considering the hobby

[1chris]

Once again, too much waffle about saving relativly small amounts of money to be a serious contender for learning to fly a model helicopter, 5hane, this is an expensive hobby, look at spending initially hundreds leading on to thousands once you get going, if you canot live with this possible level of expenditure reconsider the way forward

[james_2k]

what's that smell.. Horses? Sheep? Cows?

oh I know.. It's bullshit.

you can spend as much as you like in any hobby. And this is no different. I'm sure many many people just have a 450 and just fly that with no ambitions to spend thousands. The ways people have listed to get into the hobby are great ideas, even if only because unless you try it you won't know if you will like it, no point blowing loads of cash straight away.

[tomatwalden]

Once again, too much waffle about saving relativly small amounts of money to be a serious contender for learning to fly a model helicopter, 5hane, this is an expensive hobby, look at spending initially hundreds leading on to thousands once you get going, if you canot live with this possible level of expenditure reconsider the way forward

"Serious contender" You make it sound like an Olympic competition ! LOL. This is a past-time, a bit of fun. A way to destress after work/school/whatever.

Not everyone wants to fly a 700 - that doesn't mean they are somehow excluded from having a bit of fun in this hobby. To suggest otherwise is bizarrely elitist IMO.

EDIT : Oh and by the way, if you don't want to read my "waffle" in trying to help somebody new to this hobby - don't. Easy. Personally, I think helping others new to this is worthwhile. If I choose to spend some of my time doing that - that's nobody's business but mine thank you. Nobody is obliged to read it if they don't want to, or think themselves above it.

[froghopper]

"Serious contender" You make it sound like an Olympic competition ! LOL. This is a past-time, a bit of fun. A way to destress after work/school/whatever.

Not everyone wants to fly a 700 - that doesn't mean they are somehow excluded from having a bit of fun in this hobby. To suggest otherwise is bizarrely elitist IMO.

EDIT : Oh and by the way, if you don't want to read my "waffle" in trying to help somebody new to this hobby - don't. Easy. Personally, I think helping others new to this is worthwhile. If I choose to spend some of my time doing that - that's nobody's business but mine thank you. Nobody is obliged to read it if they don't want to, or think themselves above it.

+1 i totally agree, there is to some extent an element of elite/ snobbery in this hobby, and it over shadows the fact that we all enjoy flying with whatever birds we fly with. a few years ago now, ok i could afford/wanted and got a rappy 90 flybar and wrapped it in a hughes fuse... the dogs bits at the time and admired by all, i still have it and a couple of hawk pros fly bar..... yes i dont have or never had a fly barless heli, beast x, v bar etc is an alien language to me. but i fly what ive got and enjoy what i do. yes id love to put a multi blade head on my rappy, yes id love a goblin fbls, but simply cant afford it now due to cirumstance, but the grin on my face when i fly is exactly the same as the guy flying next to me with the latest all singing all dancing 3d beast that is capable of doing far more than the pilots capability.

[Smarty]

Now now guys!! This is meant to be a friendly forum!! ... (No handbags at dawn)...

I started out spending very little, I had a 2nd hand Blade cx2 with the RTF handset and that was it, then I bought a blade Msr for indoor practice, and then after sometime bought a 2nd hand blade 400 with a dx6i and phoenix sim..
I have a fair few Heli's now but they have all been bought 2nd hand and worked on when I had the time and also the money, I nearly always have at least 1 heli waiting for parts that I can't buy right away due to the bank balance or the wife!! But that's the joys of family life.. (And poor piloting)....
There is no magic formula to learning to fly these things, but one thing is certain!
No matter how much you spend on your first heli/Tx or your sim you will still crash.. But patch it up and keep trying and before to long you will absolutely love it..

[electricsceadu]

on the snobbery side
at my club i welcome anyone, what ever they wish to fly with the budget they have

and i do know the fantastic formula to be a good heli piot
its called
stick time
the more you practice the better you will become
it may take some longer than others
it doesn't matter
its all about enjoying your hobby

[5hane]

Once again, too much waffle about saving relativly small amounts of money to be a serious contender for learning to fly a model helicopter, 5hane, this is an expensive hobby, look at spending initially hundreds leading on to thousands once you get going, if you canot live with this possible level of expenditure reconsider the way forward

"Serious contender"? Perhaps you should reread this thread, as I suggested no such thing. I do remember mentioning having a dabble though

[Holst]

I think it's worth being realistic about the cost.

I only have a 450 now, but I can still spend a substantial amount of money on thehhobby.
If I crash I can spend £50 each time, and you could crash a lot of times when your learning.

I'm lucky that I don't crash loads and I can afford to replace everything if needed.
The best flying helis are expensive and it's worth knowing that before you start.

As for sim , phoenix runs ok on my 6 year old laptop.

[1chris]

Well said Hoist, I have seen this attempting to do it on a shoestring......and fail miserably......many times....I am the membership secretary for our flying club, guy turns up at the meeting last wednesday, no experience, says he wants to fly helicoptes thinks he will go and buy a tree 600, when I point out that to purchase it plus all the equipment necessary to fly it will cost at least £1100.00 he nearly throws a fit.......i learnt on a trex600 so it can be done...... . Before somebody comments we have 50 members.

[5hane]

I think it's worth being realistic about the cost.

I only have a 450 now, but I can still spend a substantial amount of money on thehhobby.
If I crash I can spend £50 each time, and you could crash a lot of times when your learning.

I'm lucky that I don't crash loads and I can afford to replace everything if needed.
The best flying helis are expensive and it's worth knowing that before you start.

As for sim , phoenix runs ok on my 6 year old laptop.

Thats good to know because the laptop won't be high spec, although will make sure it has a dedicated graphics card.

[tomatwalden]

Well said Hoist, I have seen this attempting to do it on a shoestring......and fail miserably......many times....I am the membership secretary for our flying club, guy turns up at the meeting last wednesday, no experience, says he wants to fly helicoptes thinks he will go and buy a tree 600, when I point out that to purchase it plus all the equipment necessary to fly it will cost at least £1100.00 he nearly throws a fit.......i learnt on a trex600 so it can be done...... . Before somebody comments we have 50 members.

There are two ways of dealing with beginners/people interested in this hobby ...

1/. Be friendly and helpful. Suggest they start low, try taking it simple - 4 channel/fixed pitch at low cost - help them see if they enjoy it. If then insist on 'large helis', advise on potential costs - suggest learning at a school - buying a sim etc. Overall, be positive and help them into the hobby in a way they can afford.
2/. Be negative. Try to put them off with stories of high cost, failures, etc.

FWIW, I try to stick to (1).

[5hane]

I've been reading that the transmitter that comes with the srx works with the Phenix Flight Sim. Well if I don't buy a laptop just yet, can I hook the said transmitter up with a sim on a friends Mac?According to the Phenix webpage it won't work on a Mac OSX, but is there a sim that can connect with the srx transmitter that will work on a Mac OSX?


Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz


That would be really helpful so I can then dedicate more money on the hobby rather than splashing out on a laptop just yet.

[5hane]

I've been reading that the transmitter that comes with the srx works with the Phenix Flight Sim. Well if I don't buy a laptop just yet, can I hook the said transmitter up with a sim on a friends Mac?According to the Phenix webpage it won't work on a Mac OSX, but is there a sim that can connect with the srx transmitter that will work on a Mac OSX?


Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz


That would be really helpful so I can then dedicate more money on the hobby rather than splashing out on a laptop just yet.

Ok so I just found this, but wonder if anyone has tried it with the srx transmitter AlphaMacSoftware's RC Helicopter Simulator (Mac OS X)

[5hane]

Hi all,
i actually started out with a blade mcpx v2 I bought second hand from evilBay,a dx6i transmitter and some extra batteries.
i also bought a Phoenix simulator and within a week I could hover around.
i read a lot of reviews tips and tricks on forums,videos on YouTube and learnt a lot from others experience.
ive had a blade 120sr but I felt that the collective pitch mcpx was far more stable and a heli of a lot more durable than the fixed pitch 120sr.
Parts are cheaper on the mcpx plus it's as easy as flick idle up and the next stage awaits.
i personally never tried to hover indoors until I gained some expererience,plus a breeze actually helped me learn to correct faster as I had to do it more!
Now an rtf On evilbay is around £75,a dx6i transmitter around £70 new on evilBay and a Phoenix sim on evilBay for £35-£40
I beleive that's similar cost to the 200srx rtf but your getting much more useful kit to learn from and also the dx6i is good for anything apart from a nitro running an rpm governor.
from my own experience learning alone this is the route I would suggest but I will say that the 200srx is a great learner heli and I couldn't say a bad thing about it as it is currently the top fixed pitch heli to buy.
The Phoenix sim will be the best learning tool you will ever use and you will gain lots more confidence to try new things with your helicopter.
i hope you enjoy whatever you end up with

Hi again. As a follow-up to my last reply to your message; the mcpx v2 seems to be advertised as an expert heli. The reason I mention that is because being a smaller model, perhaps the mcpx would be nice to have as indoor practice with the addition of the dx6i for sim use, but the whole "expert" thing is perhaps the only reason why I should still be looking at the srx.

[tomatwalden]

Hi again. As a follow-up to my last reply to your message; the mcpx v2 seems to be advertised as an expert heli. The reason I mention that is because being a smaller model, perhaps the mcpx would be nice to have as indoor practice with the addition of the dx6i for sim use, but the whole "expert" thing is perhaps the only reason why I should still be looking at the srx.

I think Blade's distinction between beginner/expert is 4-channel/fixed-pitch versus 6-channel/collective pitch.

4-channel/fixed pitch is more beginner friendly for a number of reasons. For example ... no need to worry about pitch and throttle curves. Much lower head speed = safer and calmer. Generally speaking, many 4-channel helis also have 45-degree flybars or some other feature that makes them inherently stable.

6-channel/collective pitch is more involved. The pilot has to learn a little bit extra about computerised transmitters. Being collective pitch, the head speeds are significantly higher, meaning risk to humans and inanimate objects (Eg. the wife's favourite vase) is increased. Almost all collective pitch helicopter are inherently UNSTABLE, meaning the pilots needs to give constant minor corrections to keep the thing flying level.

It is perfectly possible to learn from scratch with 6-channel/collective pitch. But 4-channel/fixed pitch will be easier in the beginning.

The 200SRX has the advantage of being fixed pitch, but uses electrickery to be stable (in beginner mode), but flies pretty much exactly like a collective pitch heli (unstable) in expert mode ... meaning one heli can take you through both stages.

HTH