Wanting opinions. I currently have a Llama V4 and am learning to fly on it. For moving up, would ya'll suggest a FP such as an HBFP or would you suggest skipping that and going on up to something that includes collective?

Thanks,

horses

Hey

I'm no expert when it comes to helicopters but, I went from a blade cx2 to a king 2 with the help of Real flightg3 and haven’t even broken a rotor blade yet. Everyone going to be different but if you take your time and don't get in a hurry, make sure your equipment is set up properly, know what your limitations are, and know what the limitations of your aircraft is, you will save yourself a lot of time and money. I've been flying the honeybee king for a couple of months. I don't do anything except careful flying. I spend an hour a day on the simulator. I think in total I spend about twice that flying the honeybee. If you get yourself a really good simulator and practice hovering the helicopter pointing away, nose in, sideways both directions and fly figure eights in foreword flight, you’ll be surprised at how fast you will learn. I fly my honeybee around in a large football field. I can fly it in any direction at a moderate and controlled speed without worrying about crashing. But I will crash it someday and so will you. Its all part of the hobby. I flew rc airplanes in America for over 25 years. I've crashes a few but not many. I flew non 3d low level display aerobatic flying with 78 inch 90 size extra 300. I worked my way up to this level by doing exactly what I've told you. I good instructor is also a great help.

Good Luck

I think it depends on the individual. Some people like to do the gradual step by step thing, others prefer to "take the leap". Like gliderpiolot was saying, you can jump to CP if you're patient. My first heli was a Blade CP+ and I learned to fly that without a simulator. The sim definitely helps (I eventually invested in one) but isn't absolutely necessary.

If you haven't already, google radds school of flight and read through that. If you think that's something you have the patience for, get a CP. If not, maybe an FP or spending some time on a sim would be a good idea first.

I learned on a blade cp after having the lama v4 for only 1 month. Lots of sim time helped me hover on my second try.