Hello. I'm a newbie, but want to learn to fly. I suppose the first question I should ask concerns where to fly. Do you have to goto a a flying field? Thanks.

depends... there are co-axials small enough to fly in the house and you can get to large gassers that are 5 feet long. I typically feel that if the heli is longer than 2' you should fly at the field.

It all depends on what you want to tear up also. If you don't mind tearing the siding off of the garage or cutting a hole in the drywall of the living room you can learn to fly in the house or between the house and the garage. But if you want to be safe then the field is the smartest place to learn. After you are good enough to make precision landings then the area is dependent on if the blades will spin or not.

Will any field do or is it illegal to fly just anywhere?

I live in NYC so the most convenient place would be central park. I know there's an old airport in Brooklyn where several rc clubs fly, it's just inconvenient.

By fly indoors, you mean a micro/sub-micro heli, right? Which micro heli's are large enough to be fun, but small enough to break the toy barrier?

Thanks again.

before you go any further, what is your budget...

each city has different by-laws in place for where you can fly, check those out. Also, if you join AMA (they offer insurance with their memership), they will only cover you at an authorized field. I do fly in a local park (soccer field) sometimes with my 450 but only when no one else is there. as soon as anyone comes within 100' of me I pack up and leave.

I'm willing to spend around $400, though I'd rather keep it lower. Also, if I'm going to have to get another one later, I'd rather spend less on the beginner heli.

I have 2 of the 2 channel mini IR micro helis that I fly in the office at work on weekends. A co-axial Lama v4 also flies indoors and in the street outside my front door. I can fly my Honeybee FP & Eagle 50 in a small park in my neighborhood. The bigger Belt CP only flies at a City Park down the street when I can get out there & nobody is at one end of the park, away from the picnic benches & people. The bigger the open area the better. A grassy field is more forgiving for hard landings than is concrete.

Not sure about Central Park, but there should be a Parks & Recreation Dept. that could answer your question. Being New York, I'd not be surprised if you would need some kind of permit. Emphasise to them that it's a battery-powered electric heli, not gas & that it is really quiet. Doubt they would realize the sophistication of an electric heli & think it's just some toy filled with flashlight batteries

Many may disagree, but if I had to begin all over again, I'd start with a co-axial like the Lama 3 or 4, since they are virtually crashproof & cheap to maintain. They are controllable in smaller flying areas like out in the street & will give you the feel of joystick control & the fundamentals of fore & backward as well as side to side motion & how to adjust controls. For me, the Co-axial has been more useful by far than the flight simulator.

I'm able to use the same 4 channel transmitter for both my Lama & Honeybee FP.

Once you can fly the co-axial, get a fixed-pitch like the Honeybee. It's more difficult to fly then even some of the bigger & more expensive collective-pitch helis, but it is easy to maintain & when you manage to crash hard enough to break something, the parts are really cheap. And you will likely crash it more often than the co-axial. You can upgrade the HBFP with Superskids that give you a beefier set of skids & landing gear & better balance, & also add a LiPO battery that extends fly time.

It's best to start out cheap & progress to more sophisticated helis as your proficiency progresses.

You can get the Lama 3 for around $69.95, the Lama 4 for $89, & the Honeybee FP for around $99, or Falcon 40 for $89. Take a look at www.xheli.com. They have good prices & a more complete inventory of spare parts than almost anyone else. Shipping for orders of $50 or more is free with coupon code CJFREE2. Order extra blades at the same time you get a co-axial; order a couple of extra (cheap) rotor heads at the same time you would get a Honeybee FP & don't worry about the blades - I have spare blades, but am still on the original set on my HBFP#4. If you progress too soon to something like the Eagle 50, or really any of the collective pitch 6 channel helis, plan on burning up your parts budget on lots of spare blades. I crashed thru several sets of blades & some spare parts when I got my Eagle 50. I backed off & got the Honeybee & now haven't had to change blades on the Eagle 50 since then.

Don't be put off by those who complain about crappy customer service from Xheli - it's largely true if you try to reach them by phone. Instead, Andy is an Xheli rep & Forum Host at the Exceed RC Forums here at RC universe. I've PM'ed him a few times on replacement issues & he's always been able to make everything right with minimal delay. Say what you want about lousy Xheli e-mail & phone service, but nobody can fault Andy for his prompt follow-up on Xheli issues needing immediate attention. Without him, I'd 'prolly not give them any further business, either.

Keep in mind that the title "Ready To Fly" is more wishful thinking on the part of the manufacturer & not an empirical fact. Whatever you decide to get first, check in here at the forums afterward & someone can point you towards prepping your particular heli. model for it's first flight. Most common issues are: tightening down all screws, adjusting the center of gravity (HBFP's are notoriously tail-heavy), making sure the flybar is centered & the paddles are level, blades tracking and leveling the swashplate. All are easy to do as long as you are aware of the procedures & get tips on what to look for.

Start cheap & progress from there. For $400, you can get your first 2 helis, a bunch of spare parts & still have money left over for a really big lunch (and extra batteries).

The Yellow Heli in my Avitar is the Honeybee #4 (FP) with the LiPO battery, Superskids landing gear & tail struts & tail wings installed. Once balanced & swashplate zeroed out, it is a joy to fly, nevertheless it still presents a challenge if you have any attention deficit at all.

If you can fly a FP well, you will be able to sooner successfully fly bigger & more sophisticated helis. In the long run, your wallet will thank you for it

Wow, Thanks for the informative reply. You've helped more than any web page so far. I think I'll check out the Lama v4 and see how things go, Thanks.

I personally think the simulator is a much better tool for learning than a co-axial. The co-axial does not imitate the flight of a single rotor heli at all, it does help with orientation but a sim can do that and provide more realistic flight of a single rotor. In the future, you'll find the sim is also a good tool to learn things like figure 8s, loops, rolls, tick tocks... etc. You do have to use it properly as a training tool though not as a game.

The AMA does not approve or disapprove fields. They don't have a field supervision team going around the country making sure clubs build the fields to specifications. The AMA sanctions clubs, and provides guidance on how to build fields. They do not sanction or approve fields.

You can read the AMA's safety code. There you will find the information you are looking for. Basically as long as you follow the AMA's rules the insurance will cover you. The main thing on this discussion is that you need permission to the flying at that field / park. Either public or private. Check on local ordinances as some cities / counties have specific regulations regarding RC in public parks.

Rafael

ya, you need permission, you need to post signs, you need a frequency board... etc.

Please indicate where does it say that you need to post signs and have a frequency board?
[link]http://www.modelaircraft.org/PDF-files/105.pdf[/link]

Rafael