New Heli choice for my "Old Mans" Xmas present.

[Liquizen]

Hi everyone.

Kind of strange this as I asked my Dad what he was after for xmas, and we came up with an RC helicopter.
Anyways, now havin looked into it all, I must say I quite fancy a try myself now. :-)

Back to my father.. He has decided on an predominantly outdoor Heli as room inside is limited, but he lives in the country and is just a 3 min walk from plenty of open space.
He/we have NO experience of flying these and are looking for something that he (me) can grow with so we arent going to be upgrading in a few weeks.

I have pin pointed a couple of different units.

1. WL V912 "MAX" Mini Helicopter (Green & Yellow) - HeliPal the WLToys v912
2. Heliguy Firefly the Heliguy Firefly
3. any others you can think of????

What are your thoughts please on these 2 items. Can you think of anything else that would be suitable. Budget of £100

Many thanks for your help.
Neil

[DanWright]

Hi and welcome.

Ive not had any experience in the 2 helicopters you've mentioned above so I can't comment on them.

For £100 I'd recommend something from the Eflite range. These are pretty reliable and when you crash spares are easy to come by from most model shops. But your choice will be limited to a contra rotor (2 sets of main blades) or a fixed pitch, 4 channel helicopter but these are easier to fly and you might get bored quick. If you increase your budget you'll be able to get a 6 channel Helicopter, again there are a few to chose from in the blade range but they are harder to fly and I'd recommend a sim to go with it. Which I'll mention in a min.
E-Flite - Electric Helicopters - Helicopters | Midland Helicopters Ltd

Like I said above you might want to look at buying a simulator. These days they're essential tools for learning if your looking to go further in this hobby, and will save you £££s in crash costs.

A better transmitter, something from the spektrum range would be good if you buy a Eflite model because these transmitters can be used with Eflite models. But you'll be able to use the same transmitter if you move onto something bigger and more advance.

hope this helps a bit

[Nick B]

How about this one Quick UK Retail - shop-products

It's a clearance price,they usually retail at over £150.

I had a go on a demo model once and it was pretty damn good

[tomatwalden]

Honestly, a £100 budget is slightly unrealistic for a helicopter that can fly outside. Don't be fooled by helicopter size by the way - it's the TYPE of heli that makes the difference - not the size (for the most part, and certainly for beginner helis). Take a look at RC Helicopters, The Most Fun And Rewarding Of All RC Hobbies. - I found this site brilliant when I first started for learning about helicopter flight - and what is what. In essence though, helis are one of the following types :-

1/. 3 channel co-axial toy helis. These have two sets of contra-rotating main blades - and usually a horizontal "fan" on the tail.
2/. 4 channel co-axial. Again - two sets of contra-rotating main blades, but have a swash plate to control direction.
3/. 4 channel fixed pitch helis. Full-control helis, but use main blade speed to control height.
4/. 6 channel collective pitch helis. Full-control, use main blade pitch to control height.

The WL V912 you mention is type (3) above. It will fly outside in VERY GENTLE breezes or dead-calm. If you want something you can grow with though, you need to be looking at type (4) - ie. 6 channel collective pitch helis. If you want a good steer on these - read the following thread on this site, where a very nice lady asked almost the same question as you - but buying for her husband. The advice on that thread is spot on!

http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/main-d...250-300-a.html

Best of luck!