Feeling guilty looking at other heli brands

[FlyBri3]

Wasn't quite sure how to title this thread! LOL This is not at all which is better, but more manufacturer loyalty somewhat I guess. I'll try to make sense with what I am asking. I know there are quite a few great built great flying helis out on the market that all have good points bad points some different flight characteristics but all get the job done and fly great! I have been looking to purchase a new heli here soon so I have been looking at some different brands other than what I now own. Currently I have two Compass helis, an Atom 500 and a 550U which I love. I have been looking at Goblins, Synergy, Mikado, TSA, Gaui, JR, just to name a few. I really want to try out another heli but the more I think about it I keep going back to Compass. I know pretty much how they fly and how they are built and go together. I know its a vast hobby with many avenues to go down with many rewarding products. So am I crazy for thinking of staying with what I know or should I just bite the bullet and get something different? Or am I just sick in the head?

Any thoughts or input would be great just so I know if I am the only one in this position or not!

[nameci]

I like to have experience with many different heli brand and model(also FBL, servos, etc), both for build and the flying experience. As much as I trust many of the forum members regarding their point of views and the comments, nothing is better than the first hand experience if I can afford it(new or used). I have built many different models and own many. End of the day, I pick my favorite(all have pro/cons) based on my own experience and I'm not married to any of the brand or model.

[MS60]

Sounds like your a loyal Compass guy, that's great, but you need to get something different.. Mikado or Goblin is what I would look at.

[Ozz58]

I know the feeling.
I can afford more than Align, but have really enjoyed building and flying them. I did try a Gaui kit and didn't find the build as fun or the way it flew.

I'm just a sport to mild 3-D flyer so maybe that's the reason I enjoy Align.

[mkovalcson]

I think sticking with one brand would be boring.

Right now I have 4 helis by 4 manufacturers and I like how different they all are.

[Rob43]

I know this feeling very well. My conclusion was simply that this is about having fun. And no one else can tell you what is fun for you. You have to build and fly other models to learn. You might learn you prefer your Compass helis. You also might find you like features or flight behavior of others even more. It's all good.

[Inverted2112]

I agree that variety is good...

I suppose there are two sides to the coin as always, and part of the decision may also hinge on size of the fleet...

As an example, my Logo 480 and G500 are fairly similarly sized, but completely polar opposites in the air. And in this example, its all the design that makes the difference.. Typically larger is floatier, but these 2 break that paradigm in that the smaller 480 is much floatier and organic than the larger G500.... I enjoy both for different reasons, and have no intention of getting rid of either.

My G380 has pretty similar flight characteristics to the G500, completely different size, but you can see the SAB traits carry well through both...

I would absolutely recommend trying another brand (as mentioned earlier, I also can't speak highly enough about SAB and Logo) just to experience first hand just how much of a difference there really is. And its not to say any are better or worse, just very different.

Hope you beefed up your heli fund before asking this question.

[HarryR]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

I think sticking with one brand would be boring.

Right now I have 4 helis by 4 manufacturers and I like how different they all are.

.

Agree with that statement. And, a change is as good as a rest!

But, you will need lots of time to invest in keeping the 4 different brand heli's in "prima conditione" and have a meaningful stash of spare parts. At one time I had about 6 different types (all sizes) and it was difficult and expensive.
So, I figure out what I would want to train and fly... a heli that could do it all and I ended up with the MSH Protos 500.. I have several of them. A few sets of spares is all it takes, they all have now the same FBL unit so the set becomes second nature. That works for me as it reduces the "maintenance and support" time not to forget the repair time, immensely. For indoors I did the same, I went with a Blade Nano CPX , I have a handful of them and some spares and I use the crash victims to cannibalize for spares and boards if / when one fails.

[Hawk404]

Nice thing about RC helis is that they never get jealous. They won't give you any grief if you cheat on them with another brand or even if you buy a multirotor or fixed wing.

I'm with Mark - While my disparate accumulation grows it's rare that any two will be from the same manufacturer. So far it's SAB, Align, Mikado, Gaui, Compass, Avant, NextD, JR and Blade. Oh yeah, and Audacity.

I still can't fly any of them worth a wet slap with my inability to settle down probably partially responsible for that. Come to think of it I've got one of pretty near every FBL out there as well. Spartan is conspicuous by its absence but I'll probably rectify that soon enough.

Dilettante - I think that's the word I'm looking for in describing my brand loyalty.

[ClubCRASH]

I tried many different brands before settling on the one that I really love. I say try as many different brands as you can. Maybe some buddies would let you fly theirs just to see the different feels.

[mkovalcson]

Originally Posted by ClubCRASH

I tried many different brands before settling on the one that I really love. I say try as many different brands as you can. Maybe some buddies would let you fly theirs just to see the different feels.

I don't think there is a good reason to ever settle for one brand.

I think all of my helis are excellent and there is not one of them that wins all.

Also I don't see any reason to stockpile parts. I have enough helis that I can afford to have a couple down and in addition it is typically just for the day since I can get parts pretty fast for my two the I consider beaters and I don't fly very often during the work week. The other two take longer for parts, but I don't crash them as much.

[Inverted2112]

+1 on not keeping many parts on hand. They generally arrive for me in about 2 days, and back when I did keep them, I rarely had everything I needed, and in the end ended up with parts that got passed along to the next owner of the heli since I never used them.

As long as you have at least 2 machines that you enjoy flying, stocking a "crash" kit doesn't really have a lot of benefit IMO.

[dominoedge]

I don't have any brand loyalty and have had Blades, 2 Aligns, 3 Goblins, a Logo, and a Diabolo. I'm very glad I've been able to experiment with all of these because they all have different qualities. As far as build quality goes, the Diabolo is in its own class. I like SAB next, then Logo, and then Align. Never had a Compass so don't know how they relate. Regarding flight, the Goblins are beasts if powered right. I still have yet to fly my Logo and Diabolo and I'm pretty excited about those two (both built during winter). Love trying all these different birds out and comparing.

[FlyBri3]

Originally Posted by Inverted2112

+1 on not keeping many parts on hand. They generally arrive for me in about 2 days, and back when I did keep them, I rarely had everything I needed, and in the end ended up with parts that got passed along to the next owner of the heli since I never used them.

As long as you have at least 2 machines that you enjoy flying, stocking a "crash" kit doesn't really have a lot of benefit IMO.

Agreed! When I got my first Blade 450 3D I had everything on hand at for at my LHS. Then I got my Atom 500 and stocked parts like it was going out of style. Soon realized most of the parts I had either never broke or bent or I had to order one or two parts to get back in the air any way. Now I have a few on hand like skids, few tail bits, and some links just for quick repairs.

I have had the opportunity to fly a Blade 600x and my buddies Align 600N. They both flew fine and would do everything I can and will probably ever be able to do, But they just didn't feel right to me. I loved my Atom so I bought my 550U and love that, and now my atom gets less flight time cause I'm liking the larger birds! And I agree also that there are so many good options to try is silly not to give something else a shot. I guess worst case I really don't like it and sell it. But I hate losing money! LOL

[Shogun71]

I used to have a complete Compass fleet with a Warp, Atom 500, Atom 5.5, 6hv, 6hvu and 7hv.

All but the Atom 5.5 have found new homes.

My fleet is now an Oxy3, Goblin 380/500/570/630/700c

Things change and as stated above you may find you like certain features that different models offer...

Neither is better or worse, just what you like to fly and work on!!!

Sit back, don't feel guilty, and enjoy!!!!!!

[mkovalcson]

Originally Posted by FlyBri3

But I hate losing money! LOL

You picked the WRONG hobby

[FlyBri3]

Originally Posted by Shogun71

I used to have a complete Compass fleet with a Warp, Atom 500, Atom 5.5, 6hv, 6hvu and 7hv.

All but the Atom 5.5 have found new homes.

My fleet is now an Oxy3, Goblin 380/500/570/630/700c

Things change and as stated above you may find you like certain features that different models offer...

Neither is better or worse, just what you like to fly and work on!!!

Sit back, don't feel guilty, and enjoy!!!!!!

So you went from Compass Goblin! interesting, I do like the look of the goblin helis and they do seem to excel at hard smack, but I am more mild 3d'r but getting better. Crash costs seem a bit much on the Goblins as well, But I guess anything can and will get devastated if you crash just right.

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

You picked the WRONG hobby

LOL yeah I was thinking that same thing as I was typing that!

[Rodney Kirstine]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

I don't think there is a good reason to ever settle for one brand.

Some people do and those same people wouldn't consider it "settling". There are positives to having many different brands as well as having only one brand.

[Inverted2112]

Get a Logo, problem solved.

Originally Posted by FlyBri3

(Snip)..... but I am more mild 3d'r but getting better. .....

[jbrandt]

One nice thing about "brand loyalty" for lack of a better term is that they generally have some sort of engineering consistency throughout their line. While the parts for the different class helis may not be interchangeable, the basic engineering usually has some sort of design "theme". There's a reason a Blade 300 looks basically the same as a 450, or a 700, same for Goblins, Align, or whatever. That's to be expected, they all came from the same set of engineers (more or less). To me, this makes working on your different helis a little more intuitive and straight forward.

The same is true for most anything. Cars, computers, smart phones, etc...

Now if you don't like that "theme", that makes switching brands easier (but then why would you be loyal to a brand you don't like, lol).

There's a lot to be said for branching out and experimenting with different brands, and for some people, that's what this hobby is all about. Personally, however, I don't have that kind of disposable income (or time) to experiment just for the sake of experimenting, so (at least so far) I'm likely to stick with what I know, Brand-wise. Keep in mind I also used to say "I'll never own a 450, those are too big"... lol...