is a micro heli better than a regular size heli for a begginer. And what are some advantages and disadvantages of both?? Which one would you reccomend??

I am mainly looking at the hummingbird and the corona, which is better in your opinion??

thanks for your input.

Dave

The simple truth of the matter is that the larger a helicopter is the more stable it will be to fly and therefore be easier to learn on. The micro helis like the Hummingbird (Piccolo/Hornet/Aerohawk/et al) are so small and light that a mild breeze (or even the output of an air-con unit indoors) is enough to disturb them and seriously affect the handling. Apart from the collective pitch ones (Hornet CP and Pic Pro) you don't really stand a chance of ever flying outdoors but the ONE advantage that micros do have when learning is the very fact that they CAN be flown indoors (maybe more important during the winter!).

The Corona on the other hand is the perfect beginners heli as it is much bigger and even though, compared to 30/50 size I/C machines it is small, it flies remarkably stable making it very easy to learn. But the thing that REALLY sets the Corona apart from all other model helis is the fact that it was designed to survive a crash. No other heli offers this and during the learning phase you WILL crash (several times). The Corona will walk away from such crashes needing a maximum $5 in spares on most occasion (usually no cost cos nothing broken). On almost all other helis figure on $30+ for a crash. That's the Corona advantage.

The only downsides of the Corona are that the Electro Fusion 7 motor supplied in some "combo"s is hopeless and prone to failure so most people go to www.roffeetvhobby.com and buy the bare kit and then either add a $20 Kyosho Atomic Force brushed motor or make the more sensible choice of going straight to brushless and pay as little as $145 for a Mega 16/15/3 and CC25 or CC35 controller from either www.dynamoelectrics.com or www.allerc.com. The other downside is that it's simply too big to fly indoors (in anything less than a gym/sports hall). Otherwise it's all plusses.

Cliff

Thats the one side story on mikrohelis. You forgott to mention the advantages, it costs next to nothing!, these light mikros wont be deamed junk if you crash one!,,or a 300+++ dollar rebuild!. You cant kill anyone with it in your newbie experience!, it can be flown indoors and it can be upgraded to handle outdoorflying in calm conditions! I would say if you are starting from zero this is the safest cheapest way start to flying helis. Ive seen my share of morons who just had to buy al the "good stuff" the old helipros at the field preached about for hours and hours only to end up with a machine so expencive that the thought of flying it is just to scary. Buy one of these little machines, crash it, give up, practice, run out of interest, wasnt for me or, fly like an ace indoors,whatever happens!!, anyway you look at it you have gotten a taste of flying a heli, know the stick operation and does and donts in flying a heli and it didnt cost you 1000-3000$. If you stuck with the program you know how to fly a heli and a big one is gonna be a smooth ride for you if you continue on the hobby.

I will have to side with Wright Flyer on this one, having gone the Micro route only to become frustrated and disappointed not to mention if you don't give up what you'll spend on a Humming Bird/Feda will easily equal a Corona in a months time. Yes it's bigger and you should fly it outdoors unless you have access to a LARGE indoor venue but when you put the Corona up for the first time and get a 3 1/2 minute hover on the first flight you'll forget the Micro and just try to improve with the Corona

Well thats exactly the error ppl who buy this makes, no confidence in the kit and they start fooling around with all kinds of mods, homemade perfections and in the end they dont know what end its supposed to be up and what down,, share impatience. The ones I have tried, Dragonfly and Aerohawk fly straight out of the box if they are set up correctly, not a single mod needed,, they are not by any means the easiest helis to fly but there isnt a helikit out there without frustration for a ground zero beginner only higher stakes and noone can argue with the fact that these microhelis take abuse more than anything, smack it into a wall,, stopp,, straighten the rotors and fly on,,, try that with a corona,,,wich is a nice machine,,im not arguing on that.

No home made or other mod's on my HBird other than separates, smack the couch and there goes another main blade right at the root. on the other hand over the hedge (Corona) into the neighbors dogwood at 4 feet high clip off a branch as big around as my pinky and straight down onto the tail nose pointing skyward just a slightly bent tail boom and leaf stains on the mains was flying again 1/2 hour later no parts

I'm no expert but if the HBird/Feda is really considered durable among Micro's I shudder to think what the other's are like, Don't get me wrong the HBird got me started and once bitten I just couldn't stop, The reason I went to the Corona was I needed longer and better Stick time to improve other wise I would have given up as to the constant waiting for parts after very short air times

I also am getting into to heli's and have been close to mastering heli's on The realflight G2 sim,
but anyway what batteries are being used on the Corona??

David

hey guys thanks for all the replys, i still have not decided which one to go with (leaning more twards the corona) but that will require some more savings. I am also curious if anyone know the difference in run times??? And should i invers in the realflight g2 simmulator or am i better off to learn from flying the heli.

Thanks again, Dave

If you get the Corona you won't really need the sim. They do help, but if you crash a corona you don't spend more than 10 bucks in repairs. I was doing nose in hovering at about 30 feet and getting ahead of myself, she rolled over and hit the ground 90 degrees on her side. I thought "Oh no" walked up to it straightened the blades re-bent the wire gear and it flew without a single vibration. These stories can be found everywhere - Coronas are almost indistructable


smack it into a wall,, stopp,, straighten the rotors and fly on,,, try that with a corona,

Check out the videos on the Lite Machines website - they do exactly that. And it isn't camera tricks. Ask anyone with a corona and hands down it is the toughest heli. Guys have flown them into the ground and trees going full tilt and coming out with 8 dollar repair bills. I have flown the micros and they break if you look at them sideways (no more than most other helis though) and they are so light that they are almost unstable.

Go with a corona and an Atomic force brushed motor with 8 cell 2600 or 3300 and you won't be sorry. Try a search here and if you have 10 hours to spare - try a search at rcgroups.com and ask some of the guys there some questions. There are a lot of very knowledgable people there.

Whatever you decide - do lots of reasearch. Helis are expensive no matter how you look at it, and you don't what to just jump in blind. Good Luck![8D]

If you have a late model computer I would highly recommend a simulator such as the Real Flight G2. A few years back I started with a LMH 110 nitro model corona. I pretty much gave up since I hated crashing even though it is a durable chopper. Since I love RC I and needed a Computer. I tailored my computer to run Realflight. I love it and continue to use it. The art you cannot master while learning helicopters is true setup. This is awhole nother ball game. But in my opinion better that you know how to fly a helicopter prior to learning setup. I'm just about half way through reading "Rays Authoritative Helicopter Manual". It's a great book and have learned a crap load. Good luck

Here's a little side by side of my Corona and HBird

Pic #2

Pic #3 just for comparison I use an Airtronics RD6000 Super TX the Corona has an Ikarus Profi HH Gyro and the HBird has a Cirrus yaw rate gyro

wow thanks zflyer, i am going to have to go with the corona on this one. Although the HB looks a lot cooler. The corona is just a better choice for me.

Dose anyone know how long the corona can fly on one batt and what kind of batts are used.

Thanks for all your help guys.
Dave

Here's what I'm using but realize I'm a Budget flyer and the last time I posted this link the other Corona Flyers blasted me a bit, but hey they work for me since I'm not using a brushless rig and they seem alright http://www.batteryspace.com/product....278&1=279&3=69 and that's 2 packs not 1. I charge them using an MRC 959 SuperBrain chager which I think you can still get for under $50 at Towerhobbies

dose the corona use both 7 cell packs at once?? and how long run time can you get out of them.

Dave

No one pack at a time, I get about 6 mins out of these packs maybe 7 but that's about it, But I'm still learning after a 2 month departure from Heli's So duration isn't a key factor right now proper technique is priority which I've got to follow more closely and as a key advisor Mini Boy said to me time and again "take your time and do it right". The other thing you'll notice is the battery is slung underneath, most Corona Flyers are using Voyager E landing gear to mount the battery under the Corona, helps balancing and frees up space for gear ie: RX etc.

Here's a link to my Corona Beginnings, good info here from some great Guy's http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_92.../tm.htm#921174

I run an atomic force motor in my corona (timed). I run it with an 8 cell HRSC 2600 battery pack and get 8.5 min of flight. I like the 8 cell over the 7 cell as it is slightly heavier and makes it more stable . It also provides a little more power. Good choice on the Corona - you won't be disappointed! Just stay away from the lite machines ESC and motor.

That's exactly right. I saw the Corona demo'd at the Hobby Show in Chicago and the kid flying it intentionally flew it into the tarp on one side of the demo area. Went over to it, straightened out the blades, set it down and back in the air it went. You'll never do that with a micro.

which would be better the corona with the fusion 35 motor or the corona with the brushless motor at helihobby.com???

also are mircro servos better??? and why??

Dave

Stay away from the fusion motor. If you go brushed by the basic kit and the Kyosho atomic force motor. If a little more money doesn't bother you get the brushless. Use JR 331 or HS-81 servos. 1)It's all you need. 2)anything bigger wouldn't fit and 3)they would add more weight.

thx skyhawknut, what would be a good and affordible transmitter or should i just get the kit that has a transmitter already included for like 50 bucks more??

Personally, I'm a JR fan. I've been flying almost everything RC for almost 18 years, and JR is top quality.

You have to ask yourself if you will upgrade (or want the option to upgrade) to collective pitch in the future. The Corona works with any 4 channel airplane radio.

If you want a basic radio the JR quattro is the best. It is 4 channels and cheap ($150)but will not do CP (collective pitch) helis. The Jr 662 ($250) will do CP and will work well for the corona (use it in airplane mode). The Hitec line is slightly cheaper and lots of people have much success with them, however my personal opinon is I don't like them. Again this is just me.

The Hitec laser 4 (glider version) with 2 hs-81 servos and 555 rx ($135) is the basic 4 channel non CP radio. Stay away from the feather rx, the 555 is much better. If you want airplane and heli mode (CP) the Hitec Eclipse 7/fm ($267) is the one.

Keep in mind that with either of the CP radios you will need to purchase 3 servos like I metioned before. The Quattro will need additional servos and the laser will need 1 additional servo.

I should have mentioned that while the standard hs-81 will work, the cheap plastic gears will strip rather easily. So either buy the metal gear ones as they are not included in the radio packages (which most guys do) or I think that you can buy metal replacement gear sets.

Good luck! I truly believe you are making the best desion. The gear that you buy for the corona can be used in other helis. I just bought a Kyosho EP concept (CP heli) and everything I used in the corona is going into it. You cant do this with the micros. As for the servos you don't use you can use them in other electrics or bigger more capable helis later on.