RebarDWG

I was just wondering what some of your reasons were for choosing heli's over another vehicle/aircraft?

I had no expericene in R/C. I didnt even see another guy flying it and decided i wanted one. It just hit me one day, I just knew that I wanted a heli. I read and researched it for months. I shopped for best pricing, estimated startup costs, and visited a few flying fields about 6 months before I finally made a decision to "go for it" About 80% of everyone I talked to said the same thing. Helis' are difficult, you should start with something simplier. Some of them even laughed at me for wanting to start off my RC experience with something so technical. I took all their advice into consideration ... then bought a heli.

My main concern was, "I want this now, but will my want turn into regret or a project i'll just throw on the side... forever" Needless to say, i went for it. The deciding factor was, I have no hobby. I work a regular 45 hour work week and make a decent amount of money. So why not? Besides, the costs of heli's doesnt even come close to what my wife spends on her makeup collection.

Why heli's? I'm fascinated with heli's , vertical take offs and landings, rolling takeoffs, hovering, just all around 3 dimensions of manuerablility. Cars and boats seem 2 dimensional to me. Alot of those planes are dam cool, but my heli can do everything a plane can do.. maybe alittle bit slower, but it can do it.

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

Its not helis instead of, its helis and! I like anything that flies. Helis are just another part of the hobby. I fly it more right now, a while ago it was all planes and the helis sat. I bounce back and forth depending on my mood. The heli gets more attention because few people around here can do anything with them.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

actually I find flying planes rather boring :-/

I got a heli because i wanted a challenge. You can only do so much with a RC car or truck, and it gets boring :-/

Everybody told me to get a plane first but I didn't care, heli's were ALOT easier than people made them out to be. I was doing everything basic within a few weeks, with minimal practice on the simulator. It taught me not to let other ppl discourage me about something.

Dreddi

My Feedback: (3)

Cars and boats dont just seem 2 dimensional, they ARE 2 dimensional. How many cars/boats do you know of where you can/have to control up/down (a.k.a. altitude)?

I got into fixed-wing in 5th grade and actually got to fly and solo in 9th. I’ve been flying ever since. However, after the six years I got very bored of flying. I actually cringed at the thought of loading up the truck to go to the field, It just wasn’t exciting anymore. The helicopters always caught my eye and I got to try my thumbs on an LMH about two years ago, I’ve been hooked ever since. I got my first helicopter about two months ago and I have just as much fun just hovering around as I did rolling, twisting, tumbling, and flipping around with any fun-fly. And there’s still forward, backward, sideways and inverted flight. Oh man, I wanna go fly right now.

joeb102072

My Feedback: (9)

Yea I have to agree its not instead of, its too. I love both even though my experience is limited to planes for about 10 years and a micro heli for about 2 weeks now I have always been a heli guy underneath. I was talked into planes when I first started too, then I just got hooked. Now I am into the 3D thing with planes and learning on a sim I got the chance to fly all types of helis and get more and more into them as I practice. I can definatly say that if you ave never done it even if you are an accomplised fixed wing pilot get a sim and practice on that first. It will make your first real heli flight a much better experience.

luckey204

I have always had car and boats. I wanted to get into helis, so I bought Aerohawk. Now i'm a heli guy for sure. I'll have a 60 sized gaser as soon a possible! I'm about 8 batteries into flying my Aerohawk, I can already fly around my living and land on the coffie table[8D]. I also have Real Flite G2. The sim make this hobby so much cheaper!

joeb102072

My Feedback: (9)

Yes most definatly even for fixed wing pilots. I do things on the sim I wouldnt dare do at the field until I get them perfected. Saves tons of $$ in the long run. And I too will soon have a 60 size gasser heli in the near future. I do the same things with my mini dragonfly buzzin around the living room landing on the coffe tables and chasing the dogs. he he

NZ-Kiwi flyer

My friend told me that I should take up flying because as he put it..."Chicks will dig it". He lied!! Lucky for him I just love flying them. They are the best. Theres nothing like pulling up and unloading a heli out of the car. It makes me go weak at the knees just thinking about it.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

its so discouraging what ppl say about flying helis to ppl that want to get into it. I NEVER flew a plane and was hovering inverted with minimal time on the simulator my first try. Of course, I did work at a hobby shop then and did it at work while I sold stuff... lols. Anyways, ppl shouldn't let others steer them away from it because of a difficulty factor..

I'm confusing myself

beavertail

I started with "planks" and still love them, helicopters are just another great part of this hobby.

Anyone who says airplanes are boring are probably flying circles and just doing loops and rolls.

I enjoy both even though Im a novice Heli pilot, I know Ill be doing it for a while.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

if there was a steady pylon racing league/club here, I'd be all over it to be quite honest, but jus going to a field to fly a plank is bleh to me.

RaptorCam

My Feedback: (14)

I went with helis for alot or reasons. I started with airplanes and found they were easier to master so to speak. From what I can tell so far, you will always be learning with a heli or at least for a long time.

I don't agree with simulators. Maybe it would have been different if I had trained for a heli on the sim but I flew the sim afterwards. I found that it can give a false impression of what to expect at the field. I have a friend who breathes the sim. If he were to come to the field and try the stuff he does on that sim, he would be most disappointed. I find that getting some altitude, trying something out and seeing how "MY" heli performs the move, better prepares me for trying it out again at a lower altitude.

I'm not completey down on sims though. I think they are good for giving a basic feeling of what to expect.

Dreddi

My Feedback: (3)

I agree 100% To this day I have yet to use a simulator that was of any use to me other then for entertainment. The flight models just arent there.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

I'll agree also, but with out the sim, I woulda wrecked my heli so fast. I couldn't afford to fix mine as it took me forever to save for it. The sim gave me the basic idea, then my first flight out I went balls out and jus did it. It wasn't TO different, but then again I was only doing fly by's and inverted hovering and such.

joeb102072

My Feedback: (9)

Lots of discrepiencies with the sims when it comes to Helis. Personally I think there a great learning tool. Primaraly for control inptus even though the tail rotor on a heli is like the rudder on a plane they respond very very different form each other and learning how a heli responds to inputs as a general idea basis is better than going out cold turkey IMO. There is a guy at my field that started flying planes 3 1/2 years ago and transitioed into helis after a year and a half. Flying the heck out of a sim for a year in the mist of learning the helis hes probably one of the best 3D heli guys I have seen and he acredits all of his technique to the sim. So as you can tell theres a lot of mixed opinions when it comes to the sims. I wish they were around when I was learning to fly personally I love em. IMO

RebarDWG

I have to disagree, Sims are a must!! EVERYONE uses a sim whether you know it or not. Even little kiddies that play on their ps2 and nintendos race their cars on a sim. Ok, that may not be a real sim, but if the government, airlines, military and NASA uses a sim, there must be a good reason why.
We develop instinct and experience while training on them.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

Sorry but shooting a gun with the X button on a playstation is not a sim, nor is driving an car with an analog stick. Worst attempt at being smart ever.

RebarDWG

ok, i was just joking with the ps2 and nintendo, but my comment about the govt, airlines, military and NASA using a sim still stands.

RaptorCam

My Feedback: (14)

Yeah I said they are good for getting a basic idea but to me thats where it ends and just becomes a game. I had one and took it back because of that. I can see where its good to see how to get the heli to do a certain trick and what stick inputs would be right or wrong. The best example I can give is I messed with the raptor 30 and was doing inverted flight, tic tocs, knife edge circles (guess thats what they are called) and I can guarantee that my raptor 30 will not do those things in the same manner.

Its like when one of the random failures such as running rich and bad servos is not happening, the sim heli is in to much of a perfect world. If my heli was tuned to the "exact" level the one on the sim was then it might be different. Thats one problem with a sim, there are way to many variables that change from pilot to pilot that can make a huge difference. My friend I mentioned before cannot seem to grasp that. He is actually under the impression that since he is doing all this 3D stuff on the sim he is going buy a raptor 30 and start doing it. I tried to explain to him that its not going to be the same and his comment is that if I get a raptor 30 it will be. I'm just going to be there with my camcorder when he does get one

I still think they are good to an extent.

joeb102072

My Feedback: (9)

I think that your point makes sense and unless they develop a sim that can give you all of those aspects of real life then that is all you can expect from a sim. Control inputs what to do when the plane or heli is like this or like that. If you have it in your head that your heli will fly exactly as the sim does you will be in for a suprise. Just like the plane sims too. The beauty is you can practice control inputs where you can see the attitude of the plane or heli with out fear of crashing because the space bar doesnt cost anything to press. Now you are more prepared to practice those manuvers once you get comfortable with the way your aircraft flies and you dont need to be 10+ mistakes high just to try out a manuver that you still arent sure of the stick inputs never mind how it will respond to how you have it set up. So for that the sims are priceless to teach you the corect inputs so all you have to learn is how your aircraft responds. And that takes months away form the learning curve.

ptarp

I think some of the comments about sims are pretty off base. You don't need to know exactly how your particular helicopter will fly, you just need to get the apropriate coordination; ie. when you see the heli pointed at you upside down, you know how to move the sticks. It would be the same situation if a veteran Raptor pilot started flying a Sceadu, or Freya. Its not going to fly exactly like his Raptor did, but it won't matter, he'll be able to fly it just as well. The same hold true for sim time. I have been flying "real" helis for about three weeks, and I can hover in any attitude, including inverted, do all kinds of low to the ground aerobatics, and I've done two successful autos already. Am I just a natural heli pilot? No, I had about a year sim time before I got the Raptor. It makes all the difference in the world.

joeb102072

My Feedback: (9)

Thats basically my point. Anyone can adapt to a different type of aircraft if thats the only thing they need to learn is how that particular aircraft is going to respond / react then the learning curve is going to be lessend exponentially. Now focus can be spent on learning the aerobatic manuvers to perfection.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

I dont think you guys realize a SIM is meant to give you a close general idea, and for 150$ you cant expect it to be exact physics.

Dreddi

My Feedback: (3)

Why not?

RaptorCam

My Feedback: (14)

I understand completely that this is what it should be used for but I don't think that is how its marketed. Look at all the parameters. If this was being sold as something to use from a general idea standpoint, all this would not be needed.

I would rather spend $300 or more on a sim dedicated to say just the Raptor line of helis that had very accurate physics instead of $150 on 20+ aircraft with general physics. It would be more beneficial to me to get a good idea of how tight my raptor would manuever in a stunt rather than if I move the stick this way, it goes this way.