Anyone Into RC Helicopters?
 

anyone here also into remote control helicopters.

Im looking into getting one and dont know which one would be best.

I wanna get a fixed pitch heli but a bigger one that I can also fly outside

NEAT! Thats been on my list for a long time! gas or battery?
http://www.helipal.com/select-by-bra...FcYbQgodix3PJw
I've been looking at these but I'm not sure if they're good or not lol I'd like a really good one that way I have to be careful with it :lol:

I've got a couple. They are highly addictive!

A buddy of mine (actually he's on here but hardly ever posts anymore) has a few gas powered helis and man the stuff he can do with those is nothing short of incredible but they are big big $$$.

If you're just looking for battery op ones they range from like $20 to $200 typically depending on what you're looking for. The ones with internal gyros are much more stable and easy to fly. The smaller ones good for indoors though will get blown away in the wind outside so you want bigger and heavier for outdoors unless it's windstill. I have a tiny one that's just bigger than a dragonfly and man it wouldn't take it much to blow it into the next county - even indoors it can be tough to control because air conditioning, heater vents and ambient air movement can toss it about some.

im probably just gonna get a battery one to start out with

I'd also love to get an RC plane! super fun :mrgreen:

http://www.helipal.com/storm-450-gla...FRBphwodcV6cUg

In the words of that hoe bag Paris Hilton,

"Thats Hot"

I've been wondering about the ones at Future Shop. Look nice in the box though no idea the quality or ease to fly but might be a cheaper option the learn on.

Those coaxial. They're easy to fly.

The biggest thing is parts. How easily can you get replacemt parts when you crash and need to repair it.

The hobby stores carry all the parts for the heli's they carry. Future shop doesn't carry any parts

I used to be into the big gas ones......and the cars too......alot of fun until you crash them.........again and again and again.......almost as expensive as keeping a reef:lol:

I bought a cheap litehawk last year for like $50-$60 I think? It's great for just sitting on the couch and flying it around the house. I was going to spend a lot more and get fancy one but a random customer told me to put it back and pick the litehawk if it was my first one. Glad he did because I smashed the crap out of it a good dozen times! Thing can take a mean crash. I think I finally took a chunk out of the wing and just haven't spent the $5 to pick up a new one. Def worth the $50 though.

I've got a cheap $30 one. Must have a built-in gyro as I could fly it pretty well within minutes. Like Tony mentioned a heat current can send it sideways lol.

I'm not sure where I've been the last 10 years or whatever but I had no idea until very recently that flight had become so cheap?! The little tiny motors (look like watch batteries!) blow my mind with their power.

Battery life is crap though. 8 min of fun is torture.

I've had my eye on this Apache.
http://indyhelis.com/

Heres a video of it in action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC_MA...feature=fvwrel

That's a lot of toy! I like it Haha

Hey, finally another topic I have some experience with! I've been flying CP helis for about three years now, currently have a Trex 450V2 clone and Trex 500 TT clone. Also fly fixed wing but that's just kiddie stuff :lol:

If you're starting out and want to try a FP heli have a look at the Blade SR120 http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...sr-rtf-BLH3100

It's big enough that it can be flown outdoors, and since it's a single rotor heli it'll behave more like the CP stuff when this one gets easy. Of course as mentioned before the coaxial stuff is easier to start with but I think you'll get tired of it pretty quick (greasing the landing is only fun so many times!) Being an E-flite product you'll be able to get parts locally which is important. This one will take a rough landing and fly again unlike its more complex CP big brothers, but eventually something will break when you bounce it off a tree or a brick wall hahaha. I have a co-worker in Calgary with this model and he's been quite happy with it. It takes a beating and keeps flying, just has to replace the occasional main blade or the like. I find the smaller MSR to be kinda twitchy and gets blown around a little too much outside so I'm not sure I'd recommend that as a starter.

If you find that the price tag on the 120SR is a little steep (compared to reefing equipment it's pennies hahah) you can get cheaper stuff at the mall for $30 but know that it's not gonna fly super well, the transmitter layout's probably gonna be whack and won't translate to a real Tx well, and once it breaks a part it's basicly junk (no support).

If you do end up getting one of those E-flite helis, save yourself some $$$ and go here for extra batteries: www.hobbyking.com Straight from China and dirt cheap!

That's the exact one I was looking at. It's on for 159 right now with the radio.

But I was hoping to find a FP heli that's a bit bigger.

A little bigger huh... well there's the Esky Honey Bee FP, it's closer to 400 size. You'll most likely be shopping for parts online but they are available. I don't have any personal experience with it but from what I've read it's another good one, you may wanna do some quick googling to see if it's more up your alley.

http://helidirect.com/esky-hb-fixed-...py-p-14271.hdx

On a somewhat related note, I'd highly recomend looking into an innexpensive flight sim program like Clearview for example. It'll use your existing Tx with a USB adapter (purchased seperatly, about $20) as the input device and will help you to practice the basic orientation skills, and take a crack at the more advanced models to see if you're ready. Real Flight is well known and comes with it's own Tx input device but it's spendy.

jostafew great suggestion on the Blade Series from HH! The beauty of getting a Blade series is that you pretty much get everything you need out of the box.

I've been flying (and instructing) R/C since I was 6 (didn't start teaching that early lol) and got into rotorcraft about 5 years ago. The "Blade" series are pretty well put together and most hobby shops carry spare parts for them. That's a huge plus because you will need spare parts. The only way to NOT crash is to never put a battery in it and never pick it up. Crashing is part of flying. I have flown everything from "humming bird" sized heli to planes with winspan of 8' and a 26" prop.

By far the most common (and probably will only get more popular in time) mode of propulsion is not battery (aka electric). It used to be that liquid fuel (nitro, gasoline etc) was the way to go because electric was just too heavy and your power to weight was way off and performance just sucked! That's not the case now. Because of major advances in battery and controller technology electric is taking over big time. I used to only fly fueled birds but now everything I own is electric and I doubt I'll ever buy another gallon of R/C fuel or gasoline for an RC aircraft.

Below is a list of the current offerings from Blade and how they are stacked up in order of easiest to hardest:

http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/hori...0_a0?$pdpLand$

mCX2 is a small and fairly durable heli. It's indoor ONLY and I wouldn't even suggest getting it near a door let alone outside. This one is a blast to fly and I've even had first time pilots be able to fly this one on the first battery pack.
http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/hori...0_a0?$pdpLand$
For you very first a Coax is a good choice. It will teach you the basics in R/C heli but wont require you to be "good". The CX2 is a good size if you want to "sample" some outdoor flight but you want NO wind. A gnat fart will blow it off course and much more you wont be able to correct for it and will crash a longggg way from home.


http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/hori...0_a0?$pdpLand$
Moving up if you want a single rotor to start with the mSR X is a very durable and fun little heli to play with. It's light so outside you want no wind but due to it's small size it carries very little momentum so it can take a pretty good smack with little damage usually.

http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/hori...0_a0?$pdpLand$
Then to take it up another notch (still fixed pitch here) check out the 120 SR which is just a slightly larger (and more stable) version of the m SR-X (but mSR-X doesn't have flybar but that's another conversation).

http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/hori...0_a0?$pdpLand$

Next in lineup is the SR which is again slightly larger but this is the the first step into Collective Pitch (CP ) heli and isn't really your best bet for first heli. It's a lot of fun to fly and an excellent 2nd or 3rd heli.

Now let's step it up a notch to some touchy but fun helis!

http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/hori...0_a0?$pdpLand$
Next in the lineup is the 450 3D (3D means acrobatics and some crazy flying to say the least). This is a newer version of my favorite "All In One" heli.

If I can help in any way please don't hesitate to ask or shoot me a PM! Flying is a PASSION I've had since day 1 and I love helping other people get into the hobby and STAY in the hobby!!

Sincerely,
Allen

http://www.phoenix-simv3.com/images/welcome_01.gif
Have you ever seen or tried Phoenix? I've tried all the above (heck I started on a Dave Brown sim running on an Apple 2e back in the day). The Phoenix sim is second to none and very cost effective. The only perceived drawback is radio because you need your own radio. Some think that's a drawback I think it's an advantage because you get to practice with exactly what you'll fly with. Another huge bonus for Phoenix is that all upgrades (new planes, helis, etc) are FREE! You don't have to buy "Add-On" packs like you do with Real Flight.

Three things I can't stress enough...

• 1) Get a flight sim! It will save you a TON of money and pay for itself in the first 2 hours of flying.
• 2) Get the help of someone who knows how to fly. Instructors are free (at least here) and it will probably save you a TON of money!!
• 3) Be INSURED! I don't know if it's viable in Canada but AMA is a life saver in an accident.

Hey BigAl07, yes MAAC insurance is available here for about $75/ year, but it's only valid when flying with a club at an approved field. So unless you're a club member and fly there regularly (they usually require insurance to fly with them) it's pretty pointless. Just find a quiet place away from pedestrians, traffic, and windows hahaha. It's bad news when a model goes down and takes something or even worse, someone with it.

What's the cost for Phoenix? Clearview is $40 and I have no real complaints with it, graphics are decent and model dynamics are good. New models are free as they're developed. I chose it after trialing the popular ones (including Phoenix).

I don't remember the price (I've had mine several years just keep upgrading it for free) but I know it was something around $100. It's probably a tad more now. Well worth it because almost as soon as a new heli/plane is release it goes onto the sim or at least when the bird gets popular.


Bummer about the MAAC insurance. AMA offers (or they used to) a Park Flyer version that would cover you flying at other places not just a sanctioned AMA flying field. Normally I'd say it's not worth the $$ but I had to "use" it one time. I "might have" ran into a parked car a few years back with a fairly large plane. I'm just saying LOL! I used to fly only at the club (Was flying some fairly large planes) but once I got into the smaller helis I drifted away from the club and like you said away from people etc is all I need now. I routinely fly at parks, in Gyms, and almost anywhere I can get a spin in. I've been known to take one (or more) of my heli on vacation. I took my Blade 400-3D camping last year in the Smoky Mountains. Was awesome for a few days then I lost a gear at about 100' and the whole campground got to see what a sloppy nasty auto-rotation looks like LOL!

I used to fly electric heli's in the UK, and brought my Align T-REX SE over with me. Sadly work left me with no time to fly, but I keep my fingers twitching with some indoor heli's.

If more than a few of you are looking for helicopters, let me know what you want and I can source from various agents in China and work out a group buy for you. It would be easier if you all wanted the same thing of course ;)

Michael I didn't know you flew R/C heli? That's pretty cool to know :)

I came into it by accident.

My Dad was bored so I bought him something to slowly learn with. After 2 hours I got a call telling me it was faulty! HUH? So I took it off him and after several rebuilds to the point that only the screws were still original I got air borne.

I then switched up to something real naff that used to have a fit at 50ft and cost me a new rotor assembly everytime, so had a Trex XL built for me, which I slowly transformed into an SE each time it would crash "itself"

I never mastered forward flying, very much still a novice but keep my hand in with these cheapies you can now buy.

Moving to Canada saw two favourite hobbies fall by the way side

weekend clay shoots with my Berretta 686E over and under and flying heli's

I feel like the smaller "Blade" series are excellent for teaching hand/eye coordination but sadly they don't do much for teaching you how a "Real" R/C heli flies. The only way to really get good is replacing a LOT of parts or getting a good flight sim and "stick banging". In 2010 I was getting pretty good because there for a while I was flying one of my birds every single day. Then "Life" got in the way and I've not flow more than about 10 hours in the whole year of 2011. When I lived in town my yard was an awesome flying site but when I moved to the country I don't have that luxury any more. It sounds backwards doesn't it? LOL

You may want to look into Phoenix or the other flight sim mentioned above just to keep your fingers active especially if you're going to have any significant "down time" over the next several weeks. Sim flying really does help a lot. It doesn't replace REAL flying but it does keep your fingers "fresh" and you can practice maneuvers you'd never practice with your real bird. :)

I have an Eflite Blade CX2 as well as a Blade CP , the CX2 is a great learning helicopter you can fly it indoors & will handle a small amount of wind outside . It will give you a pretty good feel for how they fly & they are pretty forgiving in a crash . The CP is not a trainer I have about 12 rc planes so I thought I would have no problem with the heli's so I started with the CP (wrong) .

That's EXACTLY what I did. I got one at a good price (or so I thought) and crashed it 4 times before I had the first battery ran out. I had a friend come over to help me who is EXPERT at helis (his job is R/C helicopters.... grrr). He took it outside, flew it and while flying it said, "If you want to learn to fly R/C helicopters as soon as I land this one put it on eBay and get you one that I suggest!"

So I sold it (someone got a STEAL because I bought 2 of them complete and sold as a set for less than 1/2 what 1 would have cost) and bought my Blade CX2. GREAT move!

If someone starts out with a CX2 don't be tempted to "Pimp/Bling" it out. All those hop-ups may increase performance but for every point of performance gain you lose about 10 points in stability. I'm speaking from experience. I hopped on up so much it was silly and then I wanted a stable bird so I bought another and left it completely stock. I ended up giving them both away to a co-worker so he could get a head start in starting on R/C helis but I had a blast.

Here's my CX2 running a Bell Ranger fuselage
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...i/IMG_4493.jpg

Hahah I hear ya russp, my first heli was an Esky Honey Bee King 2 (CP heli for those that aren't familiar). I learned to fly on that heli and the sim, but man was it a poor choice for a first heli! That being said after I was already flying helis and picked up fixed-wing stuff it was a cake walk!

Hey Marko,

I have 7 battery operated helis. They are all Blade helis. I love them. I haven't even taken 3 of them out of the box yet because I want to master the "easier" ones first. I have 2 Blade 120SRs, if you want, PM me and I can sell one to you at a good price. Let me know. I bought 2, one for parts, but I didn't really need the second one, so it's pretty much brand new.

The 120SR is a great flying heli. Very generous offer indeed.

I have a hirrobo shuttle zx that has served me well. Yup had a couple of crashes but a great first nitro powered machine for the beginner. Not sure they are even made any more? Great fun.

thought dust this thread off.

Coworker been flying a Heli-Max CX nano around the office and got me thinking again about picking one up.

Any updates to suggested heli for a beginner?

The 120sr I got from dez is awesome and very fun. I'm not super into it but it flies outside and that's all that matters to me

I used to have one of the CX nanos until an errant pilot flew it out of a 20th story window. You can guess the rest...

Lately I've been using my 3D printer to help my buddy build a quadcopter and DAMN those things are fun! He built the thing for $100 (plus the reciever, etc which he already had). It's lightning quick and agile as a ninja. It's a blast to fly around the house because it's so stable and precise.

I think one of the best trainers unless you only fly outside is the mSRx (RTF or Ready To fly). It is light enough to take some serious first pilot abuse due to light weight and low momentum when hitting something.

The mSRx can take very light winds outside and I've helped more than one pilot transition from fixed wing (planks) to rotors with this heli.

The single best thing you can do is get a good RC simulator and from my experience the single best (both most bang for your buck and accurate flight physics) is the Phoenix flight Sim. Money WELL spent!

Figure add another helicopter to this. Sort of followed BigAl07's progression getting a mCX2 then mSRX but rather than the SR for a collective pitch trainer, picked up a mCPX. Wasn't a huge step from the mSRX and thing is durable.


http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/hori...0_a0?$pdpLand$

Hirobo is a fantastic brand of R/C heli!!

http://model.hirobo.co.jp/english/index.html