drifter420

I"ve been doing some reading here regarding gettin into r/c helicopters. Seems like a lot of people have started with electric helicopters that doesn't do well outdoor.

My dilema is that I don't have sufficient room indoors to fly them ( and the places I do have way too many breakable things hanging around the wall and shelves ).

So in a sense I would like to know what stable chopper will fly outdoors for noobies. ( and be able to take the breeze / wind.. and I"m not talking bout gale force wind ).

I know people will recommend a SIM first.. but thats like asking a kid that just got his car licence to use a SIM stead of out driving.. [:-]


Any suggestions

FMB42

First, I would recommend that you contact your local flying club and hobby shop so as to find someone who can help you with this. Larger outdoor helicopters, that can handle light winds, will require the help of an experienced heli pilot during the setup process and first flights. Second, I would still start with a SIM so as to save time and money. SIMs can be fun as well as great learning tools.

Otherwise, post us you budget, previous RC experience, and average wind conditions in your area, etc, so that we can offer advise that fits your needs.

drifter420

I haven't really set a budget yet. Something for a beginner ( so relatively cheap ) since I will be probably spending a great deal of money on repair ( or expecting ) from crashes being a noobie.

I"m in southern Ontario Canada so I"m assuming wind speed average of 10km/h ?? ( I tried googling but came up with nothing within the first 2 page ).

What Sim would you also recommend?

EDIT: All my R/C experience is on the ground ( for the last 16+ years ) on road / off road / gas / electric / monster truck / truggies ( couldn't get into buggy.. tried it.. hated it ).

Rafael23cc

My Feedback: (6)

But you DON"T have a license Once you pick up a GOOD simulator, you can't set it down. Is addictive just like flying the real thing. SPECIALLY if you have the features offered in one of the top simulators where a PRO Pilot walks you thru some real great maneuvers. I've been flying RC helicopters for 17 years and still use the simulator as a learning tool.

Otherwise, as stated before, the coaching of an experienced pilot will be invaluable to you. You can purchase the same helicopter he has or learned on and he can give you pointers on how to set it up for maximum performance.

Answer FMB42 questions to fine tune the suggestions.

Rafael

FMB42

Well, I would go see what people are flying at your local club. This will give you an idea of what size and brand of helis are the most popular in your area. Some clubs are not real big on RTF models due to radio hassles, etc. So ask before you buy, if you plan on flying at a club. These guys will know what your LHS carries as far as parts and the like. Larger helis, of course, tend to do better in windy conditions due to the superior stability that they offer.

RealFlight G3.5(http://www.hobby-lobby.com/flightsim.htm), Phoenix, and Clearview, etc are considered good SIMs. Check out the RCU "RC Flight Sim-Software" thread on the home page for more info on this.

We kinda figured that you have lots of RC experience and this fact will give you a big advantage. The next question is; gas or electric? I'm thinking you're a gas guy BTW

Its good that you are researching RC helicopters and asking lots of questions before you buy. Just figure that a "day" of research will save you a "week" of trouble.

maxtheknife

I'm new to RC helicopters so I'll share my experiences with you. Maybe it'll help you, or maybe it'll just confuse you (like me!). I researched online for almost a month before deciding to try out an Esky Honey Bee FP. I had purchased the Esky simulator package soon after starting my research, and I have some serious fun with it. So I thought that with 40+ hours of sim stick time I'd do pretty well with the HB FP once it was delivered. W-R-O-N-G.

When my little chopper arrived, I spent the entire first day reading the Chinglish instructions and setting it up for its first flight. I was anxious, of course, like most anyone in my position would be. I also installed the ping pong ball trainer on the stock landing gear since I wanted to do everything right the first time. I didn't even try to fly it the first day because I didn't want to take the chance on wrecking it. I oiled every moving part and tightened all the fasteners and checked servos and worked on the CG. Then I charged both lipo batts and centered everything on the xmitter. And waited for the next day like a kid waiting for Chirstmas morning!!!

Well, my little HB FP chopper had a bad servo right out of the box and I just didn't know enough to see that while checking it out. I had zero experience at that point and was just working with common sense. Heh. The first time I lifted off that chopper heeled over to the right and did a tail down crash. But nothing was damaged so I set it back up on the heli-pad (inverted #10 washtub) and slowly increased the throttle till it started leaning over and quickly adjusted the trim until it settled down. Then I tried it again. See, I was following the instructions and trying to lift off high enough to get out of the ground effect so I could try and hover it. I worked on that till I finally figured out that there was something major wrong so I took it back insided and took the canopy off and cycled the controls and discovered that one of my servos was dead in the water. I fiddled with it until I was dead sure that was the problem and then contacted Hobby Lobby and told them my problem. They sent me another servo the next day, and when I installed it I found that it was also non-responsive after a few minutes of checking it out under power. The 4-in-1 controller was burning them up! So I contacted Hobby Lobby again and told them what was going on and the sent me a replacement 4-in-1 controller the next day. That's good customer support, in my opinion. Especially considering that I was brand new at this stuff and they trusted me to know what I was talking about.

Well, I cooled my jets about flying after getting that new controller installed. I sat down and ordered several replacement parts and a servo centering tool so I could zero everything and start over. The long and short of it is that after having my HB FP for about 6 weeks, I still haven't learned to hover it and it's sitting on my puter desk with busted rotor parts and I'm thinking about upgrading to the Esky Honey Bee King II. Why? Well, after doing more extensive research, I found out that having a true tail gyro will help tremendously to stabilize flight. And I also learned my lesson about the 'all in one' controllers. So I hesitate to put any more money into my little HB FP for the time being and have bought one of those little Air Hogs to play with for now. I read all the tweaking hints for those little dudes here and am having fun flying it in the house while I think about what to do. I have a limited budget for my RC helicopter hobby and I'm just trying to slow down and think it through before proceeding. That's been my experience so far. Hope that helps.

drifter420

Thanx guys.. I"ve been doing lots of research also.. went from BCP Pro to BCP, then thought of the CX.. then the HBFP, and much like you am now gearing more towards the HBK2 ( with lots of spare blades.. lol [:-] )

Unfortunetly there's no flying club or hobby shop near me ( without driving at least an hour to get there ). I"ve emailed a few people on that club and awaitin their response and recommendation.

I have 2 other questions that popped into my head.

What Simulator will work with the transmitter from the Esky or Eflite RTF kits?

The second question ( which I was surprise I have overlooked so far )
What specialty tool should I have in hand for tuning; maintainance; trueing; balancing of these R/C Helicopters ( minus the usual assorted screw drivers, pliers, wrenches. )

P.S.
Yes fmb42..
I plan on working my way up to nitro powered helicopter, but will stay with the electric for less hassle free till I learn the ins and outs and get good at wrecking.. I mean flyin helicopters [>:]
That and I don't think I want nitro fuel spillin everywhere when I crash and burn [&:]

restinpieces

thats good advice if you read between all the lines. ( and boy were there alot of lines.) just kidding. but i too, started with a hb fp. many parts later i decided i needed a ccpm heli. after reading all the negative posts about walkera, i bought one anyway[&o]
a df60 cheap version.[] i've now spent more on it than a t-rex would of cost and i'm still not brushless or lipo'ed. my longest hover was about 20 seconds followed by a really cool crash. i had to laugh to keep from criing[][&o]. i'm now waiting for still more parts and bidding on a realflight sim on ebay.
btw, does anybody know if a realflight g2 will work on windows vista. i know g2 is a couple years old, but the ad says it's new in box, never been opened.
i guess the smart thing to do would be to open your own heli parts store.

badazzbusa

My Feedback: (1)

Relatively cheap doesn't tell us your budget, that figure is different for everyone, a couple hundred bucks, a grand? Not to offend anyone here but to tell you the truth, a cheap electric helicopter flys just like it is suppose to, it flys like a cheap electric helicopter. There are alot of good electric helicopters but generally I think alot of the ready to fly helis have cheap electronics. You can get something like a Helimax MX400 or a Trex and put your own radio gear in it and have a much better flying heli. A SIM like realflight comes with its own radio, I'd get the SIM and start practicing while you make your decision. You can learn on a larger nitro helicopter, alot of use here did.

maxtheknife

Well, in my case, I wasn't necessarily looking for a cheap helicopter. I just wanted something entry level with a good reputation and readily accessible (and cheap ) parts. The Honey Bee FP is supposed to have a tail gyro in the 4-in-1 controller... I dissasembled the bad one and didn't see anything like a gyro inside. Anyway...

I left lots of stuff out of my first post so it wouldn't be quite so loooong. I always waited until it was dead calm outside to fly my HB FP and did everything by the numbers. The lipo battery must be a good deal lighter than the stock 7 cell Nimh batt pack because even with the lipo all the way forward on the new upgraded landing gear the CG is still just slightly tail heavy. I zero'd the paddles with the swashplate and adjusted the tension on the main blades at the hub and and and... I guess what I'm trying to say is that so far I've decided I'm a half decent helicopter mechanic. But I stink as a pilot. If I could get this little HB FP stable enough to learn to hover tail in, I'd have a good starting place. But it always wants to go somewhere once it's airborne. I was just starting to fiddle with the 4-in-1 gain adjustments when I finally crashed and busted up the rotor guts.

Now I have a couple of questions. I've found a few sites that sell the wooden blades for the HB FP. Will the wooden blades help the stability and possibly make it a bit easier to fly this little bird? I think I've finally decided to place one more order for various replacement parts and get this chopper back in the air. But at this point, I've got around $250 invested starting with a purchase price of $109 from Hobby Lobby. My wife knows this and looks down her nose at me every time I say anything to her about it. I don't expect her to understand why I want to fly RC helicopters. But I sure would like to be able to justify my hobby with a little bit of success. So my other question would be should I just stop spending money on this HB FP and upgrade to the HBK2? Or is it possible I'll run into the same kinds of issues with the HBK2 as with the HB FP? I only ask this question because I'm new at this and your honest answers will be appreciated.

restinpieces

i'm also a newbie so this is just opinion , but i saw my wife spend over 250.00 for wrinkle cream once so they have no room to talk
i know it's frustrating spending twice what the heli cost on parts. been there--still doing that[&o] i don't think your gonna have any better luck with a cp heli than your having with your hb fp other than learning how to fix a more complicated head and tail. it'been said
over and over on this and other forums that a sim is the best purchase we ( notice i said we ) can make when first learning how to fly helis. some people will take to this right off and the rest of us will continue to crash until we get frustrated and quit or buy a good sim.

btw-- i hid it in my last post but i need to know if realflight g2 will work on windows vista cause i'm bidding on one on ebay . thx



THERE ARE 3 KINDS OF PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD--THOSE WHO CAN COUNT AND THOSE WHO CAN'T

badazzbusa

My Feedback: (1)

Yes, G2 should work fine. New operating systems support all software made for previous years.

restinpieces

thank you badazz---now i'll go see if i got out bid yet---thx

FMB42

Check out the Esky sub forum http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/forumid_481/tt.htm for lots of info on the HBFP and K2. I would consider starting out on the HBFP (in zero wind conditions) before you jump to a K2. The K2 will be much easier to fly once you've learned to "fly the tail" on the HBFP. The K2 is far more complicated then the HBFP and, as such, can more difficult to setup and repair. Another thing is that the HBFP comes with "plastic" blades that are somewhat more durable when it comes to crashing. Also take a look at the Esky FMS sim kit (part# EK2-0905A, ~ $20) for a low cost entry level SIM.