Best Gear Driven Large to Mid Size Heli?

[strongmankb]

Could someone please help me find an affordable large to mid size electric helicopter with a gear driven tail? I would really appreciate any suggestions. I would prefer not to spend over $500 RTF.

Thanks,

Strongmankb

[Bayou Talker]

Could someone please help me find an affordable large to mid size electric helicopter with a gear driven tail? I would really appreciate any suggestions. I would prefer not to spend over $500 RTF.

Thanks,

Strongmankb

That is going to be a tall order. I would suggest waiting a while and build up a bit more money.

[rabidguineapig]

Blade 400 rtf- $469.99 coming out in ?November

[jeffk]

I wouldn't exactly call that a "large to mid-sized helicopter" though.

I agree, it's going to be impossible to find even a crummy heli that meets your price criteria. To break it down:

Heli - around 300 bucks
electronics - around 200 bucks + depending on which heli you get.
radio - 125+ bucks
Batteries - 250+ for a 6s pack.

You can go A123 for cheaper batteries, but to get the same performance you'll need a more expensive motor and ESC.

While you can get the heli itself for a few hundred, it's the RTF part that's gonna get you.

[Bayou Talker]

I wouldn't exactly call that a "large to mid-sized helicopter" though.

I agree, it's going to be impossible to find even a crummy heli that meets your price criteria. To break it down:

Heli - around 300 bucks
electronics - around 200 bucks + depending on which heli you get.
radio - 125+ bucks
Batteries - 250+ for a 6s pack.

You can go A123 for cheaper batteries, but to get the same performance you'll need a more expensive motor and ESC.

While you can get the heli itself for a few hundred, it's the RTF part that's gonna get you.

Even those numbers are optimistic at best for a 600 size heli. Used ones are starting to come around but RTF looks more like $1500 for a decent setup.

[strongmankb]

What about a 500 class? Remember I want one with a gear driven tail.

[Bayou Talker]

What about a 500 class? Remember I want one with a gear driven tail.

There are not a lot of 500 class machines around yet so there are very few for sale used and a new one will cost almost as much as a 600. After all, the electronic gear will be the same for both machines. Blades for the 500 machines are not very common either. That may change a bit if the TRex 500 comes out but I would not expect it to change much very soon.

The best bang for the buck at this time is the TRex 600E and there are a few for sale used from people upgrading to the 600N.

Take your time and research a few machines and try to decide what you really want. Then figure out how much you need to buy one and save up for it. It will be worth the wait to get what you really want. In the short term, but a good sim and spend time learning on it before trying to fly a real one. It will save you a lot of time and money on repairs.

Good luck. Just remember, anything worth having is worth waiting for.

[strongmankb]

Thanks for the advice. Does anyone know if there is a gear driven tail conversion kit for the Ikarus Eco Sport?