I have recently purchased a Raptor 30 ARF. I am a complete novice when it comes to helicopters. Could anyone out there please advice me on the needed upgrades for the helicopter. I am not looking for the ooh-aah factor, just wish to make the heli fly smoother and probably last longer. Also any links or advice on setup would be appreciated. thanks to all in advance.
Bill

Hello Bill,

Welcome to the wild world of helicopters.

As a novice there is nothing that needs upgraded on the Raptor as it will do just fine for you right out of the box. Read up on some of the assembly procedures listed on the web and it will fly fine for you.

When you get more experience under your belt you can start adding upgrades. Some of us call crashes upgrade opportunities.

For now spend money on fuel and learn the helicopter. You'll have lots of time to upgrade it at a later date.

If you can find someone in your area that flies and have them go over the machine and help set it up properly. That will go a long way towards getting started with the machine.

Good luck and have fun with it.

I too am new to helis and have been researching the Raptor 30 and the only thing I have heard about with the ARF is to make sure the tail rotor hub has been loctited.

Apparently some of these have come apart with catastrophic results.

Then the best thing to spend your money on is to burn fuel!

There is a one-piece tail hub thingy available.

I've flow my raptor completely stock(w/ 49BB and OS32) for the past few months. Works great. Now that I'm a little more involved, next season I'll probably add a few things such as glass blades, better muffler, header tank, and maybe carbon tail blades and a bigger battery.

Also Change the fuel line inside your tank. Use the extra fuel line that comes with the kit. Make sure boom support screws are not rubbing on tank. No upgrades are needed. Metal washout base if you have too. $10 great8lakes.com and a tt upgrade muffler (or equal) would help alot with tuning and power.

Just my 2 cents

Spend $500.00 on fuel, One gal. at a time.

Then you can spend $500.00 on up grades.

The best upgrade would be a completely different helicopter that is made of higher quality parts. Mine was a piece of crap from the beggining because so many parts would break and wear out. Try the Hirobo Sceadu because it is built better.

Fred

Your Raptor will serve you well. Mine has taken me to nose-in hover, rolls, loops and flips in just over two months. I agree that fuel is your best investment at this time.
The only upgrade you should purchase is a header tank. I bought a Hayes 2 oz. tank at my LHS and a piece of thin flat bendable metal and made my own bracket. Total price was $6.00. It really makes a difference in keeping the mixture constant from beggining to end of tank.
If you take care of your raptor it will take care of you.

I have a raptor and a ergo 30 that I have been using to teach myself to fly. They both seem to fly great, though the Ergo 30 seems to be more stable in a hover. I am told this is due to the Ergo being a hevier heli. The raptor is cheaper to repair though. Only thing I spend my money on was fuel and most important a simulator, oh and Rays Helicopter book since I needed all the help I could get setting the things up. Great book in my opininon.
Good luck
Matt

If you have the ARF there are a few things to check over before flight. I am too lazy to write them so look at my page under Helis - ThunderTiger - R30

http://members.telocity.com/fritzthecat

Fritz

The main thing is enjoy it and have fun.There will time for upgrades later.Did you notice how some people always have negative comments about everyones equipment?

GO CHECK THIS LINK OUT FOR RAPTOR INFO


http://www.raptortechnique.com/

Thanks again for all the posts, excellent information.