Beginners advice

[Bellers]

I'm looking for advice to get me started with 'proper' heli's.

A little while ago I was lucky enough to have aquired a raptor 50 titan in what I've been told is a 'squirrel' fuselage, along with all the radio gear including a spektrum DX6i, electric starter and a copy of phoenix simulator. All for a price that I couldnt say no to.

On advice from pilots at work I've been using the simulator and have bought myself a Blade 120SR as a first heli. I'm now at the stage where I can fly the 120 around the garden or house, through doorways, up and down the stairs etc and I can now hover tail out. I've not quite got teh hang of hovering side on yet but I'm practicing.

I was thinking about joining the local flying club to get some lessons on my raptor and I've been to one of their meetings and been up to their flying field to have a look around and a chat with a couple of pilots.

The guys there have told me that my raptor 50 titan is a bit too big/expensive/nice to be learning to fly on and that it would be best for me to buy a second hand raptor 30 to get the basics of outdoor collective pitch flying before trying the 50.

I was hoping that if I were to take my 50 out of it's scale fuselage and return it to its stock canopy, skids etc then it would be ok to learn on (I definately would not want to damage the squirrel body.

The thing is that with club fees of £87 and the cost of a second hand raptor 30 of £300 (?) this is a little more than I was planning on spending so before I commit one way of the other I thought I'd put the question out there:

Should I bite the bullet and buy a 30 or return my 50 to stock and start with that?

[machasm]

Your in the wrong hobby if you are trying to not spend money!
Personally I wouldn't spend £300 on a raptor 30. You can find plenty of better helis for that sort of money.
It cant be that much to get a canopy and re-convert your current raptor can it?
I would use that and expect to crash at some point.
Its not a matter of if but when.

[Bellers]

It's not that I'm trying not to spend money, I'm just trying to get the best for my money. So far as I can see the conversion wouldn't take much - I've already bought some new skids and tail fins and Sheldrake on here has very kindly provided me with a standard canopy. I think all I would need now is tail boom supports and a bit of time to put it all together.
I understand that crashes are inevitable - it's all part of the learning curve.
I guess there are two questions here:

1. How much easier would a 30 be to learn on?
2. How much cheaper would a 30 be to fix after the inevitable crashes?

[one life fly it]

Hi , as a newb myself I found my t Rex 600 much easier to learn on than my 500 (still don't like the noise of the 600 ) not having flown either of the helis you mention , but bigger is more stable

Alex

[dave j]

I find my raptor 90 a lot more stable to fly than either my rappy 50 or 30 but i know from first hand its cheaper to learn on and crash the 30

[Nitro Head]

I started flying with a Raptor 50 and think it is the perfect size to start on, the only reason a lot of people used the 30 is its slightly cheaper to repair (blades) and uses a little less fuel.
Not likely to cost the £300 you are thinking of spending on a 30 size though!

Definately take the nice scale body off though.

[franky975]

The diference in between the 30 and 50 are: The engine size, the boom/belt lenght, and the blade size. The rest are identical. I would convert it back to the original state until you are confident enough. Since you already have the heli this would be the cheapest/obvious way-to me. I learned on a raptor 50 too. The raptor takes a lot of abuse plus the parts are relative cheap too.

[electricsceadu]

the first thing to do is remove the raptor from the scale body and put the body up safe (unless you wish to add to the scale detailing whilst learning to fly)
then return the raptor back to pod and boom form
with a good set up the raptor 50 can be set nice and docile for learning on, yes it will use more fuel than a 30 but it will be cheaper than buying another model
once you have mastered the basics of flying you can then decide if you want to branch out to sport/3d flying or to go the scale route
the other option is to treat yourself with a new model to have the best of both worlds

and along the way keep using the simulator as it will help you

[MarkG_R1]

Beginners advice

I'd remove the scale body and have a go with the rappy in standard form

No point getting a 30 if you have a 50 IMO

This and the simulator will get you a long way, and maybe a little blade mcpx v2 for a crash friendly training aid

[Sheldrake]

Hi Bellers, I started with the Raptor 50 too and it is still doing fine! I am taking it very slow and steady mind you.
Raptors are very popular at our club because they perform well and when we do have easy access to spares.
i am now also just (today!) learning flybarless on a Raptor 30 I acquired at a good price and converted.
put your R50back to pod and boom it will serve you well. As above also get something like a 130X for practice

[Bellers]

Thank you all for the advice. It look like the overwhelming majority think I should convert my 50. It does seem to make sense and if a 30 appears up for sale at a very good price maybe I think about expanding my fleet in the future...

[Simon Towers]

Beginners advice

Def go with the raptor 50 option. I moved on from my raptor 50 too soon And my development in flying skills suffered I think. Did the same with the Trex 600 which was my next model.