_Buzz_

All you newbies, I have to tell you a little story...the guys over on the Ikarus BBS know this already, but I suppose they'll not mind reading it again.

I started with helis about 2 years ago. I bought a Raptor 30 and used FF6 radio. I had a couple of "bad luck" excursions...one from a duff crystal and the other from a bad receiver, but the damage was done, the Raptor scared the hell out of me. I decided I was going to get one of these little "Toy" helis....a Piccolo. I got it....I built it.....I tried to fly it and failed miserably. About this time I saw the Ikarus BBS and read a little and got acquainted with this nutter of an American guy called RADD. He told me he had theories about learning to fly helis....he knew they worked, but no-one would take him seriously.
Privately we worked together...him teaching me by e-mail......it worked...it damned well worked. In no time I was hovering a battery pack out without problem. (Only 4/5 minutes then, I was on NiCds.
To cut a long story a bit shorter, these lessons were typed out and put onto Dream-models.com website as Radds School of Rotary Flight.
After this I was persuaded to go for an ECO8, which I did and still have. It's a brushless upgraded beast now, flying 20 minutes on 5000mAh Lipos, just a 3s1p pack, but it flew great as standard in ECCPM with my upgraded radio....a JR X3810 ADT.
I went back to flying the Raptor and guess what ??? It's easy....dead easy.

So what does all this mean.....what lessons can be learned from this story.....

Well, what I think is the most important part of all this is "Yes"...you can do it alone, but it's not easy...get help...good help..and you'll learn faster and more importantly cheaper.

One other thing....get a good representitive simulator. If it saves one good crash it's paid for itself (and it most certainly will). Use it as a training aid, not a game...punish yourself for getting it wrong and you'll learn the reactions you need to keep the heli alive and kicking.

Buzz