hey all, i'm def a noob to this hobby, but i have to say for the past few months i have been researching and reading all about rc helis. i love this forum, it's such a wealth of knowledge and i can't help it anymore! i have to get one now! i've already decided what i want. i really like the blade cp pro, but i've gathered that there are alot of mixed emotions among peers with this heli. i think it's for me tho. i know it's hard to learn but i want a helicopter i can learn on up to intermediate level, and have to practice on with no unaffordable crashes on my head. i understand my 3d flying dream is alot of practice and from what i've heard crashes ahead of me, but i've also been told it's a great stepping stone to pro flying. i want to learn and soar into the sky!!! lol.....hehehe. so this is what i've figured, i'll start stock and upgrade as i learn what's what and what i'm doing. so i need a little advice on what i need to have a basic stable setup. i don't really know where to start....lets start with what's waiting in my shopping cart right now itching to be button pushed into my ownership.

blade cp pro rtf
plasti-blade flat bottom crash resistant blade set x2
dn balance charger w/2s and 3s adapters
2 1200mAh 3 cell Li-Po battery packs(what's the difference between jst and 16ga li-po's?)
training gear set
some sort of blade cp pro sim

this is what i have ready to buy. i know i know there's a ton of stuff i prolly need, but i wanna take it slow and don't wanna take a 1000 dollar header too soon. any suggestions anyone? i was told a good tail rotor is a good investment early on cause it really makes the heli much more stable than the stock rotor and thus easier to fly. is this true? and what would be a good one to throw on my bcp pro? also i keep on seeing 2200mAh li-po's, why not throw on one of those instead of a 1200mAh? they look about the same size. was that a stupid question? i'm not strapped for cash so i'll buy anything needed, but i don't want to over do it yet. bottom line i want a fun stable heli to practice on that i can upgrade later. thanx a bunch everybody for any suggestions cause i know i'm prolly missing an important component somewhere.

The only problem with running a bigger battery is the motor will get a lot hotter which will shorten the life of the motors, if you put heat sinks on the motors (main/tail) to help get rid of the heat you should be fine. I run a 2100mah on my little Hummingbird with heat sinks on the motors and I've never had a problem.

hey thanx for the advice, do you know aprox flight time the bcpp would get on a 2200mAh 3 cell? also what would be the recomended downtime even with the heatsinks. is there recomended downtimes for the motors even with just the 1200mAh's? i'm getting 2 1200's and it comes with the 800. should i take breaks(no pun intended) in between flights?

It all depends on how hard your flying, if your just learning (hovering around) I would say you will probably get around 15 to 20 minutes of flight time (but that's just a guess).

Personally myself I would take a 10 or 15 minute break between flights to let the motor cool down a little. If your just learning, you shouldn't have a problem with your motor getting real hot anyway, they only get really hot if your working the heli hard (3D flying)

One thing to remember is, make sure you let your battery cool down before you recharge it

More important while you're learning is to let yourself cool down between flights... Have a rest, think about your last flight, think about the mistakes you made and how to correct/not do it again. Let your adrenalin levels settle...

By the time you're ready for the next flight the motor will have cooled.

thanx alot guys....this is great advice. can anyone recommend a good flight sim for the blade cp pro...perferably freeware but doesn't have to be.

FMS has the twister, twister traning gear and the twister cp. Don't know how close that would be...

i just checked out FMS and it looks promising, but i don't wanna practice on a model just to find out it flies nothing like my blade cp pro. the only model that looks close is the threedee. does anyone know if the threedee on fms is similar to the blade cp pro?