Farmer Giles

evening,

Mrs bought me an indoor micro helicopter for Xmas and it's got me thinking about buying a larger scale outdoor one but the choice is massive.

So any experts on here who can offer any advice for a trainee pilot ??

electric or nitro powered ?
what model to buy and what radio gear would you recommend ?

I've seen all inclusive electric powered kits in model shops for under £300 but I am guessing they are not the greatest quility.

any input welcome.

Cheers

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

proper ones are a fucker to fly!or so i have been told!i would go for a nitro one!as for models etc i aint got a clue!

as355f1

after my near death experience with a petrol one i now stick with the indoor miniature ones.
they are a utter nightmare to learn on and you need deep pockets to pay for lots of spare parts/ rebuilds

adam151082

i've just got 1 of these for xmas, never tryed it yet.
http://www.buzzflyer.co.uk/RC-Helico...t-CP/p-91-370/

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

Exactly the same happened to me last year. Got one of the little ones for indoor, liked it and went out and bought something better.

I looked into it ALOT and trust me when I say that the Blade CX2 is the one to go for if you want to learn properly.

I have come across LOTS of people that went into it in the typical way, £500-700 on a proper Heli and they've either flown it and broken it or never had the guts to fly it. The Blade is around £115 and is ace. It can be used indoors and outdoors as long as there is very little or no wind. I've not had much chance to use mine lately, but I can fly it around quite well and may soon take the next step to something like a Blade 400 (which can do 3D), but thats certainly NOT a beginner 'copter.

rik-rs

i wouldnt go for a nitro one, ive had nitro cars, and they conk out all the time, imagine a helicopter conking out..

rik-rs

fook me thats my normal budget for buying a real car

as355f1

they land fine mate if they conk out, its called autorotation

rik-rs

ahhhhhhhh nice

BM08

If the chopper is big enough it could double up as your daily transport

Farmer Giles

cheers, I'll take a look at that model. I assume you can get it as a kit as I have nothing at all.

I've just been looking at an Esky Honey Bee CP2 which seems pretty good, to my untrained eye and available new from about £120 including everything I need, apart from a shed load of spares....

Oranoco

My brother is now on his second. They are very very tricky to fly.

Farmer Giles

Christian, I presume not Becky...

found a Blade CX2 on 'the bay' looks good and I assume the twin rotors make it more stable when learning to fly.

How much flight time do you get from one charge ? is it worth buying a few batteries so you can get some good flying sessions in rather then just 5 or 10 mins at a time.

cameron2

Be mentally prepared for your first one to raise up like little a butterfly, then crash and burn like a hellfire rocket!
'They' reckon that everyones first outdoor chopper WILL crash and burn early.
I havnt had the balls to buy my first yet, still on with 23cc 1/5th cars.

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

Id join a club if i were you!! You should be able to get an expert to teach you to fly. May give you access to insurance discounts and also advice on novice aircraft, technical advice etc.

Theres some very nice RC copters out there and you can spend tens of thousands if you want to Theres people out there with RC copters with turbine engines, cameras, the lot.

Also with the novice copters you can usually buy stabilisers for them (yes just like when you learnt to cycle) that can help with landings and also help balance things a bit in flight.

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

Id join a club if i were you!! You should be able to get an expert to teach you to fly. May give you access to insurance discounts and also advice on novice aircraft, technical advice etc.

Theres some very nice RC copters out there and you can spend tens of thousands if you want to Theres people out there with RC copters with turbine engines, cameras, the lot.

Also with the novice copters you can usually buy stabilisers for them (yes just like when you learnt to cycle) that can help with landings and also help balance things a bit in flight.

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

AGreed!!!!

They are considered harder to fly than real thing as you are remoted from the copter and you have no real feedback or "senses" feedback that you rely on in a real helicopter to tell you what its doing.

Farmer Giles

didn't concider a club, will have a look round.

I guess there are RC Helicopter magazines available which will have details of clubs and stuff..


I used to race RC cars when I was younger and really enjoyed it, I just got priced out of being competative by the other kids who's Dads were funding their cars..

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

Also check your councils policys on RC helicoptors. They are banned in public parks in many places last time i checked and some councils require you to have the right insurance.

Theres several RC flying mags on the market. Just look in smiths.

Oh and some people do competitions with RC heli's and some just do it for fun zooming rounds and some are scale modellers replicating real helis as accurately as they can.

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

Also check your councils policys on RC helicoptors. They are banned in public parks in many places last time i checked and some councils require you to have the right insurance.

Theres several RC flying mags on the market. Just look in smiths.

Oh and some people do competitions with RC heli's and some just do it for fun zooming rounds and some are scale modellers replicating real helis as accurately as they can.

jameswrx

To be honest I find the larger ones a lot easier to fly than the little ones. The larger the model the more stable it'll be.

I've currently got 5 RC heli's.. 1 micro 2ch, 1 twin blade chinnock 3ch micro, 1 mini 4channel heli, a century hummingbird (which I've had years and fully upgraded) and a century mini predator.

I did have a nitro helicopter but to be honest it was all too serious for me (ie you need somewhere big and safe to fly and it's a big fuss)

The century mini pred is a good little heli and a reasonable size, £199 all in and lasts a goo 10 mins or so.

I started with the hummingbird years ago and the advice I'll give you is to make sure it's setup nicely and after every small crash check the paddles are straight etc.

It took me a while of messing around indoors to learn to hover but to be honest a lot of that was with pissed paddles etc. When I was reasonably competant my mate decided to buy one and he couldn't get the hang at all, I went to see him and within half an hour he was hovvering well (just because his setup and trims were so far out)

jameswrx

Oh and when you've mastered tail in hovvering then let us know how it goes when you try nose in

I can fly around all day as long as it's tail in to me but my brain has real trouble with nose in work

Farmer Giles

well it looks like there are a few clubs in the Reading area so I might go along and have a chat but most seem to be fixed wing with little or no mention of helicoptors..

That's what bothers me about clubs is if I go to a predominantly fixed wing club will they be a bit sniffy with me if I go in with a heli.. bit like skiiers and snowborders.. LOL...

jameswrx good advice about the set up, cheers..

Farmer Giles

Yeah, I'm used to the old reversed controls when coming towards from my RC car days.. but that was 20 odd years ago, the old brain might not quite be what it was

Tim

iTrader: (1)

i have 2 nitro 30 class helis and loads of electric as i sell them lol,what micro heli you got i presume its just 2 channel,as for how easy to fly it depends on how much time you put in and how well its set up as set up is everything,expensive isnt always best but its all down to your pocket.
tim

boost mad

iTrader: (8)

I got myself a small electric one about 4 years ago. cost me 130, after getting the hang of it i looked into larger nitro/petrol powered ones.

the small electric one was ok, but could be hard to fly outdoors as it was so light the slightest little breeze could knock it out of controll.

i had ago with a nitro one, was about 6foot from tip to tail and fould it quite easy to fly just doing basic hovering and manovers.

i was going to buy a larger one but it got to the point where i thought to myself, im bound to crash it, can i aford to fix it. so i didnt get one lol

Farmer Giles

Yeah just a 2 channel, twin rotor one. I actually broke it today. One of the rotors came apart and then self distructed in the other rotor.


I guess I just want a reasonable set up that is simple enough (relatively speaking) to learn on but then I can maybe upgrade a little to move on rather than having to sell up and then buy another one that I will have to almost learn to fly again.

What models do you sell ?
any links to a web site I can have a look round ?

pa_sjo

I think i'll still to flying planks

KnoxyGtt

Iv been flying Rc aircraft since i was about 14

Took a break for a while and got back into helis Currently got a:

indoor CentuaryUk 2.6GHZ spirt witch is awesome, same as the blade Cx2

CentuaryUK mini pred 3d witch is total shit, ultra crap quility radio gear, the speed controller is a piece of shit and the motor isnt strong enought for decent 3d flight

Blade 400 3d witch is awesome, It comes with a DX6i transmiter witch is pretty good for a rdy to fly heli

If you start on the dual rotor indoor stuff before bigger hear then thats defo the best way to go, when i got my litte indoor heli too mess about with i could'nt believe how stable is was, almost flew itself, gives you the basic skills and understanding to move onto bigger things

Twellsie

iTrader: (1)

been there got the t-shirt, it now takes pride of place in my loft in many pieces, along with the plane

Farmer Giles

KnoxyGtt

the Blade 400 does look good and I'll take your word on the radio being good. Acoms Techniplus was about my limit when I was racing cars 20 some years ago...

But I think the Blade is probably upgrade material once I've been flying (and crashing) for a while on something worth a little less.

I am watching a Blade CX2 and a HoneyBee CP2 on ebay ATM.

mighty aphrodite

harder to fly than the real thing?

Tim

iTrader: (1)

http://www.ripmax.com/item.asp?itemi...1&Category=010

these fly awsome and imo better the the eflite blades, BUT BY FROM YOUR LOCAL SHOP if they know anything as u will need parts when u crash and u will and they can help you out .Mind you there are more and more box sellers now who dont give a fuck so you take your chances.
IMO By a countera rotating heli as above and a flight sim,you will soon be moving on after a short while if the bug gets you lmao.
after that these are cheap enough and fly well,
http://www.mirageracing.com/piw.php?partNo=ML14402


there are loads of better stuff but these are ok to learn on .
The belt cp i tested from 1 supplier was total wank as was the honey bee, this is nice but not cheap ill try 1 soon let u know
http://www.centuryuk.com/Products/Re...opters/GL450SE

Tim

iTrader: (1)

http://www.mirageracing.com/piw.php?partNo=ML14702
these also look good but i carnt get my hands on 1 yet it says instock but they aint arrived yet,nice hughes 500 body as well

Tim

iTrader: (1)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ5i0Cxpml8&NR=1
this is nice but the wife would kill me lmao

badnews

ha ha i flew mine the other day timmy i collected all the bits left over from the garage battles and threw them in a box so i had plenty of spare's. mine is still a minter and still flys perfect. i had the car out to that sadley is broken only the spur gear lol so i will change it when i can be arsed as i stripped one over here i bought 3 spare fookers as i tend to land on the roof when i launch it down my block of land lol. whats new on the rc front pal any big rc cars right money as mine is to small and gets a beating pal

tabetha

Between myself/dad/bro we have 9 heli's, all have a blade cx2 which as said aree one of the easiest, and a very good learner one.
If you go to something like a CHINOOK with twin rotors(each end) they are even more stable, and the last one was around £160.
My blade runs around 15/20 mins, but is MASSIVELY VASTLY better with a FLIGHTPOWER EVO LITE V2 battery.
This is a 20 cell, the std battery is 2 cell, the response is so much better as is overall performance, it's a straight replacement, although a lot longer does fit.
Make sure you do use the CHARGER supplied as lithium polymer can explode big time, sometimes even with correct charger.
I just started do the simple hovering stuff in the sitting room, but the constant battering of my head with the frying pan by g/f so gets you flying well so you don't keep taking chunks out of table legs etc!!
The MASH kit from hobbystores is also a easy one, my bro has the 3d one the 400, and it is so much harder, the response is unbleivable.
tabetha

jameswrx

I was buzzing the chinook around the kitchen last night while the mrs was trying to prepare dinner, much amusement at her anger

porksword69

I just got a Lama 5 for Xmas, any good?

Twellsie

iTrader: (1)

how about one of these lol
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=la8zYpd0kGY