So I've been trolling these forums for the past week or so reading up on different posts, but I was looking for some suggestions on which copter to go with. Currently I have some basic flight experience using a friends copter who doesn't live in the area anymore, so I was looking for something that I could re-learn with and expand with after practicing. Since my budget isn't too large, mabye $600 tops, I decided to look into electric copters over gas/nitro ones.

From past posts that I've read, a copter thats 450-550 would probably suit what I'm looking for, since I want to have a copter I won't outgrow too soon. My current research shows mostly RTF copters. I'm not saying RTF is a bad thing, I'd just like to find a copter that is not assembled or only partially assembled since I'd want know how the copter is actually put together. I would be looking for some complete package to mostly assemble with already upgraded parts since I hope to have the budget for that.

I'm welcome to suggestions and any help I can find regarding this, let me know if there's anything else I should know when trying to narrow down my search for a copter.

Hurricane 550 from ka-plane.com http://ka-planes.com/inc/sdetail/2192 while it's a RTF heli, you can ask Mike to not assemble it. Although Mike is very good at assembling them.. the 550 is as big as a .30 nitro uses 2 3s lipos.. and is incredibly stable in the air. the complete package from Ka-Planes is $649

I'm definitely liking that selection, any idea if id be able to get a longer flight time out of possibly a 500 copter? I'd wanna see if I could get something that might have a bit longer flight time, if thats possible?

everyone wants longer flight times... even me.. the simple fact is... LiPo run down... to get more flight time, buy more batteries...with that heli you'd be looking at 5-7 minutes (depending on motor and gearing) mine I can currently get 6 minutes on 2200mah packs.. 3300mah packs would get me 7 minutes.. I did swap my motor for a Z20a-980 and changed my gearing to a 14T pinion and 50T primary.. if I dropped my head speed even lower, I could extend that to 10+ minutes.. but it would be a very very slow 10 minutes

at these flight times, I find it's plenty long and give my electronic a chance to cool down and me a chance to breathe (must remember to breathe while flying)

The hurricane is a nice choice for an entry level RTF heli. Lots of upgrades available but still very capable in stock form. For $600 in a 450 size look at the trex clones like the CopterX, you should be able to put one together w/ a DX6i for around $600.