Hello all.

My wife recently purchased an ESKYHoney Bee for me as a gift, but it had a defect so I returned it for a refund and decided to do some research before buying a new one.

Iam interested in something Ican fly both inside and outside. Iam probably more interested in the outdoors since we go camping a lot and I figured this would be one of the only times Iwill have the opportunity to do this. Iam new to helicopters, but I am not new to the the world of RC at all and built several cars when Iwas younger. Iam a computer guy and have a background in engineering so Idon't think an absolute beginner model is a must. Iam more interested in something reliable with 4 channels minimum. I am not sure whether the 2.4 ghz radios are the way to go or not?

What do you folks suggest?

moto imo get a EXI450 from xheli check my profile for places to buy all the other parts..
stay away from co axal heli more of a kids toy the pitch gauge was free with my order

What's your budet? You will get suggestions from $100 to $1000 if you don't state that.

No offence intended here but rc cars have little to nothing to do with rc helis. Being a computer guy and engineer also has little to do wtih RC helis. I'm not trying to be mean here, just giving you the reality. I've got 20 RC cars and 10 RC helis, I'm an engineer as well and used to build computers as a side business. Believe me, none of those skills will really help you in this hobby.

First you need to decide on a budget before you start, the honey bee fixed pitch is a good starter heli and definitely challenging. You will crash though, everyone does. Flying RC helis is a skill that is beyond driving RC cars. With RC cars you understand that you go forward/backwards, left and right, not rocket science since most of us drive everyday. With helis you can do those as well but you can also go up and down, roll in any direction and fly inverted (on a cp heli). You need to constantly control the heli.

are there even 20 rc cars worth owning???

I guess that's up to the owner isn't it? Some of them are duplicate back up cars but I have everything from 1/18 cars, trucks and monster trucks to 1/10 touring cars, trucks and buggies to 1/8 electric and nitro buggies and truggies.

As for helis, I have a co-axial, 300, 450, 500, 550 and 600 size.

That's a fair question...I would like to get started for under $400 if possible.

I would beg to differ. If you think just anyone can pick up a tool and fix even an RCcar you are wrong, let alone a helicopter which as you have stated is much more complex. My point is that I am very technically minded and have never failed at anything Ihave put my mind to, so Ido not consider myself some who needs to start at the very bottom. How can you say that I don't have a leg up on someone who doesn't know anything about RC electronics whatsoever? I am not going to claim to know even one tenth of what you know about RChelicopters or RCcars for that matter, but I disagree with your assessment of how people's skills and what they bring to the table when starting a hobby can impact what they get out of it.

From what Ihave read the honey bee is a great starter kit, but Ithink I want to get my feet a little more wet than the very basic beginner. Iam not looking to get the most advanced helicopter either since Iagree with you that IWILLcrash. It's like motorcycles (one of my other hobbies), its not a matter of if, its a matter of when.

Thanks for the feedback. Anyone have any additional suggestions? The EXI450 that Dude suggested does look like a great kit.

when you say you can fly in side where?, if you have a 16x16 floor space to learn with, then maybe a eccp type but the cheap way would be a fix pitch walkera 4 or the like, as the bug bit's your end up spending much more than you will know so your first heli will be cheap anyway so don't try and buy more heli than your skill can handle, eccp's are good and you can learn on them, I did, but they cost money all the time, there's not one crash that didn't cost me money and time,
my friend has learnt with a walkera 4 that I moded for him, he learns by crashing and most of the time it costs nothing, it just bounces, you can only go so far with a fix pitch but one year in and he's just got to a point where he's flying a walkera 60 eccp I built for him and the 4 still gets used every week,
your soon learn you get what you pay for and most end up with heli's costing nearer a grand than a few hundred, so don't think of your heli as one that will last, it's just to see if you get the bug,
I know I went up market for my second heli, the radio cost twice as much as my first heli, and worth every peney, thats what the cheap RTF heli's do, just get you in to the hobby, you then spend all your time trying to make them fly right, and up grade them, servo's that can take a crash and a radio that doesn't glitch and battery's with anothe power for a good flight, brushless motors'ESC' metal head parts a good charger ect and all the old parts are scrap, it's better to buy a cheap fix pitch and learn how to make that work and fly it and then move strait up to the best 450 eccp you can buy and fit all the best parts to it, that way you don't spend loads in the long run on a cheap RTF eccp ,

Thanks for the info...good stuff.

So we have the ESKYHoney Bee, EXI450, Walkera 4 that you guys have mentioned. I have also been looking at the Heli-Max Novus, what do you guys think about them?

I really like the EXI450 and the Novus so far, I am going to go check out the Wakera 4 now...

Sorry I think I misunderstood you and then you misunderstood me. I'm wasn't commenting on your ability with electronics or tools but your ability to fly. What I'm saying is that FLYING a heli has nothing in common with driving a car. Being good with tools is a skill that has nothing to do with being an engineer really, I happen to be good with tools but the number of engineers out there that feel superior because they have a degree is depressing and quite frankly embarrassing at times (not saying that you're one of those guys, just that there are too many). One of the best guys I know with heli mechanics is... a mechanic. The head mechanic at a golf course actually.

I've also seen a ton of RC car guys think how fun and easy helis are then see them trying to sell their $1000 heli in a month because they got frustrated.

Basically, I'm just saying don't be cocky, that leads to crashes and high repair costs.

As for your budget, $400 is a decent amount but not enough for a really good heli. The exi that "dude" pointed out is a kit only. No electronics or radio. To that kit you need to add 4 servos, an esc, motor, gyro, radio (tx and rx) and batteries (and a lipo charger if you don't already have one). After you do all that you might be able to squeeze by on $400.

If you can pony up another $70 or so I'd say go with the blade 400. it's RTF w/ everything (including battery and charger) and is a good entry-mid level 450 size heli. it also have very good parts support at most hobby shops. Another choice is the esky belt cp v2, not as good as the blade 400 and the parts support is mostly online but also less than half the price of the blade 400. With $400 you can afford an extra couple of batteries and some spare parts. remember that you'll only get around 8 minutes of flight time per battery.

If you want to build yourself then also look at the TT E325 kit, you might recognize thunder tiger from cars as well and they are even better known in helis.

Druss,

No worries bro, that is the downside of the internet and other text communications. Its hard to portray and more importantly perceive emotions, body language and facial expressionswhich make up a larger part of language and communication than people realize.

Thanks for the info...I'll take a look at the blade. A few years ago Iwould have been much more interested in building one from scratch, but now Iam interested in the idea of being able to try it out right away. Irealize Iwon't be able to, nor should Ieven try to, fly this thing around the yard or house on the first shot and it will take some time and practice, Ijust like the idea of being able to try right away.

I am going to continue to do some more research over the next couple of days, Iam in no real rush at this point.

Thanks!

ACE

What do you guys think about the Walkera 4G3?

Neat little heli, walkera has a poor reputation for their electronics but for $160 might be a fun little heli. I would not personally choose it as my only heli though. Would not fly well outdoors in wind.

<span style="font-size: larger"><span style="font-family: Arial">I ended up shying away from the 6 channel helis and steered clear of the CP ones. Ifigured 4 channel FPis a good way to start. Iread up a bit on the Walker 43B and found a few places that said the <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Heli-Max Novus FP 2.4GHz is pretty much the same thing so Idecided to give it a whirl (no pun intended). One of the biggest deciding factors is that I was able to get it through a hobby shop Iam familiar with, which is important to me in case there are any issues. Iwill post up some pics and maybe some video when it comes in.</span></span></span>

building your own is a way to get the best, it's the real RC stuff, it does what you think RC heli's should be like with the price to match, RTF is the cheap end or more like a toy, I'm not knocking RTF stuff, it's what got me into the hobby but my RTF heli is not the same heli I bought when I started flying and it's a poor second to my new heli, not an RTF but one I made, it cost a lot more than my RTF and is the better heli cos of it,
you get what you pay for but most don't want to spend 800 pounds on there first heli, shame as that's what your want in the end and any money you spend that's not buying the black angle is money wasted, but just over 100 pounds on [link=http://2.4Ghz Walkera 4G1B RTF FREE TRAINING LEGS on eBay (end time 25-Jul-09 16:28:15 BST)]2.4Ghz Walkera 4G1B RTF FREE TRAINING LEGS on eBay (end time 25-Jul-09 16:28:15 BST) [/link] is not to bad and it does things the more expensive eccp ones can't like fly after a crash,
you want a light heli with a slow rotor speed, they don't look go and look cheap compered to the eccp's one's but it's not looks you buy by is it ?
[link=http://2.4Ghz Walkera 4G1B RTF FREE TRAINING LEGS on eBay (end time 25-Jul-09 16:28:15 BST)]2.4Ghz Walkera 4G1B RTF FREE TRAINING LEGS on eBay (end time 25-Jul-09 16:28:15 BST) [/link]

Not to slam dunk your idea of a fun heli, but the 4G3 or Novus is pretty much for an advanced flier. I'm afraid that just just about any RTF heli you may look at will be a complete waste of money. The experience is ok and it will be fun for the most part, but you'll be ticked on Fridaywhen you haveto toss $200 worth of heli in the garbage thatyou bought onMonday because you crashed it and can't get parts for a month(or ever in some cases).Getting one to last longer than a week (especially in the hands of a green pilot) is tough even for someone who knows what the heck they are doing! They are built with very cheap materials, the electronics are very poor, they can be a real pain to program (especially the Walkeras), parts get extremely expensive, and you usually end up giving up on them shortly after buying. Give or take, you'll toss $150-$350 into the wind by buying one of these when you could use that money towards a much betterand more worthy heli.

Without hiding any facts or truths, here's the reality: A real hobby grade helicopter is going to cost youreal hard earned cash. There's no way around it (unless you somehow inherit one for free). They require long hours of practice, can be very tricky to work on, they're expensive to repair, and you'll spend more time waiting for parts than you will spend flying.
The good news is, you'll be much happier witha good helibecause1.) it'll do what you tell it to. 2.)you can get parts for it. 3.)you can get SUPPORT for it. 4.) you won't spend the money twice. 5.) if you decideto get out, you can get at least some of your money back out of it (RTF you could barely giveit away).

Cost is the only big downside to getting a nice heli, but you are the one whohasto decide what you are going toget. Ifyou want to doit the smart way, you'd invest in a good flight simulator bfore even thinking about buying a heli ofANYkind. Everyone thinks they know what they are doingwhen they get into helis and they are in for a very, very rude awakening whn they get their hands on the sticks.It takes a long time to learn how to simplyhover them and trying to learn on a hunk of junk heli is only going to make it harder!

I apologize if I sound rude or pushy, but RC helis are anything but easy to learn and should be taken on with trepidation. They are very fun, but demand tons of respect, but are well worth it once you do learn. Also, they are much like riding a bike. Once you get it down, you can fly any of them! Good luck, and feel free to ask any further questions.

I ended up getting a Novus FP and have already been flying it somewhat successfully. I know you guys don't want to be rude in your responses, but you do come across as being quite arrogant and not everyone is created equal.

I am not going to say Ihaven't crashed. Iam not going to say that Ihaven't replaced the blades already, but to make it sound as tough as you guys make it is a bit of an overstatement. Sure if you grab the thing and go full throttle you are in trouble, but if you take your time, tweak the trim as needed, make adjustments here and there, learn each of the controls and most importantly take your time you can learn to fly in a few days. Istill have a lot to learn and Iam by no means even an intermediate flyer, but some of you guys are making this sound ALOTtougher than it is and are blowing things way out of proportion IMHO. These are toy copters FFS.

I also ride motorcycles and some guys are very similar with their feedback. "Buy a small bike because you WILLdrop it", "don't get his bike it will kill you", "bla, bla, bla". Be smart, do your research, take your time, and most importantly be careful and you will be fine.

Maybe I am an exception to the rule, Idon't know...

Now for my 2 cents! Firstly, I agree that flying this heli ain't like anything else! None of my other skills and experiences helped! I started with a $125 Walkera that was under the Christmas Tree; probably spent less that 10 minutes in the air over the coarse of four months, with all the rest of that time spent waiting on parts from less than quality distributors getting stuff shipped directly from China. Total waste of time and money, other than as one of you said; "it gave me the bug". On the advice of locals, I then spent $1,100 on a Raptor 30 nitro with a Spectrum DX7 transmitter. But the most important purchase was the $150 simulator! Can't overstate how important that practice is! START THERE! After that, anything in the 450 size or bigger will be a blast. Otherwise, I'm with Skunkworx on every single point.
Donnie
Memphis

yes you are

First off, we are not trying to misguide you or tell you false things, but you have to understand that the heli you have is not the same thing as a normal, collective pitch heli. The Walkera 4-3 (AKA-Novus FP) is meant as a segue between the full-on helis and the co-axials that pretty much fly themselves. If you had bought a full CP heli, you'd be in an entirely different boat. The good thing is that you have the slower response of an FP, but the full control of a CP. Just know that it's like riding a moped, not a full on race bike. Just like in motorcycles, there is a reason for the warning. Does that mean you can't jump right ona Hyabusa and learn? Nope, but you'd be pretty foolish to do so, right?

Anyways, the problem with most new pilots is they do exactly what you said; they go full throttle, they don't bother setting it up, they have no clue how to handle it, and they get all pissy when it doesn't work the way they see it on Youtube. Honestly, how many guys have you seen that got CBR, YZF, GSX-R, and 636's as their first bikes?Just about all of them under theage of 25 right? Samegoes for helis. Our main goal is to help you get past the first stages which are always the most critical. It's really easy to get scared away from helis because they are incredibly compliatedat first, and there are lots of people who fail at it when they should have succeeded.

Also, not to sound like a "heli-snob", but the tought that you can truly learn to fly a heli in a few short days or hours is very incorrect. This is not to say some are not better or faster at learning the stuff, but I've yet to see someone hover "successfully" on their first few attempts (even with a co-ax it's tough). Helis have a pretty steep learning curve and they're not as simple as most people see them. (Trust me, hand them the controls to a simulator and watch the amazement on their faces as they bash the snot of the thing for the first few hundred attempts) Most people don't care to respect them enough at the beginning and either quit early, or never seem to get very far with them. We recommned the simulator because you can use it throughout your heli career (I'm still using the original G3.5 I bout nearly 3 years ago) and it's free to crash.The real thing costs every time. But if you want to do it your way, eventually you will be repeating the exact words we are saying right now if you stick with it long enough.

One warning about calling them toys (including your dinky Novus FP):While the littler ones are not as much of a concern, you still need tobe reverent of the inherent dangers of using them.If you smacked into someone with a slightly larger heli, you could do some serious damage. If you'd bought anything larger, you'd definately need a bit more caution before simply going bashing around the garage. Ever taken a moto safety course? Ever wondered why they are uber strict with the SAFETY rules of the course? It's to get you into good habits before the bad ones begin and helicopters are deadly in the wrong hands.

<span style="color: #ff0000"><span style="font-size: small">"Be smart, do your research, take your time, and most importantly be careful and you will be fine."

</span></span>Famous last words my friend....if everyone followed this statement, there'd be less of a need for the statements we were pointing out.

Good advice! I was an idiot at first and went out and bought a t-rex 450 se v2 clone. I thought it was gonna be "no problem" learning how to fly a Heli...after about four major crashes and rebuilding my 450 about 5 times, I learned really quick this is NOT a toy, it is dangerous, and that you must invest A LOT of time AND money in learning to fly. I am happy to say that after about a moth of training, I can now control a somewhat "resonable" hoover, but by no means do I even consider myself to be even at an intermediate level as of yet. I just bought a Novus FP to practice with in the winter months coming up...hopefully that will help to retain my new found skills and even to sharpen them up. I do not think these guys are too harsh...but rather want to convey the fact of PRACTICE, PRACTICE,PRACTICE!
Wish me luck lol