Hey Douglas,
I looked at the BIG COAX. WOW! I didn't see that one coming. That's NEAT! Thanks for the link. Anyhow, I don't know if I mentioned it but I did go for a collective pitch helicopter. The first move of the first stick on the first day slammed the thing into my office ceiling and broke it. The damage was minimal, but the set-up was ruined. Many thanks to Dave (chopeprsrule) for very very patiently talking me through the set-up. I did get the rascal to fly, and it was certainly worth the effort. And it WAS a rush! And I sold it.
My heart is with my collective pitch helicopter. My Falcon 40 is modified now and it flies far better than stock. You can't see the changes unless you know what to look for. It is certainly NOT impressive. And I'm fine with that. There is a fellow with a business in Canada -oops, actually two guys started the business and they are over in Calgary, Alberta. The site is www.rotortech.ca. You'll be dealing with Stump3r and Gpatch from the eflight (and other) forums. They are new at the business, but they know their stuff.
I bring this up because Shane (Stum3r) had a terrific idea to make a dandy trainer helicopter. He took a basic Esky King II collective pitch and put a very simple fixed pitch rotor system on it. The heli comes with a good motor, belt driven tail, plenty of upgrades at reasonable cost. The end result is a belt driven tail on a fixed pitch helicopter. So cool and inexpensive to operate.
For me, I'll stick with my motor driven tail. It's cheap and it works fine. The upgrade to a DD (direct dirve) tail would be an advantage. I have a list of goodies to make my helicopter a real athlete if I decide that I care, but like you, I know where the "Good Enough for ME" line is. And like you I'm not out to impress anyone. Heck, my job just went away yesterday, so even the cost of my simple Falcon is too much right now. It's a temporary situation, but right now I'm doing a lot more thinking than fooling around.

And I'm interested in that big Coax! My next purchase was going the other way - to the MCX. With modifications it will fly outside just fine. I fly my CX outside in the breezes. And I also use the Falcon outside. I'm a lousy pilot (actually a Certified Lousy Pilot) but I have enough fun to keep my self amused.

This is the start of a good thread. Low cost helicopters are as fascinating as the big stuff. There's art in keeping it simple.

Thanks, Soloboss