rjm1982

RSL, i see your standpoint, and sort of agree with it, but your standpoint is differs from the others who im arguing with, mainly because you inject intellegence into your argument.

At the same time, you shouldnt excuse any of them because you havent flown them. The blade CP is a very nice little chopper, and not too hard to fly. Its harder to fly than a t-rex or bigger heli, but thats more to do with wieght than build quality.

The thing we forget is that these things are kinda like living things. Look at our DNA, most life on earth shares the same 90ish percent, if not, it doesnt live. Kinda like helies, or planes even. They have to be 95% right to even fly...the ones that are really bad are still in that "95% right" category...otherwise it would never fly.

The cheap price goes both ways though, remember that... It also lets people get a taste for the hobby without the need to spend 1000 bux first, so then when it comes time, they are more likely to spend the 1000 bux because they know that they are really interested in it

Plus, they really arent bad for learning on. Dude at my LHS started on a blade, learned to fly, and picked up a Joker as his second heli, he puts well over 2 grand worth of equipment in the air when he flys, not to mention the cameras he puts on it...and the only training he has prior to that was self taught on the blade...

RSL_Mongoose

Thats the whole point, if I had for instance went out and purchased one of the toy electrics such as the dark knight and there are several varietys of them out there, for my first "R/C Heli" and never got the thing to fly let alone get the support that some of the better known manufacturers offer to get the thing in the air, do you think the thought of spending $1000 would ever enter my mind? Heck no, I would stay as far from R/C as I could get.

I wish my buddies dark knight would fly, I would like to give it a go myself and did actually try, the thing wouldn't get off the ground, it probably could be made to fly with a better radio as the one that comes with it has no programming whatsoever, its stuff like this that are never mentioned in the adds that irk me.

rjm1982

I get ya...trust me...its a double edged sword.

I have seen a dark night, and it did fly, but it was the most unstable FP i have ever seen...

THere are some bad ones, but these guys were grouping the good ones like blades and CP2s in their arguements...

Dezynco

I live in a county where the "elitist's" basically caused a club to split into the "electric crowd" and the "glow and gas crowd". Instead of trying to help the new and interested, they turned up their noses, especially at the "park flyers". I just hate to see people complain about all the "30 day wonders" and never make an effort to bring them into the fold. Have your club take out an ad in the local paper, place a PSA on the local radio, put out a few flyers! Educate these guys about the importance of safety and frequency control, it will only take a little effort. These "30 day wonders" may be willing to throw their money into your local flying club's kitty!

I still belong to both flying clubs in our area, and I've seen the new "electric only" club double its membership in one year! And yes, it is an AMA sanctioned site. Basicaly there is a runway/landing strip and some orange safety net! That's it - so simple!

rjm1982

Thats the idea dez, but these guys wont lift a finger to help these guys out...its "below" them...

Dezynco

I got my start with one of those little AM park flyer/ glider things. I never new a RC club existed in my area until a friend took me out there to the field one day. I now have my AMA, club membership, and about $10,000 dollars worth of RC stuff. I started building from kits and scratch (had to buy tools for that), and designed a few of my own! All because someone spent a little time to "show me the ropes". That little glider is long gone now, and I probably would have quit the hobby with that first crash!

RSL_Mongoose

If your gonna buy "TOYS" go to the toy store for help!

Dezynco

See what I mean! I rest my case!

credence

My Feedback: (2)

Hahaha, it's like arguing with a brick wall.. [sm=lol.gif]

Dezynco

Thinking about volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club to start a model airplane building and flying class. There's no way that most of those kids can afford to drop $500.00 into this hobby. I've talked to the LHS about ordering a case of those RTF "toys" and get a bunch of kids into this hobby... might cost $35.00 each (or less!).

If 1 out of 10 kids stays with it, that will be great! Might even get a few helicopter pilots!

Mickey01

First of all i would like to say hi.
Also i am one of the !QUOT!30day wonders!QUOT! as you so called us. I have one of the Dark knight helicopters. that was given to me when someone found out i wanted to get a nice helicopter to fly. But i didn't have the 1000 for the kit and the motors i wanted to do. Just to watch it get destroyed in front of me because i tired to fly it with out having some clue how to do it.

Not real sure what sports you have done in your life or groups etc... but i can telly this i have restored old cars since I was 10years old. and i have learned from the school of hard knocks from this. But i know what i know. So should i start calling everyone that retires and tries to build a old car a 30 builder?
i can honestly say that they have helped me out in my hobby because they get tin to far in over their head and we come and bail them out for next to nothing i have picked up half restored cars/trucks for less then 500.00 and turned it around in 6 months for 2500.00 .

So if you would get off your soap box and stop crying over the fact that others might like to get in to the same sport as you and they are not buying top of the line helicopters for you to admire. then maybe your in the wrong sport.

I have to admit there is nothing like the feeling of having one of my cars completely finished and seeing the reaction of some man that is 40-60 years old have a smile on his face saying how nice the car is and then he sees me talking to some one and ask if i know the owner and when i say it is me he cant figure out weather to run or ask questions.

My first car was a 56 chevy 2dr belair. and i have own several other cars that were nice to include camaros. chvelles and even a few trucks.
But the best part is i allow others to get interested in the sport and also find something that is from their past that they can have and enjoy.

So if i want a cheap bird and learn to fly it and i ask you for some help on how to do it Be proud at the fact that you know how but do be a ***** about it. that is the thing that will kill the hobby. If you walked up to me and asked me anything on my car i would answer your questions or i would even be willing to help you figure out something on your car if you needed it. And i DO IT WITH OUT BEING A ***** TO THOSE WHO NEED THE HELP!! IT SHOWS THE SPORT AND THE ENTHUSIAST ARE MADE AND HELPED OUT TO BECOME A STRONGER SPORT.

off my soap box now and thanks to all those who have offer help to me here.
to those that are to good to help someone trying to get in to the sport i feel sorry for you being that closed minded to helping others have intreast in your sport. guess I'm not good enough.

thanks.

30 day wonder!

Bregga

rjm1982 thank you for relaying the sediments of some of us "30 day fliers" I work I don't make alot of money but enough and 1000 to 1500 for a heli is to much to crash and burn because i dont know what i'm doing. If I cracsh and burn a 70 dollar ebay job no biggie i order parts fix it and start again. Being ignored because someone owns a big dollar setup and mine is a toy is lame! I'm learning I read alot and have actually purchased 3 more helis I love them i've always wanted one so i'm doing it I fly in my back yard which is plenty far enough away that I will not interfer with anyone elses or in my back room who knows maybe in a couple years after learning with the electrics i'll move up to a gas but thanks again rjm1982 for trying to make them understand some people are just set in their ways and it doesn't matter what you tell them they are gonna keep on being that way.

evan-RCU

Are you talking about poeple like me? I can fly my Picco Z really well.... I"M A HELO PILOT!!!!!!!!

evan-RCU

I'm going to get a Blade, and then I can fly a real helo like you, bet I'm better at it too!!!

evan-RCU

Next we'll have a post saying mine's bigger than your's like in the Giant Scale Forums............


Oh, it's not a real helo unless it's got a .91 in it!!!!


Gassers don't count.... especially if it has a pull start..........

credence

My Feedback: (2)

Wow, this post is still here? Talk about a relic!

Bregga

evan-RCU

you are exactly the type I was referring to.

My Name Is Brad

Wow, this is VERY entertaining to read. I find it quite comical to find grown men *****ing back and forth on the internet about inexpensive rc electric helis. Take a minute to stop and think about what you are arguing about, and maybee you will see that it is pathetic, just pathetic. Arguing on the internet is useless and dumb, let alone arguing about something as stupid as you guys are in this thread.

Anyone has the right to try this hobby without spending a fortune, and for those who think otherwise: YOU are the ones HURTING this hobby and steering people away from it. So, in the end, swallow a knife or do something, because nobody wants to hear your stupid, immature comments.


oh, and rjm1982, you have it right on, and I agree with you fully. Everything else I want to say, you have said it already.

evan-RCU

What type? You presume to know me by some tounge in cheek posts I make here? I have been flying helos for over 20 years and I do have a Picco and I do help any and all people, all, no matter skill level, age, or what they want to fly.....

Glad YOU know what type person I am...

syclic

I have been flying R/C for over 30 years and helicopters for over 20. In that twenty years I have owned and flown many different types and brands of helis. From 30 to 50 to 60 to 90 to gasser helis, and from micro FP to CP to 3D to mini 3D to 550mm blade size electric.

The way I look at this type of discussion, is that anyone who flies the bigger nitro stuff, cannot form a rounded opinion unless they have tried the mini-micro electric stuff AND vise versa....the micro electric flyer cannot be too quick to judge the flyer with the bigger stuff.

Over the past 3 years or so, I have owned or do own (and fly regularly) a micro electric FP, CP, 3D, mini-electric (450 size), 500/550 size electric, 30, 50, 60, 90 nitro and a couple of gassers. I enjoy ALL of them for various and different reasons. I tell you this to give you an idea of what experience base I am coming from.

I have also seen a LOT more clone garbage hit the market in the Micro heli area then in any of the other areas. IMHO, that is probably why the more "died in the wool" R/C heli flyers consider the micro area more of a toy then a legitamate "R/C helicopter". In many ways I can agree with them. On the other hand, a good micro electric can be a lot of fun in a gym or outside on a calm day.

I also get frustrated when someone comes to me after buying a POS off the net, cannot get it to fly and then expects me to spend hours redesigning it with parts from other manufacturers that I know work as they should. For awhile, this became so regular that I just stopped doing that and would just tell them to not throw good money after bad. I would then tell them to bite the bullet and get something that worked properly out of the box, that had good parts support, and did not have motors, electronics and other parts that failed every time someone farted.

Some I told this to, may have thought it was arrogant, but when I am out flying I also like to do that - fly - not waste my whole Saturday afternoon solving someone elses problems. I have trouble understanding why I should spend more time solving his problems then he spent researching the value of his purchase? If his purchase was simply where he could buy an R/C helicopter for the least money rather then which flies properly with the least maintenance etc. Then why should he expect others to spend the time doing his work for him?

I have also seen these POS's turn off many who could not get help, or did not have the money to buy something better, leave the hobby as they became frustrated with what they had. And what of those who left due to boredom and not enough budget? Whose grandmother cannot fly a Blade CX indoors for example. So obviously, those who cannot afford more, but who are up to more of a challenge, may well get bored with such a heli very quickly, and abandon the hobby.

On the other hand, what of those who do continue to enjoy them indoors, and the better ones outdoors (I fly my micros, including the Hummingbird FP, regularly outdoors when it is calm enough, and the 3D PRO in some pretty good winds). Yes they do have the right to do so.

But I have to be honest. If I can go to the club field and fly the bigger stuff (electric/nitro/gasser), I get far more enjoyment out of them, so time and weather permitting, I will always do that instead .

Would I consider myself an R/C helicopter flyer if I could fly my CX around my living room, but could not fly the 3D Pro or my larger helis? No I would not. Do those who ONLY fly micros think they are? Maybe, maybe not, only they can answer that.

But I look at it this way. We all know that racing go carts is a leisure/hobby and that, though they can get pretty costly, they cost a lot less then racing full size cars as a leisure/hobby. So there are more that can afford racing go-carts, but I do not think any that do, consider themself race CAR drivers.

But after all is said and done - it is not how much money one has wrapped up into his leisure time that matters, it is how much fun he is getting out of it. Sometimes when I see the look of rapture on the face of someone who is just learning to hover a low cost entry level heli, I can see the same joy as I felt when I hovered my first Shuttle in 1985. Or the look on someones face, when they come back from the first flight in which they held their heli in an inverted hover, with their relatively inexpensive entry level 3D helicopter (electri or nitro) it makes me realize that they are getting a lot of "fun bang" for the dollar they have invested.....maybe even more then I do when I push my big blockers hard.

rjm1982

Well, time has passed since I lasted posted in this thread...(who dug this up, and why?)

But heres my take.

I started with a Blade CP (not the pro, the original like 2 weeks after it came out)

I now own a Raptor 30 and a Raptor 60.

Having flown big and small, I still say the small helis have a place, and a solid one at that. Not just inside. My CP still sees action. Was it hard as hell to fly? Yeah. Was it the heli's fault? No. All the time now i see people with a cp going "this thing is a POS!" and the other nitro pilots who have never flown one agree with them. Then I say "let me fly it" and I do, and I fly it as smooth as I fly my raptors. Then they go and learn to fly, with just a few tips from me (my favorite is "forget that the sticks even have a center resting position")

Once someone sees that their little electric thing really CAN fly, they tend to learn faster, because they recognize that the problem is them, not the heli. All it takes is a little time and encouragement. I for one, am glad that I learned on the CP, because I learned to actually FLY a heli and not let the weight/gyro fly it for me.

evan-RCU

I agree whole heartedly except that most of the poeple that are buying the "substandard" helos don't know it. They do really need help. When they ask I will do my best to help in anyway, yes sometimes it wastes a whole saturday but usually the person is very thankfull and if we didn't have the face time while helping them they would probably not learn what is out there that's better(and there's always something better no matter what you have) and would leave and not return toa really good hobby.

This isn't just about Helos, or even R/C in general, it's this way with just about everything in life. We all have to lend a helping hand, none of us would be here if we hadn't gotten one from someone in our pasts.

To those of you that took offense to my light hearted posts above, I'm sorry if it offended I was posting tounge in cheek. Also a little arguing is fun sometimes....

That all said, I did buy a Picco Z for my wife for Christmas and while it's not a "real" helo (heck these are all toys to some extent) it was just as much fun as anything else I fly.

reaaz

Hey guys.. everything technology is going micro these days.. heck i even see researchers have developed a COIN sized wafer micro gas turbine that revs at an incredible 1/2million rpms... So who knows, these "park flyer micro wonder helis might be sporting turbine power in the not to distant future!! now won't that be cool
I'm just glade i live in this age where we can acctually enjoy a hobby such as this... Big or small Helis, they are all wonders.

I will tell you something too. ppl who see you flying & become interested enough to jump in most often ask you what, where, how much, etc... I guess its part of being in a hobby like this. but i think you should at the very least recommend good starting packages to get OR simply point them to a good site.. like Heliproz.com that only sells reputable helis.

RonHill

My Feedback: (1)

Then don't help them.

If it were not for these POS heli's I would not have started flying them. After 20 years flying planks all I found was a bunch of ******* heli guys that would not help a guy learn no matter how much I wanted to learn. So after I found one of these POS helis' I now have several helis, from Blade CP's to .50s and planning on buying a .90 soon. Can hover inverted, piro flip and do rolling auto's....All due to getting a 200 buck POS and getting bit by the bug. I don't plan on getting the ******* attitude I often see. In fact before I moved to Dallas, most of the heli guys I knew seemed to try and keep people away.

These POS helis bring people into the hobby. If they do not have the mentality, they will fade away after dropping a few bucks on the way out. While I can understand your attitude....Hell, I think everyone should have to build their second plane...But not gonna happen. Like it or not these toys are the future and the people behind the sticks are the people that will keep this hobby alive.

MikeMas

Steve,

Sounds like your having a bad day dude!

I look at it this way, those little throw-away chopppers really are a great way to test the waters.