1 month in and still here! A few thoughts on starting out

[trillian]

Here's my travel setup. I can't have a trailer because I have to be able to get up and down stairs at the train stations.

[Grumpy]

Looks familiar, is that Box hill station in the photo?

Anyway, how do you carry the heli? strapped to your back? If so that must be a killer when it's windy!

[Granpappy]

Here's my travel setup. I can't have a trailer because I have to be able to get up and down stairs at the train stations.

That earns my total respect for true dedication. Can you ride the bike carrying that lot or do you just use it as a trolley and hang everything off it? If it was me, I would be flying a 450/500.

[Granpappy]

I do cycling and i do helis, but I don't yet combine the two. So no, it's not mine. It belongs to a guy who goes by the name 'Cyclo' on Helifreak.

Lol. I was wondering whether they had yellow fire hydrants in Aberdeen.

[Peteski]

LOL! I'll stick to the OXY 3 for biking thanks! The whole bag including packs and Tx is about 2.5 kg.

[trillian]

Looks familiar, is that Box hill station in the photo?

Anyway, how do you carry the heli? strapped to your back? If so that must be a killer when it's windy!

Yeah that's Boxhill. The heavy stuff is in the backpack and when I'm walking through the stations I'm wearing the backpack and just carry the heli bag and the small bag with the TX. When I get to Boxhill and Westhumble station I ride to the field. When riding, the heli bag is sort of half hanging around my neck on the left side and supported with my left hand, it's not as difficult as it sounds. I have a new backpack now that is much more comfortable. If the backpack is really loaded with LiPos then I strap it on the back of the bike when I get to the station but wearing it the rest of the time.

One of the clubs I fly at is close enough to a station that I can leave the bike at home but Boxhill is too far to walk.

[Peteski]

That is hardcore flying indeed, I'm impressed!

[trillian]

That is hardcore flying indeed, I'm impressed!

The thing is, my work is in IT,sitting at a computer all day. So going out flying is good exercise. The downside is that I'm a lot less motivated when it's cold and windy or threatening rain.

[Heliboy31]

Are you saying you cycle from Boxhill station to Epsom Downs with that lot?
I have trouble walking up Boxhill with just an ice cream.

[trillian]

Are you saying you cycle from Boxhill station to Epsom Downs with that lot?
I have trouble walking up Boxhill with just an ice cream.

When I fly at the Boxhill club I ride from Boxhill and Westhumble station to the field, which is about 3 miles towards Leatherhead. When I fly at Epsom downs I don't need the bike, I just walk from Tattenham Corner station.

[stargazer]

Think I will stop moaning about having to lug my gear 100 metres up to the flying field when the summer car park is closed at one of the fields I fly at.

[hedge]

I think you have been very fair - on this and other threads - about going large. You wont regret that, because when you finally experience it there wont be any need for "I told you so" posts.

Micros:
Its funny a few years ago no one would take micros seriously, yet here we are with a plethora of pretty good collective machines. The limits they have hit with the 180 is disc loading, however I think they will address that by lighter stronger components and more powerful 2s motors.

Minis:
It seems also that the mini market is under going a similar change - though I have no experience - the new batch of 360 helis seem pretty good. We have a sponsored flyer at the club and he swears by his 360, its gets more airtime than his competition 700s because its pick up and go, yet he would not fly it if it was crap no matter how convenient it was. Unfortunately like most good sponsored pilots he no longer posts here.

Mid Size:
The 600s seem to be be getting better, again another club member and a poster here - ill let him introduce himself if he wants to - buys lots of helis - lots! His experience is not biased on any manufacturer or machine set up. If a 12s flies better than a 6s he will say and vice versa. But hearing the feedback while there are a couple of excellent options in that range its still a bit hit and miss, buy the wrong make and you will be chasing upgrades and mods to get it right.

700s:
However you wont get better than a 700. It seems the size and weight are perfect. The manufacturers (not tried clones) of all 700s just seem to be able to produce excellent helis. I cant think of a bad one - not from a main manufacturer. Even back in the dark days of Align cheese screws (450s-600s) their 700s where top machines. I guess its physics. Incidentally I've not seen a compelling larger heli yet either, all 800s ( cant talk to the Velos or Synergy 766) seem to just miss the mark and the 700s seem to be better flying machines.

Bobby Watts recommended if you want to learn to fly helis sell all but one. He is talking about 550-700 size. I took this advice - still cant fly :0)- what I found was by choosing a heli that had next day spares availability I would rarely be down for longer than 2-3 days following a crash. You get to know that heli really well, not just how it flies but how it is built. You also loose all apprehension when flying it. swing back and forth between a 450 and 700 the 700 gets a god like status, just fly a 700 and well ... that's your heli.

Oh and I don't recommend try before you buy via the sim. Sims are OK but they lack real world feel. An XYZ in the sim is different by some margin in real life. Best bet (as I know you plan) join a club and progress from there both in flying and size.

Just another opinion

[Peteski]

Thanks Hedge, a lot of good info there. I'm in no hurry to progress to big helis for the various reasons I've mentioned before, but I can see how the 700 size seems to be the sweet spot if you don't want to make any compromise at all. I'm sure I'll try one at some point, but in the meantime I can see myself playing around with the latest crop of Mini and perhaps smaller Mid size helis. Unlike some people, I've had a good experience with micro helis (probably because I started recently) and my OXY 3, which is really more of a small Mini (I'm running 285 mm blades on mine). I'm keen to get my G380 up and running and I think that's the size that will probably suit my lifestyle the best for now. Budget is not a big issue for me, but time certainly is and in many ways that's the most limiting factor of all. I'm looking forward to getting involved in club flying too and that will give me a better idea of where I might eventually end up. It's great that there are so many good options these days in whatever size heli suits your needs best.

[Peteski]

Are you saying you cycle from Boxhill station to Epsom Downs with that lot?
I have trouble walking up Boxhill with just an ice cream.

I've ridden around Boxhill on my mountain bike many times and it was one of the toughest circuits we used to do!

[Peteski]

A quick progress update - it's been a busy summer for me so far but I have now finally got 20 flights or so on my G380 KSE. I have to say it feels like a step up from my OXY 3 in many ways, but no more intimidating to fly. It just feels that bit more stable and solid in the air and the visibility is excellent. It's pretty much what I was hoping for from this size heli, so it's going to be a keeper alongside my OXY 3. I'm falling behind my target number of flights for the year, but hoping to ramp up my flying over the coming months. I'm only on a total of 155 flights so far this year, so a long way to go! My sim training is still relentless though and that's where I'm making all my progress. Every time I fly outdoors, sometimes with gaps of several weeks, I still feel stronger and more confident.