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First of all many thanks to everyone for all the valuable help and advice. This is a great forum with lots of enthusiastic support for new flyers like me.
So I thought I'd report on my first month in the hobby and give a bit of feedback on the kit I now have. It's worth noting that I'm restricted to indoor house flying at the moment mainly due to lack of time to get out to the field and starting off in December, so that did have a large bearing on my initial choice of weapons. So anyway here are my thoughts on my startup kit:-
Blade mCX2 (co-axial 4ch heli)
I deliberated for a long time between the mCX2 and the fixed pitch mSRX and eventually went for the conservative option as I was starting from nothing. A couple of people warned me that I would outgrow the mCX2 very quickly and I can now see why. It really is very, very stable and can be flown confidently from day 1, even in a tight space. In an average lounge, it is very easy to fly loops, 8s etc without any fear of crashing. It's a sedate flyer for sure and ultimately not enough on its own for anyone intending to progress onto CP. Having said that it's a really good looking little heli and still fun to fly indoors alongside other models. The one thing I've learnt most from flying it is rudder control and orientation. Even though forward flight is pretty slow and plodding, it does piro pretty quick and goes where you point it pretty accurately. It's also good for practicing spot landings with a lightweight micro. Would I buy one again? Yes I think so, although I would certainly not consider it alone for serious indoor training.
Blade Nano QX (quad)
When I first asked for advice here, someone suggested this little quad as an alternative to a micro heli. I'm not interested in quads at all, but thought it would make a good little indoor trainer without any of the hassles of more advanced micro helis. So I bought one at the same time as the mCX2 and have been flying them together ever since. In short the nQX turned out to be a brilliant buy. It's fast, agile, virtually unbreakable, furniture friendly, maintenance free, easy to setup, etc, etc. The only negative thing about it is that it is not actually a heli! So I can't really relate to it visually, it just looks like a wasp in its yellow/black shell. But everything else about it is fantastic. The safe mode makes it fairly easy to fly on day 1, although takes a week or so to master and can be flown pretty darn quick in this mode, even in a tight space. The self-stabilising is nothing like that of a co-axial heli. It's much more subtle and still allows you to develop proper flying skills. In agility mode there is no stabilisation at all and it responds to cyclic inputs just like a full blown CP heli and it is super responsive. It becomes a bit of a handful in a small room, much like what I've seen of expert level helis like the Nano CPX. But it is a great mode for developing quick reactions and for advanced outdoor flying. If I could only have one indoor micro to learn with, this would be the one for sure. Your expensive TV and furniture will thank you too!
Spektrum DX8 Radio
I bought the mCX2 in RTF form with the cheapo radio included to get me started. A few days later I invested in the DX8 mainly to use with the sim and for long term use with more advanced helis, but I very quickly realised that this is the way to go right from the start. The cheap radio that came with the mCX2 was never used again and in hindsight I should have saved £11 on the BNF version! Then again maybe it was well worth the £11 just to experience the difference a decent programmable radio makes. So I now use the DX8 for all my flying and sim. It was a toss up between the DX8 and the latest DX6 (not to be confused with the old DX6 and DX6i). I chose the DX8 for longevity and because it was on sale at the time. It's been faultless so far and I expect I won't need another radio for a very long time. It's also given me a good start to the world of radio programming.
neXt sim
I'm running a Mac so there wasn't a lot of choice on the sim front (basically neXt or Heli-X) but neXt is well reviewed, so I went with the flow and it has been a great learning aid for me. Works well with the DX8 too. Again I'm glad I didn't bother with the cheap dummy radios some people use with these sims. You can't beat the real thing and it gives me consistency using the same radio for everything. I think a sim is a must-have for anyone looking to progress onto CP helis in the future. I can see it's going to save literally hundreds of pounds in crash damage.
So what have I learnt in a month and probably something like 250 flights in the house and a good few hours of sim time?
Well for a start I can fly the mCX2 in my sleep, although I'm still finding it useful and most importantly fun to fly. Probably not learning much from it now though ultimately.
The nQX is still very much a work in progress in agility mode, but I rarely crash it now even in a small room. I can hover in any orientation and fly slow fairly controlled loops around the room. In stability mode I can fly it fast and aggressively without losing control. I've also given it a few successful missions in the garden where it's probably at its best providing there is no wind.
I found the sim pretty frustrating at first. Pretty much every flight ended eating dirt and I just couldn't get my head around the controls. I'd lose orientation after the first couple of turns and just end up either in the ground or watching a distant speck 2 miles away. I certainly wouldn't want to be learning like this on a real heli! But after a month of plugging away at it, plus of course flying the micros, it really has started coming together nicely. I can now hover in all orientations, perform slow piros and fly controlled loops without losing orientation and most importantly not crashing at all, even with the silly little micro models. I'm actually finding the larger models very easy to fly now (not 3D stuff obviously) and need to start adding in some wind/turbulence to liven it up a bit.
Crash damage zero and both my micros are still flying perfectly with no maintenance at all. Certainly had my money's worth already.
In hindsight, would I have done anything differently?
Not really, which says a lot for the advice I received on this forum before starting out. Maybe I could have saved a tenner by getting the BNF version of the mCX2, but at least I have a spare radio for the kids to play with. If I was on a tighter budget I could have got a cheaper radio like the DX6i, which would have been fine for a while and I think the nQX plus sim alone would have got me to the exact same point on the learning curve. But for me at least, I would make exactly the same choices again and have no regrets at all.
Next steps? I'm still thinking of getting a 200 SRX for initial outdoor training in spring, before finally stepping up to the plate with a larger CP heli. I also have a scale Red Bull 130X sitting on my desk which I bought in the pre-Christmas sales. My long term aim was always scale flying, so I'm really excited about getting to fly this one, but I don't want to smash it up just yet! I'll probably buy an advanced micro CP heli at some point too, probably the Nano CPX or maybe even the mCPX BL for the garden. I know I'll get most use out of micros while I'm house bound.
Hope all you fellow beginners are enjoying this new hobby as much as I am. Enjoy!
Pete
So I thought I'd report on my first month in the hobby and give a bit of feedback on the kit I now have. It's worth noting that I'm restricted to indoor house flying at the moment mainly due to lack of time to get out to the field and starting off in December, so that did have a large bearing on my initial choice of weapons. So anyway here are my thoughts on my startup kit:-
Blade mCX2 (co-axial 4ch heli)
I deliberated for a long time between the mCX2 and the fixed pitch mSRX and eventually went for the conservative option as I was starting from nothing. A couple of people warned me that I would outgrow the mCX2 very quickly and I can now see why. It really is very, very stable and can be flown confidently from day 1, even in a tight space. In an average lounge, it is very easy to fly loops, 8s etc without any fear of crashing. It's a sedate flyer for sure and ultimately not enough on its own for anyone intending to progress onto CP. Having said that it's a really good looking little heli and still fun to fly indoors alongside other models. The one thing I've learnt most from flying it is rudder control and orientation. Even though forward flight is pretty slow and plodding, it does piro pretty quick and goes where you point it pretty accurately. It's also good for practicing spot landings with a lightweight micro. Would I buy one again? Yes I think so, although I would certainly not consider it alone for serious indoor training.
Blade Nano QX (quad)
When I first asked for advice here, someone suggested this little quad as an alternative to a micro heli. I'm not interested in quads at all, but thought it would make a good little indoor trainer without any of the hassles of more advanced micro helis. So I bought one at the same time as the mCX2 and have been flying them together ever since. In short the nQX turned out to be a brilliant buy. It's fast, agile, virtually unbreakable, furniture friendly, maintenance free, easy to setup, etc, etc. The only negative thing about it is that it is not actually a heli! So I can't really relate to it visually, it just looks like a wasp in its yellow/black shell. But everything else about it is fantastic. The safe mode makes it fairly easy to fly on day 1, although takes a week or so to master and can be flown pretty darn quick in this mode, even in a tight space. The self-stabilising is nothing like that of a co-axial heli. It's much more subtle and still allows you to develop proper flying skills. In agility mode there is no stabilisation at all and it responds to cyclic inputs just like a full blown CP heli and it is super responsive. It becomes a bit of a handful in a small room, much like what I've seen of expert level helis like the Nano CPX. But it is a great mode for developing quick reactions and for advanced outdoor flying. If I could only have one indoor micro to learn with, this would be the one for sure. Your expensive TV and furniture will thank you too!
Spektrum DX8 Radio
I bought the mCX2 in RTF form with the cheapo radio included to get me started. A few days later I invested in the DX8 mainly to use with the sim and for long term use with more advanced helis, but I very quickly realised that this is the way to go right from the start. The cheap radio that came with the mCX2 was never used again and in hindsight I should have saved £11 on the BNF version! Then again maybe it was well worth the £11 just to experience the difference a decent programmable radio makes. So I now use the DX8 for all my flying and sim. It was a toss up between the DX8 and the latest DX6 (not to be confused with the old DX6 and DX6i). I chose the DX8 for longevity and because it was on sale at the time. It's been faultless so far and I expect I won't need another radio for a very long time. It's also given me a good start to the world of radio programming.
neXt sim
I'm running a Mac so there wasn't a lot of choice on the sim front (basically neXt or Heli-X) but neXt is well reviewed, so I went with the flow and it has been a great learning aid for me. Works well with the DX8 too. Again I'm glad I didn't bother with the cheap dummy radios some people use with these sims. You can't beat the real thing and it gives me consistency using the same radio for everything. I think a sim is a must-have for anyone looking to progress onto CP helis in the future. I can see it's going to save literally hundreds of pounds in crash damage.
So what have I learnt in a month and probably something like 250 flights in the house and a good few hours of sim time?
Well for a start I can fly the mCX2 in my sleep, although I'm still finding it useful and most importantly fun to fly. Probably not learning much from it now though ultimately.
The nQX is still very much a work in progress in agility mode, but I rarely crash it now even in a small room. I can hover in any orientation and fly slow fairly controlled loops around the room. In stability mode I can fly it fast and aggressively without losing control. I've also given it a few successful missions in the garden where it's probably at its best providing there is no wind.
I found the sim pretty frustrating at first. Pretty much every flight ended eating dirt and I just couldn't get my head around the controls. I'd lose orientation after the first couple of turns and just end up either in the ground or watching a distant speck 2 miles away. I certainly wouldn't want to be learning like this on a real heli! But after a month of plugging away at it, plus of course flying the micros, it really has started coming together nicely. I can now hover in all orientations, perform slow piros and fly controlled loops without losing orientation and most importantly not crashing at all, even with the silly little micro models. I'm actually finding the larger models very easy to fly now (not 3D stuff obviously) and need to start adding in some wind/turbulence to liven it up a bit.
Crash damage zero and both my micros are still flying perfectly with no maintenance at all. Certainly had my money's worth already.
In hindsight, would I have done anything differently?
Not really, which says a lot for the advice I received on this forum before starting out. Maybe I could have saved a tenner by getting the BNF version of the mCX2, but at least I have a spare radio for the kids to play with. If I was on a tighter budget I could have got a cheaper radio like the DX6i, which would have been fine for a while and I think the nQX plus sim alone would have got me to the exact same point on the learning curve. But for me at least, I would make exactly the same choices again and have no regrets at all.
Next steps? I'm still thinking of getting a 200 SRX for initial outdoor training in spring, before finally stepping up to the plate with a larger CP heli. I also have a scale Red Bull 130X sitting on my desk which I bought in the pre-Christmas sales. My long term aim was always scale flying, so I'm really excited about getting to fly this one, but I don't want to smash it up just yet! I'll probably buy an advanced micro CP heli at some point too, probably the Nano CPX or maybe even the mCPX BL for the garden. I know I'll get most use out of micros while I'm house bound.
Hope all you fellow beginners are enjoying this new hobby as much as I am. Enjoy!
Pete
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