Draganfly as Trainer? Comparisons? Transitioning to 'real' heli?
08-06-2004, 03:19 AM
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Draganfly as Trainer? Comparisons? Transitioning to 'real' heli?
Background: Right now I'm fairly new to Nitro R/C-ing, although I have a lot of experience with other surface R/C gear (ships, particularly). I've very interested in getting off the ground, and I've always been fascinated by helis.
I'm interested in what more experienced flyers think of the Draganfly heli. It's a very...unique...design. Four small counter-rotating rotors, a bunch of "piezo gyros," everything mixed by microprocessor. No tail. Claimed 15 min. flight times off of a "lithium-polymer" battery. It's interesting to me in its own right, but I think that some day I'm going to want a 'real,' nitro-powered heli.
However, I wonder if the Draganfly might make a good trainer? I'm interested in what anyone who has ever flown one would say it compares to a more traditional heli, how hard it is to learn to fly vs. a more traditional design, and what they might guess the difficulty in transitioning from one to the other might be. The Draganfly website claims that it is significantly easier to learn to fly initially...but I want some other opinions. It retails for around $750, RTF with radio, batteries, charger, spare parts, and a ground umbilical for learning to fly it in a tethered configuration. I'd be prepared to make that leap if it was fairly easy to learn, fun to fly, and the skills I'd learn would be transferrable to a more traditional nitro heli at some later date.
Thanks in advance to anyone with thoughts on the matter (good, bad, or ugly).
I'm interested in what more experienced flyers think of the Draganfly heli. It's a very...unique...design. Four small counter-rotating rotors, a bunch of "piezo gyros," everything mixed by microprocessor. No tail. Claimed 15 min. flight times off of a "lithium-polymer" battery. It's interesting to me in its own right, but I think that some day I'm going to want a 'real,' nitro-powered heli.
However, I wonder if the Draganfly might make a good trainer? I'm interested in what anyone who has ever flown one would say it compares to a more traditional heli, how hard it is to learn to fly vs. a more traditional design, and what they might guess the difficulty in transitioning from one to the other might be. The Draganfly website claims that it is significantly easier to learn to fly initially...but I want some other opinions. It retails for around $750, RTF with radio, batteries, charger, spare parts, and a ground umbilical for learning to fly it in a tethered configuration. I'd be prepared to make that leap if it was fairly easy to learn, fun to fly, and the skills I'd learn would be transferrable to a more traditional nitro heli at some later date.
Thanks in advance to anyone with thoughts on the matter (good, bad, or ugly).
