Articate

Hey, guys. I'm a fairly novice RC-heli pilot. A few years back I got a Walkera 5#6 (co-axis small, but stable) that I flown for hours on end. I had some problems with the servos glitching, which actually was the only reason I ended up having to repair the thing. When I was going to have to upgrade my servo for the thrid time, I shelfed it. Now it's time to get a new chopper.

I'm quite the real simulator geek (MS Flight Sim, DCS: Black Shark, those kind of things, always had a love for choppers, got trackIR and some nice controllers for it), so I know my way around real choppers, and with this comes what I want out of an RC-chopper:

I want a stable indoor heli that might survive going out on a calm day every now and then - but the idea is to get a good indoor heli (maybe I'll get properly bitten at some point and get a larger one for outside use). I love realistic flights, so I'm in awe if I can just steadily glide through my house and land on a book in the kitchen, which I've done many times with my Walkera. I don't think speed = fun, I love percise movements and seeing a chopper come in for landing, flaring and landing in a perfect hover on a coin. My coordination's trained, and Ifeel confident as a RC-pilot, but I've never been cocky in my flight.

So, yeah. What should I get? I'm past co-axis unless you say otherwise, and I've been looking at the Buzz Fly sub-mini series. Buzz Fly BE. Or the Buzz Fly 3DS (I'm not really sure if I need a 3D chopper for indoor flight, though). The trasmitter that comes with this is a pretty expensive one, though, so I'm wondering if it would be a possible investment, as in, could it be used with future choppers, in case?

Or is there something else I should be considering? What about accessories?

nothinbetr2do

it sounds like an e-flight blade msr will work out great for you

Articate

Thanks for the tip! That's  FP, isn't it? I am enjoying the idea of a CP heli. I don't know if I would try flipping it upside down or be doing any acrobatics with it, though. Aren't there benefits from a CP over a FP even if you're not going to glide sideways and doing upside-down flips? I pretty much want a real quality small chopper for inside use, so I'd be ready to dish out for a CP, unless that's such a disadvantage and I should just stick to an FP?

trickle007

If you are looking for small indoor heli you options for a CP are pretty limited and as for Small cp's go it is alot harder to fly then a coax. A coax is self stablizing heli that can practically hover it by itself. The smaller the CP heli's get the less stable they become and are real hard to learn to fly em. If your mainly looking for indoor stick with FP the MSR mentioned above is a great little heli also Eflite comming out with a bigger version of the mSR in mid aug. called the Blade 120 SR.

Articate

Hmm, so no one has any experience or recommendation of the previous mentioned Buzz Fly 3DS?(link for those interested)

drobin

Aline and others have a 250 size that is cp.Can be flown in light winds. People I've talked to that has them like them. Cost is under $200 rtf. Something to look at.

bauerbach

yep, I too was going to say trex250.

but, it will be a handful inside, it will not be cruising through narrow hallways with ease, and its got ALOT of headspeed, so if you hit a wall, you will be doing damage to the wall, or couch, or whatever else. this will be true for absolutely any CP heli. the 250 is small, but it is definitely designed to fly outside. you could fly it inside, Ive seen vids of it being done, but you wont be doing 3d, just too out of control to risk it zooming off into your television or something.

the front yard is just out the door though, and itll have plenty of room to do its thing there.

Drumheller Dave

I love my Blade SR.....Have a Blade mcx.......msr....and a 400.....but by far the SR is the best choice I have made especially if you want to fly outside....

Articate

So people would discourage getting a CP sub-micro chopper?

For now the idea is still to get a sub-micro, because of its ease to fly indoors.

dug44

My Feedback: (2)

REVO 3.3... It's a great heli (when you send it off a 4' table-top...

midntpumkin

you should get what you want , not what others say . i have never flown CP helis ever and people always recommend a sim first , i took it like i learned to fly planes just went for it , but with a friend who was flying for a while. the smallest cp heli are the gaui 200 or the fire fox 100 , those are small only 12 or 14 inches and can be flown indoors in a large room. i say go for it and read what others have done and equiped there helis with ..... cough cough 7C cough cough

nothinbetr2do

LOL. although it's a nice truck, it's still not a heli

Articate

Ireally thinkI'm leaning away CP helis(only reason to get one would be 3D, wouldn't it? Or are there other advantages?). For nowI'd really like a stable, high-quality, small heli. I'm actually contemplating buying a second heli at the same time, BNF, for outdoor use. Really would be cool to play around outside, too.

So, will a FPcover my indoor needs? Does anyone have anything clever to say about what reciever technology to go for? (like, '<this type>is most broadly supported', or something?)

trickle007

eflite blade mSR for indoors is great little FP. Eflite is also releasing a new blade 120 SR that is an exact replica of the msr just bigger...... FP's can handle some wind so outdoor flight is possible

Articate

I am really contemplating the mSR. Looks like a neat, affordable and stable chopper. Thanks for the help so far. If anyone else has any other suggestions, tips or ideas, do tell

Is there any good, affordable Spectrum 2.4GHz trasmitters? The one that comes with the mSR doesn't really look like something you can expand to more advanced choppers with. Or am I mistaken?

nothinbetr2do

good choice, as in my first post the msr is a nice little heli, plus you can move the linkage(proformance mode) on it to make it even more fun. i fly mine with the linkage in proformance mode outside in some wind and it does ok. as for a remote, get a dx6i. it's a nice remote that will grow with you and not cost you a ton of money. after you get good with the msr, then move up. i'm now flying a modded sr and getting ready to buy me a t-rex 450 pro, and i started as i'm telling you. i went with a mcx to a msr, to a sr and now going with the 450. i fly all that i listed on my dx6i and i have room for a few more. if you take your time and learn each one, you'll some day get there. good luck

Articate

Hmm. The DX6i is not worth the investment unless I expand onto further helis, so I'm not sure what to do about that, yet. Does anyone know if the transmitter that comes with the mSR is sufficient for the mSR? Does it have trim and all essentials? What would the benefit of having the DX6i with the mSR be?

bauerbach

DX6 is a full function programmable radio. the radio that comes with the MSR is a 4chan, its not going to have nearly the customization of a programmable radio, but this comes with the footnote that the MSR will not need that customization. it has 2 settings that allow for some level of "beginner/advanced" handling that one might use remote customization to create, so there is that.

personally... I see "i went with a mcx to a msr, to a sr and now going with the 450." and I cant help but think... what a waste. I dont know if he see's it that way, probably not, but I see about 600$ in helicopters that will likely not see alot of use once he has the trex 450.

only 2 results in this hobby that I see from others, either they fizzle out and get out of the scene, or they end up with a 450+ CCPM heli, its where you can finally be free to do whatever your skills will allow.

There is nothing daunting about a 450 CCPM heli, I swear to you... I went from a CX3 to a trex 450 pro, I never even touched a sim! It can be done! I flew it in my driveway, with training gear, I have broken/chipped 4 sets of blades and bent 2 main shafts, I damaged 1 solar landscape accent light and put a dent in a garage door. and now I can fly scale, with confidence, hopefully moving to 3D soon. If you think you NEED these million intermediary helicopters to "learn" how to fly a CCPM, you dont. You just need patience and time. For what its worth, the CX3 taught me just about nothing about flying the trex450, totally different feel from how it handled to how the remote felt in my hands coming from a cheap whatever it was, to a DX7SE with solid feedback and tensioning.

Lastly, CCPM can be made to fly like a fixed pitch with programming, so that is 1 free stepping stone.

About all that remains is for you to accept that your not going to be doing 3D flight in your den, every 3d flight vid Ive seen inside, occured in a meeting hall or warehouse. Not that the MSR will be doing them anyway, it is a fixed pitch obviously. you could do a trex250 in the front yard, otherwise a 450 is probably going to need your local park or field to do 3D.

GuitarPlayer

Golly, I was going to chime in here but read your' post and thought I would say pretty much the same thing.

Articate

So I landed on he mSR. It looks just like what I'm looking for. Ended up getting 2 extra batteries (to a total of 4) with the standard transmitter. Maybe I'll upgrade a day I'm going to get a bigger heli for outdoor use, but for now, I'll be satisfied with a tiny heli to fly inside and outside on a good day! Thanks for all the help, guys. Really appreciate it!