e-sailpilot86

So, I've been looking at the LMH Corona as my first helicopter, hopefully I can buy used. However, I want to know what "you all" think makes a good beginner helicopter. Cause I dunno! [&:] I've got five years of experience in R/C aircraft from beginner parkflyers to slope planes (most flight experience from this), thermaling floaters, a pylon racer (in photo) and a 3.6M DG600 full house sailplane. I have one .40 glow powered oldie trainer that I fly occasionally, and I can't stand glow planes! I do not like glow engines, but I want to do this right. I have the equipment to charge and maintain both glow and electric planes (my specialty), so where will be a good place to start? Thanks!

Charlie

If you want the right heli from the start, go with a 50 size heli. Once you get into helis you will find that you always want one bigger. You will be a long time out growing a 50 size heli (chances are, you will never out grow it). In my opinion, 50 is the way to go (spend it now or spend it later).

bikz

if u dont like glow engines i think then u are looking at an electric powered chopper?
man you electric dudes are missing the real fun of oil, sound and tuning and all the problems which come with it!~!!! hehe.joking...but whatever u do get a glow powered chopper......are there 50 sized electric choppers? as far as i know there isint...and even if there is one....its definately going to cost you more then a glow powered one....plus since more ppl use glow, spare spares are going to cost more for electrics....at least the bigger ones....the most usual electri choppies are tiny or micro or nano...whatever they call em they are small and are hard to learn to fly.
SO GO BIG AND GLOW...thats my advise...i hope i have at least answered a little part of ur question...since... after reading this posting i'v realised all that i spoke bout is how lame electircs are!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flyfalcons

There are larger electric choppers, but they are darn expensive to set up to perform like a glow-powered heli. RCU just did a review on the Mikado Logo 14 heli. Total cost to setup was something like $2200. You can set up a top of the line 90 size heli for that money.

ChopperMike

I too would have to recommend a 50 size glow. The Corona (I had one a few years ago) is a very stable heli for it's size and very tough compared to just about everything else, but it's no where near as stable or capable as a 50 size glow or electric. As others have stated, a 50 size electric is extremely expensive. Plan on spending a minimum of $1500-$2000 by the time you get everything you need, including the 2 or 3 battery packs you'll need, a good charger, etc. Of course you won't have to buy fuel (until your battery packs need replacing somewhere down the road) but in the end there's not much difference in operating costs, just a LOT of up-front costs with electric.

I had considered converting my Sceadu Evo 50 to electric but gave up on the idea once I added up all the costs. The planks I fly are almost entirely electric except for 1 Saito .65 4-stroke. Glow fixed wing are much more of a pain than glow heli's due to the fact that their contruction means after a few years of flying they're completely oil soaked. Heli's don't suffer from that problem because they aren't built of balsa, plywood and Monokote, and are much easier to clean up. And the fact is, at least for me, the sound and smell of a nitro burning heli is all part of the excitement.

I hope this helps some. I've had to learn everything on my own since there were no experienced heli pilots to help and I know how frustrating and confusing it can be. Good luck.


Mike

loadthis

My Feedback: (3)

I have found that if you take the time to understand what makes a glow engine Tick, and learn how to make that engine Tick, you will never be disappointed. If you dont have someone to help you AND teach you how to run a Glow engine it can become very frustrating.
Most heli engines run better than airplane engines because they need to be reliable and predictable. They are built better. A plane can glide in to the runway; a heli will fall straight down, so the heli engines need to run far more reliably than planes.
I own an OPS 61 airplane engine that starts with the first flip of the finger. Every time.

e-sailpilot86

I really can't stand glow engines. [:'(] If I do get a bigger helicopter, I'm paying the luxury of having an electric. I really don't know if the .50 is a good idea, it seems way to expensive, especially when I crash. I hear lots of great stories with the Corona and LMH conversions, are you guys up to date yet? I really don't like the sound of a glow engine heli, they drive me nuts. [:@] You'll have to see what electrics are out there. The Raptor is a common conversion, the Logo's are pretty popular, then there's the Joker, Joker II, etc. Check out some videos on http://www.ezonemag.com

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

If you want GOOD helis, stay away from electric. You stated that a 50 sounds expensive. If you don't want to spend money, stay away from helis. They are expensive even when you don't crash. Parts wear out. corona and cheap electrics are not great machines. Fly a few times, get a new one. fly that one a few times, get a new one. Don't waste your money. You will be disappointed in the end.

ChopperMike

There's certainly nothing wrong with going electric if, as you've said, cost is not an issue. Electrics have come a long way in just the last few years. But I feel you're probably going to want sometning more than the Corona. Being fixed pitch it's very limited right off the bat. It's also very small compared to any of the 30 or 50 size machines. This hurts the wind penetration as well as visibilty. Heli's, even 50 or 60 size machines, get very small very quick.

If you want to go electric I'd recommend at least something like a Log 10, preferably a Log 20 (or similar), which is a 50 size machine. Just be aware that the cost of a 50 size electric is going to be in the range of $1000 more than a 50 size glow. That's what put me off to converting my Evo 50.

There are a lot of the smaller electric out there, they all have their pro's and con's. I have a Shogun which I think is a great addition to my heli fleet. But even the small Shogun is fairly expensive, probably about the same price as a 30 size nitro when you factor everything in.


Mike

e-sailpilot86

I still don't see it wise to purchase a big, more expensive heli, which will be crashed. There's a rule of thumb with telescopes that I'll modify for helicopters. A good helicopter is only good if it matches your skills at setting it up, and is compact enough so that you're willing to use it. One could buy a corona and a .50 size heli, only to use the corona the most because it's easier to prepare to flight, and is much more manageable. Just like having a 14" telescope that does real well, but it's so big and heavy it doesn't get used as often as say a 5". I don't think I have the room for a .50, let alone a .30.

Nothing could be further from the truth about modern electrics. That statement is true about some older designs, and may have been a few years ago, but not anymore.

ChopperMike

I'd say FLYBOY,s statement was pretty accurate with regard to the smaller electrics. I've built and flown 10 different heli's to date. Five of them have been electrics, including the Corona. The micro electrics are not well made machines, certainly not compared to the more mainstream glow powered heli's. Every one of the glow heli's I've had flew well right out of the box without any upgrades. Not one of the electrics didn't require some kind of upgrade just to get it to fly. I never did get a decent flight out of the Hornet (original version) I had. I thought the Corona was a good machine, definitely not a great machine.

It all comes down to what you want out of the heli. If all you want to be able to do is fly around and maybe do some simple FP aerobatics, the Corona will probably fit the bill. As far as space goes, if you have room to fly fixed wing pylon racers and large scale gliders, you've got plenty of room to fly heli's. You only need a very small square of fairly smooth ground to take off and land and the heli can be flown in an area that would be much too small to fly anything but the slowest of slow flyer.


Mike

CRich917

What about a Honeybee 2 i think i am going to buy one. This is going to be my first heli, i am up to the challange... its a real good deal.. any feedback?

misskimo

man , some of yall are kinda blowing the electrics out of the water before you even KNOW what you are talking about . both electrics and gas cost about the same , electrics you buy your gas all up front and with gas you buy gal after gal, whats the cost of 20 gals of fuel , and also the vibration that tend to vib. your gyro RX and servos that may cost your heli while flying . and what about this , plug and fly , no noise , NO tuning ! no headache and pissed off because you drove 10 miles to find out the dang motor or CLUTCH is messed up , and did I say there is no noise , I have nothing but electrics and yes they do cost alot , but dont all helis , I have a fury conversion , 13s3ps , 55 volts running through that one , pumps out about 3000 to 3500 watts , about 4 to 5 HP , it will rip ,
a Ion in the works , a rappy Xero G 50 E in the works , a logo 14 HV , 9s2ps , it should rip too , waiting on spring for its first flight , and I had alot of gas helis and I wouldnt trade my electrics for any of them , I flew gas planes for 14 years , so I know about gas . so my point is , dont knock electrics till you tried one , corona , well I just dont like that electric heli , fixed pitched heli just dont seam like a heli , tried it and didnt like it , I learned on my own with a ep concept 5 years ago , I live in the bush in Alaska so I too and the internet , RC-online was where I asked my questions ,

Tony

ChopperMike

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking electric heli's. As I said I've had several. I fly a Shogun 400 which I have a lot of fun with because I can fly it almost anywhere. I've seen large electric heli's fly at IRCHA, and they will will do everything a glow heli can do. They're just way more money initially. But as e-sailpilot86-RCU stated, that's not an issue for him. For me and many others it is. And they do eliminate a lot of the hassles of glow, glow plugs blowing, the ocassional hard starting, hydro lock, etc.

For me personally, I just like internal combustion engines, always have. I just think they're really cool and I'll never give them up. As far as the Corona goes, it's not the best heli out there. However for a beginner it may be a good starting point since it's probably the cheapest way to get into heli's since it the toughest heli out there and won't break the bank in repairs. This seems to be an important criteria for e-sailpilot86-RCU who doesn't want to buy a big expensive heli that will be crashed, which as we all know, will happen in the process of learning to fly heli's. As I've said many times before, it's all about what you want out of your heli. For some it's a small FP micro they can fly in their living room. For others it's the whole "I love the smell of nitro in the morning" thing. And for still others it's about being able to go to their flying site, plug a battery in and fly silently. There's something foe everyone in this hobby.


Mike

22Dasher

Ok I have always been some what fascinated with Helis and have always wanted one, Yet I have never flown a plane I have done everything else in RC's. I know a heli may not be the first thing to begin with but hey what the heck.
If I wanted an elec heli and cost was no object, which brand and model do you guys that have them recommend? Are there web sites to go and see these?


James

strulag

My Feedback: (-1)

How do you like ur shogun? I was thinking to get that for my 1st heli. I don't want something big right now just something that i can practice hovering and transitions (very little forward, backward, sideways flights) in my livingroom or garge (or backyard weather permitting). Is it ok for a small electric first heli?

ChopperMike

I really like my Shogun, whether it's a good choice for a beginner, I don't know. It's collective pitch which means it's going to be more fragile than the FP heli's like the Hummingbird or the Piccolo. It also has a higher head speed which means more damage when you hit something. One of the great advantages over the FP micor's is that it's about 10 times more stable. I went through quite a few micro's before I found one that was worth a damn. The first mirco I found to have any kind of stability was the Century Hummingbird. The Shogun is way more stable than that.

You will need more space to fly it. A 2 car garage maybe, a very large room in your house maybe (if you move all the breakables out of the way first), if you're very careful and after some sim and/or outdoor flying. Another advantage is it will handle a good amount of wind. The little FP micro's won't any kind of wind. This can be very frustrating when you can't fly because of the weather.It's going to be alot more money too, because of the fact that it's CP. It may be cheaper to get a HB or Piccolo first and then move into either a CP micro or the Shogun.


Mike

Moe3754

My Feedback: (14)

I have a Shogun a Trex and a brand new JR Voyager E that is as big as a 30 nitro and all if them are great but the cost thing is somewhat accurate my Voyager E was around $785.00 but it is brushless and has the phoenix-35 on it.you want big this one is big have not put it in the air yet just finished building,I ran nitro trucks for two years and that was enough to cure me from ever running nitro anything.For every hour of running I had two hours cleaning,granted Heli's are not as dirty as monster trucks but the upkeep of the motor is the same and the fuel got real expensive.

Stormovic

My Feedback: (29)

Get yourself a Raptor 30 v2. Get a Futaba 7CHP and a 401 gyro and you will be in business. Also if possible get the g2 simulator. You cannot go wrong with this setup.

strulag

My Feedback: (-1)

Is it necessary to have a heli RX if you are just starting out with helis? I would like to get the Shogun 400 and I have the 9CAP RX. Would that do for basic flying?

ChopperMike

What do you mean by a "heli" RX? For FP you only need a 4 ch rx and for CP (like the Shogun) you need at least a 6 ch. For an electric heli you need a dual conversion RX or you'll most likely have problems with electrical interference.

A rx such as the GWS single conversion wouldn't be appropriate for either a electric or nitro, nitro because of the vibration and electric because of the interference.

Mike

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

The 9CAP has all the heli functions. Only diff is some of the buttons are in different places. It will work just fine.

RCelectrichelinut

The title of your post says you want a good heli from the start I think that is why everyone is saying to go nitro because most people end up going nitro eventually. Your telescope comparison is why I started small. I knew I did not have the time,room,or trainer to learn on an outdoor copter. I knew I would fly and indoor because of the convenience. I agree with you though. I hate nitro. I have done nitro cars and planes and it is not for me. The tuning was easy it was the mess and matainence I hated. I started with a dragonfly and now have a hummingbird. They are tough to fly but I can do it now and they took a ton of abuse in the learning process especially the dragonfly.Now I figure the big ones will be easier to fly and I will crash them less.My next copter will be a logo or something along those lines. Time to learn CP. That's in the spring though.

I think the corona would be great for your first copter if you want electric. Tough,cheap and flies well for a FP, from what I have heard.Or if you want a CP electric go with something like the logo but that's alot more money.