lee22

HI , Guys
I was wondering weather or not currently if its really hard to fly a gas heli? and how many channels would you need? 3 -4?
I'm currently in fast electric boats right now and wanting to change to heli form selling both the boats not sure how long a run time on a heli gas engine would be or if i should stick to electric helis?
Any suggestions or information would be great or a website to check into for first time flyers?/
Thanks

Nick

Charlie

When you say gas, do you mean gas or nitro? Gasoline helis aren't really for beginners, they are very expensive to buy and expensive to fix. If money isn't a problem, then go for it.
Nitro helis are the way to go in my opinion. The Raptor 30/50 would be a choice for a beginner heli and they will take you right in to 3D flying when your ready. Lots of people have them, so getting help when you need it shouldn't be a problem.
If you go with a collective pitch heli (which I think you should), you will need at lest a 6 channel radio. In my opinion, you should buy the best radio you can afford, that way you won't have to upgrade down the road.

lee22

i was looking at those, their nitro? you find them hard to control alot or are they relitavly easy to control from a lift off to air flying to landing?

Charlie

Yes they are.

They are helicopters, they take practice and lots of it. Your not just going to buy a helicopter and step off you back porch and start flying it (A lot of people wish it was that easy).

Sawdust48.5

B/4 you get the heli set up at the field get yourself a flight simulator. Ebay has many of the realflight G2's as the G3 came out within the last year. I have G2 with add-on #3. This has the Raptor 30 and 60. Flight sims respond very close to the rc heli. Some say they respond exactly like their heli. A sim will save you hundreds of dollars in repairs to your heli and help you decide if you like heli's. It also has a flight tutor for heli's and planes. Get comfortable with flight sim. Then transition slowly over to your heli. Don't fly your heli without training gear. Lastly join the ama and find a local fly club. They are always willing to help setup, tune and set you up with a flight trainer.
If you buy a raptor 30 try to get an OS32 or 37 engine. The 37 has more power than a 32. The TT engines can be a real pain in the...Raptor 50 get an OS46. The os engines are sweet engines.
A very popular radio is the JR8103. If you can afford it get the JR9103. Jr's newest radio.
Sorry about being so long winded, butt there's a great deal to learn before you ever get heli off ground. BUTT IT"S WELL WORTH IT!!!

Charlie

I think you mean 9303. Simulator is a good idea, it will save you a lot of money in the long run.

Sawdust48.5

My bad.
Charlie can the 9303 patch into an 8103 for training purposes??

Charlie

Yes, you just have to make sure you have the exact same setting in each radio. The best way to do it is connect your buddy cord and copy the model from one radio to the other. That's the way I did it with two 8103's, I never tried it with a 8103 and a 9303, but I'm sure it would work the same (they are both JR radios). I know a guy that does it all the time with two different radios (models), but they are both JR radios.

Charlie

I just found this video about the 9303, it has a small segment about the buddy box feature, it's about 1:47 sec into the video.

[link=http://67.18.81.100/rcuvideos/magazine/reviews/515/main-6mix_fail_train.wmv]http://67.18.81.100/rcuvideos/magazine/reviews/515/main-6mix_fail_train.wmv[/link]

Sawdust48.5

Thanks Charlie[sm=thumbup.gif][sm=thumbup.gif]