Thinking about a Raptor 50 Titan, which upgrades are a must?

[Staks]

I'm new to choppers but decided on getting a Raptor 50 Titan as it seems this is pretty good for beginners.

Ideally i only wanted to spend AU$1000 (US$850 approx) to begin but i understand you sometimes need to spend more if you are going to take the hobby seriously. So my quesiton is, if i was to go and buy a kit today which upgrades would you consider a *must* and which would you consider to be less important? Advice on radios would be appreciated too.

Thanks :)

[BarracudaHockey]

MUST: PV0499 one piece tail hub.

Nice: Metal head block, metal washout base. (these are wear items that will last a while in stock form if you arent beating on it)

Later on: hard dampeners, a governor, light paddles and decent blades.
Might find some decent info here, the second one deals spefically with upgrades
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=836
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=860

[RaptorRob]

I put a Hobby Taiwan Head, beautifully machined piece of equipment comes with a harden main shaft new paddles and even a neck strap for your Transmitter. Accompanied by there whole metal tail up grade and most importantly. SAB 600mm carbon fiber blades and 95mm tail blades. They made a HUGE difference to the over all flight performance. I'm soon looking to put the O.S 50 hyper so ill let you know how that goes. I'm very happy over all so far.. :idea:

[Funky]

Just the PV0499 Barracuda mentioned and some training wheels. A good sim would also help and is better for a beginner than adding "bling" to your heli. You won't need the metal upgrades or 100 dollar blades for a while if you are just starting out IMO.... but they are nice looking :wink:

[RaptorRob]

Yeah Funky I agree about the blades but the Hobby Taiwan metal head and rear tail hub made a huge difference to over all stability and ruggedness . The Raptor is easy enough to fly. Under an instructor he should be able to master it pretty quickly. I have to admit the stock blades are fine for hovering and flying but I noticed a huge difference with the blades. I even upgraded the ones on my Rex and could feel the difference. Problem is under high RPM wooden blades can flex slightly and flatten out. No such thing with carbon fiber ones. You don't have to buy SAB.. :wink:

[Laurens]

Don't get a metal head if you're just starting, it isn't needed AT ALL.

It is nice to have later, but a metal centerhub is enough. I've seen enough beginners barely hovering a fully blinged raptor. On my R90 I have ZERO bling (well I will get some usefull stuff later on) and I fly far better then most pilots with loads of bling :mrgreen:

The most important upgrade is LOADS OF FUEL.

[Funky]

I agree about the blades. I didn't mean anyone should use woodies... I don't really trust them on a 50. I had mine lose part of the plastic wrapping mid flight and I thought my heli was going to explode with the noise it was making in the air. When I make changes or want to try something new I fly these cheap fiberglass/carbon blades from Helidirect. They are only 45 bucks and fly fine. They are much safer than woodies. They don't fly quite as nice as the Radix or Vs, but the difference is a lot less than you would think for the price difference. Vs are still my favorites though.

http://www.helifreak.com/album_mod/upload/78e15c8f4e38203fc417be3d466c162f.jpg