Where to start??
 

Flew planes for a while a got decent at 3D, but got burned out about a year or two ago....

Now, I've got the itch to fly a heli.

What should I learn on and how far can I move up with it????

Is the CX2 a good choice? If so, what are it's limits?

One last request - I need something that is easy to repair and get parts for!

RE: Where to start??
 

depends on your goals in the hobby.

if you want to 3d helis you may want to start out with a sim like g3.5 or 4 and a cheap fixed pitch heli like a honey bee thats easy on the wallet.

RE: Where to start??
 

Goals.....started out just wanting to fly planes and then had a 1-2 year obsession with 3d, then burned out...got into giant scale


i probably will follow a like pattern here as well, but not so fast as time is limited. definitely want it to be kind of easy on the wallet.

Is a fixed pitch tougher to get started with?

Please include any links for places to purchase as well.

thanks

RE: Where to start??
 

if you get a coax heli youll get bored quick and there easy. the fixed pitch helis are tougher. i wreck my 450 heli almost everytime it goes up. cheap to fix but still i want to learn on somethinmg easier as well.

mike at www.Ka-planes.com is a great guy to deal with and he has honey bee,s in stock for 89 bucks RTF [yellow]

if you want a easy fun heli the walkera 5#10 is a blast at $119 its there as well.

theres a guy called jaketrouble and he has a honeybee in the classified section and its a great deal. i was going to get his but i got a trex instead

RE: Where to start??
 

the honey bee definately looks like a good deal...how easy is it to get parts?

RE: Where to start??
 

there everywhere. mike has them too. sweet thing about the heli is it doesnt break that many parts unless you just really stuff it

RE: Where to start??
 

I'm also looking at a Falcon 3D - Does this make sense or am I crazy?

RE: Where to start??
 

no your not crazy it took me a month of research to get to the falcon3d and after a short debate bwtween 2 helis i went with the blackhawk450 se as my first bird. the main reason was the belt drive. if your going to go that route i have a new trex xl RTF with new TX RX align 430l motor and esc i would part with it for 350.

the falcon3d is a good bird its a little more twitchy then the BH450 and the trex [there more stable] the nice thing is you can go down to the local hobbyshop with the trex and get parts when you dump it.

if i had to do it again i would get the honey bee for 2 months sell it in the classified, once i had some skills then i would pop rite into a 450 or 550 heli.

RE: Where to start??
 

BTW - what is this "radd school" people are talking about?

RE: Where to start??
 

man thats some good reading if you dont have the link just do a quick search and it will pop up [i dont have it on this pc]

i rush his doings and i pay everytime. the whole point is to make sure when the heli goes one way its programed in your nogin on how to react without thinking about it.

seriously you need a sim and or a cheap copter to play with.

i fly for 5 minutes top,s and then wait for 3 days for parts. i never am over 20 bucks in repairs because the 450,s are cheap but still if it was a honeybee id still be having fun. im getting one or both of these once i sell the trex

RE: Where to start??
 

I tried a search here and no luck -what forum?

I have an old aero-fly pro sim that has helis on it - how would it be for practice?

RE: Where to start??
 

as long as you have a TX that woll work its better then nothing. realflight 3.5 and 4 are supposed to be tough to hover and give you more of a real sence of things.

i thnk the links at rcgroups.com ill look

RE: Where to start??
 

http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html

RE: Where to start??
 

Well I suggest getting very good on a simulator. You need a very good understanding of how these work. Theydon't just go up and float around like a balloon. So with every crash you make on the simulator, You have just save yourself 15-$20 minimum.

RE: Where to start??
 

I learned to fly helis with a Lama counter rotater and learned a lot with it. I am now flying a T-rex 600. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, but I personally think a counter rotating helicopter is a great way to go. I keep one to this day for flying indoors and they are super stable. East rc has them for 80.00 right now.

[link=http://www.eastrc.org]Eastrc[/link]

RE: Where to start??
 

looking more and more like a honey bee.......

RE: Where to start??
 

possible change of plans...now deciding between the Falcon 3D and an Esky Belt CP

Any thoughts??

BTW - I several LiPos in the 11.1 1300 range already that I could use

RE: Where to start??
 

i like the falcon 3d better and ive heard the belts are a little tougher to learn on.

RE: Where to start??
 

talked to mike at ka today for a while and he seemed to be steering me towards the belt cp, although he really seemed to like the falcon as well...

i also need to research the falcon as i am concerned about the way the tail is driven -

RE: Where to start??
 

thats exactly why i went BH450 mike knows his stuff if he say the belt is fine so be it. i know allot of people love the the little falcon3d.