Greetings all: For about 20 years now I have expressed an interest in RC heli flying. This Chrstmas, my wife gave me the Align T-Rex 450SA ARF, the Spektrum DX7 (with micro servos), and the Real Flight G3.5 simulator. Is this a good starter "kit"? Thanks much. FM

Hi Fred,
Give the wifey a kiss for all of us and tell her she did great!

The T-Rex is a great heli. Make sure that you do your homework with the sim first (she did right here, too).

Spend hours on the sim learning the hover. It is not enough to keep it from crashing. Hover where you want it to hover. Pick 2 spots on the ground. Hover over one, then move to the other and hover over it. Back and forth.
Then learn nose in and side in. Get to where you can hover in all orientations. Then fly from one spot , turn and fly back. Circuits. Figure 8's. Do these low and slow.

After you have done this, THEN try to hover your heli.

What servos came with the DX7? They used to ship with S75 servos. Not good for a heli. If you have them, they are usable for foamy park flyer planes. Not helis. Many different selections are workable for equipment.
3x Hitec HS56 on the cyclic
Futaba GY401 gyro combo with the Futaba 9650 digital servo if your budget is large enough
Futaba GY401 gyro with a Hitec HS56 servo if the budget is less large

The DX6 is shiped with the S75 the DX7 is shipped with much larger servos the DS-821. The S75 are super servos for that heli thay have 17.2 oz/in and .12 sec. for 60 degrees. That makes them better than the HS-55 or 56, which are popular with that heli.For referance the HS-56 has 12.2 oz/in and .12 sec. for 60 degrees.

As this suggested course of action will require almost imhuman discipline, I also suggest that you look at
RADD's
http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html
and begin applying it even on the simulator, then when you have the rex built you will have a better chance of success.

There are many TRex variants available for G3.5 if you search the web. Some are much better than others.

If your budget is like mine, extremely less large, you can use the Align rce500x gyro, it is just fine for all but the most extreme flying, but it won't work with a digital servo, but it will work great with HS65 or HS81 servos. The HS 56 is fast but a bit weak for my liking, most folks around here seem to use the HS65MG on the tail because it is just about indestructible and fairly fast too.

cyclicoverload,
Having read a lot of your posts, I can say that I agree with much of the advice you give. I respect your opinion. But this is one area where I disagree.
I do not believe that the S75 servos are great.
The numbers might look good, but in practice, they have way too much slop to be usable on the cyclic, where slop free operation is so critical.
Even the Hitec HS55 servos do not get my recomendation.
Hitec HS56 or HS65 servos have a much tighter, more robust gear train. Much less slop.

Like I say, I am not trying to bust your chops. I agree with the vast majority of what you say. This is just one area where I do not.
Vince

Thanks so much for the responses. The servos that I got are HiTec RS-65HB. Concerning the sim, are you saying that I am able to select the heli that I actually own? How cool.. FM

Yes, g3.5 is infinitely expandable, you can edit aircraft to tweak the performance, there is a big community of people who write new aircraft for it, you can even take your own panoramic photographs and create photorealistic flying areas for yourself and others. It is very cool. Some people (like me) think 3.0.448 has better more realistic flying physics, but 3.5 has all the cool stuff like night flying, etc.

I too am not a fan of the s75s included in the DX6 package. However I have a BCPP with the same servos and they are just now beginning to get flakey after 40 or 50 hours of flight time.
I am going to use HS55s to replace them, I have used 55s for many years in airplanes and like them. I would not use them on a 450-class machine, though.