Another Newbie, which Heli to buy?

[Iaing]

Going to head out to the nearest model shop to here on Saturday to hopefully get myself my first helicopter.

I spoke to the lady on the phone and she recomended the Raptor 30 to start with. Is this too advanced for a beginner or will i get on fine with a bit of perseverence and a lot of spare parts!

The also have some of the blade heli's but i don't know an aweful lot about them?

Iain

[Stringfellow Hawke]

The also have some of the blade heli's but i don't know an aweful lot about them?

Iain

Blade CX2 surely a good place to start? Maybe a esky Lama if you want to spend less? Both are contrarotating main blade helis.
A Collective Pitch heli isn't the place to start unless you practice for hours on a sim before you even plug the battery in!
Go for a fixed pitch Heli first if you don't want the ease of a contrarotating model, they are quite easy after a few weeks.

[Mike W]

Raptor 30 is a good starter ... if nitro is the route ya wanna go ... Like most have said on here ... buy ya self a decent transmitter ... FF7 or 9 ... that will progress with ya and a sim ... Phoenix being the one we use most on here ..CX 2 are good for learning controls and orientations but if ya want something more real looking then i would go with a nitro ... Depends how much you wanna spend and how much you wanna spend if you crash ... Theres lots of variables to flying heli's .... If ya get the TX and a sim and ya find ya dont like it then ya just sell the Tx and sim and make some of ya money back from the purchase ...Some people will go and buy the best heli money can buy then decide that flying is not for them and you will lose alot more money selling a second hand heli than a Tx and sim ... But if like most of us ya get bit by the bug then ya can always buy a 30 or 50 size machine after ya got the basics ...whichever route you take i wish ya all the best and welcome to the forum ... Oh and if ya flying join the bmfa as its insurance as well .. .And look for a good club near ya to see what they fly and what they would recommend ...

[Sesame]

If your going to go for a heli of that size I would definately recommend you get yourself down to a local club.

Most are fairly friendly and will give advice etc. I dont wanna scare ya but one of these things out of control can cause alot of damage so they need to be properly setup and trimmed out before you start trying to hop them around. Plus its the sort of heli you really need to go to a proper flying site to use.

Raptors are fairly good helis to start with and theres nothing wrong with the raptor 30. again a visit to a local club will show you what models are popular which again can give an indication as to which models you will get the most help with. Some people will recommend going straight for a 50 rather than getting the 30 then wanting to upgrade in a few months. but that is a matter of choice and budget.

another great advancment in learning will be to get hold of a sim, the best Pheonix. once you have your transmitter you will be able to use this with the sim and it will save you loads ass you can get to learn some of the basics even before ever flying the real thing.

[steve b]

i had a nexus 30 heli and tried to teach my self ,trust me it got expensive
gave up on that . purchase a t-rex 450 electric heli is cheap but got expensive when adding good gyro's buying good radio and so on, learn to hover that parts are cheap to replace
must have is a sim i use use great plane G3.5
purchase a hirobo sceadu 50 second hand complete just had radio for £350.00 When this spools up it scared me to death
stop there and book some heli lessons . well worth the money if you can aford it
good luck

[Tim Procter]

My first heli was a Raptor 30.

Nothing wrong with that for a starter so long as you have help in setting it up and getting you started.

First purchase is definately a Phoenix sim though.. No question about that.

[alexlee993]

The thing i have learnt from this forum site is to set yourself a budget and then add some on top. Like u i have just started out and have got an ef mash heli. Its a contra rotating one that eases the learning as the stability is there. It cost £90 but after tommorrows expenditure on spares that need replacing it will come to £130/£140 ish. Its mostly spare blades that do it. The more expensive the heli the more there is to go wrong and the higher the cost to repair! Also, go with the general advice of the people on here, get a decent sim, phoenix being the best there is, fms isnt good at all, even though its free. Have fun and keep coming here. Its doing me a world of good getting sound advice from people that know what to do.

[Brewber]

Get a co-axial heli (CX2 or other) + Phoenix...you can use the tx that comes with the CX2 on Phoenix...and see how you get on. This is the best and consistent recommendation on this forum and it saved me £s.

I have now just invested in a Trex 600 pro (like a Raptor 30/50) and I tell you now, you do not want this to be your very first heli, unless you have a huge disposable income! My club mates dumbed mine down and its still got huge "pucker factor" when you lift off for the first time. I managed my first few flights (hovers, tail in) without incident purely because of practising on the sim and some expert advice on setting the real heli up.

CX2 + Phoenix is the sensible option.

Brew.

PS: I bought a CX2 in early Jan, Phoenix 2 weeks later, then a 600pro in mid-feb, still using Phoenix and still having fun with the CX2..its not a wasted investment

[nookybear]

learning on your 50 is not so bad you did very well for first day.
should not be long before you try circuits maybe on a buddy lead if you like
see you at the weekend?

[inferno]

I went straight for the honey bee king 2... after spending a little time on the sim, and in about 5 hours i can hold a shaky bouncy hover tail in. IMO its very twitchy but can only make for easyer flying of the next bigger heli. Repairs are cheep too. think i might pull mine off ebay lol

[jamiesawyer28041978]

I went straight for a 30 size and my personal opinion is the little hellis are a lot harder to fly but cheaper to repair. If you learn on a small helli then when you progress to a bigger one you will feel its stability instantly but if you prang your bill could be as much as a small one would cost in total.Id get the pheonix sim first £80 and see if you can fly the damb things first cos it can be very frustraiting at first and some fall at the first hurdle.
1 Join a club
2 Then buy a Compass Knight 50 ..... and build it £180 cheap for what you get.

3 Buy an os 50 hiper and MP5 exaust ... that'll be another £200
4 Gyro futaba 401+9254 servo ....... £160
Decent set of radio gear which will set you back some where in the region of £200 / £300 but make sure the servos are of a good quality or itll affect the way the helli responds ( dont go for cheap £10/£20 jobs cos there crap.

Then you will need starting gear / fuel / and of coarse some glass or woody blades .

GOD THIS IS AN EXSPENSIVE HOBBY

Best of luck to you mate but get the pheonix first cos you will use it in the winter and summer all year round and all it costs is £80 crash after crash.

[Kwickkwack]

Absolutely no problem with starting with a Raptor 30, the bigger they are the more stable they are, but do not attempt to fly this without some assistance from someone who knows how to fly. Find your local club and get to know what others fly, as they will have invaluable experience they can pass on.
A simulator is also a great idea, Phoenix is the one to go for, excelent programme, constant updates, very realistic, and if you want to fly in your house get a Blade CX2, very stable but not really suited for outside.
what ever you decide on, if you get hooked, make no mistake you will keep spending money on the hobby, but if you progress and keep at it you will also find it very rewarding.
most of all Enjoy It

[Iaing]

Hey folks, well took everyones advice and bought the blade cx2 as a stepping stone.

Once i got the bat charged i was amazed at how difficult it is to fly! Anyway after a few charges and crash landings i'm starting to get the hang of it and having lots of fun in the process! I'm most impressed with it! I've ordered myself a spare battery so i can have one charging while im using the other one.

The model shop is saying that you can use the spektrum radio (the one that comes with the blade) to control other heli's. Is this right?

Iain

[scallybert]

[...]and bought the blade cx2 as a stepping stone.

Once i got the bat charged i was amazed at how difficult it is to fly

A BCX2 is a good place to start, as it's much easier than a 'conventional' helicopter.

That's not to say it's easy, but a conventional helicopter adds an extra degree of difficulty over a co-ax.

I tried starting with a conventional, really struggled, and got on much better once I tried a co-ax.

The model shop is saying that you can use the spektrum radio (the one that comes with the blade) to control other heli's. Is this right?

Kind of.

The receiver in the BCX2 (AR6100e) is the same as in the Blade 400 3D, and AIUI is a pretty good six channel receiver.

However, the BCX2 Tx is quite basic. It's effecively 4 channel (2 per stick) with a knob doing channel 5.

That means it could control models that need 4 channels like that, and use a Spektrum Rx.

However, any models that have 'Collective Pitch' need at least 5 channels, and typically have CCPM mixing in the Tx. This is where the servo output is derived from mixing together various of the stick inputs to make the mechanics simpler on the helicopter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ccpm

While the BCX2 Tx is very good in its class, I wouldn't expect to use one to control a more complicated model.

You could use something like a DX6i or DX7 with the BCX2, which would give you some extra set-up tuning facilities, and that Tx could then be used with more sophisticated models.

However, if your next helicopter is another 'ready to fly' one, it will come with a Tx, and will also limit you as to what Tx it will work with. eg a Blade 400 3D comes with a DX6i as part of the package.

[Mikee]

I have been down all the routes as listed above

Personally speaking buy something of quality.. spend the money on good components and treat building the heli as a short term hobby.. flying it as a long term hobby

large heli's are more stable and why buy somethingthat you will sell to replace later or need to spend money on upgrading

I found this out in my quest to fly

Phoenix sim is a must have,Dx7 tx is a good investment.. CX2 heli good to pratice on when it's wet outside

Say T rex 600(belt version) 3152 servos.. 401 gyro +9254.. OS50 hyper.. align pipe

all can be sourced cheaply on the net

So if you seriously want to fly heli's... Find a local club and visit them..Get BMFA insurance 28 quid.. buy Phoenix and say a blae cx or similar.. and start the build on a .50 heli... The antcipation of wanting to finish it and fly it was unbearable.. but I did and the heli was so much more fun to fly

Remember this is an expensive hobby.. crashing is not a option it's a way of life.. and take each step forward slowly.. Bite size bits.. There's no rush !!!