Good beginner rc helicopter

[ryzouk]

Hello,

Would like is someone could help me pick a rc helicopter to buy. I have a skyking 8501 atm and its ok for havin a little fun but any wind and its so hard to control. I want something a little faster and more stable in wind. i have a budget of £150. i had a look at the honeybee v2 and also the e-razor 450. but im still a beginner and will crash so want something that i can buy parts for easily and that some ready to fly.

thanks guys

[Pav]

The best advice I can offer is read this before you do anything else.. http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/beginn...ead-first.html

This is so true..

Both of the heli's you are looking at would be a huge jump, if your serious the look at a flybar system at least..

Welcome to the forum..

[Rob Barnes]

Difficult choice with only a £150 budget which is not going to buy you a lot.

[tomatwalden]

Top (well, my) tips :

1/. Take a look at : RC Helicopters, The Most Fun And Rewarding Of All RC Hobbies.
2/. Accept the fact that you will have a lot of crashes to begin with. Therefore ...
2a/. Budget for spares
2b/. Choose a heli that you can easily find spares for.
3/. Learn about the difference between fixed pitch (FP) and collective pitch (CP) ... (see 1 above)
3a/. Decide whether you want to start with FP or CP (I started with FP for what it's worth)
4/. The radio is more important than the heli to a certain extent. Buy the right radio and you'll save loads in the long run (basically, this mean get a heli that binds to a Spektrum or Futaba radio ... ie. a Blade/Horizon Hobby heli or an Align)
5/. Avoid cheap helis such as HoneyBee's and e-Razors. Seriously, do your research and you'll find thousands of real life stories about just how difficult to fly the HoneyBee is. Not because helis are difficult, but simply because it is such a bad helicopter.

Finally, my personal recommendations ... First some "micros" - which in the case of the collective pitch will handle quite stiff breezes remarkably well. With these modern (flybarless) CP helis - the wind is much less of a factor these days ..

Blade 120SR (fixed pitch)
Blade mSRX (fixed pitch)
Blade mCPX (collective pitch)
Blade 130x (collective pitch)

Secondly, some slightly larger helis ... (450's)
Blade 450-3D Ready-to-fly (discontinued, but may still be available at knock-down price, comes with DX6i spektrum radio)
Align 450 Plus DFC Ready-to-fly (comes with rebranded Futaba radio)

Finally ... avoid HoneyBee (did I mention that already?)

Best of luck!

[tomatwalden]

Food for thought ...

E-Flite Blade MSR X RTF Combo BLH3200
E-Flite Blade 120 SR RTF BLH3100UK2
(ps. of these two, I'd go for the mSRX, which flies better than the 120SR IMO, and handles wind better)

T-REX 450 Plus Super Combo Ready To Fly KX015083
T-REX 450 Plus DFC Super Combo RH45E02XT
(again, of these two, the DFC is better)

[uiron]

No matter HOW you look at it, if you're not prepared to spend at least 500 pounds first flying season when you're starting from scratch, you're wasting money. 150 will barely buy you a decent radio + simulator. Then you want either a micro, or a 450 size heli. I still think micro is a very good ice breaker to learn basic orientations, forward flight and circles in all directions, though they quickly become a limiting factor with their twitchyness and sloppy tail - but not before you start half piro flips and all.
450 (or any bigger size) is still better for learning if you can cover crash costs, but that's easily 50-100 pounds each time you crash (beginners don't crash gracefully).

Anything you decide to buy - remember that heli is like 1/3 of the budget. 1/3 is repair costs for next month, 1/3 is anything else you'll need to get in the air (starting from charger, batteries and ending up tools, soldering equipment, etc).

Don't buy flybarred heli. It's 2013.

Don't buy fixed pitch heli. Unless you want a toy, not a hobby grade machine.

Don't try ANYTHING on a real heli untill you can fly circles in simulator.

[tomatwalden]

No matter HOW you look at it, if you're not prepared to spend at least 500 pounds first flying season when you're starting from scratch, you're wasting money. .....

Don't buy fixed pitch heli. Unless you want a toy, not a hobby grade machine.

Don't try ANYTHING on a real heli untill you can fly circles in simulator.

Sorry, I think this sentiment holds true if, and only if, the person is certain that flying helis is the hobby for them. Some people want to start small, invest less initially and see if the hobby is for them. In this case, spending 100's straight off the bat may end up being a huge waste of money. I'm sure there are plenty of stories of people buying nice radios, 450 helis, all kitted up and crashing straight away followed by flogging stuff on ebay for a huge loss.

The £80 RTF mSRX is a fixed pitch, single rotor heli that for a small amount of outlay let's somebody see if they have an RC heli addiction! If they do, then sure, be prepared to invest more money, and then the likes of simulators, decent radios etc. absolutely become key.

But, if you just want to try this hobby out without investing massive sums of money, then micros are very effective. Unlike those toy co-axials, the flight theory is the same, the controls (make sure it's Mode-2 by the way!) are the same. The thumb movements you learn on an mSRX are 100% applicable to a 700-size collective pitch.

Micros are a great/cheap way for people to dip their toes in this hobby in my view, to see if it's for them!

[uiron]

for those deciding if hobby is for them or not I always recommend spending a day or two at the flying field, or arrange a meeting with someone that's in the hobby already and have a chat, maybe try flying on a sim. As much as I'm all in about getting new people in the hobby, I always warn them that it's a VERY, very expensive hobby, especially when you're starting out.

I wasn't talking about expensive stuff from the very beginning, but his 150 buys what? Second hand Dx6i (I would not go cheaper than this one) and Phoenix (best bang for buck sim) ? My 500 budget was very realistic. try fitting into it a basic computerized radio, a decent (not talking about good, just decent enough not to be a money waste) heli, basic tools you'll need to maintain it, a set of batteries, charger, put away some cash for inevitable repairs... You won't be left with much.

[paulsouthport]

mCPX, cheap, robust, easy to fix, lots of user support, handles wind, within budget, small enough to take anywhere, skills translate to larger helis (mostly).

It's a huge leap up from what you have, and great fun

[tomatwalden]

I wasn't talking about expensive stuff from the very beginning, but his 150 buys what? Second hand Dx6i (I would not go cheaper than this one) .

To start out, for £80 you can get the mSRX RTF (http://www.quickuk.eu/products/3163/...f_blh3200.html). That includes the helicopter, which is fixed-pitch, therefore less damage in a crash and a starter transmitter. In short, everything to get the OP started if he so wished. Then, if he likes the hobby, you can get a DX6i for £89 new (Quick UK Retail - shop-products).

Alternatively, he could get the DX6i (new, £89) and mcpx v2 (new, £79) for £168 total. Over budget, but only by £18.
(BLH3680UK | E-Flite Blade mCPX V2 BNF UK)

So, there's two options. One wholly within budget which represents a "dipping your toe" into the hobby for half the budget.
The other being slightly more serious, but again, only £18 over budget.

I re-iterate my earlier point however about leaving budget for repairs!

[uiron]

I don't want to sound rich, I'm the only one in the flying field still stuck with 450 size heli, but I still think that for 150 you'll hardly even taste what this hobby is like. It's like trying to get into drag-racing with a budget for 90's Fiat. Yeah you'll get to ride it but it will be a completely differt deal. You don't have to get a top-end, but certain minimum applies. I kind-of agree that mcpx v2 is enough for a minimum, but as a long time mcpx owner I can say that support budget will quickly grow. You'll break stock blades on your second hover into a chair, then broken skids and broken links will start piling up, soon you'll read that it will be so much more responsive with aftermarket swash, , experiments with aftermarket tail blades, eventual servo failure, and the list goes on and on. It's a decent learning platform but I'd say it costed me to own nearly as much as my first 450 Trex.

[tomatwalden]

Suffice to say, this is NOT a cheap hobby. £150 will allow you to start with something quite basic, and learn the controls. But, if you do get hooked, expect to spend an awful lot more.

[Rob Barnes]

I started with a blade 400 which I think £300 all in with the DX6i. But if I did it again from scratch I would go with one of these as mentioned above ! ::: BLH3200UK2 | Blade mSR X RTF Electric Helicopter You can learn to fly forward and reverse circuits, nose in etc etc etc

[tomatwalden]

Agreed. I started with a Blade 120SR RTF package (from Midland! ) It was a good heli for indoors, but the 45-degree flybar gave it a co-axial like self-stabilisation nature that made it particularly poor in wind. The mSRX, despite being smaller, is flybarless and doesn't have the (slightly irritating) self-stabilisation characteristic.

[one life fly it]

Why is it that its assumed newbies will crash ?

Any ways , my Blade 4503d has set me on the right path and I'm getting better (well I think so) but if I'm totally honest that twitchy little bugger of an mcpx probably taught me more than I know as that was my first .

Another heli to avoid is the twister 3dx storm ! A fellow club mate has one and its a complete bag of ####

Alex