ok big question. for all of u please help. electric or nitro

[vtjeep]

ok my question is what is better electric or nitro . i ask because i want to get into the hobbie and ive ben reading mags and no one seems to cover what one is more versital and beter for beging or what is better to grow with i just dont want to buy something and grow out of it in 6 months. any help would be great guys and girls. :glasses2:

[WayneBrown]

Buy a simulator FIRST, then if you decide to go further, a 30 or 50 nitro will make you a better trainer machine, mostly by nature of longer run times than you will get via battery.
There is a learning curve with the batteries that may make an electric first machine just too complex if you've not been associated with R/C in general.
The micro mini type machines (Blade, hummingbird, etc.) are too dissimilar to really learn well with....

[vtjeep]

ok thanks so what will a sim help me with ? in deciding what i want or is it just to c if i will go nuts or not flying .. :shock: . what r good cheep sims.? :?:

[WayneBrown]

good and cheap do not go together.


An older technology sim can be downloaded free, Flight model simulator is the name of it, but you will need a transmitter and a custom made cord to connect to your PC.
RealFlight G3 is much better, transmitter interface included.
Reflex is also good, but transmitter is required.
A sim will allow you to learn without further expense. Helis' are NOT cheap, and they are time consuming to setup properly. Crash the sim for free over and over.

[Bluefuzzyone]

I have learned on an upgraded Voyager "E" electric helicopter but the initial investment is quite high if you decide later to get out of the hobby. My son-in-law has now just started into the hobby with a 30 size nitro and I think this is better to start with than an electric having flown both. The best investment we both made :D is a computer simulater. I started with a G2 Lite version that is good for learning the basic moves, but if you want more true to life graphics and the ability to add different flying settings look at the G3 version or the Reflex system. They cost more but you can do more with them as your learning curve gets better.
But do get a simulator first :!:

[Bert Kammerer]

I also agree with the fact that electric helis are more complex as well as more expensive (initially). I started with a Voyager E also, but I had already 2 or 3 years of electric airplane experience, so I knew about lipos, speed controllers, etc. With electrics you are also going to be limited to anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes of flight time per pack. Large battery packs required to fly large size electrics are quite expensive (anywhere from $150.00 to $400.00 per pack). Therefore you might only have 3 or 4 packs at most, which will limit the number of flights that you can put in in a day. If you go glow, you will be able to fly almost non stop until it is time to charge your receiver battery, which can typically last 5 or more flights on a small heli, like a 30 size.

[edm3]

vtjeep

I do not have any electric heli experience but I do not think you will grow out of a nitro heli in 6 months. I have been flying a nitro machine since April and am still working on the basics, time permitting. I can tell you that a nitro powered version is a lot of fun.

Good luck and have fun with what ever you decide on.

Ed :D

[vtjeep]

thanks for the info . ya i whent to a store they told me go electric but all they sell is that so im thinking bad sorce.lol. :badair: im looking at a thunder tiger eather a 30 or a 50 size to start ive ben told the bigger the heli the more stable it is just cost more to fix . i just want somthing fun and not to expensive to fix when im learning. thanks again eveyone :mrgreen:

[Bert Kammerer]

A 50 size heli is a great alternative. They are small enough to not be very intimidating and large enough to make them stable. If you power it with a OS Hyper 50, you'll have enough power to learn the basics of 3D as well, so it could last you a long time. If you decide to go with a 50, either a Raptor, Evo or Tiger 50 would be a good choice, all those helis have their goods and bads. The Tiger 50 is the best buck for the bang in my opinion.

If you decide to go with a 30 size chopper, you might want to consider a Raptor as they can be easily upgraded to 50 size. This can work towards your advantage in the future.

Good luck!

[pilotError]

Simulator is the way to go.

I would definitely get a 50 Nitro Machine (assuming you have a place to fly it).

The only other path I could suggest is a Hirobo XRB Wireless.

A little story... A guy 2 doors down from me heard me running my Revo in the back yard with my son. He walked up and asked me if I knew anything about Helis. :D

He already bought a Raptor 50SE and asked to help set it up. I figured, OK this things not gonna last long. I taught him about linkage setup, blade balancing and radio setup. Finished the setup in my back yard and hovered it to get the engine setup going.

I had him put his training gear on handed him the radio, and to my surprise, the guy could hover and move it around a little bit. He was shaking (you know the feeling) and probably didn't sleep that night.

I was a little surprised at first until he told me he was practicing with his XRB in his apartment. He definitely had orientation down, he wanted to show me nose in, but I figured he got this far, let's call it a night.

It's a not so cheap alternative ($289), but is good practice during those Vermont winters. It will give you hovering / orientation skills, but I would still go with a Simulator and a 50 sized nitro. The bigger electrics (T-Rex, etc.) aren't really a good beginner heli. The simulator will let you practice forward flight, inverted and anything else you can think of.

Good Luck,

Mike...

[bighands3d]

Yea deffinetly a sim if you don't arlready have one. It can help in just more that learning the basics, Practicing 3D later also.

My suggestion is the Raptor 50V2 is a great machine with the OS 50 SX-H I flew one this weekend that a local guy buit and I set him up to get hovering. He's been on the sim for about 2-3 months and his first attempt at hover was very stable.

Also the box stock Raptor V250 is great machine fly's mild 3D very well and very predictable for a new and up coming 3D pilot. Plus you can upgrade later but the stock V2 wont break the bank first for your first time purchase. I would consider a step up in the radio dept. in stead of the usuall intry level 6 channel I would get the 9 channel if you feel your gona be in it for a while.

JR 9303, Futaba 9chp Super

[keith shaw]

In any case, find out if there are any heli pilots in your club(if you belong to one)!
If not, it will be a tough road to get where you want to be by yourself! There are so many little items on setup that will be overlooked by a newbie that would determine whether you will be successful or not. Sim or no sim! If you don't have help understanding the fundementals of the hobby, you're doomed to fail and soon you will depart the hobby! I would hope you'd choose to remain in the hobby and be successful and have "fun" getting there! So! my suggestion would be not to buy anything until you know for a fact you have someone close that can give you help when you need it! Just my .02! :wink:

[edm3]

I agree with Keith. You will need help in the begining. Had I not found a heli helper on the net and tried it on my own my Raptor would have been back in kit form in about 2 seconds.

On the advice of a friend I went with the Raptor. Took my time building it, sent some e-mails asking for advice and when I was done I thought it would fly. I was wrong, I had a flight control reversed and I had no idea of what a pitch or throttle curve was. Thats where Jack came in, he listed himself on the internet as a helper pilot. He gave my machine a 3 hour review and tweeking session It was the kind of information that at least in my case is passed on with hands on experience. It was time well spent. Jack test flew my machine for me and then gave me the transmitter and said it's your turn.

This is a great Hobby but not an easy one to get into with out help.

Ed

[vtjeep]

wow thanks i just got my g3 in the mail. its great i just cant seem to hover im looking to find info to help me i can fly around just cant stop very well . :dontknow

[Bert Kammerer]

Practice, practice, practice. Hovering is the key. Once you are able to hover tail in, profile to the right and left and noise in, you will find flying around much easier.

[Ivan]

remember that the beginning and end of each flight is in a hover (or else!!!)

so get the hovering down first. work on all orientations, then work on flying around etc.

Once you can hover your real heli and start working on forward flight, it is time to learn autos. Learn them well, because you will have to do one, no choice in the matter. Usually a person's first auto is when the fun outlasted the fuel, and it comes as a surprise, but the practice and keenly honed reflexes will get you through.