I'd advise staying away from the small cheap micros (ala Blade CP or Honeybee) as they're a nightmare to fly as has been stated.

The t-rex on the other hand, while still small, is a very smooth stable machine. Easily as stable as a lot of .30 size helicopters in my experience, and definitely a lot more powerful. The biggest difference in control compared to a larger machine is that the T-rex is MUCH more nimble than a .30 size heli. It's for this reason that it's one of the most expensive micros, but also one of the best. It can take you from just starting out with hovers and then to the most extreme 3D possible (assuming you've got the right setup).

Of course, when you're all said and done with a t-rex, you'll have enough invested that you could just as easily buy a .30.

It really depends on the route you want to go. For the initial setup, a T-rex will need to be "dumbed" down to keep the responsiveness in check while you're starting out, but can later be adjusted to fly more aggressively than even the most powerful nitro helicopter.

A .30 class ship on the other hand, well, they're always kind of underpowered. They'll be stable for learning, but you'll outgrow it eventually and want a .50 size machine, so in this regard, i'd suggest starting from a .50 from the get go if you go nitro. But then you've got high repair costs that go with it (easily in the $100 range).


If your goal is to fly a nitro machine, then i'd say just start with nitro from the beginning, it'll be cheaper and easier than buying multiple helicopters as you progress, especially with two different power sources that require different support equipment.
Another thing to consider is that electric isn't any easier just because it's electric. This is, unfortunately, a common misconception with a lot of people who start out in the hobby thinking electric is the easy way to do it.
You may not have to deal with engine tuning issues, but those get replaced by having to know and understand all the various components in an electric system and how they interact with each other to get the performance you need. How to care for and properly charge lithium batteries without burning your house down. How to keep things like the ESC from interfering with the radio signal. How to program the ESC for the settings you need to prevent destroying your motor.

You'll need support equipment such as chargers and balancers. You need to monitor flight times to avoid battery damage and a slew of other annoyances that come with electric flight. You really just replace one set of headaches with a different set. The nice thing with electrics, of course, is that once you do get the setup right, you just set it and forget it, and unless you break something, the performance will stay consistent (which isn't true for IC engines which can change depending on the weather or any other number of reasons).


In the end, it just comes down to what you want. If you got the cash, theres no reason why you can't go both routes, but it'll be expensive . Just remember that bigger is typically easier to fly and easier to learn on. The t-rex is a very stable machine that flies like the bigger ones, it just needs to be seriously toned down for a newbie 'cause it's really aggressive on the cyclic.

I flew micro electrics for a long time, then went to large electrics. I enjoy flying my large electrics (.30 and .50 size) much more than the micros. It's not so much that they fly better, it's just that they're easier to see and easier to work on. After awhile, it gets really frustrating working with all those tiny screws on the mini's!