Hello everyone.
I'm new to the rc helicopter world andTHOUGHT I got in the right way, now I'm seriously worried I may have gone in over my head.
I received a cheap coaxial helicopter for christmas (from the "as seen on tv store", so I mean CHEAP). and became bored of it VERY quickly. Learned to fly it without crashing in the first hour and within two days I was bored. I did a lot of research and came across the Blade series of rc helicopters. I've read the fixed pitch copters are a lot more fun and the blade 120SR is a great starting point for FP.

I purchased my blade 120SR this afternoon from a small, local hobby shop here in Toronto, Canada. I've seen countless videos and read the instructions and peoples posts on this website. Everyone seems to make it sound so simple, "hover and adjust the trims". "i lifted off and learned to hover in minutes"

I cannot, for the life of me, control my helicopter. I take off slowly, get a few inches up and it still flies in large circles no matter what I do to the trims. I can keep it at a steady height, but it moves wildly andI'm afraid to crash it further and damage it. The store I bought it from has no refund policy, butI don't know if it's a specific problem with my helicopter or my flying. I plan to go back tomorrow and see if the guy who owns the shop can show me anything I don't know about it that might make it easier. I'm hoping it's just me.

Any advice from the Blade 120SR owners? Should it be as simple as throttle up slowly and it should hover easily? Thank you!

And I read in another thread something about swashplate balancing? Could that be my issue?

I can get it to hover now in my room for a good 30 seconds to a minute but I can't just set down the controller and let it hover as I've seen in videos. If i get it stable and set down the controller, within a few seconds it starts moving irratically and will hit something.
Should I have to constantly make corrections to keep a steady hover?

Your going to have to make constant corrections to anything other than a coax heli really.Mine will hover pretty well but always drifts after a few seconds.Part of the problem with flying indoors (especially smaller rooms) is that your fighting with the air currents created by the blades spinning,from what ive read you need to be at lerast 3' from the ground,ideally you need to be outside though on a very calm day to rule that out.make sure your blades are balanced well too,plenty of vids on youtube about this.

Just because the box says "Ready to Fly" doesn't mean it is. I learned that the hard way with my Blade 400. If I had it to do over again I would have taken it apart andleveled the swashplate, get the blades pitched properly, etc. before I ever tried to fly it. Your new machine may be out of adjustment.

hmm...sounds like i'm a little over my head. I've watched a few videos on youtube about leveling the swash plate, but im no closer to doing it...seems a little out of my league.. the blades may need to be balanced. I'll see how it flies outside and see if it's just my flying it inside and wind turbulance that's my problem. Maybe I should have gone for the mSR for indoor flight.
I'm definitely going back to see the guy who owns the store today as one of the motors is giving me problems. When I roll it left or right when it's on the ground,I can see the parts moving up and down that should be, no problem, sounds fine. When I pitch it forward or back, it sounds like the motor or gears are struggling and if I go slow, it gets stuck and the gears wont move at all (but I can still hear the motor straining).

Thanks for the help.

That would be the servos from E-flight. From what I hear, they suck something terrible. You may need a new one.

As for flying it, when people say it's stable enough to set the remote down, I think it's more of a figure of speech. With the larger heli's, you need to be on your toes all the time just to keep it in the air. With the sr, you can relax a bit. I would just start by hovering close to the ground until you are comfortable with it. I have the 120 sr and I can tell you it's a lit easier to fly than it's big brothers. And I went from the Blade cx to that one. Just take it easy and don't get frustrated.

And if I may suggest something, learn to get good at hovering with the tail pointing towards you first. That helped me quite a bit.