Moving on from indoor flight, what next model?

[knoxy]

Iv been flying a little CenturyUK spirt 2.4gz and iv got the hang of flying it pretty good, trouble is outdoors its not so good even when there is no wind

So want to upgrade to an outdoor heli, it must be easy and stable to fly (within reason), im not too bothred about 3d but would be nice if it had it work up to as i go along

I had a mini pred 3d and it was rubbish, it was very poor quility and just from learning to fly it some parts wore out, i end up giving it away

So looking for a nice quilty model, i like the look of 250 size models??

[Tripler]

what sort of budget do you have?

[Rotorhead]

For an outdoor model I would recommend either a T-rex 500 if you want to stay with electric, or if you want to go nitro any of the following would be a good place to start... Raptor 30/50, Sceadu Evo 30/50, T-rex 600N, or a Hawk 30 etc etc

You may want to consider a 50 size from the start, you will probably want one in short order anyway and selling up, or upgrading means more money.

If you do go the nitro route get some help with them, they are a bit different than what you are used to, you need someone who can help get the engine ran in and tuned right, and the heli setup in general, things are a little different with the setup of nitro vs electric, ie throttle curves.

When you get a heli in the 30-50 size range you will have to treat them and regard them with more care and respect than the average indoor electric, what you could get away with with a 400 class electric you wont be able to with a nitro, what would have been a bruise or a cut will be a broken bone or missing body parts with a larger nitro....... if you are lucky.

Not saying that to scare you off them or anything, just that if you are a first time nitro heli flyer then you need to be aware of the difference.

[Mike W]

Indoor ...
Align 250 skittish little bugger lol... By the looks of it a need womans hands to work on em as well ...
Align 450 Nice heli and very capable inside and out , wont go far wrong with the 450SeV2 ...
Align 500 .. Inbetween 450 and 600 but these things fly more like a small 50 size than a large 450 .. Also they can get away from you very very fast ... Nice to just plug and play tho ....
Then you have the 50 size .. Personally skip the 30's as you soon outgrow them and jump right to a 50 as the parts cost aint that much different and a 50 will grow with you as you progress
Theres also lots of makes out there ... Align 600 sports are cheap helis and you can upgrade as you wish or go straight for a super pro combo which brings the price of the heli and bits with it down ...You also have the other makers as well to choose from ... You wont go far wrong with a Raptor 50 Titan .... The heavier than a 600 and larger as well and fly soo nice and good for learning on to n e thing else you wish to do with it ...then theres other makers too ... JR make lovely heli's but you pay the price for this in the price of the kits and also the spares ...
Not flown n e others so cant comment on these ... You wont go far wrong with n e other above tho ..Look what people are flying where you fly and choose one of those as then you have the people and experience to help should something bad happen ...

[knoxy]

I would prefer to stay electric till my skill level grows

I would spend maybe 300 for a good heli, i was at my local hobby shop today and they had some in, the guy started to recomend the CenturyUK neon thing, it was for sale for £149, im guessing at that price its not going to be so good

I hear alot about those trex ones and the blade 400, are they decent for a novice?

[Rotorhead]

T-rex's are very decent, the only thing that lets them down is the quality of the screws, the hex's round out really easy, but other than that they are really good helis.

You can set them up to be nice and docile for learning on or you can set them up for mental 3D, it depends on what you want out of them.

[knoxy]

Hmmmm, ill go back down the the hobby store and see what the guys got

[heliTV]

Hi Knoxy

I started with a Blade CX2 and moved on to to Blade 400 in September. The attraction was the DX6i programmable radio and the fact it was RTF and all included.

Having had a fairly painful learning curve - mainly due to trying to progress too quickly - I would recommend the Blade 400. It's considerably cheaper than the T-Rex 450 and it fine to learn on although out of the box it needs taming down for beginners. There's plenty of advice on the forum and elsewhere on doing this.

If you're moving from a contra, its a big step up to a "real" heli but much more satisfying to fly when you get going...

An important aspect of t is the availability of parts as you will crash (if my experience is anything to go by!) Blade 400 parts are cheap... I can order at any time before 4 and get them next day from Hobby Hangar - they usually stock everything...

Hope this helps

Graham

[knoxy]

Just bought a blade400 today, took it out for a little shot and i skift the blades a little becuase it was twitch, so read thr sticky and made the modifictions to the setting in the transmiter, going to the hooby shop tomorow to buy training gear and better paddles as well as a cord to use the charger

[Ade_Law]

the blade 400 will be ideal...

generally speaking its worth steering clear of century.... oh crap now i have gone and used the C word...

Ade

[heliTV]

Just bought a blade400 today, took it out for a little shot and i skift the blades a little becuase it was twitch, so read thr sticky and made the modifictions to the setting in the transmiter, going to the hooby shop tomorow to buy training gear and better paddles as well as a cord to use the charger

Hi Knoxy

Well done - you've joined the club!!

You've already learned that it needs taming for beginners. Apart from this forum, a good place to look for more info is http://www.slyster.com/heli/ (the Blade 400 bible). I would also have found http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html very useful in the beginning!

If you look back over the last few months my various crashes are well documented!! When you go to your Hobby shop, you'd be well advised to buy a pack of feathering shafts and some main shafts. they nearly always get bent in crashes. i would also but some servo gears as they seem to go fairly regularly in crashes.

Any problems re rebuilding, just post your question up here - there's several of us with B400s only too willing to help...

All the best

Graham

[knoxy]

I think there is a problem with the charger, all 3 cell light are blinking green then res and the charge status os blinking red also and the wee fan inside it turning on and off lol

[Mike W]

the blade 400 will be ideal...

generally speaking its worth steering clear of century.... oh crap now i have gone and used the C word...

Ade

Ade ... you breaking out in a cold sweat after saying the "C" word lol .....

[Mike W]

I think there is a problem with the charger, all 3 cell light are blinking green then res and the charge status os blinking red also and the wee fan inside it turning on and off lol

Personally dump the charger and buy one thats made to do the job and can charge the batteries in an hour and not a week lol ....

[Bugster]

... i was at my local hobby shop today and they had some in, the guy started to recomend the CenturyUK neon thing, it was for sale for £149, im guessing at that price its not going to be so good ...

If it's any help please look at my signature below