the next step

[fatmantom]

ok well i have given up on trying for a indoor heli as i feel that i will get greater value and enjoyment with a outside flyer. heli's that i am looking at now are :

swift
knight sport 50
raptor 30/50

but i think i will take a trip to the heli club and see what they fly at the field.

[robgt]

Well, in that case...
I have to recommend the Sceadu Evo 30/50 which I would choose over a Raptor any day (and in fact, did).

It's an excellent machine right out of the box and will easily take you into mild to medium 3D style flying without a single upgrade to the base kit.
Not many helis can boast that, but I have seen it with my own eyes (standard supplied kit blades included - they're not great, but they're not crap either ).

Cheers,
Rob

[abyiss]

go get ya self a knight 50...plastic......awsome heli....very easy to fly...and the parts are very cheep...

or

a raptor 50,,,,((tadd slower than the knight...and the rappy 50 dont have ccpm swash,,,

either are blinding helis.....((do every trick in the book with these helis..

small elec helis are ok,,,,but charging li-op batterys ant fun...
((takes too long to charge them,,,and you need some for a good days flying..))1.30min charge times for 10mins fun.....there like the kiddys rc cars @ toys r us......4hours charge time....10min fun...lol


ic helis all the way,,,,for me......loads of power .....

ps 30 are ok but very underpowered....and dont like the british wind..thay spend more time grounded,,,

50/60/90....adore wind,,,lol..

[Gaza07]

Is there a big diffrence between a 30 and a 50 size raptor in the wind ?
i havent flown either but thought the only diffrence between them was engine size and blade size and maybe a few other bits but basicly almost the same weight

[Ade_Law]

you have 10cm greater disk dia, thats a lot of extra area.

makes a good difference to disk loading and stability in wind.

Ade

[fatmantom]

in my mind from what you've all said the Knight 50 is winning
how much would a completly kitted out, inc radio gear

raptor 50-

knight 50-

sceadu evo 50-

cost?
and is the sceadu a kit? or is it rtf?

[Gaza07]

thanks for the reply ade
i think ade would be the best person to answer tom about the knight and its setup

[abyiss]

m8...you''ll love the knight50
......180ish for the kit....come almost built.

good digital servos...
401 gyro..
revloc 10
and ya os50 engine and exhaust...mp2..
....dont for get blades....((seen the SAB..and whatch the heli go in on these,,,but are good blades..
but ...i also whatched a knight50,,,with radix blades....and that was impressive,,
any carbon blades from 2days standard will kick arse..
dont need carbon...realy.....but will help ya flying even in hover...for beginners..

[David Drew]

Tough Choice

I've been through all this...and still can't decide, at least I think I can't...

I have a Raptor 30. & a Swift 16

Raptor...lovely to hear it start up.Something about the noise/smell/feel of a nitro, but you have to fly where the noise etc is not a problem. I haven't flown a 50/60/90 but I can imagine how much more stable & satisfying these would be, and I can imagine trading up to one (or two/three). I love the Raptor and ultimately would keep it if someone gave me the ultimatum....she hasn't yet but who knows!. Assuming you have a spare Rx battery, a spare Tx battery & enough fuel you can fly all day.

The Swift..... Easy, no mess, no field gear, just charge up the (very expensive) batteries and fly. I can hover in the back garden (quite large) without annoying the neighbours too much and simply put the batteries back onto charge, bolt them back in & fly again. The real drawback is that for an afternoons flying you have to have a lot of batteries or some quick chargers to get you back in the air without waiting ages for them to recharge.

For me, the Raptor takes it. Nitros have a soul and appeal whilst electrics are quick, clean & clinical. expensive on batteries and can glitch if not set up well. With nitros you always have something to fiddle with or do.

I've only been at it since April this year, made loads of mistakes & crashed a couple of times, but the Raptor is it for me. But then I am lucky in having both at hand. So go for it....get both!!!! (I'm also sure the other nitros recommended ..Knight, Sceadu etc would also be great..I'm not familiar with them)

Whatever you do, listen to the guys at the club, but very often they are biased towards their own particular machine, just as I am. The experience on this site is invaluable though and eventually the 'correct' path will show itself, just don't rush in until you feel really comfortable with your decision. One thing is really true (IMHO!), buy the best you can afford as upgrading is a real waste of the original money. EG, Giro. Go straightfor the 401/9254 or equivalent for the tail/gyro set-up as it will be a long time before you will want to upgrade.
Also, invest in a sim. Plenty of choice & they save a FORTUNE in crashing, plus you can always fly..whatever the weather.

Enjoy whatever you do..

Happy flying

David

[Ade_Law]

right... this is what you need

Knight 50 sport
OS 50 hyper
MP2 exhaust
4x futaba 3152
futaba 401 + 9254
RX,
2400 Sub C nicad Battery
heavy duty switch
main blades

think that covers it..

Ade

[abyiss]

dont forget ya revloc..

[Gaza07]

a cheap set of blades woodies would be fine i would of thought for the initial learning hovering stage
it is a heli that wont have to be upgraded later but no point breaking expensive blades at the start

[robgt]

I would advise against buying an ARTF kit purely because you have the effort of taking it apart first in order to build it properly. Unless you class that as part of the learning experience, then it's worthwhile I guess

The Sceadu Evo 50 is a kit, not an ARTF. I think it retails for approx £230 unless it's gone down some more?

After the kit purchase, the cost specs would depend a lot on your choice of electrics and motor that you want to install.

A good beginner to intermediate, yet cheap servo is the Futaba 3152 at approx £25 each. 4 of those (£100) and a GY401 with 9254 servo (£150 ballpark), plus your choice of receiver and transmitter, ballpark £160 based on a Futaba 7C (£99 ish) and a 7 or 8 channel PCM receiver. Personally, I use a Futaba 149DP, 9 channel PCM receiver, which Inwood models sell for approx £80. Up the budget a little more (for a 9 channel receiver) if you might want extra channels in the future for things like governors or other such items.

You want a decent receiver battery so you can fly it several times before charging the heli again, so budget approx £30 if you want some superb Sanyo cells, for example. (I use a Sanyo 3600 NiMh pack on my Sceadu and it lasts ages!) Other packs are available and price/duration will vary between them. GP are also top notch cells.
To start with, don't worry about the Tx pack too much. You get a 600 mah Tx pack usually, and it's useful to get you going, but due to it's small size ideally wants replacing with a larger pack. I found 2000 mAh square type with futaba connector packs on ebay for around £12.

You will need an engine of course. The OS 50 Hyper Max is a beast of an engine and can be bought from several places for around the £130 mark.
Match that with a decent muffler (if you buy a sceadu kit, point and laugh at the stock exhaust, but don't put it near your engine if you actually want to see some power out of it!)

I have run a Zimmerman pipe and a Muscle Pipe 2 (MP2) on my Hyper 50 and both were excellent. If I had to choose between the two, i would go with the MP2 - and seeing as there's little price difference, it's the logical choice. In fact, I believe the MP2 is now cheaper than the Zimmerman 50 pipe, costing around £55.

The question is, which kit to buy, as everything else you'll need anyway!
And as they say on some dodgy 80's tv show, the choice... is yours

I can't comment personally on the Knight heli's as i have never owned one or flown one. I'm led to believe from several sources, that it is an excellent heli, and seeing as the new Sport comes in approx £50 cheaper than the Sceadu, it could be worth looking seriously at.

I have hopefully offered some unbiased info here - thats my aim anyway. Just passing along info that I've learned through trial and error myself. I haven't used JR kit at all so my knowledge is all Futaba based.

Cheers,
Rob

[abyiss]

...lol...havnt broken a set yet,,,,nor a heli...((i did all my mistakes..on a sim first....better that way to learn on a sim,,,,save ya pocket,...

woodies are ok....if your a sunday flyer...((but for real flying go carbon...lol

[Ade_Law]

thanks rob.

no need for a governor for learning to hover. but if you have the cash to burn buy it and fit it, you will use it eventually.

Ade