the heli facing me and I dont really know where to turn for help. I've spent countless hours in RealFlight practicing with the impala and any other small heli I can find, but the jump from the virtual to the real world is hard for me to get my head around. I'm afraid to make one little mistake and turn my blade into a pile of pieces. So... is there a tutorial program or something I can find online that will teach me to be in complete control?

Thanks in advance.

[Bayou Talker]

Complete control will only come with lots of stick time. The sim is a good place to start. As for the Blade, I would suggest that you invest in a more stable heli to learn on. If you need to stay with a small electric then go with the TREX. Even better, if you can step up to a nitro bird a 50 would be even better. The bigger the heli the more stable it is and therefore easier to control. That builds confidence and the rest will come with time.

[Celsian]

Do you see Nitro's falling off in the future? I was talking to a guy who works at hobbytown who seemed quite knowledgeable on the subject and he told my dad and I that he thought Nitro's were going to be on the way out soon. He said that everything was going to go electric before long. Is this true?

If it is true:
I was thinking of getting a TREX, but how stable will it be? And which model should I look into?

If it isn't true:
I don't really know what to get in the way of a nitro. I hear great things about Raptor's and I love how responsive the 60 is (in realflight), but there seem to be some other great brands as well. Please help!

[Bayou Talker]

I doubt that nitros will be going away in the foreseeable future. There are just too many people that like them and the power that that can have. Electrics are surely on the rise for a number of reasons, but cost is not one of them. Battery packs for the larger electrics are still quite expensive and flight times are shorter than a comparable nitro. I think you will see many more pilots have an electric as a second or third heli than in the past now that the 50 size electrics are coming out. Right now it is difficult to find many pilots that do not have a TREX along with their other helis and many are adding a 50 size electric as well.

The TREX is definitely more controllable than the Blade CP. I have both and have never fixed the Blade after the last crash. The TREX is just so much more fun to fly that I don't even want to fly the Blade any more. As for which model, they are all fine. You can find the XL models for really good prices these days on line. Just buy which ever one is the best deal and fits your budget. I bought the SE since it came with the motor and speed control and all of the metal upgrades. I found it at a price that was just to good to pass up.

As for the nitro, if you have a club within a reasonable distance, I would travel out there and talk to some of the members. Most will be willing to help you get a nitro bird set up and flying. Ask them what they fly and then consider the same for yourself. That way they will be able to offer the most help to you. After all they will have already figured out their own setups and it will be easy to answer your questions. Whatever you do, don't try to learn to fly a larger nitro on your own. Proper set up will help keep the crashes and repairs down to a minimum and make the experience more enjoyable. Also, larger helis can cause a lot of damage if they get away from you so don't try flying around the neighborhood or other people. A little help will go a long way to making this a fun hobby and learning experience. If you don't have a club nearby, then I would stick with the TREX and make sure you don't fly near people or houses. Even though they are small, they can still cause some damage.

I own 2 Raptor 50's and a Hirobo Sceadu Evo 50 and they are all good machines. The Raptor seems to be the most popular out there and that means there are lots of places to find parts. Before making a decision on which machine to buy, check out the availability and prices of repair parts because you WILL need them. Even the top pilots crash every now and then!

Good luck with whatever you decide and fly safe.

[DebianDog]

Electrics are in but... NITROS AIN'T OUT. You can fly longer and more often with a nitro unless you can afford lots of sets of the best batteries.

[Celsian]

Ok I've spent the last 24 hours researching T-Rex's, mainly the 450XL, but I'm still pretty lost. How much am I going to have to part with for one of these bad boys?

Also, can someone who has a TREX and RealFlight G3 tell me how close this TRex is to the real thing? http://www.helihobby.com/download_files/G3_T_Rex_450X_02_18_05.zip I was searching around online and I found this, but I don't want to base my opinion of the heli on the sim if it's inaccurate.

Finally, how hard is it going to be for me, with no previous building experience, to put one of these together? I have to buy all the accessories myself and am extremely nervous that I'll buy the wrong parts. :dontknow

[Bayou Talker]

http://www.modefosheli.com/

If you want some info on a TREX, try Modefo's. My friends have used them many times and recommend them highly. They can help you with the questions that you have on pricing and equipment.

As for assembly, watch the videos here on HeliFreak in Finless Bob's HeliFreak Tech Room. He has a step by step approach to building and setting up a TREX.

[Pinecone]

I have been asking the same thing in the thread on the build of the HDX 450. Seems like a lot o chocies right now as to what Trex model to get. :)

[carlo_the_wonder_frog]

Also, can someone who has a TREX and RealFlight G3 tell me how close this TRex is to the real thing? http://www.helihobby.com/download_files/G3_T_Rex_450X_02_18_05.zip I was searching around online and I found this, but I don't want to base my opinion of the heli on the sim if it's inaccurate.

Finally, how hard is it going to be for me, with no previous building experience, to put one of these together? I have to buy all the accessories myself and am extremely nervous that I'll buy the wrong parts. :dontknow

That G3 trex model does a pretty good job of simulating the real thing. The lite version flies just like my first t-rex and the more powerful version flies alot like my second more powerful t-rex. They did a good job with them.

Putting the heli together isn't very hard to do, the instructions are pretty good as long as you take a good look at the pictures and read the whole manual before trying to start the build. I took about 4 hours to do my first build, then about 20 hours getting everything setup and tweaked right before my first flight. First flight was nearly perfect after a couple tics of trim on ail and elevator. You will spend much more time getting the radio programmed and setup than you will actually putting the heli together.

Check the t-rex forum, a huge number of people are going to tell you to buy the t-rex 450 SE, HS-65MG servos, Futaba Gy401 gyro, Futaba S9650 digital servo for the tail, Jazz 40 ESC, Thunder Power 2100 Pro Lite batteries and a Medusa Brushless motor. If you must save a little money on your buy then go with the 450 XL CDE kit without motor and ESC, total cost is about $130 for that kit, Tack on about $1300 more dollars for everything else including a good transmitter. Not cheap but it will fly exceptionally well.

For setup use Finless Bob's setup videos, they are like the heli building bible, sooooo much useful info found there and Bob does an excellent job explaining everything. I haven't heard of anyone not being able to get there heli flying after watching those videos.

Good Luck!!!