Been playing with a SIM for awhile and really want to get a heli. Problem I am having that no one can answer is will it fly. I live at 9000' and had a massive learning curve coming up here from KS with my planes, went from a 12x6 pitch to a 12x10 pitch prop just to get 75% of the performace I was having at "sea level". The nearest hobby shop is in Denver at around 5200' and no one there has attempted flight at my altitude. I am looking at a CP Honeybee or something of that nature, would love to get the T-Rex but can't justify the $$ until I am sure it will get off the ground. Any suggestions, experiences or comments would be very greatly appreciated.

good question... i have no clue to the answer.. but try this

click on the link,,,,enter in your zip code.. the same page will come back up and if you scrool down you will see if there are any clubs in your area.. if there are no clubs i would guess not then.. but there should be at least a local number for you to call.. ggod luck,, i hope it works out for ya.. jake.

[link=http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx]http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx[/link]

Hello a77ssii,

What sim are you using?

You didn't say if you were flying electrtic or nitro planes.

If you are looking at flying at 9000' then the T-rex is your best bet. I just don't think the HB or the like is
made to fly at that altitude. I have never really flown at that height and my heli are all nitro powered. It
would be kind of nice to bring it up and fly at the school.

I rode my bike up for the Emily ride from Columbine HS to Bailey last fall.

If a human can breathe, then you are low enough to fly.[8D] (this is ment to make you laugh)

10,000 feet is aprox 50% of sea level air pressure.

Did you state an airplane will fly at about 75% ?

If so then your heli will be about the same.

aim for a high performance heli, such as the Trex 600e like I own. It has massive power .......and you don't have a fuel needle to adjust either...

Harry

jamesc43, it's just a cheapo, don't remember the brand cost like $40. The SIM's I have used for fixed wing have been nothing like the real thing so I couldn't justify spending $100+ for one to see if I like flying a heli.
Everything I fly is electric, brushless or outrunner, LiPo.
Never flown at either the high school or elem school, I border nat'l forest so I just put my plane(s) on the rack of my ATV and head out to a nice meadow about 4 miles from my house.

jaketrouble, there is nothing listing w/i 25 miles of me. If I go much beyond the 25 mile barrier the drop in altitude is so great it's kind of pointless.

From other discussions with people flying CX2's at 5000' + they suffer from shorter flight times. If you extend to 9000' its likely they will not even get off the ground as the motor will only spin so fast for a given battery voltage. If you go to a FP machine, at least you have the option of changing the motor pinion to get higher rotor head speed. I think your thought of getting a CP machine is the very best way to go as you can still set it up to "act" like a FP machine for the learning process but you can alter the pitch to help compensate for the lower air density.

As far a models. I dont think I would exactly look at a Trex600E as your first heli. Thats a $1500.00 package. You should try and stick with a model that is lower cost unitl you a) see if you like it and b) get through the "cost of learning to fly"

I would look at the HBKII or the Belt CP from Esky. They are plastic machines and low cost to repair. Both are CP. If you have a bit more money, the blade400 RTF kit is not bad and the radio will allow you to emulate a FP very easily.

The trex is a great machine (I have one) but i wouldnt reccomend it as a starter machine.

I) high altitude causes the motor to spin faster than normal, not the other way around. Because there is less air to grab.

so you are better off with a CP machine to adjust the pitch higher.

2) Trex 600e is more like $2,000 package, one that will last for years and make you smile at the same time.

3) you need a power house with large blades to make your first few flights a success, a lesser machine will more likely cause failure and cause you to swear off heli's forever...

Harry

I am honestly leaning more towards gpach's point of view except I have one benefit and that is my father in law wants a heli too and he lives at 4800' so if the HBKII or Belt gives me issues I can always sell it to him. As to the frustration and giving up, I crashed my fixed winges an untold number of times before I got reasonably proficient and I have the logic of knowing things don't like to fly at my altitude so watching the habits of say the HBKII will tell me whether or not to get a larger heli if it is tempermental. For example my fixed wing's took me almost a year of tweaking and about $400 to get airborn up here, I just kept trying until something worked knowing it was simply a lack of air density.

Hey Harry, sorry on the low price of the 600E. I was thinking 2K but didnt want to overstate the price.

My point is the guy is looking for his first heli. He has a LOT of crashes ahead of him. The cost of a crash on the 600E could easily exceed the total cost of a plastic learner heli. When he is learning to fly he wont needs gobs of power. He can always bump to a more powerful motor in any sized heli.

The point about the headspeed is that regardless of altitude the motor will only generate so many RPM per volt (KVR). If he gets a starter coax type, you cant change the pinions to increase headspeed, with their fixed pitch there is no way to increase the bite. Same with the FP but at least there is the option to increase the RPM. I agree that at altitude you will see an increase in head speed slightly because of the lowered air density but this is limited by the motor KVR and the battery voltage.

Can you program heli settings in your existing radios?

The advantage a T-rex 450/600 or even maybe a Swift (from Century) or something similar is that you can
upgrade motors or blades as required to gain more effect.

Stay away from nitro powered machines. They run fine but they lose so much power as the altitude climbs
that you might not be able to use one. One will also require constant tuning for peak performance.

I have enough of a mess working on my 12V Cummins diesel, I would really rather avoid the mess of nitro too so was planning on electric plus I already have 3 chargers for NiCad, MiMH and LiPo and 600MaH up to 3200MaH batteries from my planes. My radio is not heli compatible, it's a simple 4ch. I have flown with the computer radio's and don't really like them. That's a contributing factor for the HBKII since it's basically an RTF. I figure this will end up just like my planes, started out with a Slo Stick and slowly migrated to stick built. I'll probably buy an RTF heli and end up eventually going to a complete kit and putting my own gear in once my abilities have gotten to that point.

If you go HBKII, dont waste your time on the standard brushed motor. Short life, low power.
Go straight to brushed motor and ESC.

Get a set of training gear.

Get a set of Extreme plastic blades (or two).

Hehe I think you mean brushless gpach.

Thanks, my fingers sometime dont follow what my brain tells them......with the keyboard as well as the TX. I know how to fly my helis, its just my fingers that cause all the crashes!

My fingers and gravity are always to blame when I have a problem. If it wasn't for one or the other I would fly OK.