Is there a charger that can be purchased for the controller, it looks like it. Or would it just be more cost effective to go on ebay and buy some rechargeable double A's and a charger?

I think you can fit a 9.6V NiCd pack in there, and that's why the charge port is there on the radio. I believe that I saw references to an optional transmitter battery somewhere (helimax website, axe cp manual, etc... but I can't remember where). I haven't seen any info on exactly what packs will fit, nor have I found where inside the radio a NiCd pack would plug in.

Here is where I saw the " *for use with optional NiCd batteries" for the transmitter:

http://www.helimax-rc.com/helis/hmxe04-index.html

I just looked into the radio again, and couldn't find any pins for a standard battery pack to plug into. So maybe you could just put 8 (EDIT: *rechargeable AA's) AA's into the transmitter and charge them through the charge port. The radio's futaba compatible, so I'd try a futaba charger instead of a JR one--I can't remember which of the two brands wires their charger plugs as center-positive, though.

This is what I use for my Transmitters. I am pretty sure they will work with the Helimax radio also. I will know for sure in a few days when my AXE gets here.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXL424&P=0

That's nice to get all you need at once, but if you already have a futaba tx charger laying around, you can just go to walmart and get 8 NiMH AA's for $20. Energizer and Duracell make them up to 2500mAh, which will last 4 times longer than those 700mAh NiCd's in your link. Just something else to think about.

You can also get a charger that will charge the AA's in about 15 minutes. Just went to fly and found the radio was dead, flat, nothing. Within 30 minutes I was back in the air with the quick charger. It's equipped with a fan that cools the batteries while it charges each cell individually.