Starting over...

[cbenslay]

I have been away from the hobby for about 7 years. Boy have things changed!

I had a Raptor .30 nitro heli about 11 years ago and got very good at crashing! After a few frustrating years of mostly re-building, I gave up and sold it. I didn't have the time, patience or assistance to learn how to even hover back then.

So, now I am looking at getting back into this slowly and carefully. I have been looking at the mCX2 RTF. I figure I can learn to hover and get my orientation down with it before moving on to something bigger.

Does this sound reasonable or should I start a little bigger. I won't be able to buy a 2nd heli (or controller) for SEVERAL months.

Thanks!

[GeKu]

You're gonna get a lot of opinions on this so I'll start with mine. First off, the MCX2 is a coaxial heli vs your old raptor which is a CP heli. The MCX2 or any coax for that matter are strictly indoor helis or the weather has to be dead calm outside. I bought my wife a mcx2 just on Saturday as she has started to show some interest in helis. It is a low cost investment that will give you a taste but won't satisfy your thirst.

It really depends on your personal skills, the amount of discipline you have and your comfort level. If it is orientations specific that you want to learn such as tail in, side in, nose in, circuits figure 8's and etc then a coax might be OK for you. If you are looking for something outdoor worthy and are disciplined to learning then an mcpx is not a bad way to go either. It is a small heli but flies pretty big more like a 250 and if set up brushless, flies like a 450. I started with a CP heli. An SR to be exact which was supposed to be an intro heli into CP. Well, I ended up buying a Trex 450 Pro to learn on. It also depends on where you plan on flying. Indoors, outdoor only or both. If both, I would go for the mcpx as it can handle some wind quite well. I have one and I love it. The problem with buying coax rtf's is that it will teach you a bad habit of chopping the throttle when you get into trouble vs hitting throttle hold when you get into bigger CP heli's. Coax helis are fun for tuting around inside and are easy to master. My wife was overing around on her first battery 1/2 way through. She is working on managing her collective better. If you are not really sure if you want to stick to the hobby, the mcx2 is a cheap investment to see if you are going to get the heli bug or not. If you know you want to stick to it, then go mcpx as it will last you quite a while even with the crappy stock controller then, when you can afford it, get a better tx and you can really set up the mcpx to fly even better.

[Gimpdiggity]

Here's my take on it from a beginner's standpoint.

I like my mCX2 quite a bit. It's a very relaxing helicopter to fly and I have fun with it inside.

With that said, I don't think it's quite the training tool that I had hoped it would be.

I became proficient at flying it without crashing it within a couple of days. It's stability is the main reason for this, and that inherent stability is in my opinion what makes it not the best tool for learning about the hobby.

I quickly moved on to a 120 SR, which is also very stable...but inherently less so than the mCX. I learned a bit on that, but with the weather the way it is here in Michigan I was flying indoors mostly, and that wasn't the best idea with the 120 SR.

I then purchased myself an mSR X and an mCP X V2.

With these two birds is when I started to realize how much the mCX2 had NOT taught me.

Both of them got away from me very easily, and although they seemed stable they were not nearly as stable as the mCX2 was.

I have been using both of them almost every night, now, and I have quickly been able to learn to fly the mSR X around the basement. I still crash it every now and then, but I'm able to for the most part "fly" it, instead of just crashing it in different directions!!!

The mCP X V2, obviously, is a collective pitch bird. It's much more demanding to fly than even the mSR X, but makes the mCX2 seem like something I could fly blindfolded. With that said, I am able to regularly hover the mCP X and I am starting to SLOWLY move it around in my basement. I have been able to take it outside once and put it through some paces with more room, where I was able to get a feel for the speed and agility of the machine.

Honestly, I personally find the mCP X to be the most fun to fly of the bunch so far, because it's so involved. You have to constantly be working the controls, or it's just going to drift into the wall. It's actually a bit mentally tiring. After a couple of battery packs, I'm ready to give it a break so I can take a rest because I'm feeling the effects of concentrating so hard.

So, with all of this said, I wanted to mention the reasons that I'm keeping my mCX2 around still. For one, I'm addicted to helis so the more the merrier. Second, once I get proficient enough with the mCP X and the mSR X I will relegate the mCX2 to "here, try this out" status when friends come over. But the main reason I'm keeping it around is to practice orientation skills. For whatever reason, I'm having a VERY difficult time wrapping my head around nose in hovering. I can tail in hover just fine, even with the mCP X. I can side hover with all of the birds just fine. But once I get to nose in, it's like I just shut off...the bird is going down.

So, due to the inherent stability of the mCX2, I can use it to practice those nose in movements without really worrying to much about crashing and destroying things.

Now that I've rambled on and on...with the four (my Blade 450 isn't here yet) helicopters that I have, mCX2, 120 SR, mSR X, and mCP X V2, if I could only have one of them I would probably go with the mSR X for strictly training.

In my opinion, it's even more squirrelly than the mCP X, so hovering it requires constant input which is good for learning. It's small enough to be flown indoors so you can practice when weather is bad. It's supposedly fairly decent outdoors when the wind is calm, but I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet.

My final bit of learning from all of this would be that the transmitter means a lot more than the helicopter itself. If you can afford it, get a DX6i and a BNF version of whatever heli you plan on getting. You can get nice DX6i transmitters on Ebay and various For Sale section of web sites for around $100 or so if you look hard enough. I got mine for $125 shipped.

If you can only afford the DX6i and a BNF mCX2, that is the route I would go. It would be better than using the stock TX with the mSR X...and the DX6i allows you to save money later by buying BNF version of other Blade helicopters.

Hopefully this information can help you a bit.

[SVT Wylde]

When I get bored with my mCX2, I turn the ceiling fan on low and try to hover over a 2x2 sheet of cardboard. lol That's as close as I can get to practicing for a fixed pitch without having one.

[Pfloyd]

Coax are very easy to hover and therefore aren't really a challange. I have an MCX. MCX2, MSR, Scout CX, 120SR, MSRX and hopefully an MQX. Each one helps somewhat in flying the other....a FP isn't really designed to be hoverd like a coax...just flown all over the place.....start with the mcx2, learn all the ropes, piros, tail ins, outs, etc..save up and try a FP.

[Wesley888]

Originally Posted by SVT Wylde

When I get bored with my mCX2, I turn the ceiling fan on low and try to hover over a 2x2 sheet of cardboard. lol That's as close as I can get to practicing for a fixed pitch without having one.

that's an interesting trick! Gotta try it some time.

[cbenslay]

Thanks for all the input. I know for a fact I want to get into and enjnoy this hobby as much as I did before. I just want to be able to learn the things I didn't get to before. I know I will eventually want a DX6i (or better) and a CP heli... However, the budget won't allow that right away.

I am concerned about being able to hover too easily. I want to have to work at it and learn the collectives, but I know from past experience that I really need to get my orientations down as well. That's why I was thinking the mCX2 would be good, cheap learning tool.

If I set up the transmitter on advanced and use the more sensitive setting on the swashplate, will it be challenging enough? Will it still be very easy to hover since it is a coaxial heli?

Thanks again,
Chuck

[Gimpdiggity]

Originally Posted by cbenslay

Thanks for all the input. I know for a fact I want to get into and enjnoy this hobby as much as I did before. I just want to be able to learn the things I didn't get to before. I know I will eventually want a DX6i (or better) and a CP heli... However, the budget won't allow that right away.

I am concerned about being able to hover too easily. I want to have to work at it and learn the collectives, but I know from past experience that I really need to get my orientations down as well. That's why I was thinking the mCX2 would be good, cheap learning tool.

If I set up the transmitter on advanced and use the more sensitive setting on the swashplate, will it be challenging enough? Will it still be very easy to hover since it is a coaxial heli?

Thanks again,
Chuck

Even on advanced settings on the TX and the more aggressive swash setup, the mCX2 still basically hovers itself.

[Wesley888]

Yea, the mCX2 always upright itself. It is very easy to control. The only thing I've learn from the mCX2 is the orientation.

If you haven't even gotten the hovering and orientation yet, I would still get the mCX2 to learn the basic stuff. It's a fun toy as well.

[Gimpdiggity]

Like I said before, orientation is what I think the main key for the mCX2 would be for a person who is already able to hover.

I was flying my mSR X tonight, and gave nose in hover a try (again) and instantly crashed into a wall (again).

I will definitely be using my mCX2 to get down with some nose in skills...if for nothing other than the fact that it will right itself after input, and when I slam it into the wall it won't break!!

[nartac]

if you can spare some $, get a sim. It will repay itself in saving you $ in crashes in real life. You will learn orientation as well how to fly CP. Then if your pocket permits, get an mcpx as a real life sim. It's tough and low cost repairs will get you to fly bigger helis without much efforts.

edit: check out the classified section for Phoenix simulator for cheap.

[newhelicrasher]

Personally I will probably never own a sim. I am a mac user so the cost of windows.plus sim plus campatible tx....or even the sim that works on osx.....by the time you get all the crap to make it work you could get a dx6i an msrx and a mcpx and have real life sims......which is the route I am going to take. Others opinions will vary...but I want to learn to fly real cp helis not become a video game expert player. Thats my take on it.

[stevefed]

I vote for a sim and a BNF mCPx with a computer Tx, ie, DX6i, etc.

The mCPx is a blast to fly, very durable, and while waiting for packs to charge, you can fly the sim. Or, get the mCX2 now and still the sim/mCPx in a couple weeks (Nothing like learning on that CP Pro I got into years ago!).
I was in a similar situation and the skills are rusty, but not gone. you will be bored of the CX2 quickly if you were previously flying. The mCX2 is great for the living room while watching TV, etc, to play with, but to learn and hone skills, gotta give it to a CP head. to get a good idea, my 4yr and 9 yr old fight over the mCX2 since its easy/fun to fly and takes a beating!