I'm back.......after 10 years...

[Midnight Sun]

Hi, as the title says I'm back after 10 years out of the hobby. Wow, haven't things changed. (That sounds like I've been in prison, I've just been busy with other things).

I got to the stage of hovering my Raptor 30, nose in and half decent circuits of the field. I continued flying indoor mini's until a couple of years ago when my aged DX6 gave up. I've now retired and have a bit of time on my hands. I want to get back into 'old guy' flying and maybe semi scale in due course.

I've spoken to a few people on good ole Facebook and hoping to attend the South Coast Heli Club next weekend.

Consensus of opinion so far seems to be a Trex 550 Dominator. Things get a little murkier when talking Tx's. Suggestions so far:

Futaba 14 SF or 16SZ of 10J
Mikado V Bar
Spektrum IX12 of DX9

As for budget, it's certainly not unlimited but I only want to buy once and don't want to be updating in a year or two.

Any comments or advice gratefully received..

[waveydavey]

Welcome back, great heli choice with any of the Tx's, the IX12 certainly looks interesting but difficult to overlook the VBar apart from that the heli is best bought as a combo and would be supplied with the BeastX although some suppliers will swap them out and sell you what you want in return.

[Grumpy]

I'm sure you couldn't go wrong with any of your options but to be aware that the Mikado Vcontrol transmitter pretty much locks you in to using 100% Mikado flybarless controllers and receivers, all of which are pretty expensive. You can in theory use a Mikado receiver and a 3rd party FBL but it's not really cost effective. I'd go for the Speky IX12 but that's mainly because I'm familiar with Spektrum. For me Futaba seem to have fallen behind but maybe others will disagree.

[kenny d]

Welcome back , I’ve had a couple of Trex 550’s & in my opinion they are fabulous flyers , as for tx’s it’s whatever floats your boat

[waveydavey]

I'm sure you couldn't go wrong with any of your options but to be aware that the Mikado Vcontrol transmitter pretty much locks you in to using 100% Mikado flybarless controllers and receivers, all of which are pretty expensive. You can in theory use a Mikado receiver and a 3rd party FBL but it's not really cost effective. I'd go for the Speky IX12 but that's mainly because I'm familiar with Spektrum. For me Futaba seem to have fallen behind but maybe others will disagree.

What he said ^^^^

Spektrum comes in for some criticism but apart from a dodgy rf board one of the first 9's which I lost a model with (Spektrum replaced it, or the value) I've had not one issue with 3 Tx's 6, 7 and 9. The IX12 looks like a nice bit of kit. Fuataba, I use an SG14 and although the programming frustrated me at first it is the best Tx I've used, stick position, size, weight, performance blah, blah, blah. Just a great bit of kit and feels it, the Rx's are expensive though. Haven't used the V bar but many do and I love the integration

[tourerjim]

Just to add to the list of advise there's no longer a UK repair centre for Spektrum, that said the TX's have proven to be a very reliable over the years.
Not sure about UK support for Futaba & Mikado.

[Grumpy]

Just to add to the list of advise there's no longer a UK repair centre for Spektrum, that said the TX's have proven to be a very reliable over the years.
Not sure about UK support for Futaba & Mikado.

No UK based repair centre for Mikado or Futaba either so it just puts them on a level playing field.

[10x]

Just to add to the list of advise there's no longer a UK repair centre for Spektrum, that said the TX's have proven to be a very reliable over the years.
Not sure about UK support for Futaba & Mikado.

Als Hobbies now Spektrum service agents....
https://alshobbies.co.uk/spektrum-warranty-service

[tourerjim]

Als Hobbies now Spektrum service agents....
https://alshobbies.co.uk/spektrum-warranty-service

And Nexus Models

[bergen50uk]

No UK based repair centre for Mikado or Futaba either so it just puts them on a level playing field.

Ripmax at Enfield carry out Futaba repairs, or used to.

+1 on the Futaba Tx and 550 for me.

[romper76]

hi, i'm a member of south Coast Heli Club might see you their. most of the members fly with spectrum or mikado both are good options.

[Peteski]

As for budget, it's certainly not unlimited but I only want to buy once and don't want to be updating in a year or two.

Starting from scratch with a long term view, I'd be tempted to buy a full Mikado setup i.e. Tx, heli and FBL. A real quality solution. Nothing wrong with a Trex and Spektrum either, but that is more of a budget solution that may or may not tempt you into updating at some point! I would also invest in a decent simulator to really improve your skills.

[kenny d]

He may well have one by now Pete as the last post was over 3 month ago