Newbie looking to get into the hobby, just a few questions on first purchase

[Peteski]

I just bought this too as I just couldn't resist it at the sale price from RC Heliguru.

RED BULL BO-105 CB 130 X BNF BLH3880i

It will serve as a home office ornament for a little while, but something to look forward to flying once I've mastered the mCX2, Nano QX and logged a few hours on the sim.

[Peteski]

I would just like to say thank you again for the sound advice given by everyone and a quick update on my progress:-

My little starter fleet now consists of a Syma 107P (for the kids - even has a cool bubble blowing machine mounted), Blade mCX2, Blade Nano QX and the Red Bull 130X as above. I also paid a visit to Jonathan at RC Heliguru in Milton Keynes (thanks waveydavey) and came away with a DX8 radio, which should serve all my needs for the foreseeable future.

I flew the mCX2 and Nano QX for the first time today and they are both great fun. I was just using the simple RTF radio that came with the mCX2 and I can see it's not that great. I was finding it hard to maintain a constant throttle while operating the rudder, but could just be my inexperience. Be interesting to see how the DX8 feels. Also need to experiment with thumb v pinch control to see which I get on with best. Been using thumb so far, but pinch seems like it could be more precise. Which do you guys prefer?

The mCX2 flew pretty much like I was expecting. I found it easy to hover with precise control in all directions. A big improvement over the 3ch Syma as I was hoping, but no more difficult to fly (as in hover and pootle around slowly). Easier if anything due to the precise control over movement.

The Nano QX was awesome, like an angry little wasp. Super agile and quick even in safe mode plus low rates. I can see that this is going to be a great training aid in preparation for CP helis and so many thanks to myxiplx for the recommendation. I'm really glad I decided to get this model.

On the sim front, I think I'm going with NeXt on my iMac and so I've just ordered a USB cable to hook up the DX8.

So that's my winter flying program sorted and I've got my eye on a Blade 200 SRX for outdoors in the spring. I really like the bailout feature and stability modes on that model, which should boost my confidence before giving the 130X a go. After that I guess I'll just see where my interest takes me. I suspect it's scale flying rather than 3D, but could easily end up doing both!

Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Peteski

[myxiplx]

Sounds like you've got a great fleet there, and a good TX. Have fun :-)

[Peteski]

Thanks, I think it will be good to have a bit of variety for indoor fun. My wife is a bit bewildered at the moment with all the flying machines suddenly appearing in the house. Kids are not complaining though

[Chrisrw]

Hi Peteski,
Well done on getting you starter fleet!
A few bits of advice from another beginner (I'm only a couple of
months in but loving it).
The DX8 should give you some extra confidence so use it even with the
mcx2 and nano it will really help to get started. I would recommend a
lanyard (or at least some string!) as flying indoors there is a chance
(don't ask!) that you may end up with one of your models flying at you
at some point and you don't want to damage your shiny new TX if you
drop it (I got lucky and only broke the flaps switch costing a couple
of £ to replace).
The sim is really great and will give you confidence (lots of slow
Piros) and you may want to try the 130x sooner than later! I would
only hover it indoors at first but now after a few weeks of solid piro
practices (enabling me to recover from most upright positions when I
get into trouble) I am happy to hover around the room and switch to a
nose in hover as well. I would say though that I did all this first
with a mcpx and nano cpx (smaller CPs than the 130x) and if your
flying is going to be limited initially to indoor flying the 130x is a
bit scary (and could hurt you, furniture and itself) so if you really
want to play with a CP you may want something In-between (size) the
mcx2 and the 130x. The nano qx is a good choice - I didn't start with a quad but I would have saved quite a few spares on my msrx probably if I had!
If you have any wind free days try and get the mcx2 outdoors (I find the msrx flys really great when its very still outside) - it quickly shows you how good (or bad) your skills are as you tend to venture much further than you would indoors and you will realise quite how quickly they can get away from you (something you will need to be aware of when trying out the 130x). The sim doesn't really help with this as you have no fear factor (and also the autozoom tends to make it easier to fly further than you could/would in real life). Try using one of the larger heli's (a 600 or 700) on the sim - and don't bother with the co-ax or fixed pitches as they are too stable and slow on the sim and won't really help with learning - the CP's heli's on the sim will be easier to takeoff and hover than in real life so shouldn't be too difficult to get to grips with (at least for basic hover exercises).
Anyway, have fun and hope you are enjoying it as much as I am.
Chris

[Chrisrw]

And one other thing!
Don't be afraid to play with the expo on the TX - I recently realised I have been using far too much (+) expo and have stopped using any on the sim and dramatically reduced (from 30% to 10%) on my models. In fact the msrx (which I guess is going to be similar to the mcx2 in that respect) I have actually put in -40% expo so is now much faster to react and closer in response to the CP heli's.
Too much expo is great at the beginning (and I would recommend it to start) but seems to cause over compensation and was starting to hinder my progress after a while. It's a personal choice but if you don't experiment with different settings you won't know what works best for you.

[Peteski]

Hi Chris, thanks for the advice which is much appreciated.

I've been playing with both the mCX2 and Nano QX a lot over the holidays, using the DX8 with both. I'm now pretty confident flying both these little guys around the living room and have started playing with the settings on the mCX2 to make it a bit faster. I moved the swash droplinks onto the longer arms and have just started experimenting with negative expo on the DX8, which has made a big difference. I'm really enjoying flying the mCX2 indoors as it feels well matched to the confined space. The Nano QX is great fun too, but it definitely feels a bit constrained in the house. I took it outside one day when it was calm and it felt much better let loose in the garden (still in stability mode, haven't tried the agility mode yet). I can see this thing has bags more potential for advanced flying. The 130X is still in its box and will most likely stay there for a good while yet. My plan is to get a 200 SRX first, which I'm guessing will have a similar feel to the Nano QX in stability mode and therefore should be less daunting as a first outdoor heli.

My USB sim cable has just arrived in the post today and so I finally hooked up my DX8 to my iMac. After the chat I had with RC Heliguru I was expecting a load of hassle getting my DX8 to talk to the Mac, but it actually worked first time with Heli-X. I haven't had chance to try it out with NeXt yet, which is probably the sim I will go with if the cable works.

So all going to plan at the moment and I'm having lots of fun

[Thor]

I just stumbled on this thread and enjoyed reading about your entry into the hobby. It reminds me a lot of my start 2 years ago when I bought a toy heli, then a couple of mini quads, then a 130X, a nano CPx and, last spring, a T-REX 450L. This hobby took me by storm, and it sounds like it's doing the same for you. I hope you continue to enhoy it as much as I do

I can't offer any real additional advice (I'm still a noob), but I recently started sim'ing daily using the "routine" from the helifreak forum, and this has improved my flying by leaps and bounds. Highly recommended!

A question for you: which USB sim cable did you get? I have been looking around for one because I am thinking of trying out Heli-X instead of Phoenix - mainly based on its good reputation and the urge to try something new.

[Peteski]

Hi Thor, just noticed your post and question. The USB sim cable I have is the one below from Hobby King. Works with Heli-X and NeXt on a mac. Presume it would work fine on a pc too.

USB Simulator Cable RealFlight G4.5