TRCX

what helicopter to start with-I am on a tight budget


is it possible to control the rotor speed without raising or lowering the collective pitch?

Radd

where do you want to fly?.....indoors or outdoors?...

yes they can be controled seperately

TRCX

outdoors

Radd

First check out what guys are flying in your area...this is helpful for many reasons...not to mention parts supply in the middle of the night....

but 50% of all helicopters sold today are Raptors....thats a strong indicator of something....

TRCX

hardley enyone flies near by[]

i live in south africa-what do you expect.

TRCX

what do you think of a BMI carboon

Radd

I believe the BMI carbon is a Humingbird clone...and is a micro indoor flyer

If there are no flyers in your area.....perpare to take things slow so you dont get frustrated...and go broke in a hurry...It doesnt have to be that way if you study alittle...

If you go the micro route I would suggest getting a name brand first....like the Hummingbird....

If you go Nitro......find a buddy to team up with....two heads are better than one....

there a plenty of sites online to help you out....besure and read alot....

goodluck

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

There is no cheap. If you read the board on these small helis, guys are buying them and having to replace them just about right out of the box. They are not that good. If you want to throw money away, go for it, but if you want a good reliable heli that you can fly for years instead of a few minutes, save your money and get a good raptor or equivelent machine. You can get into a good used raptor 30 with everything for about $500 if you look hard enough.

armyrcer-RCU

My Feedback: (17)

When you buy a used package be careful due to you being in south africa. We fly on 72mhz here in the states and my father is there in cape town now and he says they fly 35mhz I think it is. There are some great hobbyshops there is capetown from what my father tells me. I hope to get there to visit them and fly at there feild. Check around I think he said two clubs are there in capetown, he teaches at the seminary there in capetown take care mike lansford

TRCX

thanx for the replies!

Ge Force

get a honey bee 3d there like $160 to $200 or if you get a non 3d they're like $90-$150

heli-cuzz

Buy a Caliber 30

fireplug1111

My Feedback: (21)

FLYBOY- I have a CHEAP DRAGONFLY. it flies awesome. I know how to fly. I have never had to replace anything on it and I have about 40 to 50 flights on it now. Its one of the cheap GWS dragonflys. As far as getting parts- I never had to yet. HOWEVER I do strongly agree on getting a 30 to 60 size nitro first. Im still building my Ventury CP 30 and I hope to get it in the air in a few weeks.








DO HELICOPTERS EAT THIER YOUNG?

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

trcx, have you looked at a sim yet to get you started in the learing process? I saw a link in the beginners forum for a free one. It would be a good way for you to get a head start on learning the stick movements before you get the actuall heli. Put you way ahead of the curve.

Banditwheelie

I'd have to dissagree, yes they may be some people who will get cheap micro clones that are not well built and will fall apart when you take them out of there box, but if you invest in a good quality micro for around £200 you will be saving money, I got a Piccolo this is a very well put together heli and I have had no trouble with it at all.

Yes you could get a larger nitro heli but the first time you crash it will cost you more in repairs than crashing a quality micro, crash a micro and most of the time you will just have to reattach the rotor head and be up and flying in minutes, crash a nitro and you can kiss good bye to a a fair chunk of cash and be out of action for a lot longer.

In the time ive been flying my Picccolo Ive mainly only paid out for upgrades to make my flying even more enjoyable, if you want to learn to fly heli's and youre on a budget get a micro and later if you can aford it get a nitro you will save yourself money in the long run.

clovus

TRCX,

As a newbie I am fast finding out that put 5 Heli guys in a room you're gonna get 6 opinions... figure that out!!

I suppose guys have learnt to fly with getting a bigger heli to learn on as it's more stable, or getting a micro 'cas the initial outlay is cheaper so if you crash and burn it's not huge $$. I chose the 2nd only 'cas I didn't know if I would like/or could do it and I was only $300 down the hole. I got a name brand micro and my brother got a much cheaper copy from e-bay. Although they look very similar -at least to a newbie's untrained eye - his is much more problematic and does not hover as well -even when we swap - he does better on mine and I suck on his...

Whats right for you is only something you can decide. Think about where you want to end up as it may save you money in the long run, you may be better off to get the best radio/heli etc that you can -not the cheapest. If you get crap chances are it won't fly so good and you'll give up out of frustration/ or want a better one after you taste some initial success - costing you more in the long run.

If you get a decent micro you can learn by yourself - there are many people who can and do. Research on the net for all the help you can get. There are many posts about how resilient the little buggers are...Something I can vouch for with personal research....my numerous crashes - caused minimal damage to my heli (glue and paperclips ha ha)


Sorry for such a long verbose post, but would've loved this advice before I got stuck with radio gear that is only good as a paperweight.

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

Your going to get that with any subject. Everyone learns the way they do, and the way they learned is always the best (isn't it?)

There are many good ways to learn. Like you said, pick the way you want to learn and go for it. Thats the awsome part of this hobby. So many choices.

Radd

You can not ignore the fact that Micros are much harder to fly.....and that is the reason I wrote the lessons....If you follow them you will fly in a couple days.....I took me months to learn...but that was a long time ago when there was little or no information....

It was not that uncommon to hear of someone running up and stomping on his machine in frustration....

I remember seeing a short video of someone flying and thinking "Wow, If I can only get it to stay put for a few lousy seconds I'll be happy".....then smash ....and smash....and smash.....

I took it to Hobby Lobby to demand proof that it was a flying machine.....A fella named Ben McCoy Flew that sucker from behind the counter over to the customers area and then landed it back on the glass counter......While sitting in a chair with his foot on the garbage can....

I was so angry I couldnt see straight...

I simply went home and spun it up on the floor and would not let it move an inch...NOT AN INCH until my focus became pin point......I became so precise with it that I felt like I had shrunken down to its level.....

After a few days I found that I could hold it in one place with the motor and blades wound up and until the skids were the off the ground the thickness of a piece of paper...and still not let it move.....then I began to move the tail any place I wanted.....and exactly where I wanted.... etc etc etc....If it did not obey I punished myself and pulled down the throttle and set it manually back on spot.....I did not try to "fly" it back to spot....

After a week of this punishment I simply let the bird off the floor....and to my surprise it behaved better in the air than on the ground.....Of course that was due to ground effect....

The coolest part of the punishment was the fact that I was learning about my machine in the process.....It didnt take long before things began to look out of balance or not even.....I'd ask myself questions like....Is the swash flat?......are the linkages even?......is the gear slipping?.....all this happened in the space of a few inches.....and a few days of discipline...

I knew that if Ben could fly it...then it wasnt the machine...It was me...and I was just sloppy.....

I also learned that if I was sloppy on the floor I would be twice as sloppy in the air.....

My broken parts went from alot to absolute ZERO......

Then I began telling the gurus what I had learned....."hold it still on the floor"......and they laughed...It was all just hopping around back then....short hops and crashes and longer hops and crashes.....I even went quiet for a long period of time.....almost two years.....

Then Buzz from England gave me an ear.....and when he flew without crashing.....You just couldnt shut him up.....or tell him to go away....He just kept telling people how he learned.....

Then a Guy named Bert followed me around on the internet jotting down some of my stuff and put up a website about the lessons....and the rest is history.....

People giving up and throwing their stomped on micros in the trash went from around 50% to almost nobody giving up.....( someone stomp one last month ....LOL...true enough...)....

Not sure why I wrote all this....Maybe hoping Flyboy might buy one???....and for the hard heads that wont go read the lessons??....

I dont know.....but....somewhere somebody is about to give up.....and I just want them to know.....IT WILL FLY.......

honest....

XH558

And the best example of this phenomena is

I suppose we will all just have to accept that you have taken against micro helis (based on your 2 year old experiences) and would rather rip around the sky being noisy and smelly - now don't get me wrong I am dumbstruck with amazement at Mr Szabo and what he does with a nitro - but did you see in the video clips provided - he can do it with a micro heli too

And as has been pointed out you can't fly your raptor indoors on a cold winters night - but you can fly a micro outside too

As for simulators - spend your money on a good one - Reflex XTR - I can fly a Raptor on that no bother ..............and hover my real micro in the living room at home

Ho Hum..........Each to his own I suppose ....but lets try and keep an open mind

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

You guys crack me up sometimes. Sounds like a guy who was on here a few years ago. He too came in with claims like your "50% giving up before and now noone gives up."

Just how did you go about testing that theory? Just curious.

rcmonster_1

JAbo heli is the best one for beginner, try to check some heli site ...
to get some idea
http://xmseller.com/html/jabo2new.html

for reference

Radd

Ok...you got me Flyboy...But dont forget that we lived on the Ikarus Micro board and way back then everyone had the same opinion that you do now...and it didnt take long for guys to give up.....It was not uncommon for a post every single day of someone give up and selling out.....Now I know you've been around here a long time by all your posts...Ask yourself the same questions.....do you still see the same amount of people quiting?....And dont you think you yourself have made a difference?....I would say you've helped alot..

Not that we are the heros of the hobby but....the internet itself has given hope to many that were lost in the sport...Information is everywhere....EXCEPT FOR HERE....just kidding....

Someone giving up in our micro community is actually pretty rare....

rc_lurker

I have to agree, in general at least, with this post. You really do get what you pay for. While to those of us with limited means (such as me), the prospect of acquiring a recreational micro heli for $150.00 USD, give or take fifty dollars, is alluring, I've discovered the hard way it is also very frustrating.

I can hover and fly my XRB SR Silver Lama in my dining room, kitchen and living room for protracted periods but decidedly NOT my Aero Hawk. The quality, safeguards and engineering that went into the Aero Hawk pale in comparison to what went into the XRB SR Silver Lama. The XRB cost twice what the Aero Hawk cost. In both cases I got what I paid for.

I have taken this lesson to heart. My next heli will NOT be a Dragonfly 22D (or 22A CCPM), or an E-Sky FP/CP heli, or a Hummingbird or a Piccolo FUN or a Caliber M24 or any of the other micros out there, it will be a Lite Machines Helicopter 120 Corona customized with a heading hold Futaba GY240 and FMS Co-Pilot and it will be built by me at my house on weekends and evenings. I now realize that I must pay the $500.00 USD or so it will cost to purchase everything (not including the transmitter) and I realize I must spend the time and acquire the skill to construct my own heli. There simply is no other way to do it right I've been told and I've read in this and other forums.

Since I want what you guys have, namely the fun of flying these machines, I must do what you guys do to have that fun. This I will do. I think, any way you want to slice it, this hobby is one of the most expensive types of R/C hobbies and we have to face that fact if we want to enjoy the sport. *Shrug*