Introductions

[consultant125]

The DX6i would suit you fine for the 450.

And I assume it's great for Phoenix or one of the other sims? I would just need a cable to connect it to a USB port?

If you have the budget and hope to progress into 3D requiring governors and the like, the extra channel of the DX7 would be a good buy.

By 3D you mean flying upside down and jumping all over the place in a very unnatural way? That's not something that particularly interests me at the moment, though the Venom Micro I have is supposedly a 3D model.

It is supplied with a receiver for under £100.

Where would you buy? Your local hobby and model shop or do people have preferred online suppliers? Generally speaking of course.

Thanks for the info.

Regards,

A.
www.carillonvideo.co.uk

[marktigere1]

There's no rule saying a bigger heli couldn't be your first choice, however it would involve buying a more expensive TX and the cost generally would go up dramatically.

You don't need a more expensive TX.

My DX6i runs my Raptor 50 really well and I don't have any plans (or money) to upgrade as I simply don't see the need at the moment.

The only thing that may make me upgrade is the extra idle up of the DX7 but I don't need that with my flying at present.

Cheers

Mark

[consultant125]

once you've completed at least 20-30 hours sim practice.

20 to 30 hours?!?! You're not exactly inspiring me!

Thanks for the info.

Regards,

A.
www.carillonvideo.co.uk

[marktigere1]

By 3D you mean flying upside down and jumping all over the place in a very unnatural way? That's not something that particularly interests me at the moment, though the Venom Micro I have is supposedly a 3D model.

Hi

Yep the DX6i will work fine with Pheonix.

You can fly 3D with the DX6i. An additional channel and Idle up of the DX7 is useful if you want to stick bang but not essential.

www.fast-lad.co.uk is a good supplier of the DX6i or you can find them at your local model shop.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Mark

[cambs flyer]

This is what I mean by better advice, sorry I got that one wrong, thanks Mark, apologies, I'm still a beginner.

[cambs flyer]

20 to 30 hours?!?! You're not exactly inspiring me!

Thanks for the info.

Regards,

A.
www.carillonvideo.co.uk

Oh no don't think like that bud' I enjoyed and still enjoy practicing on Phoenix.

When you start if like myself I found it hard to pull myself away from it, I kept a log of all the time I spent each day and it totaled just under 120 hours before I took flight, and I do believe it's saved me loads of crash damage, I sometimes go through 4 batt packs a day, so I cram in loads of real flying when I can.

When you start practicing on the sim I'm sure you'll enjoy it immensely, and the hours needed (there's no set rule) will be hours of complete joy.

You need passion for this hobby I feel, you either love it to bits or don't, to me there's no middle ground, as the study needed and learning to fly these difficult machines (at first) will be a good indication if this is for you or not.

However with your questions I feel the urge is there, and if taken slowly with practice and advise from the guy's here your do superbly!

[consultant125]

This is what I mean by better advice, sorry I got that one wrong, thanks Mark, apologies, I'm still a beginner.

You're a beginner eh? Well for your information, I am still trying to work out what you got wrong, so what does that make me? Hahaha.

Regards,

A.
www.carillonvideo.co.uk

[cambs flyer]

It's truly over whelming when you first start out mate, I didn't know the DX6i could handle a Rappy, that's one more thing I've learned today, and that's the game, you learn something each day and that's the trick.

Don't be frightened by asking what you might think is a silly question, most of the important answers follow the silliest of questions as you might think at the time.

My pennies worth here to get the best value for you money at this stage (if you fancy) would be buy the Blade 400 complete system & Phoenix, this way your money has been spent wisely and your ready for the off, once you feel confident to do so.

Ron here on the forum can tell you how to set Phoenix so the B400 on the sim fly's almost it's real counterpart does in real life.

I was like you when I begun, I desperately wanted to just fly and nothing else, and it took Rob (Warboyastro) to come over my gaff and demonstrate is Trex 600N, and from that moment I thought Christ almighty, serious practice is needed before I jump in with one of my own.

The first time you take off is terrifying, and at first you only do little hops up and down and progress to longer hovers and so on, main thing to remember is if you think your about to crash and there's no way out of it kill the throttle quick, but this is all part of learning when you start.

[jboweruk]

What he said.

[Boggy]

ahh the blade 400 now i can help!

[cambs flyer]

Sorry to draft you in before asking mate, but if anyone knows about this your the man.

[consultant125]

Hey!

I took the Venom Micro back to the shop to ask Brian's advice on the tail heavy situation. He recommended moving the battery forwards but then when I explained why you can't do that, he decided to phone the distributor. They said pack the nose of the canopy with blue tack.

Meanwhile, a heli guy was in the shop and he looked at it (Brian is just getting into fixed wing I think) and told me it needs to be balanced so that it is very slightly forward leaning. I have done most of this now (not quite forward leaning yet though) and it takes off even better than it did. But it's still not flyable in the house.

Next I thought, it's difficult getting altitude. Maybe the head speed is too low? I turned that up (at least, I think I did according to the manual) and suddenly not only is it flying higher quicker, but it's much more stable.

So I am getting there slowly. What else can I change?

Oh and, what the heli guy in the shop said, surprised me. He said it was hard to fly a Micro (which I kinda knew) and I would have been better starting with a Trex 450 because it's much more stable. That goes against almost everything I ever read on this forum!

Regards,

A.
www.carillonvideo.co.uk

[Boggy]

try adding small weights to the flybar! wheel collets off fixed wing undercarriage are ideal. (search "taming the blade 400" for pictures )

[cambs flyer]

I did say the 450 would be more stable then the little venom, but this doesn't mean it's an easy alternative by far.

When they say more stable it's from the stand point that you can fly a CCP heli to begin with and can make a comparison.

Of course the larger the rota diameter the more stable the Heli is, but in the same breath it also means you need to really know what your doing, when starting having some expert guidance if possible and taking it very slowly, as a Rappy 30 is unbelievably intimidating if you've never seen one take off.

The 450 is a terror too, but as I say it always is frightening until you gain some small wings of confidence.

It's amazing really, this hobby is very technical, but in the same sentence still very cottage industry, hence the blue tack fix, when you start out you'd have never thought you'd need blue tack, but this is all part of tailoring a heli to fly and being happy with the performance

I think by what your written your doing great, asking questions and working through problems and seeing the light the other end.

Just keep it up I say, the more you put in, the more you'll get out of it.

[consultant125]

Okay, I made an executive decision today. I bought the Venom Micro because it could be flown indoors. The idea was to practice indoors before moving onto a bigger heli. Alas, that's proving to be extremely difficult. I have managed to get the Micro flying fairly well but I don't think it will ever serve me as an indoor trainer.

Brian, at the shop, has been telling me that he will give me a full refund if it doesn't work out. This, despite the fact that the heli needs a new set of blades, new skids and possibly a new canopy to return it to it's brand new condition. I have been loath to do this because I don't think it's fair to the retailer. But on the other hand, Brian is very concious of how much hassle I went through buying the thing in the first place and returning it because it was faulty.

Therefore, I have had an idea that will benefit everyone. The Venom Micro cost me 140GBP. I am going to return it for a full refund and I have offered to pay for the parts to fix it up to good as new (Brian can even keep the blue tack that balances it. Haha). Brian said he would sort the parts out but I'm not having that.

In return, I am going to order a copy of Phoenix and a DX6i which will probably come to a total cost in the region of 180GBP, so he hasn't lost out. The idea is, I can crash Phoenix to my hearts content whilst learning orientation, something that the Micro seemed not to offer indoors. The DX6i will be a radio that is quality and I can take it forward with my hobby. Long term, that would means getting a bigger heli when I am very confident with the sim. Obviously I'll be buying the next heli through Brian's shop.

Makes sense? Good points? Bad points? Any thoughts? To vote Andrew out of the R/C Big Brother house, call 0901 15 15 15 and add 20!

Regards,

A.
www.carillonvideo.co.uk