Concept 30

[chaingood]

I'm thinking about getting a 10 year old Concept 30. (I think that's a Kyosho)
Does anyone have an idea about what sort of price I should be paying. It's in a looked-after condition and includes a Futaba radio.

Cheaper option looks to be a Hummingbird as a good starter heli? Any experience of these?

Also, anyone know of clubs in Bristol area?

[Steve]

In my opinion, don't bother with such an old 2nd hand heli - it's not worth anything, but if funds are really that tight...... it's up to you.

Get a new Shuttle Plus (£200ish with an OS engine) or Raptor 30 (£180ish without an engine). Build it yourself so that you understand how it works - quite important really.

Find a club by looking here -> http://www.bmfa.org/clubs/clist.php

[chaingood]

Thanks for that.

Looking into the Shuttle Plus and the raptor, it seems that it's quite expensive, by the time you've bought everything to get it flying. (Probably looking at £400+).

I was hoping to get going for under £250 really.

I don't suppose you know if you can get full-length fuselages for these?

Thanks again

[Smoothound]

I don't suppose you know if you can get full-length fuselages for these?

Thanks again

If you are just learning I think that will be the least of your worries

There is certainly scale stuff that will fit the Rappy

[Fixxxer]

Chaingood, I sold a concept 30 for a friend around march time on ebay with everything apart from the transmitter. Got £89 for it if I remember rightly and I have seen others on there from time to time for around the £100 mark.

Dunno if this helps but I'd steer clear and get a newer ship.

Cheers.

[Ade_Law]

theres a local guy with a complete shuttle with skysports 6 and cheap gyro think he wants about 200ukp.

sure its not great but it will get you going.

Ade

[Raptorite]

The concept 30 is an old heli, which was discontinued some time ago, therefore getting parts for it will become quite a problem. As has been mentioned before, I think you are far better off going for a newer model such as the raptor or shuttle.

As far as flying clubs in Bristol go, there is one that I know of, which is AMARC, they fly from the old Whitchurch airfield and also have a site in Weston in Gordano, Portishead.

The best way to contact them is either via their web site, www.amarc2002.co.uk or through Fred Coulson Models Ltd, where you will most likely speak to Ian, or maybe me! We will also be able to help you out with those models as both are in stock.

the address of the shop is;
Fred Coulson Models Ltd
515 Wells Road
Hengrove
Bristol
BS14 9AL
Tel 0117 971 6522

Cheers,
Pete.

[gazza]

Guys,

Believe it or not there was a concept 30 on ebay earlier this week for £400!!!
I stupidly bought one six years ago as my first heli when I knew nothing about them, and had great difficulty getting parts for it way back then.

Leave well alone.

[Fixxxer]

The only place that has parts in stock is midland as far as I know.

[chaingood]

Thanks for the advise guys. The concept 30 does sound like a bad idea.

In fact, I'm going to go electric, as it will better suit my intended use. A twister v2 sounds like a good start then a Collective Pitch Heli when I've got the knack.

Are you folks more into IC Heli's or do you fly leccy ones too?

[Fixxxer]

I have 2 30 nitro's & an X400. Just waiting for the electric raptor. Saw it at sandown & was pretty impressed. If you should get a medium size leccy then steer clear of the X400, Nothing but a pain in the ass and the quality contol is awful. Go for a Trex or something bigger.

[Disc]

chaingood:

Avoid a FIXED pitch electric Heli they are a bugger to fly and if you start with
one you will not progress at a good speed there little buggers to fly.

Basically Bigger the Helicopter the more stable they are and easier to fly.

Example: Humingbird or clone style heli Fixed pitch are not good the tail motors are horrible.

From there next size is Twister 3D size, Good Heli breaks well but has a belt
driven tail and if you can fly it will handle 8mph winds... T-Rex is bigger
electric and now your into Nitro Money wise.

I fly Two I.C Helicopters and 3 Electric.

But Nitro are more common that electric.

Also Find a local club thats Heli friendly go see them fly etc, Find out what
they advise.

Some where in the Forums Ade Law said theres a shuttle for 200 with a tranny now thats not to bad at all it will fly and loop etc if you want it
to.


Where abouts are you? Someone on here might be near you and then you can see what types of Helis are flown and get an insight of why we say
steer clear of small electrics.


Get in touch with Raptorite he is near you get in touch see what they fly and why.

[gazza]

Chaingood,

I started flying helis around six years ago, my first heli being the concept 30.
I think I paid around £250 for the whole package-Transmitter, starting gear etc.

Basically it was a non flyer, as it needed various minor bits and bobs to get it going. I bought it before doing any research, regarding availability of parts etc.
This is where things got awkward!!!
Plus, after having an experienced guy give it the once over, I also found I needed to replace most of the rotorhead parts, due to excessive wear causing massive amounts of play etc. Plus the engine was iffy. Big money time...Well and truly stung! Hence the advice to leave well alone.

So I cut my losses and bought the, then recently released ARTF raptor with engine, and basically transferred all the radio bits over.

I tought myself entirely, and did quite well with it. So as a nitro heli for beginners I cant recommend it enough. But remember that is only MY opinion.
Of course, there are lots more equally great helis out there now, the choice is literally endless.

I've had nitro helis, planes and cars for the last 15 years, and recently decided to get back into helis after a five year break.
I chose to go electric, basically through personal preference.
I've just grown to dislike anything nitro, and the hassle that goes with it...The noise, the smell, the Goo etc, all the equipment, fuel costs...Plus I hated having my nice new shiny aircraft and cars absolutely covered in oil and dust after every outing! Oil + dust equals mess, and loads of stripdowns and rebuilds.

The only advice I can give you, based purely on my own experience is, go with what you like best. Nitro didnt work for me so I've gone electric.
The hong kong electric stuff on ebay is probably best left alone.
It looks like a good deal, but its that price for a reason.
I got bitten again when I bought a Walkera 36 electric heli package, it basically just would not fly. end of. Rubbish motor, rubbish batteries, iffy mechanics etc..I'm fairly competent with setting helis up by the way, but I could only just get it off the ground. Plus the reciever blew after a week!!
If ever the old Cliche' You get what you pay for applies, its with RC Helis mate.
The Twister stuff looks good to start with, I have a twister CPV2 for sale on ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MESE%3AIT&rd=1
Its worth bearing in mind the micro helis are a little more difficult to fly though, everything happens a hell of a lot quicker than with say a 30 size. Plus, they are easily affected by wind and breezes when flying outdoors and can quickly become a handfull!! Its easy to get into trouble, but they are cheap to repair and dont usually suffer much damage in a light crash.
You can get away with heavy landings etc because they weigh next to nothing.
The twister 3D looks nice too, and is getting good reviews.
Its a bit heavier than the CP as well, so it should behave better outdoors.

I cant speak for the fixed pitch stuff, as I've never flown them..But the CPV2 is an excellent heli, everything you need is in the box and it does fly well, just not too good outdoors. Which is why I've gone bigger.
I know the electric helis seem expensive compared to the nitro ones, initial up and running cost is probably higher, but it soon evens out when you realise you're not spending 30 quid a week on fuel.
It hurts me to think that next week I have to spend nearly 200 quid on a lipo and motor for my century swift, but if you think about it how much does a good nitro engine cost?? And how long does it last?? Again plus fuel costs.

Its pretty much even in my opinion.

Sorry about the essay mate!! Just giving you an idea of how I got into it all.


Gazza

[briancleator]

Concept

Hi i have just put my concept vr46 and nexus into storage, simple reason i struggled with them being 2nd hand and finding parts, i got a raptor 30 and what a difference in machine.
I also have an electric night ranger so i can practice in the house, and in my mind the electric is so much harder to fly its not as stable and seems harder to control.
Was i think a waste of £90 i just stick to my raptor now i'm still learning the basics but find it easier with nitro heli,

[Raptorite]

From a pure practical point of view it is much easier to learn with a larger IC model than it is with a small electric one. The reason being is the larger IC model has a larger rotor disk (bigger blades) and has more bulk and therefore mass than the smaller ones. This has the effect of making it more stable and easier to hover as it isn't affected so much by outside influences such as wind and ground effect.

Ground effect is when the wash of air being blown downwards by the rotor disk hits the ground and rebounds back up again. This will distort the air around the rotor disk therefore making the model unstable and harder to control. Almost any model will be flying in ground effect whilst it is hovering at anything below about 5 foot. This is particularly pronounced on the smaller indoor electric models which are designed to be flown in absolute calm conditions.

Cheers,
Pete.