Which single rotor helicopter to buy ?

[userrc]

Hello,
I have been flying 'ESky Lama V4' for more than a month.
I'm now looking for a single rotor heli. My criteria are:
1. Economy (keep Heli and parts cost to minimum)
2. Easy (relatively) to fly
3. Robust (will not beak easily)
4. Parts are cheap & Easy to repair.
5. Inverted flight possible or atleast LOOPs.

Recommendations I have are:
* E-Sky Belt CP Collective Pitch Helicopter RTF - EK1H-E013/14
* E-Sky Honey Bee King-II RTF - EK016 (Will have to buy brushless motor)
* E-Sky Honey Bee Mk 3 (I would prefer CP over FP)
* T-REX 450 & Blade 400 (out of my budget)
'E-flite Blade CP/pro' is ruled out as tail is not belt driven.

Which heli (fulfilling above criterias) is:
1. Most stable ? ('E-Sky Belt CP' as it is bigger ?)
2. Most Robust ?
3. Easiest to repair ?
4. Cheapest parts ?

Other points to look for ?
How necessary is 'head hold gyro' for someone starting on these helis ?

Please advise which helicopter I should buy ?
Please feel free to recommend any helicopter.
All advise/suggestions are very welcome.

Thank You.

[flatspins]

E-Flight Blade 400

£260 ready to fly including full range Spektrum transmitter.

Really nice heli.
Tail servo lets it down, upgrade to futaba 3153 for £20 and the heli is really sweet.
Spares are ridiculously cheap as well.

Got to be the best set up out there.

[userrc]

Thanks.
Lot of people have recommended E-Sky Honey Bee Mk 3 (FP) stating that:
1. buying a 'single rotor learning heli' will result is more flying and less setup/fixing time
2. It is very robust & cheap (both parts & heli)

[Made2Fade]

Blade 400 over any of the ones mentioned for definate. Much better flying helicopter too.
Lee

[jboweruk]

Is the Twister V2 any good? I see Brentford have them for 78 quid and I'm over that way today.

[Mike W]

Ya get what ya pay for with those lol .... Your money I suppose but for not alot more theres some nicer rtf's minus tx and rx on the market at the minute ... Am not knocking the V2 but by the looks of ya list of helis ya gonna end up with alot of stuff and still want more .... Buy a Rex or blade or even a twister storm ... or failing that a good nitro lol ....

[jboweruk]

Wasn't going planning to buy a helo, just saw that and thought 'looks cheap, and easy to fly for a single rotor'. Actually going over to get some spares and maybe with a view to buy Camera for helis. Plus have a bit of a chat and see what's what.

[Mike W]

cheap yup ... easy to fly prolly not lol ... I leave my wallet at home when i go to the LHS shop now unless i know what bits I going for as i always end up walking out with another model lol ...

[Andy from Sandy]

I think you need to drop the "easy to fly". All models that have pitch and cyclic controls require the same hand eye coordination. The larger the model the more stable, when discussing a single rotor.

If you want a small electric then save up and get the t-rex 450S. You don't need the £300 SE version.

The reality is the weather in this country is so unpredictable that if you are going to get anywhere with any certainty in this hobby then you need to be looking to get a 30 size model that can handle more than a moderate breeze.

[jboweruk]

I'm looking at the shop in Brentford have the DX6i quite cheap, about 30 odd quid less than I've seen elsewhere, and with an RX, which would be cool as I want to upgrade my Skylift to 2.4 at some point. Also they have FlyCamone in stock right now, so apart from a small spares list I'll take a look at those.

[BobJ]

Hi

Really don't consider anything below a Blade 400 or a T Rex 450S as it will just be a false economy.

I know the cheaper stuff is tempting and it's very difficult to simply explain why the cheap stuff is "cheap" but there is a level of cost v performance where it just does not work out.

Cheers
Bob J