RC helicoptors
 

I am getting a little interst in them does anybody have any expierence with them....likea good RTR to start with and any thing to avoid

e-flight mcx or cx2, both coaxial types, fun and easy to fly. Mcx can be flown vitually anywhere inside and is very durable. CX2 is a bit bigger, needs more room for indoor flying, lots of upgrades available.

avoid heli-max heli's and buy Great Planes® RealFlight® G4.5 after you learn how to fly buy this heli http://www.bananahobby.com/1530.html

I dont know alot about them at all never flown one, but at allerc.com they have in the sales/discount section some Trex helicopters for $100's off with the motors/gyro/lipo or not, pretty much any combo/size copter you want, carbon fibre, aluminum..it was too much for me to absorb so I abondoned that idea until at least summer.

I have heard that the sims dont work very well with laptop computers and thats what I have....so I dont know if I want to risk the $200 for that

I've had a few and the easiest, most stable one I've personally used is the E-Flite MCX. That is one bad little mamma-jamma.

I actually have a Lama V4 (copy of the Blade CX2) for sale. You can have it for next to nothing so you can learn with it and not feel bad if you beat the heck out of it. :-)

Just PM me if you're interested.

I think things on wheels are a much cheaper hobby. Any kind of crash usually ends up in a hefty repair bill as soon as you go outdoors.

A lot of people say don't think about flying outdoors until you can fly indefinitely in a simulator. This means not just flying around; do some inverting and start to learn some tricks as well. You'll need all those skills to be able to instinctively pull yourself out of a fall, or you could be looking at $100+ repair bills per crash. :whip:

I've tried the Lama and the CX2. These are primarily indoor helicopters. I've taken them outside, but, only if its dead calm, otherwise, you won't be able to bring it back :oh:

The guy at the local hobby shop showed me a Walkera 4#3 and it seemed like a great indoor beginner heli as well.

Try this simulator: Phoenix Sim

.dk

spend $130 on an e-flite blade mcx. Comes with everything to get you started. Very easy and fun to fly! I even got my Dad interested and he bought one. In comparrison to cars/trucks/truggies/buggies helis are cheap. I have an mcx, cx2, and cp+ and have less into them 3 helis than just my CRT.5!

Well I just picked up a used DX6 for 80 shipped for my crawler - It looks like i can hook this up to my pc for nothing and use the free FSM simulator...

This looks like the best way to start...

Well, if you are just starting out...then I recommend a co-ax heli. The esky lama will be one of the cheapest. I have flown the MCX and CX2, the price difference doesnt make them fly any better. They only diff is the 2.4g radio, but I didnt need that when flying indoors. Even then, its AVAILABLE if you need it. The one i bought came with a flight sim that I put on my dads laptop when I bought one for him.(he got hooked when he saw my little heli)

If you do anything more complicated than a co-ax, then a flight sim is a MUST!!!!
What you will have in broken parts will cost more than buying a computer and a flight sim. The 3d helis are not easy to fly. I had the GreatPlanes RealFlight g4., and was one of the first to have a Blade 400 with the dx6i. It took me forever to learn to invert it and do tic-tocs, and I never would have done it if it wasnt for the flight sim.

learn 3d it's great as bashing

Realflight G4 works well on my laptop. Of course I have a separate graphics card and 4gb of ram.

I would go MCX. I had the CX2 and it flies great but you are so limited on where you can fly it inside and it will only fly outside in zero wind. I played with an MCX the other day at the LHS and it was very stable and in my opinion much more fun than the CX2. It will get you used to orientation of the heli and what not then like said, move to the sim before getting a "real" heli. Always remember it costs $0.00 to crash on the sim, you won't be so lucky in real life. Every experienced heli pilot I have talked to has told me it's not a matter of "IF" you will crash, it's a matter of "WHEN".

Been flying a Blade MCX for 3+ weeks or so and its a blast - bought additional batts so I can fly longer. Amazing little guy, have only broken 1 upper main blade so far.

I got the 3.5ver of RF and I'm having trouble getting the controller trimmed so it doesn't immed take off on me as I attempt to power up. The interlink controller uses sliders for trim and they are either too coarse or my controller is messed up. I have a new Futaba 6EX I could try after I get everybody's Xmas sorted out today. Right now, what I have is a joke - its basically just unuseable. The MCX even has digital trims, so RF v3.5 has been a disappointment so far. I'm not having any probs flying my MCX and having a blast with it.

I got an awesome deal on a NIB Trex 450 SE, radio, servos, gyro, charger, spare parts so def need to get sim straightened out so I can learn and move on.

Is that lincpimp's site?

:smile:Phoenix flight sim is probably the best you'll get for learning to fly a heli, you can download all sorts of models to try out before you decide what to buy if you get hooked with an RTF heli.
Just my personal experience but I bought a Blade CX2 followed by a Blade 400-3D which I bought 2nd hand having only been flown twice and it came with a Spektrum DX6i TX. You can use the DX6i for most heli's as it's full range unlike the original DX6 which is limited on range.
The MCX is fun but so easy to fly that I'm not sure it will prepare you for bigger heli's, but for fun indoors it's probably the best out there as you can fly it in the smallest of spaces.
Having got hooked I bought a T Rex 600 Nitro heli and to be honest between the Phoenix sim and having lessons at my local club I haven't really flown the CX2 or 400 since I got the 600. You'll get far longer stick time from a nitro than a large scale electric. The cost of the batteries is high, for every 10 minutes flight time on a 50 size electric heli you'll need a battery and 6S cells don't come cheap. Plus side of the electric heli's you can fly them anywhere as they don't make the noise of a nitro.
Be warned despite what E-Revonut say's if you get hooked you'll need deep pockets, you don't just break a wishbone or upright when you crash. It's usually main blades, feathering shaft, main shaft, flybar and sometimes tail boom & tail blades & canopy as well.
That's where the Phoenix flight sim comes into it's own as despite the cost it will save you it's price many times over whilst learning.
It's frustrating as hell when you first start but addictive if you like a challenge, and they're far more mentally challenging than a 2 channel RC car!!!:smile:

Avoid anything made by Venom..... I bought a Night Ranger 3D back in about May '06.
Turns out it was a subtlely restyled Walkera 22E/D, parts availability was a nightmare, prices insane.

All in all I wish I would have spent all the cash I WASTED... on my truck instead.

The process of learning with helis almost never ends, which means it takes many people a long time and hundreds in repairs to even get to the point where it's more fun than stress and intense concentration. and I'm not a believer in simulators either, I don't think they offer any real-world applicability when getting a feel for controls and orientation. Just when you think you're getting good, you have to face the beast, nose in. Everything gets 10X harder when you graduate from tail-in flying.

The most fun I have had in the air so far is with my HobbyZone Super Cub.
I built mine from parts instead of buying the kit with the radio I'd just throw out. and mine has 3-4 times the power of a stocker, I started with a 3790 kv Ammo, on 3S 16,000 rpm prop speed proved to be way too much, dropped down to a 2500 kv, waiting on weather to try that one. If anyone would like to see how I did the gearbox conversion, I'll post up. BTW that mod uses a 12T Emaxx gear, there is one actual MT part on my plane lol.

I started with the Blade CP PRo. BAD IDEA. The Separate tail rotor motor can not react in time and dies rather quickly. Not as strong. Never really got it to REALLY hover. about 300 RTR

My current heli is the Trex 600. THIS BAD BOY GOT IT ALL. The belt drive makes it much more stable. I can bring this sucker up and put the controller on the floor. THE HELICOPTER will stay IN HOVER (with proper trim and setup) Startup cost is about 2k ARF for a GOOD setup

I found the larger the helicopter, the easier it is to fly. The added weight gives a huge advantage.

For a budget RTR that performs, i recommend the Blade 400. It is a belt drive, 2.4 spektrum, Brushless, 1800mah 20c 3s lipo battery and MORE for about 450. Best bang for the buck. This heli is small, but beffy enough to be stable

my $0.02

Andrew thats what I wanted to see/hear, bigger the better LOL Im getting the biggest bastard I can find come late spring

So I have done some research on the net, gotten some input here, and joined Helifreak.com, and from this I think I will invest in a Phoenix sim, and look for a used 500 or 600 coptor. I have seen them go for under $1k RTF except for a radio

lol, I had to read that a few times before I got it. I was wondering what kind of trim/setup was needed to keep the controller on the floor once you set it down (I thought gravity handled it all). Heck, I can do that to any controller. :wink:

Anyway, I know what you mean now. I feel stupid for not catching it sooner, but it IS early for me (anytime I'm up before 11AM is early).

HAHA read my edit...and the reason hehe:lol:

so I found a LHS in my area that specializes in heli's and I went in and I had lots of questions.....I walked out with a MCX to get my oreintation with a new style TX....looks like I "ll be spending some money there.....LOL...and I had ordered the Phoenix sim the night before...who knows how long it will take to get here from England

Helifreak is a great site for sure, I have gotten lots of info on there. Have fun with the MCX!

I have 4 heli's right now and have sold 1. So here is some solid advice for you.

Download FMS it is free and does do heli sim. It will teach you the basics but the physics are not perfect so be carefull as you convert to the real thing. A coaxal heli is a OK start but again the physics will not match a real heli. If you want to fart around indoors the MCX or Coco lama is not a bad start. It will teach you alot of stuff like the SIM's do. They also survive most crashes and are cheap to repair. You however will likely outgrow your heli in a few weeks. Then you will find yourself wanting a 450 sized bird.

Next if you grow into a 450 sized heli, don't get one with a plastic head, it will cost you more in the long run. If you can not afford a machined aluminium model then you can not afford heli's.

With proper learning steps you can avoid most crashes, but take note you will crash and you will have to repair it.

My best flying heli is a trex 450 SE V2. However I like the looks and hear great things about the skyshark and HDX heli's

Helil's are harder then airplanes so if you want to fly consider a airplane first, I have a blast with my combat planes. Nothing is more fun that smashing into another airplane and seeing who can fly away. These planes don't break and are cheap to build.


Last but not least be carefull, The indoor heli's are OK, but when you get into a 450 Trex or the like you want to be carefull they can do serious damage to a person like hospital to death type stuff.

Heli's are a lot of fun and a constant challenge to master. 3D flight is almost unbelievable, I myself can not do any inverted flight yet.

Highflier