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Questions and looking for recommendations - 11/20/2012 12:48 PM   
Stevorino


 

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Joined: 11/20/2012
Last Login: 11/22/2012
From: , GA, USA
Status: offline 		Hey guys!

I'm looking into getting an RC Heli, Plane, or Car for Christmas this year - and I'm trying to decide which way to go!  This is getting posted here because I'm heavily leaning towards helis.  I like that I can do it in my yard and don't have to travel for take-off.   I also like that it seems to be more challenging than driving a car in the backyard.

I had a Nitro RC offroad car around a decade ago and loved some aspects of it and hated others.  I seemed to be tinkering more than driving and getting parts was always a ****.  It seems like a lot has changed in a decade with all things RC:  Batteries have essentially replaced the nitro/gas engines and the internet has probably made getting parts a lot easier for someone not near a hobby shop(I used to drive over an hour each way to pick up each part).

Here are my questions:

1) For anyone who has played w/ a Heli and a plane/car, I'd love to hear why you favor one over another.  

2) I'm looking to spend between $150-$250.  I have zero experience flying anything aside from a buddy's mall-bought heli a year ago in his living room.  I want a challenge.  I want there to be a building process if it's not too daunting (my favorite part of Xmas last year was putting together my daughter's toys), and I'd love for there to be a learning curve.  I'd be really disappointed to spend $200 on something and have it assembled in an hour and mastered in a day or two.  

I have already bought a little Syma 107g for inside the living room per someone's advice on here.  For $20, it seemed like a good barometer on my interest before making a big purchase.  Because I have that, I'd like this second heli to be primarily, if not exclusively, used outdoors.

3)  I am seeing a lot of common names on here:  Blade Msr x, Blade Mcpx v2, Trex 450... what are the major differences between these helis?

4)  BNF and RTF  - Is there one that is better for a new guy?  Does RTF only mean that it comes w/ everything I need or does it also come assembled?  The building process sounds fun....

5) Finally, I keep seeing notes about the charge times being around 5-10 minutes.  Is there a somewhat inexpensive way to extend that significantly?  I'm assuming the time/cost depends on the heli... but it seems to me that 5 minutes would be frustratingly short.

Thanks guys!



< Message edited by Stevorino -- 11/20/2012 2:21 PM >

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RE: Questions and looking for recommendations - 11/21/2012 4:41 AM   
jrcaster



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From: Hopkinsville, KY, USA
Status: offline 		If you are wanting to try to get into planes or heli's, your best christmas present would be a flight simulator. Basically the more you pay, the more realistic the flight physics are, but you will be able to figure out which way you want to get into the hobby. Plus after you crash, just hit the reset button and go again.

I would say that airplanes are easier to learn because that is the way I went, but the more realistic answer is that airplanes and helicopters are different.

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RE: Questions and looking for recommendations - 11/21/2012 8:06 PM   
TakeshiSkunk


 

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From: Coldwater, MI, USA
Status: offline 		Nah, airplanes are most definitely easier to learn and a lot more relaxing to fly. At high level aerobatics both demand extreme skill and precision, and planes definitely have their quirks to learn, but some degree of inherent stability makes them a lot more approachable. It's not totally unreasonable for someone with no simulator time and no instructor to figure out how to fly a fixed wing trainer without crashing it. Same scenario with a helicopter is all but guaranteed to end in a crash, probably very quickly.

Simulator is the absolute best money you can spend in this hobby. As long as you put time into practicing every day and get completely comfortable with everything before attempting it on an actual helicopter you'll find it makes the learning curve MUCH more manageable. Just be patient while learning and you'll save yourself a lot of time and money.

It is worth mentioning that unless you have a very large back yard you'll find yourself quite limited in what you can do with a helicopter until you get extremely good at flying it. A Nano CPx or mCPx will be your best choice for backyard flying due to being tiny and surprisingly durable.

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RE: Questions and looking for recommendations - 11/21/2012 8:32 PM   
Goggles



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quote:

your best Christmas present would be a flight simulator.


- Spot on advice!

Now to answer some of your other questions:

About 20 years ago I started flying planes, bought a 78" trainer, built it and off I went.......to a club where I found nice and helpful guys willing to share their experience. One of them was a instructor and that's where my flying took off. I've had many different planes, many sport models, DF and prop jets, warbirds, 3D edge and a huge 40% Yak. About 4 years ago I was getting bored with it all and my stuff sat in my trailer for a long time. I always wanted to try Heli's and 2 years ago I bought my first Raptor 50.....and I was hooked.

From first hand experience, there is a huge difference between planes and heli's. Heli's, you are constantly making corrections and are generally harder to fly. Take a trainer plane for example, once trimmed out you can take your hands off the controls and watch it fly across the field till you need to turn it around and watch it fly back. This is a bit of an over exaggeration but you get the idea.

When you crash planes you're usually taking it home and start cutting balsa to fix it. With a heli, you crash (and suck up the cost of the crash), haul out your parts box and reassemble the parts, redo the setup and go fly again.

quote:

I'd be really disappointed to spend $200 on something and have it assembled in an hour and mastered in a day or two.


Not going to happen with either plane or heli IF you get one you can learn on. And that always seems to be the big question, which is a good one to learn on and you'll find many people have many different answers. Blade seems to have a large following of customers and they seems to be a pretty good choice for modelers. Their parts are available at most local hobby stores and almost anywhere online. I'm not familiar with the model numbers except for the MCPX, that is a little 3d heli that I can throw around in my back yard. But for your $200 price tag, you should be able to find some good to learn on. http://www.bladehelis.com/

The difference between RTF and BNF: with RFT the transmitter is included (usually). It may not be the best quality TX but it will work for that particular model. BNF is when you already have a transmitter and you bind the heli to the transmitter. I have a JR 9303 transmitter that I use for all my heli's and I just bind the receiver to the transmitter, do the setup and off I go.

What ever way you decide to go, always make sure you can get parts, because you'll need them.


Here's a few shots for ya.





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RE: Questions and looking for recommendations - 11/21/2012 9:09 PM   
KRASHKOPTER



Posts: 80
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From: Coquitlam, BC, CANADA
Status: offline 		What they all said.....I just started into helis about 3 months ago....went thru the co-ax series...then tried a 4ch FP heli.....a bit better than co-ax because the controls are set up more like a 6 ch system ....for example, the rudder (yaw) is on the left stick and ailerons (roll) is on the right stick.
Then I found out my bro-in-law was into rc bigtime...and that would be Goggles...lol
He suggested I get a sim and an MCPX to start. I did just that and haven't looked back since. I got the Phoenix sim and started to practice, practice, practice, etc etc.  Then I would go out to my yard and try it on the MCPX....what a difference!!...Of course I still had/have a few crashes but with the instructions I got from peeps on this site, etc, they are easy fixes. These lil birds are as tough as they say and a breeze to work on.  Plus, they told me to master the Throttle-hold switch....which I have...:-)
I would do what they are suggesting and go for the sim...boring sometimes but invaluable. Then get an MCPX or the Nano CPX  (I know they are small but they are worth it in my opinion as a noob)
I am quite happy with the progress I am making with the MCPX and am already saving up for my next bigger heli....(been looking at the KDS Innova 550FBL cause you all told me to go bigger lol)
I have already purchased a learning aid for my future helis just last night (Flymentor system) and will be probably getting the big guy in the new year so no rush. 
As for the training on the sim...still get about 2 hours min. a day. The actual MCPX training is limited cause of the weather but I still get some flying time in. I am able to do flips now and hover inverted nose-in for at least 30 secs....but have trouble getting back to right-side-up tail-in. I believe it's just a matter of too much stick movement but whatever....it's still fun trying....I will get it eventually.
I did a flip the other day and when I went to go back to right side up....I ended up 30 ft out over the street.....hit the throttle-hold and down she came....splat....sounded bad...lol.
Ran out and picked her up....broke another canopy support pin (only 1 left now plus my velcro on the bottom) and it also broke a connecting rod...also landing strut leg broken.....all fixed within 15 minutes and back out flying.
Will keep updating as I learn more and just wait Goggles....I may be asking a lot more questions real soon...lol
Have fun all and good luck Stevorino!

K


ps.   Nice pics Kelvin
 

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RE: Questions and looking for recommendations - 11/21/2012 9:48 PM   
Stevorino


 

Posts: 3
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Joined: 11/20/2012
Last Login: 11/22/2012
From: , GA, USA
Status: offline 		Thanks guys - great stuff!

I'm leaning towards getting the blade MCPX RTF and a sim for now.  Do I need anything special for the sim?  As in, do I need to get a special controller for it ?

Any recommendations for accessories to get with the MCPX?  Extra parts, batteries, etc?


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RE: Questions and looking for recommendations - 11/21/2012 10:17 PM   
TakeshiSkunk


 

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From: Coldwater, MI, USA
Status: offline 		Honestly the Nano CPx is probably the better purchase right now, I'm not sure what the price difference is off the top of my head. It addresses all the issues with the mCPx that people came up with mods and workarounds for...though the fact that the mCPx is a bit less capable does make it a fine training tool, especially for collective management. It goes both ways really haha

If you go with the mCPx the first thing you'll want is a microheli aluminum swashplate, the balls will break off the stock plastic ones fairly easily and become a nuisance. If you break the tail boom you'll want to replace it with a longer one for better flight performance, you can make it yourself fairly easily out of some 2mm carbon fibre rod. Extra landing gear and control rods are good to keep on hand as well. You'll probably want a couple more batteries as well.

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RE: Questions and looking for recommendations - 11/21/2012 10:42 PM   
KRASHKOPTER



Posts: 80
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From: Coquitlam, BC, CANADA
Status: offline 		+1 Takeshi
I was told the same thing about the swashplate and it was the first mod I did...easy to do (I'm lying...very tiny screws but was fun completing it..lol)
I also did the tail mod to the longer boom. And I have some carbon rod ready to fab more if needed along with some extra control rods too. I have a total
of 8 batteries now too so lots of fly time.
On the matter of MCPX vs NCPX, I have also heard that the Nano is a better choice because all the bugs have been worked out of the MCPX and the
NCPX is the end result...it is a inch or so smaller but also a lil bit cheaper.....totally up to you...good luck with your choice.

K


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RE: Questions and looking for recommendations - 11/21/2012 11:33 PM   
Stevorino


 

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Joined: 11/20/2012
Last Login: 11/22/2012
From: , GA, USA
Status: offline 		Hmmm ok - i guess i need to look i to the nano.

What kind of batteries do you all suggest?


Once again,  thank you SO much for the help!!!


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RE: Questions and looking for recommendations - 11/25/2012 5:20 AM   
ATVAlliance



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From: , WV, USA
Status: offline 		Right now...A Main Hobbies has the mCPX on sale for Black Friday weekend for 99 bucks and free shipping.

Regardless if they nano is a better heli or not...the 99 dollar price makes it the better deal for a new person starting out.  All my opinion of course.

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