javan,

the first thing to realize is that helicopter and inexpensive do not go together. There's no such thing.

This small chopper is VERY expensive once you get all the necessary bits. I have a friend who recently sold his. I had advised him the same thing as I told you, with one extra comment. A bigger machine is easier to learn on and much less costly in the long run.

That is exactly what he learned. He now has a 60 size machine with a 90 engine. It cost only a couple of hundred dollars more than the mini chopper, with all the special parts, batteries, chargers and all that.

He also crashed the mini so did need to buy many more parts. Since he got the large machine, he's learned to fly within a couple of months.

You don't learn much if you are always crashing/buying new parts/repairing. And it gets very frustrating.

Good luck!