69rrvert

Ihave been flying the Great PlanesG4 sim for about 2 weeks now.I can hovertail in, both sides, anddo OKnose in. Flying around the flying field and bringing the copter back to ahover and landing withoutmuch problam as well and I have a good understanding of how a heli works.Ispent about 4 yearsflying the fixedwing planes but have not any R/C in about 11 years now (kids). My question is, how muchdifference is there between the sim and areal R/C heli and what would bea good quality fairly easy to fly heli?When Ibuy a real one, Iwould like to go aheadand get a good one that will do most anything. Notreally interestedin the 3Dor inverted flight for now,just a good flying mid size heli. Thanks

Mack66

For a long time I thought moving up to a T-Rex 450 or equal was the answer. However, I am now convinced that bigger is better an I've settled on either a new Hirobo SDX 50 Nitro, or a used Hirobo Sceadu EVO 50. Bigger is definitely better! Difference in cost is really not that great between the Align 450 and Hirobo SDX ( I calculate around $300 believe it or not... ).

Mach

Robertwav1

Difference is...the real thing is different however, the two are closely related. Gotta do both and they compliment each other. Absolutely the sim helps with orientation and trying new things but they are what they are. A sim and real time flight, different. I practice rolls and inverted stuff on the sim which I would not do for real cause I don't have the flight time. Combine the two...don't get lost in either...least that's what I found.

Mack66

Everyone I talked to at the NW Houston RC Club field agree with what you're saying. What they do is practice a new maneuver on the sim until they're comfortable with it, then try in on the real thing. The idea is to train your body and mind to react properly so that you will react properly to the real deal and hopefully will know what to do if things go wrong.

Makes sense to me! Better to crash with simulated $$$ than the real ones.

I once had a musician tell me that he had to play the same song 1000 times before playing in front of a live audience. Practice practice practice!

Mack

full flaps

I too had a long absence from RC for the same reason (along with a fixer-upper home). And I too satisfied my cravings on the G.P. simulator. Have you considered a small e-flite blade for your first heli? Ibought a CX2 last week and have had a blast ever since, finally getting back into RC! I never dreamed I'd be flying in my own front yard! I wasn't sure if a co-axial would be stimulating enough, but for $170(which includes a 5 channel 2.4GHz radio, completely RTF) I have no regrets. and don't worry, it flys easier than the sim. I loved it so much I bought an mCx on Sat to fly inside the house. The mCx is even easier to fly (almost too easy) and really takes a beating. You can't beat using the kitchen counter as your landing strip, but I think the CX2 outside is more fun (only during very calm wind).

magnum_junior

I learned to fly my blade mcx, got bored with it and got an Ave cpv3. Couldn't hover it and after a few crashes I bought the realflight 4.5

By the next day I could at least hover it a whole pack without breaking anything, still working on basic FF. It is a very quick and light heli and gets away kinda easy but you know what? They have a Axe cp on the sim and its about just as hard on there too. Got a E-flite G110 gyro coming for it soon...

I kept reading the 450 size is great for a beginner...bigger being more stable. So I just bought one of the trex450 clones and everything except a receiver,radio and charger for under $250. Of course, I got some extas and hopups so it could be done for even cheaper. I figure it will be fun to build and cheaper to fix!

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Sim is easier because there's no pucker factor, the weather is always perfect, tuning is always perfect etc (yes you can set it otherwise but you get the idea)

Real life is easier because in general a real helicopter is easier to see and you also have your peripheral vision which a sim can't simulate.

69rrvert

Thanks for the info guys.  I'll take a look at the 450's and and 50 size gassers.  My next question would electric or gas?  I have a vacant lot next door to me that I keep mowed so I was thinking of an electric.  My only obsticles would be the privacy fences (lol).  Are there any heli flying events around the Houston area.  I used to fly at the Brazoria Cty Modelers Club but therewere never any heli's out there.  Thanks

Mack66

I live in NW Houston, and I found that the NW Houston RC Club had a number of nitro 50 pilots + one electric pilot with 450 - 550 sized helis. Surely there is a club near Angleton where the heli pilots converge. The social interaction with these guys is priceless. You can only extract so much out of a forum staring at a screen.

If you go to http://www.nwrcc.com/viewpage.php?page_id=13 this is a page in our club that lists other area clubs. Might be worth just calling up some of the clubs near your place and ask them if they have any heli pilots active in their clubs. That's what I did, and I hit the mother load. One of the guys has been flying heli's for 25 years, so has watched the hobby develop. Nice to have a guru on hand!

Good luck! Maybe we'll meet at a fun fly some time in the future.

Mack

short_Y

The thing is that helicopter handling varies a lot with different settings...
For instance rotor RPM greatly affects it's responsiveness and stability, throttle-pitch curve changes climb-descend performance, exponential roll and pitch increases handling precision...

There are so many settings which affect performance and handling that it's really hard to set it just right.

I just got my T-rex 450 clone last week, put it together, and when i flew it was quite different than what i experienced in realflight G4.5.
The helicopter was much less responsive and collective pitch was soo sensitive.

But now that i have to wait for my tail blades and shaft due to a completely avoidable and unnecessary mistake [&o], i went and changed settings for my helicopter in the sim, added light gusty wind, and the flying experience was almost the same as flying the real thing!