Lesson #1 for getting into Helis:

NEVER COUNT THE MONEY!!! This is one hobby where if you cant afford it you should not be in it. Do not take this the wrong way, I am just trying to be honest. You can not go cheap. It will just end up frustrating you. Cheap Heli + Cheap Gear + Cheap tools = Disaster, and a shot live experience in the hobby.

Not to brag, but I invested over 2000.00 for my first setup, that was heli, good equipment, radio, and field gear. I just spent over 1700.00 on my last heli, that was just the helicopter and the radio gear.

If you are trying to pinch your way in you will be dissapointed. It was much cheaper when I was flying planes. I think I spend more now on just the gyro, than I did then for a fully equiped plane to fly.

Helicopters are precision machines that defy physics, and take an extrodinary amount of time(money) to master and maintain. That is the real truth of it, and it will not change.

The cost of the helicopter kit is just a fraction of the "Real" cost of flying these machines. Anybody who tells you you can get away "cheap" is not letting you in on the whole story.

Lest be honest here, we have all spent way more that we origionally thought we would, am I the only one who is honest enough to admit this? Ring in people, lets be straight with this guy on what he is getting into.