Hello everyone,

I am wanting to get into flying helis really bad but I keep getting bogged down in the multitude of choices before me.

I have flown my friends Blade CX enough to know that starting there isn't going to hold me for long. So rather than buy the CX2 and then immediately move up, I want to buy an intermediate size heli (Walkera 36, Raptor G2, LMH Corona). I know from reading that this can be a big jump in skill level. I am totally fine with doing tons of SIM time, practicing hovering for months in my garage, etc. I am not impatient but I don't want to spend money on something that I am only going to want to replace right away. Trex's come highly recommended but are a little bit of a reach for me price wise. Going in, I want to spend around $300 or so. I know I can get in for this but am I just fooling myself and I will ultimately hate my choice and/or end up spending enough for a Trex anyway?

I would like to buy a new setup but it seems that there are a lot of people selling pretty tricked out stuff on RCU and Ebay for good prices. Will buying used gear bite me or does the benefit of getting a heli that has already been upgraded and tweaked out way the risk?

Is the Trex the end-all-be-all? It seems that no matter what make or model I research here (except for Trex) that someone hates it. You either buy one, only to immediately upgrade the motor, ESC, etc. or you spend the BIG bucks upfront. Is it a "spend it now or spend it later" kind of deal? All of the makes I listed above seem to have helis that will fit my current and future needs but which one is the least headache, best product, most parts... you get the idea.

I don't mind spending money, I just don't want to waste money.

Any and all opinions are welcome.

Thanks!

My advice is to get what are comfortable getting. You search long enough and you will find some T-Rex haters as well. I started off with a Shogun V2 and now own a 450SA. Ilove both them. I use the Shogun V2 to try new stuff since the investment is not as great as the T-Rex if I crash.

You are right about the CX not holding you very long. There is nothing about flying the CX that will really translate later into flying a collective pitch helicopter with a tail rotor, other than contolling something in the air with your fingers So if your ultimate goal is to fly "real" RC helis, it would be money wasted and better off spent on a simulator.

I started with a Blade CP and had it about 5 months before I got tired of replacing tail motors and the 4 in 1, and it's twitchy tail. It was a nice cheap heli to get started with, but I still ended up spending several hundred more dollars in repairs before I mastered hovering and flying it. I moved up to a Trex 450 SE and spent about $1200 for a complete package with all the high end components and a nice radio. I've never looked back. The Trex is so easy to hover compared to the Blade CP. But I don't think I'd want to start there due to it's incredibly sensitive response to the sticks. A beginner would probably have a hard time with it, especially without help from an experienced pilot. But it can be done. It is a real beast. When you move the sticks hard, it jumps immediately in response. I've got around 100 flights on my Trex and only 2 crashes.

Whatever you buy, you are going to crash it. I would highly recommend a simulator. I balked at a simulator when I started, as I couldn't see spending $200 on a sim when my helicopter cost $225. But after crashing repeatedly while trying to hover, I finally broke down and got RealFlight G3. After a couple days on the sim, I was able to hover the Blade CP through an entire battery without any problems. So if I were you, since you aren't into it yet, I would go out and buy a good simulator now, and start flying there. Then when you master hovering both nose out and nose in, go get your first heli.

I'm not familiar with the Walkera36, Raptor G2, or Corona, so I can't give you any advice there. There are probably some good deals out there on used gear, but being new to the hobby, you could end up buying a nightmare and never know it. Then, the first time you fly, it goes out of control because of some problem, and you crash thinking it was you. With new equipment, you know what you are getting and you gain the experience of building it, taking it apart, rebuilding it, and setting it up. A big part of RC helis is becomming an experienced heli mechanic as well. Properly setting up some of the heads on these helis can be real intimmidating for a beginner, so used stuff over the internet could come to bite you in the wallet. I would stay away form used gear as a beginner, unless you have a friend that flies and is experienced, that can check out something that you buy used over the internet.

Good luck in your adventure.....

Doug

If you're wanting to jump right in with a CP heli, I would not recommend you get any of the 'cheap' chinese RTF micros. I too started with a Blade CP, and I gurantee you it would have been cheaper to start with a T-REX in the long run. Those little micros are so fidgety and poorly built that you will be constantly replacing parts and upgrading with little improvement. You will either give up on helis altogether, or wind up dumping it and buying soemthing better anyway most likely...

A T-REX can be set up with conservative throws and heavy paddles, and will be 1000% easier to learn with than any micro heli on the market.


If you want a good trainer, another way to go would be a small fixed-pitch heli like a honeybee or one of the myriad of clones out there. They are very hard to fly, and you will outgrow it, but you can learn to hover and basic flight without breaking the bank.

Dave,

Thanks for your comments. I planned on getting a sim before I made a purchase or at least got one at the same time. Of course, now that I look at all the choices for sims, it begs the question... which one? Is it necessary to drop the big money on G3 if some of the others Preflight, FMS, etc. are cheaper or even free? Does G3 give me more "true life" training or am I just paying for pretty scenery and more models to fly?

Watch what you buy. All Trex helis are not created equal. I bought a 450x kit and the rotorhead (plastic) won't assemble right. The flybar seesaw cage is just too tight and no amount of playing with it fixes the problem. I'm seriously considering an HDX450se. Lots nicer that a 450se and lots cheaper to boot. Finless Bob on Helifreak has all of the assembly vids for free and the kit makes a killer bird. Check it out !