hummingbird v3 vs twister bell 47

[Dan_H]

Hi people,

I have owned many RC cars over the last 3-4 years however Im now after more of a challenge. When I get round to buying the heli I will have about 150 notes to buy the heli. Im after an electric heli such as the bell 47; I have never flown a heli or a plane but have had about 30 mins on reflex (I think). What Im now after is some advice on which of the above mentioned are the most suitable heli for a beginner. All three of my LHS's stock both these heli's so spares are no problem. I only will be flying indoors really, IMHO the heli needs to be very stong, i know the bell 47 rotors are flexable but i still dont know which to get. If neither of these are suitible please suggest a decent heli but within my budget

Any help greatly appreciated.

Cheerz Dan

[Daywalker]

Hi mate,

I have just bought a Raptor 50 and built it...good to do as it gives you more of an idea of what they are like...anyway... thats for outside flying...but..I saw someone flying a Bell 47 yesterday and it looked pretty good... ideal I think for indoor flying and they are on ebay for 100 including everything ready to fly...so.. I am thinking of getting one to fly indoors as the poxy weather round here is not going to ease up for me to fly my big boy...

Not sure this helps at all but anyway... just thought I would welcome you to the board

Mike

[mackem54]

hi there i have a twister bell 47 excellent for indoor flying,i have had a dragonfly and it was a waste of time,for the money you cant knock it ,just my humble opinion

[Ade_Law]

i have flown most of the indoor stuff all the really cheap stuff is pretty crappy. Issues with quality control and durability.

i would spend some extra cash on a hirobo lama XRB.

Ade

[antsis]

I'll try not to repeat myself with what I said in the post about indoor models. Ade, I'm not knocking your experience, and I agree that the lama XRB and the twister bell are good for starting, but I think they will only get you so far. I tried the lama and it's very stable, but I feel this may give novices the wrong impression as to how difficult helicopters are to fly.

I started with the hummingbird V2 and it was a nightmare. I recently got the V3 and it is a much more stable model in comparision. I can attest to their durability as I have seen them flown full speed into walls and survive. I have also flown the twister cp and it went well virtually out of the box.
As for spares, both Century and Perkins seem to have plenty of stock.

[Ade_Law]

any FP micro will only get you so far. One thing i have seen over an over is that your average FP micro is impossible to fly for a complete novice. Sure some manage it. I have even seen seasoned heli pilots struggling with them!

The most your going to get out of any FP micro is a gentle circuit. Which is pretty much the same as you get out of the contra rotating helis. Sure the feel isnt like the bigger ones but it does give you a chance to fly a heli in a much more confined space and teaches what the controls do.

it basically comes down to where your going to fly the heli. If you want something for a large room at home the xrb lama is going to be flyable where a conventional FP will just blow itself around.

on the other hand if your going to be flying in a sports hall the lama will probably be too stable to be of use.

Ade

[Dan_H]

I intended to fly about the house and just see if it was the thing for me. However my dads ordered himself a very cheap, simple toy for us to practice on i dont see it being very strong but if i can learn the basic controls. Cheers for the help guys its cleared some of the mist away, but i spose a trip to the lhs should clear the rest.

Dan

[Butuz]

Dan - something like a Twister Bell 47 would be good for you i think. They are pretty easy to fly, but the main thing is - they use proper 4 channel heli controls, so you are able to learn hovering, figure 8's, circuits, forward flight with your thumbs actually moving in the same directions as any other heli. This is good because the skills are transferable - though with a proper fixed pitch or collective pitch heli, your thumb skills will need to be built on, and polished considerably over the Twister bell 47 as theyre much harder and more twitchy.

I do not agree that a small FP or CP heli is the way to go if you are looking to fly around your house, far too twitchy and affected by furnture to be of much use. Unless you have a GYM or sports hallto fly in, stick with a contra rotating coaxial like the Twister Bell 47 / Esky Lama 2 / Hiroba XRB sky Llama.

One thing i will diasgree with, is to get the SKY llama - i am sorry but at 250 it is a complete rip off. Its the same basic design as the Twister Bell, comes with the same basic transmitter etc, but its 250 instead of 100 for the twister bell? No way is it worth the cash, even if it is slightly better design and quality.

Butuz

[Ade_Law]

the transmitter that comes with the lama is much better quality also the model itself seems to be better quality.

Ade

[Dan_H]

Well i spoke to rob at my lhs and i get the hard sell of the bell 47, however the cheap toy my dad order aint going to be much more of a nikko quality but its just going to be a bit of fun. Looks like my want list just got smaller and my getting list got bigger. So watch this space, for now im going back to doing some more research.

Cheerz for your help guys.
Dan