foretwoone

My Feedback: (-1)

Just recently got my CX3 and so far ive only upgraded to the aluminum swash(by necessity). I've decided to allocate $400 to fuel my hobby through the next few months. Im definately going for sonat's step 2/3 upgrades(seeing as i've already busted 2 set of landing gear and my battery tray) plus a battery. So theres about $100. The next issue is a simulator and possible transmitter. A sim is a must as NE winters wont allow for much flight time and my parents are pretty picky about the indoor flight. My lhs sells realflight and will have phoenix soon. I prefer phoenix as i hear its better for helis and it uses your own tx, however they claim i cant do ccpm if i use it with my current lp5dsm. So now they want to sell it to me with a dx6i. Which is the next point.....they only want to sell me the full range version. They claim the regular dx6i wont work for a ccpm heli because its an air transmitter and not a heli transmitter. Sounds bogus to me, yet i cant find any documented information between the dx6i/full range/microlite!!

Anyway, point is i need some advice as to how best spend my money to fuel my new obsession and prepare my for the spring(hopefully by then i'll be ready for ccpm). Also i need to know the differences between the dx6i models so i can go back to these guys with the information needed so not to be played for a fool. Any addition input on other items that i should look into are appreciated, again im very new to rc and im sure there are things i should have that i've overlooked and i would definatley like to know.

jon6565

I'll do my best to answer this based on what I know and have learned over the past 6 or 7 months. First of all i think you will find that there is only now a DX6i which is a full range 2.4 ghz radio. It is capable of flying most 2.4ghz models if that makes sense - i.e bind and fly types.

You can use you DX6i on Realflight - it comes with the necessary lead - though I would ask yourself as to why bother. I did and it's not worth it. You'll only be wearing out the gymbals on your proper TX. Flying a sim is all about orientation and muscle memory in the thumbs and fingers - any radio with two sticks will give you that. I use realflight and the radio supplied is very good and all that is required.

Before you go CCPM go with the simulator. use some of that $400 on investing in the sim becasue trust me when I say this - you will need it to learn to fly a CCPM heli. the other fact is that you will learn and get better on the sim and then come to a stark reality when you fly one for "real". There's no nerves when on the sim. But when you get up and going with forward flight the sim time will come back to you - in spades. There is no substitute other than expense and pain.

My first Heli was a Blade 400 which came with the DX6i - but there are others. It's a great way of getting a radio. Parts are cheap when you crash - and you will crash.

But sounds like with a NE winter about to set in - the sim is the way to go. It will save you money in the long run. I spent 6 months on the sim before I even bought the heli. Worth every penny.

I hope that helps - and mine was a decision based on sound advice from guys who had "been there done that".

Jon

evdreamer

The original DX6 is a waste of money. It is only good for park flyers and only one receiver will work with it. The DX6i can do park flyers and other aircraft until you can't see it anymore. It will also work with any Spektrum or JR 2.4GHz air receiver.

RotaryDoc has Realflight and Phoenix and he likes Phoenix the best. They are constantly making new aircraft that you can download for free.

Joining a club is a great way to learn about setting up and learning to fly aircraft. It also presents a safe place to fly. Most clubs will require you to join AMA. That is basically insurance for flying. Also some clubs that live in cold climates offer an indoor place to fly during the winter. RCU has a great tool in finding a club near you under the RC community button.

Nick

gi1mo2

I too got hooked, and went from a MCX to CX2 to CP Pro 2, all of which came with their own transmitters. I decided to invest, and bought RealFlight G4.5 and wanted to go to bigger helis. So I looked around, and decided to build myself and selected HK 450 from HobbyCity (HobbyKing). For a transmitter, I bought a Spektrum DX7 with AR6100 receiver. That transmitter allows me to fly all the helis mentioned above, as well as GWS e-Starter and Formosa planes I also invested in (< $50 each + electronics). The e-Starter is now on floats and I love it. A good transmitter (DX6i or DX7 for example) allows you to tame down the controls as you are getting used to the stick movement. I have connected the DX7 through the RealFlight G4.5 tranmitter with the cable provided, but it doesn't do anything for me. Not any easier to control, and I agree with Jon regarding the little benefits gained from using the Spektrum controller with RealFlight. In terms of priority, a good flight simulator is a must. It will save you tons of money in the long run. Next is a good transmitter so you can save money in the long run when you purchase other planes/helis as BNF or ARF rather than RTF.

Gilles

foretwoone

My Feedback: (-1)

Thanks for all the advice guys.  Im just going to do the upgrades i spoke about and a battery, plus a flight sim.  I dont think i'm going to dip in for the dx6i right now, even as much as i want to.  Has anyone used the lp5dsm with phoenix??  I hear that the transmitter is known to get shorted when to trainer port is plugged in.  This is really my only debate between phoenix and realflight right now.  I'd go for phoenix but knowing my luck, the cable with short my tx and i'll have no sim or heli.

Thanks -Jon