New Heli...what to do/get

[chixwithtrixx]

Ok, I have been flying airplanes for about 5 years and work at a hobby shop. I got my hands on one of those little Blade helis by Eflite.

Now I ended up with a used Shuttle Sceadu Evo 50 and would like to know what all to do with it and what to get for flying helis.

I have a JR 8103 for a radio and I'll find a receiver somehwhere.
If the heli has been flown before and I have no idea how it was flown...how do I make sure it is ok and setup good for a beginner?

Thanks

[PaulH]

The best thing to do if you're not sure about the condition is to completely rip it down and rebuild it from the bolts, up. I am doing that to three birds right now. While time consuming, it is fun! :)

Once you have it rebuilt to the manufacturer's specifications, you will want to set it up to have a full -9-to-+9 degrees of collective, and about +/- 5 degrees of cyclic in all directions. Make sure that the tail rotor is spinning in the correct direction and that the tail blades move in the correct direction. Also make sure that the swash plate is perpendicular to the main shaft on all four sides at -9, 0, and +9 degrees of collective.

To set up the radio, the classic "trainer" setup is to use 0 to +9 pitch and about 3 degrees of cyclic. This has the effect of softening you landings and making the cyclic less sensitive. These settings can be controlled entirely in the radio. You do not need to adjust linkages on the heli at all.

As you progress, you can use more cyclic and collective. If you expect to do mostly freestyle 3D flying, you will end up with a -9-0-+9 pitch curve in all modes. If you plan to do mostly FAI flying, you will probably be hovering at 1/2 stick in at least two of your flight modes. There is a lot of F3C/FAI setup information over at RunRyder in a thread started by several FAI pilots.

Although it is mostly Raptor-specific, do check out the Raptor Technique web site. That will further explain most of what I have said in this post, as well as give you tips for fine-tuning your bird.

Good luck! This is an enjoyable hobby, but a lot harder than flying a plane.

[Tristan Buhler]

I know Gary Travis has a beginner setup video DVD for glow helis. mCCPM and eCCPM Search Gary Travis on heli freak and contact him. He also makes on for gas helis.

[OzarkCopterBum]

Also check at http://hirobotechnique.com/ Its Hirobo specific.
Plus nothing beats good, experienced, hands on help. Save yourself TONS of frustration and replacement parts.