Back after 15 years or so away from hobby - any advice welcome

[Steve_T]

What engines do you already have? Nitro is good in some ways in that you can get longer flight times and perhaps also more flights in an afternoon, the initial investment is less than a comparable electric. The negative side is that you'll spend more on fuel if you fly a lot.

I have a MDS 38H and an OS Max 61 SX-H.

I need to get some fuel and get them going on the bench but see no reason why they won't work.

Steve

[Grumpy]

The problem i found with 'cheap' micros is that they didnt really prove to be cheap in the longer run. Initial purchase price might be reasonable but then there always seems to be a list of essentail upgrades that you have to buy just to address weaknesses in the design of the heli, then of course they are so hard to fly you crash all the time so you are constantly repairing and buying spares. Flight per flight the trex 150 micro i have has cost me more than any of my 600 or 700 size helis. It's now resigned to the naughty shelf, the main control board packed up (a common fault) and they cost about £70 which really makes repair uneconomic.

FWIW the Thunder Tiger X50e was virtually brand new and selling for £350, ready to fly, just needed a Tx. this is the link to the thread if you can access it: http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/sale/1...-bnf-mint.html

[Steve_T]

What about this as a Tx.

Radio Controlled Spektrum DX18 SPM18000EU Transmitter Only | eBay

Seems a bit cheap to me for a new DX18 ?

Steve

[Peteski]

As a way to get started seriously looking at getting a Blade nQX quad.

But do I get the RTF version or BNF?

If the BNF then I would probably want to get a Tx that would last me for a while as I progress onto more advanced models, but which is best Tx to get?

Steve

Go for it! I started with an nQX and it taught me everything I needed to confidently fly CP helis within a couple of months. Not just hovering about either, all upright flight. Although I really like cp micros (I have an mCPX) they can be frustrating to learn on and you certainly can't fly them as hard in the house as an nQX. In your shoes I would look at a micro cp once you have mastered the nQX in agility mode, then it will seem quite easy! You might want to consider the new nQX 3D too, which gives you inverted flight.

As for RTF vs BNF I would strongly recommend going BNF and buy a decent Tx. The RTF controller is not really up to the job and you do really need a programmable radio to work with the nQX in agility mode (i.e. as a cp trainer). I went for a Spektrum DX8 for long term.

[Grumpy]

What about this as a Tx.

Radio Controlled Spektrum DX18 SPM18000EU Transmitter Only | eBay

Seems a bit cheap to me for a new DX18 ?

Steve

It's the 'old' model DX18, i.e. it doesnt have 'voice' and wireless trainer. The new model usually referred to as 'V2' or 'gen2' has product code number SPM18100

[Nick_C]

Think this would be good choice transmitter http://www.fast-lad.co.uk/store/imag...eweek/spek.jpg

[Steve_T]

The problem i found with 'cheap' micros is that they didnt really prove to be cheap in the longer run. Initial purchase price might be reasonable but then there always seems to be a list of essentail upgrades that you have to buy just to address weaknesses in the design of the heli, then of course they are so hard to fly you crash all the time so you are constantly repairing and buying spares. Flight per flight the trex 150 micro i have has cost me more than any of my 600 or 700 size helis. It's now resigned to the naughty shelf, the main control board packed up (a common fault) and they cost about £70 which really makes repair uneconomic.

FWIW the Thunder Tiger X50e was virtually brand new and selling for £350, ready to fly, just needed a Tx. this is the link to the thread if you can access it: http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/sale/1...-bnf-mint.html

Looks great and it was a model I had considered originally before joining this forum. However, it is too far away for collection (Unfortunately) and I would guess postage would be at my risk otherwise unfair to the seller who prefers collection. And these days I just do not trust any courier, I have had just far too many items delivered damaged in transit recently. But thanks for the link it looks a great buy.

[Peteski]

The problem i found with 'cheap' micros is that they didnt really prove to be cheap in the longer run. Initial purchase price might be reasonable but then there always seems to be a list of essentail upgrades that you have to buy just to address weaknesses in the design of the heli, then of course they are so hard to fly you crash all the time so you are constantly repairing and buying spares. Flight per flight the trex 150 micro i have has cost me more than any of my 600 or 700 size helis. It's now resigned to the naughty shelf, the main control board packed up (a common fault) and they cost about £70 which really makes repair uneconomic.

None of these issues apply to the nQX though. £60 will give you literally hundreds of painless training flights. I just replaced the stock motors on mine after 500+ flights and only then because I was curious about some of the aftermarket higher power motors. It was still flying fine on the stock motors, although they were starting to feel a bit tired, now it absolutely rips on the new micro-motor-warehouse replacements (£20 upgrade).

To be honest my other micros have not been money pits either, but I don't crash them very often from all the experience I gained on the nQX and sim! 100+ flights on my 180 CFX (£15 in upgrades, £10 in crash repairs, 2 crashes), 100+ flights on my 130X (£40 in upgrade costs to make it fly properly, no crashes!), 200+ flights on my mCPX (£0 running cost, 5 or 6 crashes, 1 warranty replacement servo). Bigger helis are all well and good if you have the time and safe space to fly them. Crashes will certainly cost money too!

[Rich_H]

Hi Steve and welcome back to RC Heli's!

Like most things when asking for any advice, ask 6 different people and get 6 different answers lol. I think like most of the other answers I personally wouldn't try to resurrect your old heli or indeed your old radio, things have moved on a lot so it would be best to start from here, now from a technology perspective rather than battling old tech.

Im not going to say one brand or another on radio gear, we all have our preferred for whatever reason. what I will say however is buy the best you can afford in the first instance, don't get caught in the trap of buying a cheaper tx thinking either it'll do for now or I might not get back into heli's...etc simply put you's end up buying another as you progress and need more features/channels. I talk from experience of that lol

In terms of a heli, again this is subjective but as youre clearly not an out and out beginner a 500 size would possibly be comparable to what you were used to. The Align trex 500 is a good heli, flies well, big enough to see and part are plentiful, cheap and well supported. you wont get left with something out of manufacture any time soon!

Rich

[trillian]

I'm not familiar with the MDS38 but if it's a standard .30 size case and bolt pattern then you could put it in a gaui NX4 or a Raptor 30. But if it's not reliable or easy to tune then it may be more trouble than it's worth.

The 61SX should fit in pretty much any .90 size nitro airframe but will only really handle scale type flying, maybe some extremely careful aerobatics.

I'd second the Trex 500 suggestion for a mid sized electric heli and I have seen some go super cheap 2nd hand. The next bump up in size would be 550 (roughly the size of the Kyosho 30) and there are a few good choices out now. It just depends on the budget because if you're thinking of going with a 550 or above size electric you have an initial investment in a charger and PSU as well as the LiPos.

Regarding the TX, I certainly wouldn't spend more than that deal on the new DX7 as you'll need to budget for other things. I'm still using one of the old original version DX7s and I paid quite a lot for it when it first came out but now they go cheap 2nd hand. The only reason I can see for having the DX18 is if you need lots of channels for scale type auxiliary things because 7 or 8 channels is usually plenty.

I have a MDS 38H and an OS Max 61 SX-H.

I need to get some fuel and get them going on the bench but see no reason why they won't work.

Steve

[Mark_T]

Looks great and it was a model I had considered originally before joining this forum. However, it is too far away for collection (Unfortunately) and I would guess postage would be at my risk otherwise unfair to the seller who prefers collection. And these days I just do not trust any courier, I have had just far too many items delivered damaged in transit recently. But thanks for the link it looks a great buy.

Unfortunately it might not have been the best choice for you on the basis that spares are going to get difficult to find in the months ahead due to Thunder Tiger discontinuing support for most of their older models.

Picking something with readily available spares makes sense as you are likely to need them at least at first

[myxiplx]

The problem i found with 'cheap' micros is that they didnt really prove to be cheap in the longer run. Initial purchase price might be reasonable but then there always seems to be a list of essentail upgrades that you have to buy just to address weaknesses in the design of the heli, then of course they are so hard to fly you crash all the time so you are constantly repairing and buying spares. Flight per flight the trex 150 micro i have has cost me more than any of my 600 or 700 size helis. It's now resigned to the naughty shelf, the main control board packed up (a common fault) and they cost about £70 which really makes repair uneconomic.

FWIW the Thunder Tiger X50e was virtually brand new and selling for £350, ready to fly, just needed a Tx. this is the link to the thread if you can access it: http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/sale/1...-bnf-mint.html

Horses for courses, there are a lot of different ways to enter this hobby :-) If you're already flying then micros can feel horrible, and a lot of people get caught spending a ton of money on them.

But if you don't yet have the skills to avoid crashing, and want something that can bounce off the ground at minimal cost, they're a great option. I must have crashed my mCPX BL well over 100 times in my first year, I could literally crash it a dozen times a day when I was first leaning. Maybe 1 in 10 crashes needed a repair and that definitely saved me money compared to a bigger model.

The flip side is that if you don't like micros there are some great FBL options out there these days and you can make almost anything 450 size and upwards feel really tame to fly. You have to be more careful and treat the model with respect, but you can absolutely jump straight in with a larger model if you like.

I would argue there's more of a learning curve with a 'proper' size model, you're going to need to know mechanical setup, FBL systems, you have to learn about batteries, safety and charging. A whole bunch of stuff that with a micro and/or sim you can skip while you have fun flying, which then lets you learn the other skills over time.

[Steve_T]

Still not decided on a heli to get yet, but think I may go for this Tx as it looks a good price for the spec.

Spektrum DX9 Black Edition with AR9020 Receiver

[tomatwalden]

Still not decided on a heli to get yet, but think I may go for this Tx as it looks a good price for the spec.

Spektrum DX9 Black Edition with AR9020 Receiver

If you don't need a receiver, this is even cheaper : Spektrum DX9 Transmitter Only Mode 2 International Version [SPMR9900EU]

Bearing in mind most micros have built-in RXs and most modern FBL units use satellites rather than full size RXs for Spektrum.

[Hamish]

I originally started on an mcpx it taught me alot, but now I have the others and the 450L Dominator holds up very well in a crash even with the high headspeed. It is also easier than the mcpx as it is more stable but also it is more challenging than a 550 or 700 so will give you good reflexes... Personally I would get a 450L Dominator on 3S with a Spektrum DX7/6