it is personal preference, but i can tell you from personal exp, i spent 150.00 extra $ on a 80.00 hb fp. then , 200.00 extra on a df60.and i still haven't hovered longer than 30 sec. now granted, i've been buying the wrong helis ( i coulda had a trex ) and the extra money was sometimes upgrade parts ( why put the same plastic stuff back on ) but my last purchase was a rf 3.5 sim.
got one off of ebay for 150.00. some of you guys ( or girls ) take to this faster and believe me, i'm jealous, but i agree a good sim
is your smartest purchase. if you can afford both sim and heli, more power to ya. and a good sim will teach you so much more than
hovering. maybe not a must have, but nice to have.

i have read nothing but good things about the blackhawk 450 from ka-planes. looking at it real serious myself.