Skeletor

Ok, here it is, I'm a fixed wing R/C pilot working in Baghdad Iraq. There is no room here in the Green Zone to fly fixed wing craft. (none that I can use anyway). I work in a camp and have a little spare time each day after the local national workers leave. I'm looking at electric because gas would be a bit more involved. (I would like to have the 72" turbine bird but it might get mistakenly shot down. And I don't mean by another radio, hehehe). Iv'e read about the minis that have a 3 in 1 board and those are out. I would like to have one that operates from a Futaba system with gyros and such stuff. Any suggestions??? I am getting a sim program soon and will start there. Please, no dealers, just experianced heli pilots that have learned the hard way. Parts will be hard to get here since a letter takes 2 weeks to get here from the states and packages sometimes take as long as 6 if there is trouble. Please e-mail me at [email protected] with any advice you wish to share. Thanks, James.

Skeletor

Oh yeah, one with a camera / video system would be really cool. But maby thats asking a bit much for an electric.

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Hmmmm.

Baghdad. Well, your gonna want something that is grit resistant. So a nitro bird is definatly out unless you have a filtered carb. That sand gets in everything. Just a little advice. That sand never comes out of the your pockets. I got BDU's here that still have a little bit o' Kuwait in em.

I dont know of any helis that are sealed up that well. I have a feeling that that dirt is gonna have a major effect on any of the helis. Whichever one you go for, you will probably have to be very inventive on how to keep sand out of it.

There was a fellow I know in Saudi, that his first flight ate the bearing and chewed up the crankshaft in a .40 powered Ugly Stick.

Best wishes and good luck

Smoggyboy

I have been looking myself, Have a look at this info, I think it looks right up your street.

I got the info from Tower Hobies web site for r/c Helis.
I am coming to work in Kuwait in the next 6 months or so, when I get out of China that is, so I was having the same idea.


LOGO 20 stands for innovative e-powered helicopter flying with 20 to 24 cells and a main rotor diameter of 1340 mm. This electric helicopter was developed to fill the gap between the small 8-10 cell helis and the larger 30- cell class. Despite its smaller dimensions, the performance of the LOGO 20 is nearly equivalent to that of the well-tried and reliable LOGO 30. To see pictures of my Logo Click HERE!!! If you want to find out prices and availability you can contact RC-Direct @ www.rc-direct.com they are the sole importers of the Mikado line and have all the parts in stock.

LOGO 20 Kit:

• 36 ball bearings
• aluminum swashplate
• 10 mm hollow rotor shaft
• 8mm rotor head shaft
• 5mm tail rotor shaft
• toothbelt drive
• choice of mechanical swashplate mixing or 120º degree CCPM
• stainless control rods
• thrust bearing for rotor head
• clamp ring for main rotor shaft
• servo mounts for mini servos
• lightweight finished canopy
• explicit assembly instructions

electric helicopter with 20 - 24 cells
main rotor diameter approx. 1340 mm
tail rotor diameter approx. 240 mm
length approx. 1060 mm
gear reduction ratio main rotor: 8 : 1 - 12 : 1
gear ratio tail rotor: 4,8 : 1
RTF weight 8 pounds

VinceHerman

Hi James,
Give us some more information so that we can better help you.
Do you have prior heli experience?
Will you be flying indoors our outdoors?

akaram

Seems u r in the same **** as me ! i am working in ex USSR Georgia, very hard to get anything here by mail, if u fly anything outside u risk being robbed by onlookers (or maybe shot down) only way to go is a micro electric heli to fly at home. I have back at home in Lebanon a GWS Dragonfly fixed pitch that i learned to fly a bit but it is real **** believe me, so unstable, if there is the slightest wind it just wanders off on its own and crashes and u have to fight with the sticks to more or less keep it under control.
For more than a month now i have been doing a lot of research and read every bit on ehelis on the net, meanwhile i have already ordered a JR PCM 9xII radio with a hitech electron 6ch receiver, 3 hitech hs 55 servos and 1 hitec hs 50 for the tail and a futaba gy401 gyro. This I can use for any worthwhile micro electric. these i ordered from singapore http://shop.rotor.com.sg they are very friendly and responsive.

Now i have narrowed my choices to 2 helicopters and here is the hardest part for me, but i gave myself 10 more days to chose 1 or the other.

1- T-Rex V2 kit + align 400LF motor + castle creations 35 amp ESC + 2100 mah thunder power li-poly batteries + Great Planes Triton Charger.
most probably if i get this one i will order it from http://www.flying-hobby.com in Honk Kong, the owner is Fung and he seems very good and responsive.
From what I read about it, it is a great heli, only a bit too heavy.

2- Century HummingBird 3D Pro, this i will get from http://www.centuryheli.com/products/...?currentid=300
the problem it is very new and they are only taking preorders but it looks like it will be a great heli, it is smaller and lighter than the t-Rex and more suitable for indoor flying but still no reviews on it to really know if it has any problems.


Let me know what you decide to do.

Skeletor

No prior heli exp. and I'll be flyin outdoors and maby indoors some too. There are a few buildings around here that I can train in. This time of year its windy but in the summer there is very little wind. I will be flying off of a concrete drive way that gets cleaned every day so dust and grit should be no more of a problem than a grass field. My ceiling will be under 100 feet because there are real choppers flying around all the time. I dont want to tangle with them or even be seen by them because of the trouble it might cause. I would like a bird that has full controls for when I move up to the .50 gas helis. For now I need a full function bird that has replacement parts (crash kits) available. I will be buying the next to the top of the line futaba radio to use with what ever I get. the all in one board type birds are out. For those of you that have read my posts in the 1/4 scale section,,, My inline 150 will be home soon!

a65l

My Feedback: (17)

I just bought a Shogun 400 and have been very impressed. My first helo, and was a lot more stable and easy to control than I had thought. Not too small, but not too big, just about perfect. Can be a bit intimidating to fly indoors as the head speed is higher than a fixed pitch, but so far it's been a lot of fun. Replacement parts are available from Global hobbies, and aren't all that expensive. If you decide to go that route, drop me a PM and I'll tell you what I broke on mine learning to fly so you can have spares handy.

Wound up getting out of LHS for about $450 for the whole thing, but I already had a transmitter.

Off topic, but who are you working for over there? I'll be looking to put a freshly minted A&P ticket to work soon, and I aint afraid to travel!


Andy

VinceHerman

This makes me want to recommend a FP micro heli. Not good outdoors in the wind, but more robust than the CP micto helis.
Hummingbird and Piccolo top my list of quality FP micro helis.
Leave the camera requirement out until you learn to hover.

akaram's suggestion of a T-Rex is good for a second, outdoor heli. Bigger and heavier which are both plusses outdoors.

Skeletor

Kellog Brown and Root on a logistics contract. I am an industrial instrument tech working as an electrician here in Baghdad. (Can you say "changing ballasts and light bulbs?") Its not bad though. There are other companies working over here too, Parsons comes to mind right off the bat and I think Flour also. I have 7 months left on my contract and I'll check around a bit before I re-sign but I plan to stay here for a few years. ($$$) Whats a "A&P" ticket? J.

chillin669

I would recomend a Jabo II for a first heli. When i first started looking around for a heli i was surprised to find how many people said it was a really good starter(which was hard to believe at $169 complete). It is VERY durable, and usually comes with a crash kit, and the training gear which is a MUST for any begginer In addition the parts are compatable with numerous other birds such as; GWS dragonfly, hummming bird and more so you can shop around online to find a place for parts easily. If you get a micro heli i would recomend ordering it with a couple extra tail blades, and an an extra head those are the parts that seem to go the quickest