Hello,and what now

[unwind-protect]

We must be the only two people on here that do not drive to the field (with the exception of a few lucky enough to have a field on their doorstep).

Well, my gf keeps nicking the car at weekends, so with any luck I'll be cycling to the airfield soon

Have bought a bike trailer that I need to adapt to carry the heli, and gubbins in a big box. It'll work out a lot cheaper than a second car!

[trillian]

Well, my gf keeps nicking the car at weekends, so with any luck I'll be cycling to the airfield soon

Have bought a bike trailer that I need to adapt to carry the heli, and gubbins in a big box. It'll work out a lot cheaper than a second car!

I might look into a backpack at some point in lieu of the trolley. The one thing I know would help is a shoulder pad of some sort I could put over the strap on the heli bag as it does get a bit uncomfortable after a while and something like that will be a must if I start carrying a bigger heli around (mainly have been flying the Raptor 30 lately).

[tourerjim]

The good thing about small heli's I always take the Trex250 to work so between jobs have a sneaky flight in a park somewhere also when taking the Dogs on walks they just sit there watch me fly sad I know but they have to be told! then like tonight its.... the big ones. so the answer is get one small heli & and big.

[sacko]

I still think the 450 is the best size to learn on personally.

*You can take it with you all the time
*When you first start, you think repairing the 450 is a bit pricey, try the repair costs of a 50 size
*If you can fly a 450 well, you can fly a 50 well.. Not always the case vice versa.

600e would be great, but the initial outlay would be big bucks.A contra wouldnt really interest me as they aren't too challenging, but it depends what you want from the hobby.

[andylinney]

Ian, I'd go along with most of what's been said on here - I learnt to fly properly on a 450 although that was really a question of preference. You mention that you've plenty of experience with nitro RC cars so it's fair to say that if you're used to finding the sweetspot on a mentally high revving .21 in a 1/8th then you'll be equally at home with finding a nice rich / smokey spot in a heli engine of any size.

I would imagine that you've already identified a few heli's that catch your eye so I'm going to buck the trend here a bit....


Go and find your local club and see what they're flying - at this stage in the hobby the support you can get from someone who knows the model is priceless. If they're all flying Raptors, go and get a Raptor; equally, if they're all flying 450's, go and get a 450.

That way when you get stuck with something, as we all do occasionally, the folks you fly with will be able to offer some real assistance. Do the same with your radio gear too and it'll pay itself back in no-time.

Once you've got familiar with programming your radio, the mechanics of your helicopter and all of the other little bits then you can transfer that knowledge into any machine you like, but to get a good solid grounding on familiar equipment is to get halfway there without starting your engine.

Good luck

Andy

[kamikaze]

Hello and welcome,if you weren't confused before I bet you are now.

The first thing you must have is BMFA insurance,these little beasties can be lethal. It would also help if you told us roughly your budget as there is a lot more to buy than a heli.

[ian6pot]

Thanks for all the replies people.I wrote this post a few days ago and suddenly everyone answers all at once

As mentioned i have lots of experience of nitro engines,in fact Nova Rossi & Nova Mega being the car racers favorite which i believe are used in the Heli world too.
I think its going to come down to location in the end as there are plenty of places around me were i could fly quite safely but not so many were i could make a noise,not including the club of course.
I seem to be leaning to the 500.I also need to buy radio gear so i am going to spread the buy over a couple of months unless i can come up with a good second hand buy to save some cash.

I even looked at the clone route but people who have them seem to say there great and people who dont say they arnt?.
Ian

[Brian Gifford]

Hi, Ian, welcome to the forum. Andy Linney's post says it all, in my opinion.

The only other input from me is I've got a 500, I love it, but I'm biased cos it's my first (and only) CP heli. It really is a great piece of kit, but, as always, there are downsides. Blades are over £30 for a decent set, etc. The bigger the heli, in a lot of ways, the easier to fly, but also, the more expensive to crash, and believe me, you will crash. So, decide realistically how much you can spend on your addiction.