I'm looking for a guide that will explain the important points to look for in a first electric heli. I saw a guide somewhere that was in pdf format that was way over my head. I need a dummies guide. By the way what's the difference between a brushed motor and a brushless one? Thanks.....

Hi Jack,

Have you had a look over in the electric forum? Theres lots of good info there. I started with electric and im now considering the move to nitro so i can have a bit more fun outside. I guess the biggest question is what do you want from your heli? Are you looking for something just to fly indoors, or are you looking to for something that can grow with you as you progress with the hobby? There are a lot of good beginner helis out there, but they all have pros and cons depending what you want from them.

Got to go now, but if no one has answered your brushless question i will do so later

This is a great hobby, and very addictive!

a burshed motor has these little brushes on the inside, theyre pressed against the shaft, as the motor spins, the brushes change the path of the current through the motor. the change in direction causes the magnetic field to change, causing the motor to spin (imagine it as a donkey witha a carrot. the electric field will always be a bit infront of the magnet, so as long as theres power, the magnet will keep 'chasing' the field, but it kepps moving of course, forever. like the donkey and carrot...)

the difference with a brushless motor is that you dont have these brushes, instead the magnetic field 'knows where to go' because of a little computer. the brushes are the first spot to wear on the motor, and too much voltage/ heat/ speed and they will wreck. a brushless mtoor doesnt suffer from these issues that badly, making them more resistant to wear and tear, and because brushes cause friction, it increases effieciency.

the downside is theyre more expensive because of the computer that controls them. its well worth the buy, id suggest getting one.



okay, heres how you should start and what you should be looking for.

find a heli that isnt too fragile. one example is the colco thunderbird V2, that thing is nearly indestructable. you can fly into a pole, readjust some stuff and keep flying. that saves you alot of money (plus you can buy them off ebay for like 100 dollars, and if you buy it as the spyhawk you get a neat little wireless camera too! i love it!).

now weigh your schedual. can you afford to wait a bit for parts? say you do crash the heli, my local hobby shop does not stock colco thunderbird parts. that sucks, i have to wait a week for replacement parts. if you have time, then that shouldnt be much of an issue. you can also buy a crash kit, but you never know what parts you will break.

do you want a rotor/belt/motor driven tail? a rotor uses the main engines power to drive the rotor through a spinning shaft. gears change the axis of spin to get the tail rotor spinning. this is a fair approach, but those gears will strip if you hit something with the tail.
a belt drive is much more durable, it is the best method of the three. but, i would assume you want a micro heli to start off with. most belt drive helis arent the best starters, but the yare more durable. finaly is the tail motor. pretty much all micro helis use this setup. its not bad, but tail motors will fry every few weeks, and your heli will likely crash when they do in mid-air. its inevitable, hence getting a durable heli.

now your probably going to be looking for a 4 channel heli. 6 channel helis give you more control, but its going to confuse you and just make the machine more complicated (more complicated means more things can go wrong). youd be best picking from a selection of 4ch helis.

you should also consider reading some helicopter reviews, or finding one then inquiring here about it. some helis practicly fly themselves, others are rebellious death machines. just because some company website praises a heli as being the best, doesnt mean its the best for you.

now, if you want to take steps, i suggest you start with a honey bee. its a classic begginer heli. i myself had a colco thunderbird as my first heli. its a great bird, but it can be a bit tricky to set up for a begginer so take it to a club/ hobby shop, theyll help you.

anyway, im drifting. im suppose to find you a guide, not make one lol.

as far as a guide goes, helis are pretty complicated and a big pdf on every part wont do much unless you know what theyre talking about. try finding a helicopter glossary.

when it comes down to it, id recommend people over letters any day. sign up to a rc heli club, or just ask the people here on rcu. i guess it depends on your learning style, but in my opinion, theres nothing like asking people who can interactively help you. we can provide you with alot more support then some guide can. feel free to check out the begginers forum, its a great resource. runryder is also a dedicated rc heli site, consider becoming a member there.

anyway, good luck with the hobby -Matt

oh, forgot to mention GET A SIMULATOR!!!

the free ones that come with some helis arent all that bad, but if you invest 200 bucks in one, it might save you double that in damage. remember when you get a new heli, you have to get used to its different responses and tendancies. in other words, you gotta smack it up pretty good before you realy know your chopper. save yourself the trouble, with a sim you can just download the model, making the step-ups much simpler.

i extremely recommend it, to the point where id call you a lunatic if you dont use a sim lol.

once again, good luck and welcone to helis -Matt

Thanks guys. Before I posted this I bought a cheap 2 channel electric heli that I already broke in a week. It had no control but it was fun. I almost got the hang of it too. Well the bug bit and now I want a better one. I don't need the best but would like a decent one. And money is deffinately an issue. Well after much searching on ebay I think I am going to get a Walkera 36. I origanally wanted a Dragonfly 22E but I read too many bad reviews. I guess they are very fragile and poor quality. I know the 36 is the same company but it looks like a pretty decent machine to me. I just want something I can play with and see were it goes from there. Also I want a 6 channel just because I want it all and don't want to wait to upgrade. I know, I'm impatient. I just can't see buying a 4 channel and then wnating more in a few weeks. Thanks for the motor lesson. I knew the brushes were part of the internal parts I just didn't know how the brushless ones worked or what the advantages were.

walkera[:'(]. make sure to replace the servos asap

I own both a walkera 36 and DF4, I really would recomend starting with a 4 channel, you can crash and recover sometimes with no damage, you will never crash a 36 without damage, and half the time they don't fly without upgrading to at least a brushless motor