I have been into rc cars nitro/electric for about 5 years and am looking to get into electric helicopters. What are some of the big name companies and also i keep hearing that coaxial is good for beginners? I see a description but i still dont get why this is easier. Any help would be great, thanks

Some companies are esky, eflite, walkera. Stay away from walkera though. There electrics are pretty pathetic. Co-axil helis are easier because they are more stable in the air compared to a single blade chopper but they can both do the same thing (if the single blade heli is fixed pitch). If the single blade heli is collective pitch then the heli can do lots of things like going upside dopwn and loops and rolls. But lets not jump in that deep.

If you want to learn to fly, the biggest thing is finding a heli that you feel comfortable with and that has good parts support at your local hobby store or online. The eflite series of helicopters are carried at most LHS and there are literaly hundreds of places that offer factory and aftermarket parts. Their Blade CX is an excellent beginner model that is very very stable but cannot be flown outside because it does not like wind. If you step up a bit to a single rotor heli with collective pitch, such as the blade CP or CP Pro, you will have a more unstable helicopter that will be harder to learn on but will have more capabilitites as your skills advance. It really comes down to how much you want to spend and what you would like to get out of the hobby.

A lot of people, myself included, are using the Blade CP Pro as a beginner heli. Simply because it offers much more power and tricks and features that can be used in the long run. If you want a simple heli, the Falcon 40 at Raidentech.com seems to be a very popular choice. It's a fixed pitch, 4 channel heli that's great for beginners and just plain fun. I get my Blade CP Pro tomorrow

I agree with you on the blade cp pro, i really like that one from what i've seen since it uses lipo and also is upgradable, but is it worlds harder to learn on it or does it just take more time and patience? Pitch seems to be a word thrown around alot, i've seen both electronic and not, what does pitch refer to? Thanks guys

It's the angle of the blades. So if the pitch is 0 then the blades are straight and the heli won't go up. (It may sink because of weight and gravity.) If the pitch is +5 then the blades are on a positive angle and the heli will rise vice-versa with -5.

Go for the Esky Lama 2 or Blade CX - [link=http://www.linknety.com/modevideos/demo/zoom.php?id=14]videos[/link]

I'm interested in a beginner heli as well, but can these blade series RTF's be flown outdoors? I've got nowhere really to practice indoors but plenty outdoors.

The co-axial helis such as the BCX or Esky Lama2 are not good for outdoor flying at all. They are very easy to fly indoors where there is no wind, but due to their size and design, they can not handle more than about 1-3mph winds at all.

I don't recommend the Blade CP or CP Pro at all. I bought one and totally regret it. It's a poor design and terrible flier IMO. It is farily tough, and easy to work on, but that are it's only advantages.

If you want a good, cheap, and relatively easy to fly RTF heli that can also be flown out in the wind, the Falcon 3D from hobby-lobby.com is a real winner. I bought one after getting frustrated with the Blade CP, and wish I had bought it to begin with. It only costs a bit more than a CP Pro, but is far superior in every way...


The Esky Lama2 is a great little indoor heli for the price. I've had one for over a year, and I still like it a lot. It can take quite a beating and keeps on flying well. You don't need much space to fly it in. A typical bedroom or garage is plenty big enough.

I agree with CT420, the Falcon 3D for the price is a very good flyer. The Falcon 3D is a RTF heli, comes with everything you need to start flying. Except for 8 AA batteries for the transmitter. It's $299, not much more the the CP Pro, and it's much more stable than the Pro. The Falcon loves the outdoors, compared to the CP.

Here's a link for the Falcon: http://www.hobby-lobby.com/falcon.htm

In size, it's very close to the T-rex 450 series. See attached pic, the red one is the Falcon.

Dave / Choppersrule

When I was starting out I was also not sure what to do, I went in to to see my local model shop and they recomeded getting a computer simulator, the one i got was RealFlight G3, best money you could spend, figure it out on there then worry about the Heli

My two cents worth

Marty

I started out with a Blade CP in january of this year, total newbie, but had lots of patience and knew if other people can do it, so can I.
I think its a great beginner heli if you are willing to invest the time in it. Also, the first 2 months, did not break anything but main blades. When you are learning you don't go very high and the crashes are always minor. I since purchased a CX and Trex SE, but the blade is the one I still fly the most. YOu will outgrow the CX very quickly, I fly it mainly to entertain guests at my house.

I recently got interested in these after a 12 year layoff from flying planks. My local shop is recommending the Blade CX but I think I might outgrow it too quick. I bought G3 and have been playing with it for a few days. Actually getting pretty decent with the Impala heli trainer after two days. One thing I enjoyed with the planks was the building as much as the flying. Are there any trainer heli's that aren't RTF? Also one thing I notice is you have to get a new transmitter each time you upgrade in aircraft. Can you go ahead and get a radio that will work with most everything down the road and only have to upgrade aircraft?

If you are serious about getting into helis, the other option (although more expensive) is to get a sim like G3 or Reflex STR so you can get familiar with flying helis. It's not cheap but it pays for itself. Once you learn the basics on a good sim, I would skip all that micro heli crap and get a Trex SA for $200 and all the supporting materials (~$500). While you are getting (or saving up for) all the supporting equipment, putting it all together, and setting it up (with help from Trextuning.com) you can keep practicing on the sim. For me, I was going to learn how to fly or die trying. I wish I would have gone this route so I wouldn't have wasted time and money on a Sabre and a Blade CP. The only positive thing it did was keep me interested once I hovered the Sabre.

Like I said, it's more expensive but there is nothing cheap about helis regardless of what size because no matter how you start and with whatever heli, you WILL UPGRADE when you get bitten by the heli bug so if you already consider yourself bitten by the bug, go straight to a legitimate heli like the Trex or MX450 and be done with it....at least until you want to go to a Trex 600 or Raptor 50.