Nitro/Gas helis a thing of the past?

[Mitch Booth]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to CP helis but have always been in awe watching 3D events w tons of smoke being emitted by these machines!! Just bought an electric Blade nano Cps and 230 s to learn on. I watched Duncan Boisson this Summer and have been addicted ever since. If I'm able to advance what are the pros and cons to Nitro powered units? Do gas powered units still emit such large volumes of smoke? Any reason for all that smoke, too rich or too lean?

Thanks

Mitch

[smwht]

There are nitro and gas helis. Nitro has more power and is lighter than gas, but fuel is much more expensive and flight times are shorter than gas. Nitro is usually 6-8 minutes, gas is 8-20+ depending on model and setup. Electric has far more power but shorter flight times.

Nitros smoke a lot due to the oil content and fuel composition. Gassers have much less oil and smoke much less as a result. Nitro is usually 15-20% oil content, gas is closer to 3%.

IMO anyways nitro is more fun to fly, but it's definitely more work than electric and it'll be a hassle to get into if there's nobody nearby who knows how to set up and tune. It's possible for sure but you'll probably wind up blowing up an engine or two along the way.

[Number]

Originally Posted by smwht

There are nitro and gas helis. Nitro has more power and is lighter than gas, but fuel is much more expensive and flight times are shorter than gas. Nitro is usually 6-8 minutes, gas is 8-20+ depending on model and setup. Electric has far more power but shorter flight times.

Nitros smoke a lot due to the oil content and fuel composition. Gassers have much less oil and smoke much less as a result. Nitro is usually 15-20% oil content, gas is closer to 3%.

IMO anyways nitro is more fun to fly, but it's definitely more work than electric and it'll be a hassle to get into if there's nobody nearby who knows how to set up and tune. It's possible for sure but you'll probably wind up blowing up an engine or two along the way.

I have local people who fly nitro and lots of friends on FB to talk to but I still blew an engine or two

[Thestructured]

Nitro and Gassers are not dead. Every fun fly is full of them, the smoke and noise makes them more interesting to watch. They're more showy, and it's pretty cool to see 'older tech' still ripping in the air.

Having said that, until you have progressed a fair amount, don't mess with nitro. And even then, don't buy one as your first large heli. We want to keep you in the hobby

There's no denying it's a lot more work, more mechanical parts to mess with (clutch assembly mostly), learning how to set up a throttle servo, carb tuning and then governor tuning only after the carb has been tuned. And if you crash you have a pretty big chance of damaging your muffler or engine.

I'd never own one as my only heli, only as an addition to the fleet. I absolutely love my nitro though, and it got more flight time than anything else this year. It's just awesome to fly, but part of that is probably the novelty of it.

[BrokeDad]

I have a big old Shuttle and love it. It's not for 3D so I don't worry about perfect engine tuning as long as it's on the rich side. It starts on the first spin every time and has never yet died while in flight. In fact it can be a PIA to get to stop running much of the time.

[DCflyer]

Nitro helis made a comeback in a big way last couple years. Just when people thought "nitro is dead" we had a surge in the market for nitro. The last funfly I went to had the entire event covered in smoke bc there was so many nitro machines there.

I agree with others though - if you are new to the hobby, get the basics down on electrics first. Unless you're a gearhead or have someone local that can show you the ropes, nitro has a lot to learn.

A 700N getting smacked 5 feet off the deck with the smoke swirling around in the rotor wash is quite a site. There is nothing more visceral in RC.

[Number]

Think of it like this:

Learning to build and fly your first 700 as an electric is like learning to juggle.

Learning to build, fly, tune, not blow up your first 700 as a nitro is like learning to juggle hot soldering irons, on a unicycle, while being shot at with a bb gun.

[Mitch Booth]

I do love the smell of the nitro fuel. I have a couple Traxxas trucks that have nitro motors. I wish I new a couple of people close by that had nitro Helis. Do you find the glow plugs fail much causing you to have to do auto-rotations to land??
Mitch

[Number]

If your glow plugs are failing something is seriously not right. They can last a good season or two.

[banshee rider]

Originally Posted by Mitch Booth

I do love the smell of the nitro fuel. I have a couple Traxxas trucks that have nitro motors. I wish I new a couple of people close by that had nitro Helis. Do you find the glow plugs fail much causing you to have to do auto-rotations to land??
Mitch

If the glow plugs are failing whether a heli or a car
The engine is to LEAN or you have a bad bearing
Glow Plugs will last years if the engine is tuned properly

[dbcaster]

As long as the eliment doesn't get completely blown out a failed glow plug won't kill the engine. The heat of the burning fuel keeps the eliment glowing once the igniter is removed. Most of the time a failed glow plug will show up when you try to start the engine.

[DCflyer]

I use a pushglow on my .50 and the switchglow pro on my .90. They will emit a single beep when powered up to let me know the glow plug is bad. A nice perk.

[Mitch Booth]

Anyone in Northeast Ohio flying Nitro Helis?

[Matrixmech]

There are still a fair amount of nitro heli's around here but mostly more experienced pilots. I love the fact that I get 14-15 min .flight time on my 700 especially when working out new maneuvers. With electric, just as I'm starting to get a handle on a trick I have to land and change packs. Also love the sound and smell of nitro in the morning!

[Mitch Booth]

I wish I could hang with some of you Nitro guys!!! The smell and smoke is just awesome!! Do you guys fly the 3 axis gyro stabilization Helis or flybar? Any preference one way or the other?

[smwht]

Most everything is flybarless these days. There's a couple people still rocking the old flybarred trex 700n around here, though.

[Mitch Booth]

Do any of the nitro helis have the SAFE or save me button like my Blade 230 s? Assuming I continue to grow with the 230s is there smaller beginner style nitro out there? Any recommendations?

[BrokeDad]

Originally Posted by Mitch Booth

Do any of the nitro helis have the SAFE or save me button like my Blade 230 s? Assuming I continue to grow with the 230s is there smaller beginner style nitro out there? Any recommendations?

As long as you install an FBL with the safe or rescue feature you have it.
The smallest nitro's I can think of are the .30 engine size and those are still quite large in comparison. My old Shuttle with that engine is the size of a 600 electric. Remember in a nitro you have a clutch in the drive system. That's something else you don't deal with in an electric. To get an idea the largest electrics on the pinball machine in the picture are the 450 electric size. The Shuttle is that behemoth on top of the scoreboard.

[Dawiev]

Originally Posted by Mitch Booth

Do any of the nitro helis have the SAFE or save me button like my Blade 230 s? Assuming I continue to grow with the 230s is there smaller beginner style nitro out there? Any recommendations?

Gaui NX4. They come up in the For Sale forum from time to time.

For FBL, choose your poison. There are a number of them with Self Level / Rescue features.

Ps. It can also take the T10 gasser engine.

[Number]

Just be careful with nitro and rescue... they tend to bog a bit from the aggressive behavior of the rescue operation