Newbie from the The Great White North!

[Machinist]

Before I begin, I'd like to say that I've been on this site in the last few weeks doing alot of research/reading as a guest. Its safe to say that this place is a community and helping one another feels like second-nature to most members.

In today's hectic world, its nice to see this taking place.

Seeing that there is no thread where a newbie can introduce him/herself, I decided to do this here and hope I have not stepped onto any toes.

Name is Mike. I'm 34 and I'm located in Montreal, QC. I'm a machinist. Also co-owner of a 3200-Sq/ft machine shop. I have a 15 month old daughter and a caring wife.

Let me clear up a few rumors about us canadians:

(1) We don't keep moose as pets or have them roaming in our backyards. Not me anyways.
(2) Not all of us say "ehhhh" at the end of every sentence. I don't.
(3) Not all of us like hockey. I don't.
(4) We don't live in igloos.
(5) Our heads do not split in 2 when we talk like Terrance & Phillip on South Park.

:wink:

I'm not new to the RC world. During the last 8-9 years, I purchased/modified quite a few nitro-operated cars/trucks. I studied just about every aspect of nitro 4-wheeled rc and felt I was ready for something more complex. I felt I needed a bigger challenge. Something that would take more than adjusting carb and getting gear mesh right. I'm also a perfectionist by nature and given what I do for a living, it can sometimes be time-costly affair. I have incorporated all this into my rc hobby. My wife is an understanding woman, and for this, I thank her.

Heli world. Meet Mike.

Remote helis have always fasinated me. More so than a plane, truck or car. There are FAR more moving parts in a heli than any other RC I have ever seen. I love moving parts. The more, the better.

I'm a total heli-virgin. There.... I said it! I do, however, own a Hirobo XRB Lama, but I have less than 20 mins of runtime on her and haven't flown it as much as I would like to (being busy with business and new addition to the family and all...). So she sits here on my desk at work as clients that walk in ALWAYS comment on it. A friend of mine, thats an veteran rc heli pilot, is always ragging on me about getting into helis. To make a long story short, which is probably too late now...lol, here I am.

I took the plunge a few days ago and purchased a new TREX Align 450SE. Why you ask? Because as soon as I opened that aluminum case and saw all those parts that needed assembling, I felt like a 5 year old kid at Christmas time. I was NEVER fond of RTR! Never. I enjoy building. Heck... every single RTR car/truck I purchased was always torn down from A-Z just to build it back up again. Thats what RC is all about for me. Building an rc (be it a car, truck, heli, etc) is how one learns how everything works. How every single component affects the next one. Its weakpoint and strong ones.

I made myself 2 promises:

The Trex will remain in its original state,

(1) Until I FULLY understand the heli mechanical components and how they work.
(2) Only after I feel totally comfortable with what I've learned will I fly the Hirobo XRB - which can take awhile.

I have not yet purchased a radio, servos and whatever-else-is-needed-to-fly the Trex. My buddy I told you about owns a the H7 and is a VERY impressive radio as I never heard a radio that plays music or talks to you.

If anyone has any comments to make or suggestions, please do not hold back.

Thanks for taking the time to read this rather long post.

- Mike.

[BarracudaHockey]

(3) Not all of us like hockey. I don't.


Ahh dude :(

JK Welcome to the boards.

[Machinist]

Thanks JK.

[BarracudaHockey]

JK = Just Kidding

BarracudaHockey = Andy (who happens to work for a Montreal company)

[DebianDog]

:lolol

We have quite a few folks from the Great White North Welcome! :hug:

[Machinist]

Oppps... ya. I realized the JK only AFTER hitting the submit button...

:oops:

[ferincr]

Welcome Mike,
I share your thoughts about helis too.
I swore myself off methanol and castor oil 20 years ago.
A couple of years ago I got back in but just with gliders, no fuel no way.
Last year I got the chance to buy my first heli (that was my dream ever) and I haven't touched my gliders again ever since. :fly :fly :fly

[Machinist]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.

Is there any particular part to a heli that I should study first?

[ferincr]

Take this as it comes from another newbie (because it does).
Since you are a machinist I guess all the mechanics of it will be second nature to you.
So my suggestion would be to know all the safety issues, and battery/electronic maintenance.
And get a simulator.

[kgfly]

Welcome Mike,

This addicition will suck up your time and money, wave goodbye to the wife and kid(s) and get onto building that SE :lol:

You asked for opinions so here are a few of mine (remember, this is all my opinion, others may disagree):

Learning about heli construction/tuning/setup
Watch the Finless videos: http://helifreak.com/viewforum.php?f=95

At a minimum watch the TRex 450SE series, but really there is something to learn from almost all of them across all the different helis. Not everyone agrees 100% with Bob's advice on all things, but through his videos (and in person) he has helped hundreds (maybe thousands?) of folk get their helis built and running sweetly.

There are lots of other useful sites, for example:
http://trextuning.com/
http://littlerotors.com/

Learning to fly
* Use training gear. You can make your own out of CF rod and plastic golf practise balls (or ping pong balls or the polystyrene balls you can get in craft shops).

* Check out RADD's method, a lot of people have found it really helpful: http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html

* Your XRB Lama is one of the easiest to fly helis and will help you learn about orientation and general flight controls. It doesn't react anything like a TRex or other CP (collective pitch) heli but is great fun and IMO a good way to get started.

* Get a sim

What simulator?

An R/C simulator is a fantastic training aid. Most people find them very useful and lots of fun, although a few just find them tedious. IMO any of the sims mentioned below will pay for itself many times over, plus they will give you something to do during those long, dark, frozen winters when going outdoors is nigh on impossible :wink:

The better ones are quite demanding on your PC, especially the graphics card, so beware that investing in a sim might also mean upgrading your PC. You need something like (or better than) a P4/2Ghz + 512MB RAM + 128MB 3d graphics card (at a minimum something like a Radeon 9600XT, but a Radeon X1600 or NVidia 6800GT would be much better).

FMS is free and although the graphics are a bit dated and the physics not great, it is still a valuable tool ,especially when first learning. The helis are too easy to fly but that's OK at the start, you spend less time crashing and more time getting used to flying. You will need a cable for your Tx (which you don't have yet!) or you can get a Tx-style USB controller from Ebay for about $40 (just search for ESky USB simulator). Otherwise you can even use a USB gamepad to get started. I like the USB cable from milehighwings.com

ClearView is fantastic value giving you a full blown R/C simulator with excellent graphics and physics and many features for only $30. Again, you can use it with your own Tx, an Esky USB Tx or a USB gamepad. CV has a demo you can download and fly for 20mins to see if you like it.

Phoenix, RealFlight/G3.5 and Reflex/XTR are the market leaders with FS One and Aerofly Pro Deluxe also competing. These are all in the $150 to $300 range. The first three are all excellent but my preference at the moment is Phoenix.

What radio ?
No question, Spektrum DX7 with an AR6100 for your TRex450 (save the AR7000 that comes bundled with the Tx for your T600 or sell it to fund other bits). There is no other 6 or 7 channel radio worth buying. Some may have individual features that appeal, but the safety, reliability, performance and convenience of the DX7 puts it *way* ahead of everything else currently available. Many folk are even selling off their 9ch radios having tried the DX7.

If you are not in a hurry to fly, then wait. The DX7 is likely to be all you will need but the range of 2.4GHz spread spectrum solutions is set to expand during 2007 and who knows, you might like the known-to-be-on-the-way DX9 or the announced Nomadio 7ch or 16ch unit or if they come out with it, a Futaba/Hitec/JR unit instead. If you get to the point where you want to get your hands on a Tx and none of these promised products have been released and proven in users' hands, then get yourself a DX7 at that time.

What electronics for my TRex SE ?
Motor/ESC: Cannot beat the Align 430L + 35G/X that usually come bundled with the SE kit in terms of performance/value for money. Other combos will give incrementally better performance but for many $$$$ and until/unless you are heavily into 3D you won't see any benefit.
Swash servos: 3 x Hitec HS-65MG
Gyro: Logictech 2100T (cheaper, smaller and lighter than the famous Futaba GY401 with reviewers to date reporting the same or better performance). If you are unsure about trying the new guy on the block then by far the most recommended gyro for the T450 is the GY401.
Tail servo: For learning an HS56 is fine but if you want top performance then a digital tail servo like a Futaba S9650, S3154 or HDS577 will be needed
Blades Align Pro 325 woodies or TechMP 325 woodies. Until/unless you get into 3D these blades will do everything you need at a low enough price that when you crash and destroy them it hardly hurts at all :lol:

What batteries ?
Typically 3S 11.1V ~2100mAh 20C. The market leaders are probably the FlightPower EVO range and the Thunder Power ProLight range. The EVOs seem to have the edge in outright performance.

IMO, as a learner it's better to consume the lifetime of cheaper batteries while pottering around hovering and learning to fly when you have no need for the extra performance of premium batteries. You can usually get the cheaper brands for as little as half the price of the market leaders. They won't perform as well and may not last as long, but for me it has worked out well. I have been using 3 hextronik batteries (3S 2200mAh 12C/16C) from unitedhobbies.com which together cost me barely more than one FlightPower EVO would have.

What charger/balancer ?
This is not a place to save money. Lipos can be very dangerous and are expensive. You want a reliable and safe charger that will optimise the lifetime of your batteries.

If you think you are unlikely to grow into larger helis than the TRex450 class (3S or 4S packs) or you want to go cautiosly then I recommend either the FMA CellPro4s or the eStation BC5 or BC6. These are all excellent products. They are all integrated balance chargers so you don't need to get a separate balancer. The CellPro4S is LiIon/LiPo/LiFe only whereas the eStation chargers do the tradition chemisties (NiCd/NiMH/Pb) as well. The BC6 is nice as it includes an integrated ac/dc power supply whereas the others require an external DC supply.

On the other hand if you think you are likely to move up to bigger helis (TRex500, Lepton, QJ-EP8, Swift, Logo10, TRex600, eRaptor etc, etc) then you could buy a higher end charger now in anticipation. In this case take a look at the eStationBC8, eStation 902+PB6 balancer and ThunderPower TP1010+210 balancer.

==========
Whew! Well I hope that's some help. There are no dumb questions and there is a great deal to learn, which is part of what makes this hobby so addictive. Good luck with this new adventure.

[Doug Darby]

Kenneth... Thanks for the great inforamation.. The only thing I can speak with authority on is the DSM Spectum technology. We went to it in RC Cars about 3 years ago and I have never looked back. At our race last weekend we had about 50 entries and 3 were not DSM... good recommendation.

Mike.. The Beginners thread is good to. I have been cruising it for a few weeks. I used to go into Canada every other weekend when we were racing snowmobiles competitively in North Dakota. I had some great times and friends. Keep us posted as I will be interested in your experience with the 450 as compared to mine which I will be getting when I get Back from florida the middle of February.

[Machinist]

I'm impressed. I didn't think I would get this many replies in less than a 4+ hour span. Thanks to all to have replied!

I made a mistake in my original post. My buddy with the helis own a MZ14 radio and not a H7 (don't know where the heck I got that number from...). He own a small hobby shop and has always been helpful and NEVER steered me the wrong way. I decided to buy the Trex even BEFORE Nick should me what he's can do so I know for a fact he wasn't trying to make a sale. He suggested I get the DX7 which is one heck of radio. Not exactly an MZ14, but I'm sure that I'll be happy with it.

For those curious about my buddy: www.ndheli.com

Canadian winters can be long. Thats also one reason why I'm getting into helis.

Guess I got alot of reading to do on this new-found addiction. I already ordered a carbon canopy for the 450SE... hehe. Why? Cause it looks good. :mrgreen:

I still have not purchased the ESC, radio, gyro and 4 required servos. Knowing myself all too well, I'll be getting the good stuff from the get-go as I don't like to spend money twice.

[HeliDan]

hehe..... welcome fellow freak....

I never noticed the stereotypical 'Canadian' talk (:mrgreen:) while in Toronto. BUT!! While in Saskatoon!!!! Whoa.............. different story......

:Hi :Hi :Hi :Hi

[revolver123]

salut le machinis

bien venus a toi québecois :mrgreen:

moi aussi j ai un trex se ,superbe oiseau

a plus

see you next time :glasses2:

[Machinist]

Merci Revolver! As bientot.

Translation: Thanks Revolver. See ya soon.

[Jermo]

WELCOME MIKE!! Good to have you here. I understand you have yourself a T-Rex EHH???

Sorry to hear about the lack of Moose in your area. Might want speak to the local governor about that. Moose in every yard and such I hear he claimed.

Anyway.. :) Glad to have ya.. check out RADD for learning to fly painlessly (ok about as painless as it can be). http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html

Jermo

[vera]

Hello Machinist.


We don't keep moose as pets or have them roaming in our backyards


:D Keep a heli in the back yard... airborne.

I have one little electric, a CX, which is a friend during this stinking cold weather. But I love the smell of model exhaust and the slime and smoke and I too like to tinker and build my own... and fix the wrecks. I even took my perfectly good heli all apart and washed all the parts and re greased the bearings and had even more fun putting it back together than the original build.

I'm 67 now but if I was younger and had any money I believe I'd try to learn about machine shop stuff... I'd love to scratch build a heli. I can recognize a lathe machine but that's about the extent of my machine shop knowledge. I know there's lots to it... different metals... angels of the cutters and so on... makes my head hurt to think of all the stuff to learn. But you can really go nuts with this hobby.

Welcome to a special realm of insanity. I'm sure it's insanity because it's just too much fun to be "normal".

[Machinist]

I know there's lots to it... different metals... angels of the cutters and so on... makes my head hurt to think of all the stuff to learn. But you can really go nuts with this hobby.


Vera: I'm 34 years old but I have done many complex jobs at my shop. Jobs that even had engineers scratching their heads wondering how we had succeeded. I'm confident of what I do and do not open my mouth unless I'm 110% certain of whats about to come out of it. But this heli stuff is new territory for me. Machining for me is something that comes naturally.

I opened the 450SE box again today. Not THAT many parts. To be honest, I expected much, much more. I guess the challenges lies in setting and understanding the whole structure rather than just building it, huh? Its the setting up that has me very curious and hope I can be half as good at it as some of the best heli veterans here.

RC guys in the area think I'm insane due to the fact that I rather build rc's than to drive them. I kid you not. Taking apart a brand new RTR car/truck and studing every component and then putting it all back together is a very relaxing passtime for me. Don't get me wrong... I love to drive them too, but I prefer to build them.

Being a machinist has its advantages too. For those of you that are mechanically inclined and that have already visited my company site, you get an idea of what I do. Designing, R&D and machining. I love every aspect of it. I truly love what I do.

Getting back to heli's...

Question for all you veterans: If one can fly an rc heli, can one operate a 1:1 unit as well or at least have the basics on how to fly one?

What does one do with the aluminumcase that the 450SE came in afterwards? Too small for a radio or heli...

I pmed Bob "Finless" about the CD's he has. I haven't received a reply yet. If anyone sees him around, will you please tell him Mike the Machinist is lookin' for him. Thanks.

I know full well this is not the place for this, but I also bought the Thunder Tiger Ducati 999r nitro 1:5 bike. Got a sweet deal on it. Added her to my desk at the shop. 450SE has top priority.

I wish to thank, yet again, all the people that have posted on this thread.

Keep it comin folks. I need all the info I can gather. My brain is like a sponge.

[Jermo]

<cut>What does one do with the aluminumcase that the 450SE came in afterwards? Too small for a radio or heli...

I pmed Bob "Finless" about the CD's he has. I haven't received a reply yet. If anyone sees him around, will you please tell him Mike the Machinist is lookin' for him. Thanks.

<cut>

I use the box to hold repair parts and tools that dont' fit in the bigger Heli case.

Bob's video's are downloadable too. So while you are waitng for a CD you can still watch them .
Jermo

[Machinist]

Thanks Jermo.

I'm on 56k dial-up. So I'll have to get a buddy in the area to download them for me.

[kgfly]

Go to the Finless Tech Room, there is a topic there about how to get them on CD.

[Machinist]

Go to the Finless Tech Room, there is a topic there about how to get them on CD.

They aren't available at the moment.

[MicroMan]

I love Dremels Machinist & saying ehhhhhhhhhhhhh lol, welcome to Helifreak.

[Bluefuzzyone]

I live in Canada to. Do you know Joe in Vacouver? :wink:

You have picked a Great Site for Info and friends.