Looking at maybe getting into RC HELIS...Heres what you need

[Dr. Arachnicus]

Yeah I have a Mac so options for flight sims are slim to none and emulators and I seem not to get along too well.

I am conservatively flying a Blade MSRX.

[Vincent02]

Might I suggest that while you're thinking about this hobby "which is fantastic and you will never regret" that you purchase a RC Flight Sim. I prefer the Real Flight 6.5 which is expensive (around 180.00USD) but has almost unlimited models with actual flight characteristics and all controls are adjustable just like real time and has radio control designed after the Futaba. For me it was quite easy to play with and use to practice little maneuvers since I am just returning to the hobby after many years.. BUT!!! THIS IS THE AMAZING PART about the sim. My brother in law, sister and niece visited over Christmas and my niece ended up playing with the sim and with my particular Heli within the program.. 3 hours later we went to the park and she not only hovered the ship, she maneuvered head on side to side, rotated on command and not even a scratch to the bird even after getting out of control a few times and recovering. I also want to add that the particular Heli I used has a very slightly bent mainshaft which is why I chose to use it since i am rebuilding it anyway and she had absolutely no problem adjusting to the extra slight movements/drift of the model as during her playing with the sim i would add different situations as wind or whatever. Also she can autorotate like a pro. Experts can utilize this program to setup maneuvers/situations to extremes and practice before chancing the cost of repairs. Sim bird crashes, press the reset button :-) I was scared to death to invert my bird and after about 1 hr practicing on the sim I actual went in the back yard and inverted 4 or 5 times as if I been doing it every day and after first invert i realized "wholly crap, that sim is exactly as if real time" the amounts of control/s to use was exactly as with the sim.

[AriondDesoli]

I have a coaxial (S107) and I want either an single rotor or a collective pitch. My two choices are the Blade MSR or the Blade MCPX. Will what I learn from the MSR be very helpful for the MCPX or will I outgrow it? I'm pretty much a teen and I don't really have the money to get both. This is mostly coming as a Christmas present.

[rojack]

Originally Posted by AriondDesoli

I have a coaxial (S107) and I want either an single rotor or a collective pitch. My two choices are the Blade MSR or the Blade MCPX. Will what I learn from the MSR be very helpful for the MCPX or will I outgrow it? I'm pretty much a teen and I don't really have the money to get both. This is mostly coming as a Christmas present.

Since you are a teen with quick reactions, great eyesight, and a flexible brain, you will outgrow both of them within the year, however you do need to go through the learning to progress, and so in this hobby, outgrowing is perfectly reasonable.

I did the coax to fixed-pitch to collective-pitch thing, and the mSR was my middle heli. It was great to learn on, flies indoors fine, and is pretty durable and cheap to repair, but it will only take you so far. Now that I know how to fly, I find the mSR too limited and boring.

If I had it to do over again, I might go with an mCPX or better maybe the Nano CP X, and a nice transmitter like the DX6i, DX7s, or DX8. (oops, there goes the budget!) The mCPX with DX4e is about $160. The Nano with DX4e is about $190. I'm not sure why a smaller heli costs more, but folks seem to like it better. I don't have both so I can't compare.

Anyway... The mCPX (or nano) will be hard to fly at first. You will crash. Often. It will be frustrating. Try to fly it over grass. You'll learn quickly and in a few months will be ready for trying loops I bet. The mSR might be a little easier to learn on and maybe more suited to indoors, but it's not going to flip, loop, or go inverted, and by the middle of the year you'll be ready for something more capable. Either path is just fine by the way.

Have fun with whatever you get!

[tony cratsley]

Im new to the hobby and im looking for some one to help me along
i went and bought a trex 700 e fbl dfc and got it together but really unsure
if everything is right ,if anyone is near elmira ny let me know ,thanks

[airgoon]

Hi folks,

just registered yesterday and bumped into this thread, very informative!
I have been doing the Clear View Sim for a while and after buying my first real life heli (an Esky 150) I found I am reasonably able to keep a single rotor FBL in the air.
Of course now I'm hooked, like, hopelessly so.

I want to stay with palm sized helis and have no idea which ones are good and which ones are junk.
My Esky 150 has given me a couple of reasons to believe that it is one of the lesser quality helis.
For one thing - when it hovers, it is hanging slanted to one side - this makes it really tricky to yaw it around without completely losing it.
Can that be fixed?

Also - from your experience, what brand and model would you recommend for a good, solid palm-sized FBL that doesn't break my bank? (I know, that's an oxymoron in RC heli flying....LOL...)

Chat soon,
Norm

[Xrayted]

Originally Posted by airgoon

Hi folks,

just registered yesterday and bumped into this thread, very informative!
I have been doing the Clear View Sim for a while and after buying my first real life heli (an Esky 150) I found I am reasonably able to keep a single rotor FBL in the air.
Of course now I'm hooked, like, hopelessly so.

I want to stay with palm sized helis and have no idea which ones are good and which ones are junk.
My Esky 150 has given me a couple of reasons to believe that it is one of the lesser quality helis.
For one thing - when it hovers, it is hanging slanted to one side - this makes it really tricky to yaw it around without completely losing it.
Can that be fixed?

Also - from your experience, what brand and model would you recommend for a good, solid palm-sized FBL that doesn't break my bank? (I know, that's an oxymoron in RC heli flying....LOL...)

Chat soon,
Norm

Welcome to the addiction!

There is nothing wrong with your heli. ALL helis with a tail rotor hover tilted slightly to the side. This is normal physics and called translating tendency. This is because the tail rotor is pushing the heli to left so the heli tilts slightly the opposite direction to maintain its position in hover. You will also notice that you may have to give a little right aileron as you lift up into hover to keep the heli from trying to dart left. This is more pronounced on the tiny helis as they have very little mass, and move more quickly and easily compared to larger models.

I'm not familiar with your particular model, but the most popular micro helis today are the Blade MCPX brushless and the Blade Nano CP. They are both from Horizon Hobby, who is reputable with good customer service, and parts can be found at most local hobby shops. They can also be bound to the higher quality, full featured computer TXs such as the Spektrum DX6, etc which are a requirement once you move up into larger models. Spektrum is also a Horizon product and a very popular brand for both entry level pilots as well as pilots that have been flying large models for years.

The yaw issue another unfortunate problem with the micro helis. The flybar less controllers used in larger models have programming in them called "piro compensation"
This is a software algorithm that helps to keep the heli in position if you were to apply full rudder and spin the heli while in hover. Most micros do not have this, so they tend to dart off once the inertia of yawning them is created. Only practice helps here. In many ways flying the micros is more of a challenge than with larger models.

Larger models are more sophisticated from the programming side, so they have less bad tendencies in flight, and are heavier so they don't get away from you as quickly as the smaller model do, and they are easier to work on.

One word of advice.........don't get caught in the upgrade trap with micros. Use them for what they are....a great learning aid before moving up to bigger. You can easily spend just as much money on a micro upgrading it as a larger model would cost, and they never fly as well as they do stock for the most part, and your will never recover even close to what you invest if you try and sell one, even in perfect condition. A good model such as I listed above along with a high quality simulator program such as Real Flight or Phoenix is all you will need until you are ready for the next step such as a better model and better TX

Good luck!

[akhammer]

So my 1st Post also, I started flying about a year ago and have made pretty sucessful progression. i know i ve had nothing but Blade Helicopters but they are easy to find parts and support for me here in AK. but any way here is how its worked for me.

1. MCX2 RTF- Bought by my wife, (boy she had no idea what she sterted ) good 1st heli. got me hooked, could take lots of abuse!!!!

2. SR 120 BNF- was able to use my MCX2 remote to fly this bird outside and inside a little, good 1st Fixed pitch heli that could take a crash farly well.

3. 200 SRX RTF- Love this bird, came with a better transmitter, and the SAFE Tech, is a great learning tool, Also taught me a few hard lessons about crashing a heli of this size, The 200 SRX will be damaged in a crash almost 100% of the time. After some leassons learned i was flying in advanced mode all the time and then learned how to "Flip" this Fixed pitch heli,

4. Phoenix 5 With DX6I- Well once learning how much of a pain it is crashing a heli, and winter coming, picked up the sim, and the DX6I that came with it was also lots of help flying all my birds, Can t say enough about being able to crash and hit reset a million times on the sim.

5. Nano CPX- After playing alot with the sim i was ready for a Collective Pitch Heli, I went with the ncpx cause it can fly indoors and take lots of crashes without breaking anything, its definitly a handfull and a very fast little heli, learned alot about my DX6i also, somewhat tamed the nano, sport flying a few flips and very short inverted hovers.

6. 180 CFX- I was thinking about a 130x but then this came out . got some good reviews and info here on Helifreak and I couldn t be happier with my newest Heli, Inverted and flips are much easier on the 180 the the nano, definitly see why bigger helis are more stable, but again not gonna take a crash the greatest ( "knock on wood" about 15 pacs and no crashes yet)


So this is were i am at now, I try and fly everyday, either my 180 CFX or the NCPX or the sim, trying to get good at inverted hovering!!! ( and i thought nose in hover was a bit tricky) but getting better and better every day, i ve started looking at a 300cfx or 450x as one of my next helis, but probably waiting for summer,
Cheers everybody!!!! now get out and FLY!!!!!

[jbrandt]

Originally Posted by akhammer

So my 1st Post also, I started flying about a year ago and have made pretty sucessful progression. i know i ve had nothing but Blade Helicopters but they are easy to find parts and support for me here in AK. but any way here is how its worked for me.

1. MCX2 RTF- Bought by my wife, (boy she had no idea what she sterted ) good 1st heli. got me hooked, could take lots of abuse!!!!

2. SR 120 BNF- was able to use my MCX2 remote to fly this bird outside and inside a little, good 1st Fixed pitch heli that could take a crash farly well.

3. 200 SRX RTF- Love this bird, came with a better transmitter, and the SAFE Tech, is a great learning tool, Also taught me a few hard lessons about crashing a heli of this size, The 200 SRX will be damaged in a crash almost 100% of the time. After some leassons learned i was flying in advanced mode all the time and then learned how to "Flip" this Fixed pitch heli,

4. Phoenix 5 With DX6I- Well once learning how much of a pain it is crashing a heli, and winter coming, picked up the sim, and the DX6I that came with it was also lots of help flying all my birds, Can t say enough about being able to crash and hit reset a million times on the sim.

5. Nano CPX- After playing alot with the sim i was ready for a Collective Pitch Heli, I went with the ncpx cause it can fly indoors and take lots of crashes without breaking anything, its definitly a handfull and a very fast little heli, learned alot about my DX6i also, somewhat tamed the nano, sport flying a few flips and very short inverted hovers.

6. 180 CFX- I was thinking about a 130x but then this came out . got some good reviews and info here on Helifreak and I couldn t be happier with my newest Heli, Inverted and flips are much easier on the 180 the the nano, definitly see why bigger helis are more stable, but again not gonna take a crash the greatest ( "knock on wood" about 15 pacs and no crashes yet)


So this is were i am at now, I try and fly everyday, either my 180 CFX or the NCPX or the sim, trying to get good at inverted hovering!!! ( and i thought nose in hover was a bit tricky) but getting better and better every day, i ve started looking at a 300cfx or 450x as one of my next helis, but probably waiting for summer,
Cheers everybody!!!! now get out and FLY!!!!!

As you may have already noticed, learning to fly the nano prepares you quite well to fly just about anything. I went straight from the Nano to a 450x. The only thing that was intimidating for me was the size of the 450x. That first time I spooled up those carbon fiber 325mm blades was quite the pucker factor. The hardest part wasn't getting a steady hover because it was hard to fly, but getting a steady hover because my hands were shaking so much! Once I relaxed a little bit, I was hovering nose-in within the first battery.

I also considered the 300x or the 450x. I ended up with the 450x because the parts for each of the helis were not all that different, and they each cost $399 (300cfx vs. the 450x).

[phrank13]

Hi All,

I am looking into a 3D Nitro R/C Heli and I wanted to buy a kit with all things included (motor, servos, controller, etc...) that I can build at home and fly. It would also be nice if it didn't break the bank. Any suggestions out there for brands/models to steer towards and a site that would have a full kit to buy to make my shopping a bit easier?

Thanks...

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by phrank13

Hi All,

I am looking into a 3D Nitro R/C Heli and I wanted to buy a kit with all things included (motor, servos, controller, etc...) that I can build at home and fly. It would also be nice if it didn't break the bank. Any suggestions out there for brands/models to steer towards and a site that would have a full kit to buy to make my shopping a bit easier?

Thanks...

This is your first post on HF. What RC heli experience do you have?

What transmitter do you already have?
What experience with internal combustion engines do you have?

For solo learning from scratch, a nitro is usually not a good option (as there are other options to start with to learn to fly). Once you can fly a basic CP helicopter, then you should start looking for makes and models of nitro.

[hawkman71]

I don't agree, I learnt with a Nitro and got on fine with it. I should seek out a local RC Heli club and go see them. When I started out there was quite a range of models, especially Nitro powered. There isn't so much around now.

Before doing anything, I should get a good Simulator..preferably one with its own 'radio' and lead. Phoenix is a good Sim, and Realflight. Reflex is another good one, though not sure if its still on the market. A mate of mine had Realflight, which could be set for such things as 'failures' etc really good training feature for real emergencies.

Get good on the Simulator, yeah you can learn to fly without one but you will have enough on your plate just learning to set a real heli up properly. On that note there are one or two books on the subject, might be worth reading?

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by ArchmageAU

This is your first post on HF. What RC heli experience do you have?

What transmitter do you already have?
What experience with internal combustion engines do you have?

For solo learning from scratch, a nitro is usually not a good option (as there are other options to start with to learn to fly). Once you can fly a basic CP helicopter, then you should start looking for makes and models of nitro.

Originally Posted by hawkman71

I don't agree, I learnt with a Nitro and got on fine with it....

2009, more nitro options, less electric options, no FBL, no real micro options. Was Op's first post on helifreak and no mention of experience, simulator, club, field size, budget, etc.. Which is why I said: "For solo learning from scratch, a nitro is usually not a good option".

Nitro needs a minimum size (Gaui NX4 comes to mind). Below that size, nitro is impractical. At the minimum size of nitro, any unscheduled landing is $$$.

Originally Posted by hawkman71

... I should seek out a local RC Heli club and go see them. When I started out there was quite a range of models, especially Nitro powered. There isn't so much around now.

Before doing anything, I should get a good Simulator..preferably one with its own 'radio' and lead. Phoenix is a good Sim, and Realflight. Reflex is another good one, though not sure if its still on the market. A mate of mine had Realflight, which could be set for such things as 'failures' etc really good training feature for real emergencies.

Get good on the Simulator, yeah you can learn to fly without one but you will have enough on your plate just learning to set a real heli up properly. On that note there are one or two books on the subject, might be worth reading?

Agree with all of these. (I do not think Reflex is still on the market).

As you said: "... but you will have enough on your plate just learning to set a real heli up properly". So *IF* the requester is new to flying and does not have help (ie. solo learning), then nitro is probably not a good choice in 2015.

[hawkman71]

What size would you go on the electrics? I would have thought the 400 class would be a good compromise?

True, Nitro looks like it has shrunk in popularity. Guess my opinion was swayed by how much stick time you could get, but then with at least 3 or 4 bat packs for something like a Trex450 you can get the same stick time, if not more in one day.

Those fancy chargers that can do several packs at a time are the way to go. I think LiPo has really changed things, an hour and a half or thereabouts, to charge a pack...incredible!

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by hawkman71

What size would you go on the electrics? I would have thought the 400 class would be a good compromise?

True, Nitro looks like it has shrunk in popularity. Guess my opinion was swayed by how much stick time you could get, but then with at least 3 or 4 bat packs for something like a Trex450 you can get the same stick time, if not more in one day.

Those fancy chargers that can do several packs at a time are the way to go. I think LiPo has really changed things, an hour and a half or thereabouts, to charge a pack...incredible!

Depends on a lot of things (budget, previous RC experience, flying space, nearby assistance/club, access to sim, etc..)

450 size (360 CFX, Warp 360, X3, etc...) is a good compromise of size, power and handling, but all of these are advanced helis (can do damage, $$$ per crash, require advanced setup knowledge).

Sim is always a must. Beyond that, it's too hard to call without more information.

[Jwiggs181]

Thanks for sticky... Great stuff and hope to use what I've learned and make this fun!

[Diamonddave60pollard60]

Wish I would have found you guys YEARS ago. Lot of great stuff here and some of its even useful