Purchasing my first helicopter

[jjl5590]

Hey folks,

I've had much experience in brushless monster trucks, but I thought i'd try my hand at a helicopter. My LHS only sells the E-Sky LAMA, and after having a go, felt I would get bored with it in about 2 days lol.

So I think I've decided to get stuck in at the deep end...

Basically I've kinda narrowed it down to two heli's: the Honey Bee King 3, or the Belt-CP V2. I know these are not beginner heli's, but I don't really want to waste money on a 4-channel heli only to want to upgrade it in a month or so. (I'm only 17, and currently no income).

However, I do have some (fairly important) questions;

First up
I would be purchasing it from either of these two places; Has anyone had any experience in dealing with them?

#1 Belt CP V2 From Heliguy.com
#2 Honey Bee King 3 2.4G + Sim --- BuzzFlyer UK

Secondly
There is a video on youtube saying that the E-Sky ESC is no good. Here is the vid: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gszs4WZrSVA"]YouTube - belt cp v2 tips on the esc[/ame]
If you don't want to watch the vid, the guy is basically saying that the stock 25A blows up and catches fire (much like the Mamba Monster V1 for trucks), and that you need to upgrade it before you do anything else to a 30A ESC or better. He reccommends this one: 30A Electronic Brushless ESC Speed Controller [Volcano Series]

Can anyone confirm that this is true?

Also, how does the ESC warn you when the low-voltage cut-off kicks in? Because with R/C cars, the throttle just pauses, but I'm assuming the same does not happen with helicopters...

Thirdly
Both heli's come with this 2.4Ghz radio: ESKY Hobby-http://www.esky-sz.cn
My only concern is that it does not seem to have any EPA adjustment. Would this be a problem?
Another thing to mention about the radio is that the transmitter seems to only take 4 AA batteries. This would be putting it at 4.8v, which seems very low as the standard is 8 AA's putting 9.6v through it. Strange...

Fourthly
And more importantly lastly, both heli's come with a lipo and charger included. However I already have the Hyperion Duo fast charger. I'm assuming the lipo's would be compatible?


Phew I think that's it. If I think of anything else I'll be sure to add it in!

Many thanks for your time, I value your expertise!

Cheers

[Sqwidge]

I wouldn't say I had expertise lol but I will certainly try to help you.

I personally would recommend the Blade 3d tbh, the Belt CP is tail heavy and the HBK is ok but the quality sucks as its cheap.
If possible try to use Fastlads.

ESC's only blow up if you try to put more power through them than they can take, I run a stock ESC on my Blade and have 4 digital servo's, a lipo alarm and a GY401 attached to it, you only need to up the ESC if your upping the motor or your extras require more ampage than is available.
For future reference, the Blade 400 runs a 5V system, so no need for step downs when using digital gear.

The Blade also comes with a 2.4ghz DX6i as stock, this also takes 4 AA batteries but that equates to 6V as AA batts are 1.5V each, it also has an alarm so when you get to a certain voltage it sounds for you to change your batteries, I've yet to sound it but I hear its pretty reliable.
Its a good Tx although is somewhat limited in capabilities, for instance you can't run a heli with retracts as you need 7 channels but with the use of a servo tester this can be worked around, and it only has 5 point throttle and pitch curves although I found this was plenty.

If the lipo's etc are not compatible just change the ends, so if your running Deans then change everything to Deans, be sure to observe polarity and voltage, I personally use EC3 connectors, but built a converter so i could use them on a Deans machine.

[liambaker996]

a word of advice mate don't buy either the belt cp or the king they both are a waste of time and you end up spending more that the helis is worth to get it right
Liam

[sacko]

Some good advice about the Blade 400. Its a good heli to get the basic understanding of helis, pretty cheap too as well as being all RTF with 2.4.

.....but saying that, if you have a bit extra (not much more) you can get a 450 pro for 369 and theres a second hand DX6i and AR6100 on the BMFA for £80, this would be a substantial upgrade.

As everything... Depends how deep your pockets are.

[tourerjim]

Some good advice about the Blade 400. Its a good heli to get the basic understanding of helis, pretty cheap too as well as being all RTF with 2.4.

.....but saying that, if you have a bit extra (not much more) you can get a 450 pro for 369 and theres a second hand DX6i and AR6100 on the BMFA for £80, this would be a substantial upgrade.

As everything... Depends how deep your pockets are.

I agree with this as I've for some years always gone for cr*p heli's & just dosn't pay in the end although can make a good start to learning but the rebuild cost will soon amount to a pro heli.

[jjl5590]

Thanks very much for all the replies guys.

My budget is only around £200, I can't really be spending more than that. I also live in England, and the R/C scene is not as fruitful as, say, that of America. Because of this, things R/C related tend to be more expensive. For example, the Blade 400 would cost me £290 (the cheapest I could find it), and thats just for the helicopter and radio gear, no extras (also excluding shipping). I just cant spend that much. The only way I could even consider purchasing the Blade 400 is if I purchased the heli and radio gear separate. I really like the DX6i but it's too expensive, so I could buy the E-Sky radio instead:

Fast Lad Performance

EK2 0406G 2.4GHz 6CH Transmitter From Heliguy.com

But even then it works out to be around £235 which is still too expensive lol.

I think I prefer the Belt over the Honey Bee because it's bigger, meaning it will be more stable. If I purchase it from Belt CP V2 From Heliguy.com , I get a free set of blades, and 2.4Ghz E-Sky transmitter, all for only £175! I mean come on, that is a pretty sweet deal. Comes with digital servos too.
Also leaves me enough money to buy a good simulator. I've checked out the spares for it and there seem to be plenty, and not very expensive either.

If I did get that, or the Honey Bee, I would upgrade the ESC to this just for peace of mind:

30A Brushless ESC Speed Controller [Volcano Series]

I've heard nothing but good news about that ESC.

Another heli I'd really like to get would be the T-Rex 250, but again, its far too expensive.



Last night I had a thought. The reason these heli's break is because the blades come into contact with something, or you just plain crash into the ground, right? But what if there was some kind of plastic 'ring' around the circumference of the blades? That way the blades can never come into contact with anything. The plastic ring would also turn as the pitch turned, to keep it lined up with the blades...

Just wondering...

[Biggles]

hmmm....lets not go there shall we....the science behind it is more complicated.....balance...vibration etc etc etc.....blades aint the only thing that go in a crash....main shaft, boom, feathering spindle, bearings.....need I go on!!!!

[Heli-Bren]

Try and find a local flying club, go there, stop, look & listen. Then ask loads of questions! Take ur £200 and invest in a simulator and maybe a contra-rototating heli. This hobby swallows time,effort and money ! But it'll make u smile

[Sqwidge]

I got my blade and dx6i for less than £200 second hand, its worth more now due to upgrades and a scale fuzz but its more sentimental than monetary

[tourerjim]

Save ya money till you can get pro stuff anything less will cost more in the long run as I've already mentioned dont take my word for it search some of the posts on here & as Heli-Bren said find local flying club see what they say you may also find someone may have 2nd hand kit to get ya started or search BMFA you can get some good 2nd hand kits poss all in on you budget.

[EtheAv8r]

Rather than the Blade 400 3D I would recommend the Thunder Tiger Innovator MD530 as a first CP helicopter - I have had both, and the Inovator is a way better helicopter in pretty much all aspects.

A Trex 250 as a first helicopter will end in tears... not a good machine to learn with.

Save up a bit more cash - use the time to learn about helicopters - most of us in this form seem to be UK based and you will find someone near where you live who will help I am sure. Christmas is not that far off now.....

You sound like you may be a youngster, or otherwise strapped for cash due to other responsibilities, and if so you will find some real bargains in the for sale section. The Heli magazines are a good - but expensive - but I will send you some back issues if you want?

[BaRoN30s]

My dad bought the blade cp v2 & to be honest they not very good at all. you are limited straight away in making any changes what so ever as the radio... so its not very user friendly to start with.. he's since bought the dx6i radio for it so he can now set it up to fly how he wants it.. BUT in theory its now cost him way more than the blade would have done if he'd just gone out & bought that in the first place..

put ya £200 notes to one side & save that little bit more for the blade... at least then for the extra £90 you will have a radio that you can setup the way you like it & also one that will do for in the future when you wonna upgrade your heli...

[Orfink69]

IMO I'd put your money to one side and save a little more.

If you're really keen to get flying Phoenix will be a worthy investment, it's an amazing sim, trust me I've had plenty of time on it, and well worth the money.

Not only will it give you an idea whether this hobby is for you but it will also give you plenty of free (you don't have to shell out for crashes) flights. Every crash costs money, my last three have cost me around £60 in repairs, just waiting for number 4 tomorrow now

As has already been said, when you do buy, don't buy cheap. It's well worth the extra wait to get a good heli and it'll be one you can look after and fly for a long time to come.

[jjl5590]

After countless people telling me the Belt and Honey Bee heli's are complete rubbish, I think i'm gonna save a bit more and purchase the Blade 400 when I can afford it. Everyone seems to think this is the best decision. Does it come with a USB cable to connect the DX6i to the computer for flying the simulator?

Cheers

[Boggy]

After countless people telling me the Belt and Honey Bee heli's are complete rubbish, I think i'm gonna save a bit more and purchase the Blade 400 when I can afford it. Everyone seems to think this is the best decision. Does it come with a USB cable to connect the DX6i to the computer for flying the simulator?

Cheers

no it doesn't im afraid but it gets you a flyable helicopter and a good 2.4 radio setup. phoenix flight sim is a further £70.which will get you all you need.

however other flight sims are available and a VERY basic one is FMS which is a free download. a std computer game controller can be used to get you flying,but as i said its very basic.
another that comes complete with a dummy controller tx is advertised in helicopterworld magazine but the name escapes me atm.(perhaps some one can chip in) it costs £19.99