Quad or RC Heli?

[jcb7414]

I recently got a Hubsan X4 to play with in anticipation of possibly working up to a Phantom. After videoing for a couple of days I decided to focus on flying and enjoyed that aspect even more and am getting decent. So, instead of a Phantom I'm thinking of getting a Blade 200 QX as my next step. But, I also wonder if an RC helicopter is a better choice for me since I really dig the flying part. Possibly a CX2 or Blade SR? Thoughts? Thanks!

[Ron_R]

Only part of the RC Heli hobby is in the Flying. I enjoy flying, but also the wrenching part a great deal.

The best way to get a flavor of what flying a Collective Pitch Heli is like, is to try a Sim out in a hobby shop.

Flying a Quad is absolutely nothing like flying an CP Heli.

[jbrandt]

If you're looking to get into helicopters, go for the Blade 200 SRX. It has SAFE technology with is pretty amazing, and it has 3 different flight "modes" that allow you to advance from beginner to "advanced". Some of the quads have it too, however.

From there you can step up to larger (more expensive, more complicated to fly, more everything) CP helis, if you so desire.

But why would the fact that you "dig the flying part" preclude you from getting a quad? You "fly" quads, too... I personally am not a "quad" guy, I like helis, but there's a LOT of advantages to quads in their physical simplicity, etc... However, since Blade came out with the 200SRX, to me, it's a no brainer as far as which heli to get as a "first" heli. I wish it came out a year earlier (when I started flying helis).

[linklemming]

I say get the 200QX. I went through a few quads and never really liked them. Decide to try the 200Qx on a whim and am glad I did. There is alot you can learn from this quad, there is minimal moving parts compare to a heli and it has flight modes to help with your flying (although I dont use them except at night or if I want to go really high).

With sport props, I can do forward and reverse upright and inverted circuits and figure eights.

Still prefer the way the CP helis fly but I get alot of use out of my 200qxs.

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by jcb7414

I recently got a Hubsan X4 to play with in anticipation of possibly working up to a Phantom. After videoing for a couple of days I decided to focus on flying and enjoyed that aspect even more and am getting decent. So, instead of a Phantom I'm thinking of getting a Blade 200 QX as my next step. But, I also wonder if an RC helicopter is a better choice for me since I really dig the flying part. Possibly a CX2 or Blade SR? Thoughts? Thanks!

Quads help with orientation, and getting used to the controls. However, nothing flies (or crashes) like a heli.

If you like the challenge of controlling the seemingly uncontrollable (and doing mind-bending stuff like inverted flying), then CP helis is probably the way to go.

Best advice is sim first, fly second. Plenty of help for beginners to advanced pilots in the RC Helicopter Flight School forum.

Depending on age and aptitude, a nano CPX or an mCPX (with tame settings) may be a better next step than a CX2, or even an SR if heli's are your thing. To tame setting you will need a programmable transmitter. Tame for a nano is DR 30 or 40 (not the manual default of 80 ).

That's enough for now. have fun. Go fly the Hubsan X4 some more and do further research on options.

[jcb7414]

Thanks for all of the replies, great info! I think ArchMage put it best when he said "challenge of controlling the seemingly uncontrollable". From looking at what's available in RC heli's it appears to be more of a challenge - not that quads aren't from what I can see so far, just different. I'll let you guys know what I end up doing, but will likely invest time in a simulator, as suggested.

[jbrandt]

Originally Posted by jcb7414

Thanks for all of the replies, great info! I think ArchMage put it best when he said "challenge of controlling the seemingly uncontrollable". From looking at what's available in RC heli's it appears to be more of a challenge - not that quads aren't from what I can see so far, just different. I'll let you guys know what I end up doing, but will likely invest time in a simulator, as suggested.

IMO, if you don't already have a sim get this combo:

http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...x6i-RTM50R6630

The transmitter it comes with can work with any plane/helicopter equipped with DSMX receivers (any of the Blade bind and fly aircraft, etc...), or you can just get DSMX receivers to go in any aircraft.

The DX6i is a great beginner/intermediate transmitter, and has so far treated me very well. It will fly basically ANY helicopter, as long as you don't mind not having some advanced features. There are entire sub forums dedicated to how to choose a transmitter, but if you're in the market for a sim AND a decent transmitter, IMO it's a no brainer.

I would also echo the option of a Blade Nano CPx as a "first" CP heli. That's exactly what I did, thanks to advice from ArchmageAU and others, and it worked very well for me. Those little things are indestructible, yet have all the flight characteristics of a "real" CP heli. They're dirt cheap (relatively speaking) to buy and fix (IF you break anything in a crash) so they're great to learn on. I've broken a set if landing skids and the canopy. That's it.

Best of luck!

[jcb7414]

Thanks very much for the advice jbrandt!

[Felix the cat]

As Armagge has said; it'll help with orientation.

It's good you've started out with quads. I've seen quite a few people start out on CP helis just to sell (or crash) them and then get into quads. My friend (a planker) flies a quad, I've tried it a couple of times but find it so boring it's just not my thing. IMHO

See you like the flying aspect, with a heli you will be doing a lot of that. (at a much steeper learning curve). Get yourself a sim and try out a 450, blade MCPX or whatever.

Helis are 70% setup (wrenching) and 30% flying (15 flying /15 crashing). So if you like wrenching, have at it. If you don't, do not expect on depending on others to set up or fix your heli (pack your own chute when skydiving), same here. Don't get me wrong, we do help each other out, but people go to the field to fly...... Of course there's Helifreak, thanks God.

Hope this helps some.

[jcb7414]

Good to know the breakdown of it. The idea of wrenching sounds cool. I'll go read up on it more. Many thanks!

[jcb7414]

I ended up getting a sim yesterday (Realflight 7). Starting to learn to hover a cp in it. It's definitely not easy, but I enjoy the challenge. Fun stuff!

[Ron_R]

Originally Posted by jcb7414

I ended up getting a sim yesterday (Realflight 7). Starting to learn to hover a cp in it. It's definitely not easy, but I enjoy the challenge. Fun stuff!

Awesome! If I can give you a piece of advice, fly nothing smaller than a 500 size on the Sim.

Have fun!!!!

[jcb7414]

Thanks, Ron. Will do!

[jbrandt]

Originally Posted by Ron_R

Awesome! If I can give you a piece of advice, fly nothing smaller than a 500 size on the Sim.

Have fun!!!!

I'll amend this advice with saying the good thing about flying all different types of helis in the sim is that it trains you to adapt quickly to different flight characteristics. No real r/c heli will fly exactly like the one in the sim.

I like to fly helis on my sim that I would have no business flying in real life. Not only does it teach you how to adapt to different flight characteristics on the fly, but you are also learning to be a better pilot without even realizing it because you're "goofing off" flying a turbine Apache or a tilt rotor, to even the micros. While they don't really simulate the "real" thing, they do still teach you to adapt. If you fly a heli in real life that you always fly in the sim, and it doesn't react the way you expected it to (because that's all you flew in the sim), what would you do?

Think about how the military trains. You don't just train for one particular situation. Adapt and overcome.

Cheers!

[jcb7414]

So, I had been flying on the sim and decided to get my first CP today. Bought a mCPX Nano with a DX6 controller. So much more fun than the simulator! Not doing too shabby with it as far as hovering, moving side-to-side some, etc. Looking forward to getting more time with it. I got a few extra batteries and am charging them now so that I can have extended flying time.

[Toocool4]

Flying on the sim is good for muscle memory and orientation, like you have discovered with your mCPX there’s nothing like the real thing.

One good advice I can give you about the sim is, when you get on it you should always practise the first 10 – 20 minutes of what you want to learn. The reason I say this is the sim can be boring and a lot of people just treat it like a video game, hence never learn anything on it.

It is still also important to clown around once you have done your training session, after all this hobby is all about having fun.