Should I buy

[Jeremiwvu]

I am considering buying one of these little guys but I am worried about all I hear about them being extremely difficult to learn to fly. So exactly how hard are they to get off the ground and at least hover?

[Helico-pteron]

Originally Posted by Jeremiwvu

I am considering buying one of these little guys but I am worried about all I hear about them being extremely difficult to learn to fly. So exactly how hard are they to get off the ground and at least hover?

The few that I know that have bought one regretted it.

[Jeremiwvu]

I appreciate the honesty so far. anyone else have thoughts on this topic... Surely someone out there likes theirs. I'd love to know what more people think.

[Dusty1000]

Some folk do have a hard time flying these, I have some experience with micro helis, and like most others that do, I absolutely love my 4G3, but I really recommend you don't buy one to learn to fly with, they are most definitely not recommended for beginners. It responds to control inputs far quicker than any other heli I have tried, so if you don't already know how to fly, you're going to have an extremely hard time with one of these.

All single rotor helis are hard to learn to fly, the best thing you can do is buy an Esky Honey Bee FP to learn with, these helis are really robust and the rotor moves comparatively slowly, so the heli takes a lot longer (though it will still seem fast when you are learning) to respond to cyclic inputs so you get considerably longer to learn them. Also being so tough most minor crashes mean no damage at all, so you can carry right on practicing, and when it does break being an FP it is cheap and simple to repair. A 4G3 like any other CP heli will break most times you crash it, meaning spending ages repairing and ordering parts etc between each flight, and you will be lucky if each 'flight' lasts more than a few seconds.

Once you can fly a Honey Bee FP well, you will be able to get the hang of any other single rotor heli without much trouble (bigger ones are easier to fly), and of course that includes the 4G3

[Jibber Trigger]

Hey guys I am a third shift worker that has a fairly good size lobby area with high ceilings (up to 20 ft) and with some obstacles to fly around in at work. I have been flying a Blade MCX for the last couple months and its fun but i want something more challenging. I am somewhat tired of spot landing on the tips of the ceiling fan blades or doing figure 8s through the columns on the MCX. Don't get me wrong the MCX is blast and I have probably gone through a gazzillion AA batteries charging the lipos but I need the next step.

Anywho I know the blade MCX is a beginner heli so although I feel pretty leet flying it I am not sure how if I am ready for a 3d. I have been looking at this Walkera 4g3 that was suggested to me and I'd like to know from you guys if I would be skipping a step or 2 going from the almost impossible to break Blade MCX to the Walkera 4g3.

Also I see a few variations of the 4g3 available. Metal upgrades, Brushless, 6 channel transmitter, 8 channel, Foam blades, Wood Blades, Carbon fiber. What should I go with for a starter pack and what parts will break first so I can bring some spares to work.

PS there is also large empty parking lots at my work with street lights for the days when its not windy altho the MCX wasnt much fun out there.

[jh71]

My best advice, if you want to stay with the micros, is to get a 4#3, and leave the 4G3 for the moment. I tried to go from a coax directly to a 4G3, but finally did a step back and bought myself a 4#3Q.
The 4G3 was more in reparation then I was flying it.

I am flying the Q now until I get more confidence and only then I will touch the 4G3 again. And I love it.

The problem with the 4G3 one is not only that it is more twitchy, but on top it breaks much easier (every bad landing on a hard surface will damage something - and you say you want to fly indoors, so that is a factor ! ).
And it is much harder to repair and to set up correctly.

Myself, I would like to go bigger, but I am a bit afraid of the weight and the speed of the blades.
If I want to go that route (and sooner or later I will) I will go to a club. One of the bigger helos is not something I would want to face by myself.

Have fun whatever you decide.

[thale02896]

I purchased one of these about a month ago and have had nothing but headaches. I had one sticky servo out of the box. I had it flying around my bed room when that servo stuck and it went right into a wall. Purchased a new set of servos that were supposed to be for it but they were a new version which requires a new frame. I got that straightened out and tried again. Constant spin to the left. Tried different blades and it seemed to help but didn't completely fix it. I would get 10 to 20 seconds of hover before it was uncontrollable. In trying to work on the heli, the motors wires broke off twice and had to be re-soldered. Then the main power leads into the 3 in 1 broke off. I tried soldering those back in but they were way to small for my skills. So I purchased a new one. I got that in and flew for a day. Then the elevator servo stripped and would only run in one direction constantly (essentially it became a motor). I rigged up a mount for one of the old servos and got it flying again. Replaced the main motor due to wires that were getting too short from constant breakage. Upgraded to the metal head, put several MIA upgrades on it, and replaced the tail motor. I got everything set and tried to fly it last night. The wisp of smoke that came off the motor seemed to say "please beat me to a pulp".

I've got a hammer with "Anti-Aircraft Guns" labeled on the side. I fear that the 4g3 is destined for the war zone.

[mprasm]

4G3 is VERY responsive and most definitely be troublesome to heli newbies. The great thing about it is that it's CP, tiny and lightweight, making it fun (as in adrenalin rush, not coax slow) to fly anytime regardless of weather. It does, unfortunately, inherit the CP characteristics which includes harder setup and sensitive to mechanical imperfection, though the crash resilience is much better than a typical CP.

Mine isn't upgraded mechanically except for the mixer arms & power system, since they die too soon just when I was starting to have fun. I'm just glad it's worth the effort as you can see here:

4G3 full brushless (2 min 46 sec)

It's definitely 'love it or hate it' thing.