ORIGINAL: bkdavy
Just one more note not covered yet about Helis. Proper setup is much more demanding on Helis than fixed wing. Our senior instructor is an accomplished heli pilot, and I have seen him spend a few hours making sure blade incidence, balance, etc are properly set before ever taking a helo up. I have also heard helis described as a collection of very expensive, precision parts, all working together to fail.
I enjoy watching the experienced heli pilots at our field. But they have years of experience under their belts, and they spent a lot of time and money to get there.
Brad
Just like fixed wing, people can spend very little money or big bucks to have fun in RC aeromodeling. Just to make a point, there are tons of previously owned helis out there for sale that can be picked up for pennies on the dollar, of course, one would have to know what to look for when buying used. You can buy a good new 30 size fuel powered heli outfit for around $600.
You can use most, (except for ccpm mode) airplane radios for helis. Some radios have alternate heli programs, but when I first started flying 60 size helis, I used a 4 channel AM airplane radio, which worked fine. My point is, if you have someone to help you setup and flight trim your heli the first time, there isn't all that much to do afterwards. Once you get the hang of hovering, and if you witnessed the intial setup, you can figure out how to make adjustments on your own. In other words, it's not nearly as difficult as some would have you think it is.
CCR