The most beginnerest of beginnerers.

[tbourner]

So I've been banging on about wanting to fly a helicopter forever (a real one as well as an R/C ), my wife obviously got annoyed and got me a cheap 2CH mini £30 thing for Christmas thinking that would be the end of it - that may have been a mistake on her part as here I am!

So HELP! I know nothing. I basically know the difference between 2CH, 4CH and 6CH, and I know about "real" heli flight physics, I understand the controls etc., but in terms of "What do I do now?" I've got nothing.
I read the FAQ, I tried looking for a Blade CX2 but they seem to be discontinued? I had previously considered getting an RTF 4CH like an esky 150 or maybe a Honey Bee v2 - is that a bad idea? Now the FAQ says it'd be good to buy a transmitter and a SIM program and play on the computer - can you do that then? Is it USB? I looked at the DX7 and it's way too expensive for me at this stage, then there's talk of receivers and transmitters and memory (doesn't it just send out signals? Why would it need memory of different aircraft?) and I'm thinking I should just go back to the RTF boxes that sound oh so easy.

Laslty, I'm from down south near Portsmouth, any good clubs around here? Shops with helpfuls in?

[Boggy]

Hello beginnerest welcome to the forum.

[waveydavey]

Welcome to the forum, the beginners section and the choice of helis may be a little out of date now so have a search in the main forum for heli choice. Please forget the HK 2, just not worth the bother, they do fly and I owned 2 but you move on so quickly and they're not particularly good.

There's a number of Tx's on the market that will do you fine and you could do worse that the Spectrum range although with some BnF helis you've go to be careful about the Tx being capable of binding to it.

You're in the right place for advice so ask away, a few threads to get you started

http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/beginn...li-choice.html

http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/beginn...-new-heli.html

http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/beginn...e-welcome.html

[tbourner]

OK that New Heli thread is useful. Is it worth getting something like a WLToys V977 rather than a V911? Or should I plump for a DX6i instead and get a SIM - can you get free SIM software? I can't find where to buy Phoenix from.

[DaveJones]

So I've been banging on about wanting to fly a helicopter forever (a real one as well as an R/C ), my wife obviously got annoyed and got me a cheap 2CH mini £30 thing for Christmas thinking that would be the end of it - that may have been a mistake on her part as here I am!

So HELP! I know nothing. I basically know the difference between 2CH, 4CH and 6CH, and I know about "real" heli flight physics, I understand the controls etc., but in terms of "What do I do now?" I've got nothing.
I read the FAQ, I tried looking for a Blade CX2 but they seem to be discontinued? I had previously considered getting an RTF 4CH like an esky 150 or maybe a Honey Bee v2 - is that a bad idea? Now the FAQ says it'd be good to buy a transmitter and a SIM program and play on the computer - can you do that then? Is it USB? I looked at the DX7 and it's way too expensive for me at this stage, then there's talk of receivers and transmitters and memory (doesn't it just send out signals? Why would it need memory of different aircraft?) and I'm thinking I should just go back to the RTF boxes that sound oh so easy.

Laslty, I'm from down south near Portsmouth, any good clubs around here? Shops with helpfuls in?

This is a great resource for information when starting out in this hobby:
RC Helicopters - A Super Fun and Rewarding Hobby

Something like a Hubsan quad like this one on eBuyer for £20 complete with a radio The Hubsan X4 Micro Quadcopter - Ebuyer.com would not be a bad first step. Not a helicopter but will teach you the controls and the elusive nose in skills. You can get spares and extra batteries cheaply as well.

Sims generally need an reasonable computer, but if you have something from within the last 5/6 years you should be good. There are several around Phoenix, Realflight, AccuRC and NeXt being the most common ones, AccuRC will need a more modern computer though with reasonable graphics capabilities, NeXt will run on Windows and Mac's. All but NeXt appear in the for sale section on here so worth keeping an eye out, NeXt is an online purchase and download which you can demo even without a radio. I use NeXt.

All the Sim's require a radio/transmitter which connects to your PC via a USB dongle, this is the same radio you would fly a full blown collective pitch RC heli. As you will read in the other threads something like a Spektrum DX6 would not be a bad starting point although you would probably be better off going for a seven channel system which I think would give you more options if you end up wanting a rescue switch. Again plenty of Tx come up for sale on here.

In general I have found this forum a safe place to buy stuff second hand, you can see how longer the seller has been around the forum and read their contributions to get a feel for the seller.

Lastly look around for a Heli club and meet up with some people face to face if you can. If you get something bigger than the Hubsan visit and ideally join the BFMA and learn to fly safe, away from the public and within the rules.

Have fun, its a challenge learning to fly these thinks but if you like mechanics, electronics, computers and flying you have the right hobby.

[Dean airwolf]

Welcome to the fun.

[Peteski]

If you know already that you will be in it for the long haul, then investing in a decent transmitter will save you money in the long run and make the learning experience easier. The new DX7 would actually be a very good choice and it's not very expensive compared to what you could potentially spend. If you want to hedge your bets then buy a used transmitter e.g. DX8 or a DX6i as a minimum. These are quite cheap used and you could always sell them on for much the same money. I've used a DX8 from the start and find it a very good radio and easy to program. They were recently discontinued, but there are usually plenty of used ones for sale. The DX8 has effectively been replaced by the new DX7 and DX9 (there is no DX8 in the current Specktrum line). You can still buy the old DX6i new even though there is now a newer and considerably better DX6.

Spektrum radios are a particularly good choice if you start off with Blade micros as they all come with Spektrum receivers. Something like a Blade 230S would get you off to a great start. A good sim is also a must-have. I use NeXt, which you can demo for free online. Spektrum radios plug straight in with a cheap USB adaptor. All pretty painless these days. Also if you want to start out small, don't underestimate the little quads like the Blade Nano QX. They fly much like collective pitch helis but are much easier to set up and very hard to break.

Good luck!

[Coxy]

I started on a cheap 2 channel heli, a couple of years ago as I drove the wife mad she got me one, lol ... Tbh you will only learn basic movement with what you have, have a good browse through the information posted and also look at the blade 230 as its ideal. Some great advice in the lists above.. Oh and also deep pockets help������

[myxiplx]

If you think you'll be in the hobby for a while, a Spektrum transmitter is a great option as it lets you choose from a bunch of compatible micro helicopters, works great with sims, and will let you graduate to larger models later on.

Quadcopters are a great option as you start out, they're pretty cheap and very tough, but let you learn all the basic skills you'll need for flying a full 6 channel CP helicopter. As far as I'm concerned, they're taking the place of 4 channel models and as mentioned above, the nQX is a great little starter. If you really want to start with a helicopter, the nCP S is good for indoors, or the 230 S for outdoors.

There are some budget alternatives if you're interested, but they'll usually come with cheap transmitters and before long you'll likely find yourself needing to upgrade both the model and the TX.

[tbourner]

TBH I hadn't thought of a quad (what's the difference between that and a drone then?). Might look at some of those.

[Grumpy]

Technically a drone is any form of unmanned aircraft that has the capability for autonomous flight... So quads, fixed wing planes and helicopter all could theoretically be 'drones'. It's more about the onboard flight systems than the configuration of the aircraft.

Multi rotors can be pretty good heli trainers. They are quite similar to a heli in the way the controls work but they have 'self levelling' stabilisation that makes them much easier to fly. Better ones allow you to adjust the strength of the self levelling so by reducing it you can get a better feel for what flying a heli is like... Though these days you can get that same type of stabilisation ins some helis, like the Blade 230 for instance.