gasman143

I have been seeing alot of cheaper heli's are they any good.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Remember that in most cases you get what you pay for.

"most" of the people I have seen (or read about on here) end up ditching the junk and either getting out of the hobby due to frustration or buying something that actually works (drastically increasing their startup costs by buying twice)

Rule of thumb, if you don't know what your buying, stay away from Flea Bay.

credence

My Feedback: (2)

I buy "cheap" chinese stuff off ebay all the time with great results. Most of it works as good if not better than their counterparts most of the time. With that said, anything you buy off ebay will have little to no support, which is no good for a beginner, so in this, I agree. If you're going to get into this hobby, get something locally available, or, if nothing else, something that has a large following so it's easy to find help when you need it. If you're going to buy off ebay, you need to know what you're looking for, and if you're new to the hobby, you WON'T know what you're looking for, which is why so many people buy the cheap helicopters and then end up quitting the hobby because they find them too hard to control (which most of the time, isn't the helicopters fault, but lack of knowledge of the operator in setting it up properly and using it properly).

If you do go with one of the birds you find on ebay, be prepared to do alot of reading on these forums and alot of setup time before even attempting to fly it, or you'll just leave the hobby frustrated and probably broke..

gasman143

I think your right, because the mini heli at my lhs goes as far as I can see (height) I think the distance and overall perforance is probably very poor.

gasman143

So ebay heli buying is for the experinced.

predman

My Feedback: (7)

Stay away from walkera products!!! Stay away from walkera products!!! Stay away from walkera products!!! Although the dragonfly4 is usually a good starter heli(ONE OF THE ONLY ONES). If buying off ebay, buy from someone who is here in the USA. That way if there is a problem they are subject to our countries business laws! The Honeybee heli line are great helis,they are contructed way better than than most of the walkera stuff and HAVE BETTER ELECTRONICS,THAT CAN BE ADJUSTED!!!

credence

My Feedback: (2)

The biggest problem with the cheaper (Walkera) helicopters is that they have little to no quality control. Most of the time, the helicopters come from the factory very poorly put together. In this regard, you DO get what you pay for. Cheap labour yields poorly made products. That said, once SETUP PROPERLY by someone that knows what they're doing, the helicopters fly just as good, if not better, than many others, and usually at a fraction of the cost.

Whats worse, is that these helicopters are advertised as "ready to fly" and "easy to fly" by their sellers, which they certainly aren't, especially when they come from the factory so poorly assembled! Hence, why so many people have "problems" with these helicopters.
Mechanically, the helicopters are usually very good, the electronics are more of a hit and miss. The controllers are usually OK but the cheap servos really suck and are prone to chattering and interference. Even if you do get one of the cheap ebay helicopters, you'd need to spend another $50 (or more, depending on how many servos your copter uses) to get it into a decent flyable state. Though, some people report no problems at all with the servos, so it seems like a hit and miss thing.

Some people also enjoy to buy the cheaper helicopters as a base and then outfitting all their own electronics and upgrades. It can be a fun hobby, being able to totally customize something like that. More expensive in the longrun probably, but enjoyable.

I'd say, use your best judgement. If you think you've got the time to dedicate to learning about the models and how they work so that you can set them up properly, i'd say go for it. Lots of people here will reccommend what the best you can get in terms of Walkera birds is with your budget. Otherwise, get something your LHS is familiar with and stocks parts for, as it'll make it much easier for you. One of the worst parts about buying these cheap helis overseas, is that when you crash, it's a long wait while you wait for your replacement parts to arrive!

Also, I agree with predman, if the Dragonfly #4 is what you were looking at, i'd suggest the esky honeybee over it, it's not much more expensive, and it's mechanically and electrionically better.

gasman143

-Zoom 400 aka Dragonfly 35 Z400 CP 6ch R/C Helicopter~d9
-X-1 Fly Fairy Helicopter remote Radio Control chopper
-New Walkera 22E CCPM 6ch RC Helicopter with LITHIUM~do
-RTF Wireless CAM Dragonfly MINI 4ch RC Helicopter~d7
Li-Battery 30mins flight time + Wireless Cam
-Remote RC New RTF 4 CH Helicopter 6 CH Radio Sim Kit
Easy Operate w/ 6 Channels Remote and Simulator Kit
-Dragonfly 22A RC 3D CCPM 6 Ch Helicopter RTF
-4CH ESKY Honeybee T RC Helicopter RT RADIO
-Walkera Dragonfly 35 RC 3D 6 Ch Helicopter RTF
-Colco Thunderbird V3 Mini Helicopter (RTF) - 6 CH
-AH64 Apache LONGBOW
-Megatech R/C, House-Fly Helicopter, RTF, RTR
Here is just a few of the helis they have for sale on ebay, so many to choose from.

PJSims

A friend of mine bought a heli off of Ebay (I think it was a Dragonfly) and it was crap. Granted, he bought it "Used but in great shape", but the ESC and gyro was toast along with the tail motor.

Would I buy a heli off of Ebay? I sincerely doubt it.

gasman143

Well I think I'll stick with the heli's at my lhs.

Dezynco

Buy the biggest, highest quality that your budget will allow....you'll regret buying junk! Bigger is easier to hover and keep under controll. Costs more to crash, but at least you'll get some results out of your investment.

hyperluminal

As a fellow newbie, I would agree with most of what I read here: buy what you can afford, not what you are willing to spend. Generally, you do get what you pay for.

My experience was different. I bought a Walkera 36 (brushless motor, li-po batts, etc) from an eBay Power Seller out of China (ypin2000 with eBay store R/C-YPIN). I was clueless when I bought it, so I based my decision on price alone. Consequently, I smashed it within 2 minutes of putting in the batteries. 90% my fault for being a dolt, 10% his fault for not including startup instructions. I emailed him about it, and he agreed to send me a new bare-bones 36 (my electronics are all okay still) for price of shipping only - $30. I found him to be a fair guy.

While waiting for Heli #2 to arrive I poured over all these message boards and got so much vauable info. I put that info to good use - on re-start of heli #2, I was hovering at 3 feet (above ground effect) within 1/2 hour. Which brings me to the next best piece of advise - TAKE IT SLOWLY.

Based on what I have read, I would say that buying from your local hobby store is still the most secure bet. However, if you are willing to exchange a low price for some risk, then go ahead and buy online (from eBay or anywhere else). It is all up to how much risk tollerance you have.

Norrmannen

I buy most of my heli stuff of eBay, from China, Taiwan and Kong Kong. So far I've bought 2 T-Rexes and 3 Esky's + maybe $2k of parts. You should know what you are buying then it's no problem at all, usually.
I have only had 2 almost bad experiences. When I bought my first T-Rex I didn't really know what to get so I bought a cheap kit and had to replace battries, servos and gyro. Secondly I'm still waiting for som Rex skids I ordered in june (Align was allegedly sold out) now seller doesn't reply, I stand the chance of lossing usd 10, no biggie but I'll probably not use him anymore. He has been really good earlier tho, if he didn't have it all in stock he has sent what he had and the rest later without chargong extra postage even if also the second shipment came by ems, maybe he's hoping I'll order some more stuff so he doesn't have to pay shipment twice by himself...

Key is to know what you want sa already said...

gasman143

maybe $2k of parts, whoo thats really out of my budget. I don't have the patience and budget to keep on buying parts from over the internet.

sfromd

I'm a new walkera dragonfly owner. I have very little rc experience except the many hours ive practiced wth this one. It seems very unstable and the instruction manual is just about useless.

Is there anything a new guy can do to make the helicopter more stable and have the best experience possible with this beginner helicopter.

Setup?
Blades?
weight and balance?
trimming the flight controls?
battery position (toward the front, or rear)?
How can I make this helicopter more stable?
thaks for any advise.

manu2005

I have bought an esky cp2 on ebay and it is great. But the included charger didn't work[:@]. and I asked other people on ebay and their charger didn't work either. Wierd why would they include a charger that does not work?
So I just bought one at my local hobby store

yongary

i got my lama2 for $98 dollars incluing shipping, and honeybee fp for $93 dollars off ebay. both fly great with no problem. if anyone wants esky honeybee or walkera dragonfly series, Modelocity is the great ebayer. i bought both of mine from her. she sends your item from california. Fast shipping.

rvmach50

I purchased myfirst on ebay walkera #36 it is harder to fly! I wish I would have spent the money on the larger gas heli first .I can hover and do basic flite with it . But the heli , radio and starting setup was almost $1000.00 . I still keep trying to get the walkera set up right . But its tought for some one new to the hobby .I paid 200.00 from ebay for the walkera and have put 200.00 more in parts . start with as big as you can go raptor v2 30 hawk pro 30 both work good for me

sceadu37

i bought my radio and gyro off ebay, but to be fair id never buy the actuall heli itself........

id rather build that and make sure that its together properly for peace of mind...

id never buy anything that id never heard of or heard good remarks about... thats simply why i narrowed down my heli choise to a raptor or sceadu.. and im well chuffed with my sceadu

opjose

Check out the #36 threads here or the Walkera forums off the main Walkera web site.

We've covered all of this ad-nauseum in both forums.

BTW: assuming that the rotor head spins smoothly and the tail and pitch curves are adjust properly, that "instability" is somewhat normal for this size plastic heli.

It is what you have to learn to deal with....

Anyway check out those threads/forums.

opjose

RTF = Ready for you TO spend a lot of Friggin time adjusting and tuning.

There is no doubt that the larger you go the easier the heli is to control.

You can do (somewhat) well with the #36 if you are aware of it's inherent problems and can act to correct them.

e.g. the RX and TX are problematic, although the new AVCS (WK-006) gyros seem to be MUCH better than the older ones most people received (WK-001).

The best thing I did with my Wakera #4, #22, #35 & #36's was to break the rotor and tail completely down to component parts, weight and balance everything then carefully put it all back together (often replacing the stock motor, and adding heat sinks and bigger battery packs), then adjusting and tuning the helis while clamped onto a granite kitchen turntable.

The difference was night and day.

Yeah they still are quick to react (flybar weights and heavier paddles help out the newbies here...) but after all of this they finally ARE "Ready to fly".

neilwillis

My first electric heli was an eBay purchase!!! A Dragonfly 22D.

Got it out the box, charged the battery, turned on the TX and plugged the batt into the RX and off it went - - Almost taking off my thumb and breaking the tail gear etc... Turns out the power control was reversed, so what should be no power was full on!!!!!

After all that, I fixed it up and managed to get some good flights out of it!!! Very stable and the only problems was with the tail gears..

I dumped out all the electrics that came with it and put in my own receiver so I could use my JR gear. I purchased a speed controller and added a new gyro!!!

It was a different beast after that...

I then saw a MS Hornet CP 2 model for sale for £99!!!! So I couldn’t say no. Transferred all my radio gear into it and its the best heli I have flown (for a beginner). The great thing is there is a model shop that stocks ALL the parts and delivers next day, so no waiting 2 weeks from China!!!

So to sum up... If you have any radio gear kicking about from other models (gliders etc) then get a MS Hornet, if you have nothing and cost is an issue then ebay might be you best option, but PLEASE check the heli before you switch it on and if you can put a plank of wood through the skids to test everything works the correct way... and buy some spares as you WILL need them.

Hope this helps someone!

yellowpasta2000

i got screwed over on ebay buying a dragonfly feda model from rcworld on ebay. it sucked

Chris_s

I bought my honeybee cp2 from this guy

http://stores.ebay.com/RC-HELICOPTER-AIRPLANE-CAR-WORLD

the service was amazing, price is lowest I've seen

his info says he is located in the US, and he speaks fluent english, but he does drop ship from china, it costs $40. still lowest price I could find

I had ordered my heli with a wireless cam/receiver aswell, but the receiver was not in the package when it arrived. I let the seller know, and he had it at my door in 10 days! I highly recommend buying from him! He also sells repair parts, so if you want to get the usual breakage parts when you purchase the heli, he'll throw them in with the same shipping!

jeepson33s

i got scrwed by rc world also my tx and rx shut down and i had to pay 30 bucks for a new one! i now have a job at hobbytown usa and got a trex that i have yet to fly. RCWORLD.US SUX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DONT BUY FROM THESE CRAPPY EBAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1