Beginner vs Expert choice on 550

[atomicmak]

newbie budget on 550

A question that what one beginner should expect to buy as his first heli
(A hurrican 550 EP) ?

All big budget quality parts for expert level should require from start or just basic starter things would okay to a beginner to start with less budget and then upgrade after 6 month if he get comfortable with the bird ?

If the first options is good then what kind of budget and parts one should go for

kit, motor, esc, bec, servos, gyro, tail servo, blades, lipos, chargers

and if the second option is good for starter then what parts ?

kit, motor, esc, bec, servos, gyro, tail servo, blades, lipos, chargers


may be this will save lots of newcomers wallet as it might be possible that one may quit after paying his money and time to his hobby for few months and after failure. Though this chances are less but still if one should want to start with less then ?


I am posting this because i personally feel that experts always stick with their pro features and think about the best only.

Dont want to say that its wrong but still i personally finding help since 5 days and prepared a list of parts for different birds and all experts suggested me only perfect parts (thats really good) but planning of trex 450 end up costing 2000$ so thinking of 550 and better ? GOD KNOWS and that gives me feeling of not getting into this hobby as i do have no budget as of now to spend this much on sarting phase to learn how to fly.

I do have Phoenix and learning on that already since a month.
I do have Futaba 6ex 2.4ghz tx/rx bought from towerhobbies.

Please dont get me wrong but affter spending 5 days i feel that we should have some two portion where small budget people can get access to such kind of product and as well big budget also.

My english is not so good so please forgive me if it had lead to some misunderstanding or hurt expert people here.

purpose is very clear to get a good thing as starter with in good enough budget.

[worldofmaya]

Hi!
I had this question 4 months ago. I'm now flying my hurricane 2 months now. I'm using a 5s setup with an plastic frame Hurricane. I took some alu parts which are really great and I think really important:
CNC Swashplate Guide
CNC Elevator Lever
CNC Pitch Roll Arm
CNC Stop Plate
I'm using Futaba 3001 servos that has enough power. There a lot of people complaining that these servos are too slow. But this is what makes a Hurricane really stable. Another add-on I've is a Raptor skid. it's much wider and higher. The Hurricane stands really good with this skid! A must-have for a beginner! I don't need it anymore but I like the look :)
You need the right transmission ratio... that's a really tough question. I bought my Hurricane at a local dealer. He helped me in finding the right setup and checked if I've done everything right!
Another thing you should definitely check are those Bob Finless videos! Really great!
One note here... there are different versions out there. The latest is version 3. Try and get one of those!!
I'm using a 1,5kW 1,1kV Gaui Motor... great power but flight times are a little bit short. If you have the chance go and get a 980kV Z20! This motor has enough power but is much more efficient!
-klaus

[concept1]

Atomicmak,

glad you found your way here, this is a much better board for the Hurricane then the other you were on. Tons of info, probalby a over load!!!!.

but I would start with viewing the Finless Video's on the Hurri, then go thru the power systems that work. watch some of the video's, you will see the stock "original" 890kv motor, acctually this is listed thru many sights as a 800kv. but it flies pretty good, great for a beginer. you will also find reference to a New Z20 980 kv motor this is made by tonic x. i would say this would be the current motor of choice for the entry-intermediate flyer. but it is not avaliable in a "Combo". this question has been asked 1000x what is the best setup and it really depends on your flying style and budget.
but for a beginner stay with a motor under 980kv! either the stock 890 or a new tonic X Z-20, you will want the longer flight times and too much power can hurt!
I said to watch the video's because you can see some flight performace with the different motors, a plastic frame will fly just as good as the Carbon, untill you get into some real real hard flying, in a hover, the plastic head will fly just like a metal head, but for saftey reasons we go with metal when we start raising the head speeds for 3D. my vote is to save money on the "extra's and spend it on Batteries and a good charger.
good luck and happy reading!
look for questions on flight time learning

[mjdee14]

If you haven't already...start looking through all the pages in this forum...you will "Quickly" find topics that are of interest to you...people just post it different ways...

Your question has been answered many times...there are some really good people here on the freak....best Heli site around...imho...

The 550 is a great heli for all phases of flying and there are some really great supporters like Rediheli when your ready to purchase one.

[bbagle1]

I consider myself a beginner and the hurri was my first heli. i went with the CF version and 1100kv motor and 75 amp esc. I wouldn't say it is too much for a beginner but I definately did not need all the goodies. I still get scared when i go into idle up 2 with a headspeed of 2500. Looking back on it I would have been just as happy if not happier with the Z20 and a plastic frame.

[concept1]

bbagle,
what do you get for flight time, as a beginner learning to hover and what batteries?
I got my Hurricane as my20th or so heli. and i never just hovered it, I did get mine with the stock 890 kv motor and ran it at 100% flat curves for 7 minute flights of mild 3D ,now I fly the heck out of it with a upgraded motor.
I think it would be good for You newer guys to post their flight times with what motor and what packs, I think the 890kv motor would give 10 minute + flights for a first timmer! I know the 1500w motor is good for only 4 minutes of harder flying.

[bbagle1]

Running an 80% curve i am getting 6-7 minutes of FF and hovering. i am using a 13 tooth pinion and 3300 mah zippy's

[bbagle1]

I went in my back yard today and just hovered to see what kind of flight times I could get just hovering. 1100kv gaui motor with 13 tooth pinion, 3300 mah packs, gaui 500mm cf blades with 75% throttle in idle up. I got 9 minutes with no noticeable drop in rpm, I am just guessing but probably right about or a little over 80% discharge. I am willing to bet with the Z-20 on the same setup 12-15 minutes of just hovering is possible if it really is as efficient as everyone says.

[xfaega]

There's two ways to look at this. One - How much money do I want to spend on crashes? Two - will having all the best stuff make me a better flyer? Answer for One get the upgrades that everyone has been talking about. It will help cut down on cost on repairs. Answer for Two not all of use have the best or the most blinged hurricane. We all learned the basics and move from there. Yes it is cool to have all the bells and whistles but it doesn't mean that it will make you a better flyer. The best flyer is the one that can make things work on a limited budget. Get thing as you go along and get better. There are something that is must and it will help you stay in the air. I know this probably sound lame but I found it that check book goes long ways when you do things as you go along.

[medtech]

I'm basically in the same situation.

I need to buy everything except a charger. I've been checking tons of threads and decided the major thing I'm going to do right away is get a z20 motor. I'm still learning hover and a little forward flight so to me the most important thing right now is flight time.

Some things are worth not being cheap on, such as radio. I plan on getting a dx7 that should last me a long time.

I don't really plan on getting many other upgrades right away because they can all be done later and none have any cost savings now unless I do them all at once and get the real fancy model.


After checking everything I need, I still come up to $1400. And this is basic setup with the exception of the z20. This included all the tools which I've read are necessary for a heli setup. Crazily, the only thing keeping me from pulling the trigger is that both the basic heli kit and the z20 are out of stock!

Let me add that most all the expensive parts can be carried over to other heli's so it's understandable that there would be a higher initial investment for any hobby. I'm just hoping to expand later for a much lower cost!

[atomicmak]

thanks all for your good suggestions.
now i am here to go with hurri with z20 as suggested by all.

The next question is do i need to change ESC and BEC to go with z20?
or keep the rest all as it is as stock and fly with just z20 ?

what headspeed is good with stock things to get going as beginner?
how do people calculate their running headspeed?

[atomicmak]

hi all,

was surfing arround for charger and battery.
found some people suggesting Airthunder's are good and go good down rates with same power it starts from.

also some people suggested me to buy PolyCharge4 as it can charge simultenious 4 packs with 3amp but without balancer and suggested that i can balance them with another tp601 charger when i go back after flying and balance them.

can someone tell me if this would be okay to work with ?

[skydude]

I have been using the poly-charger 4 by electrifly for some time now. Works fine. Have well over 300 cycles each on the TP 2070's I have been using on my rex 450's. finally just lost one 2 wks ago but the other two are going strong. And on th TP 1300's I use on my little Honey Bee fp. I do use the TP 205v balancer after charge.

You will like the 6ex radio. Works great. And as some people have been saying, plastic parts are fine. I purchased a metal head six months ago for my 450xl rex that I planned on installing after the next wreck. It is still sitting on the shelf.

I am finishing up the basic plastic 550 (this weekend - yessss) and plan on flying the heli out of it for some time to come.

--

[bbagle1]

I use the polychrge 4 with a blinky balancer. My batteries rarely take more than 5 minutes to balance so I can do them all during one charge cycle. The blinky only costs 25$

[atomicmak]

bw what is tiemframe needed to polycharge4 to feed one 2200mah 3s1p/25c pack ?

with and without balancer at fast speed at the field ?

[mjdee14]

bw what is tiemframe needed to polycharge4 to feed one 2200mah 3s1p/25c pack ?

with and without balancer at fast speed at the field ?

you usually can't charge a lipo faster than 1 c....so if you used up the whole 2200 mah (which you won't because you would ruin it) it would take an hour at 2.2 amps...

nomally you would use 80% or about 1800 mah or about 48 minutes of charging....