Which heli shall I start saving up for?

[alex]

I wanted to test the waters and get some early advice so I can research down the right path.

I have my lovely Innovator and am loving it- it is teaching me a huge amount about helis, and the flying is going very well after a shaky start caused by impatience, too much wind and me messing up settings :P I am hovering easily, even in some wind, flying messy 8s and am managing to recover to a hover from most new things I try.

Even at 450 size, it is still very twitchy in any wind and even though I assume my control will improve, something larger with more inherent stability would be good.

I can see it lasting me into the summer before I want to step up to the next level of tinkering.

First big question is Electric or Nitro- I see that batteries for the larger helis are very expensive and to have fun flying, I reckon at least 6 are needed- this also means a lot of charging when I get home.

I went to the local club at the weekend, and most people have Trex 600 Nitros. I think a lot of my flying will be solitary though as I have access to a lovely private 2 acre field which is just up the road from my house. THe only downside to this is that it is one of the higher points around, so does get a bit more wind.

The downside to the Trex 600N is I would have to upgrade my DX6i I think?

There is also a part of me that sees all those Trex 600s in a row and wants something different!

An electric would be better noise wise, but I am reluctant to spend a fortune on batteries.

Any thoughts welcome.

Cheers

Alex

[EtheAv8r]

The eternal question of what next…….

Glad things are going well with the Innovator and that you are enjoying, learning and making progress….. I really stuffed my Innovator in last weekend…. Broke the carbon blades, broke/bent/lost some links, broke a Mixing lever, and tore/bent threads in Flybar Seesaw so it needed replacement, bent Flybar Rod, and stripped gears in the 3 in 1 Servo unit (this is a fun repair).

However, what next? Well there are advantages with going with a ‘common’ machine (TREX) them mainly being readily available support, knowledge/experience and spares availability. I like to be different (hence the Outrage G5), but it does have drawbacks, they are not necessarily deal-breakers, but you are more ‘one your own’ and spares may not be available at your LHS (but TBH mail order is so fast that this should not bee too much of an issue).

I have a friend with a TREX 600 nitro, very fine machine, and I have flown it – these big machines are more stable and easier to see, but also I found it very intimidating……. A crash is a much more expensive affair.

The G5 is very sold and ‘stable’ but it’s responsiveness is lighning quick - light years away from the Innovator - so I have it tamed down. My next machine is a TREX 500 bought from Thomas on this forum (last September… and still boxed as it arrived….). Yes batteries are very expensive, but this situation is getting better all the time. I am told the 500 is a very stable machine and flies like a 600…. However lots of people (with one) say the G5 flies like a 500…….. Certainly my G5 is much nicer and more ‘solid and stable’ than my friends (same chap) TREX 450 Pro.

I am sticking with electric for a variety of reasons, no nitro for me (noise, oily mess, no engine start/running issues etc). However I do fancy a big, stable, scale jet powered helicopter, so one day I might jump.

If you fancy small scale, there are lots of options based around the Thunder Titan Mini Titan E325 – and this has a great rep, and I quite fancy one….

Then there is Logo, and a whole range of other great makes….. some are better build and manufacture quality than others, but …. You have to looks at a lot of stuff and decide whaqt you want and what aspects are most important to you.

It is easy to get carried away with this helicopter malarkey – I have spent more this past year on model helicopters than on full size flying – and I did 90 hours full size!

Not a lot of help perhaps, but food for thought?

[trexaddict]

what next

hi im glad you are doing well as for whats next the first question is electric or nitro if you go nitro you still have the outlay of your field equipment and fuel but if you went that way i would suggest a trex600 or a raptor 50( theres a new one out in the next couple of month called the X50) but you would probley need a 7 channel radio as you would want to run a govenor after time. if you go electric you can go to a trex500 flys great and the batterys are around 80 each but as you say you would need to uprade the radio to a 6 channel howerever if you have to buy a radio i woild buy a 7 channel at least as you will wont to go up in size again soon i hope this makes sense and helps but i would vote for Nitro

Mark

[J-S-Q]

It's all personal choice really -a 600 nitro would get my vote but I just wanted to point out that you definitely can use your DX6i with a nitro. It just means you are limited to either just using throttle curves or one or two governors that don't require a 7th channel. I ran a 600N with no governor for about a year and it was absolutely fine.

[sacko]

450 sport or a 600....

All depends how much ££ you have to spend.

[mark_w]

I run a raptor 50 without a governor and dont have a problem with sports flying. Upgrading your tx is someting you could do in the future when you want to have a governor.

Actually I am sure i have read somwhere that you can have a governor with 6 channel

[J-S-Q]

Actually I am sure i have read somwhere that you can have a governor with 6 channel

I've definitely read that too but can't rember which governor -was it a Aerospire Multigov? In any case, I agree that it's certainly not necessary for sport flying, just an added bonus.

[moonmanflyer]

Have you considered a trex 500? can get cheeper lipos for that from hobbyking.
But if 50 size is what you want, can't recommend the trex 600 enough, nitro would be better, give you more flying time and a lower initial investment

[cupracing]

Have you considered a trex 500? can get cheeper lipos for that from hobbyking.
But if 50 size is what you want, can't recommend the trex 600 enough, nitro would be better, give you more flying time and a lower initial investment

having justt bought my first nitro I would disagree with the lower initial investment, the 600 is by far the most expensive heli ive owned. having spent best part of a grand to get it in the air. My 500 was far far cheaper than that, having said that I think the 600 was worth the money.

[jwatts007]

Bigger the better, messed around around crashing them little 450sized helis, then got myself a Raptor 60 got that set up, and it was great to hover and move around a bit, then came along the millie pro awesome machine hovers great, now have a Trex 600, and it doesn't seem so big as they did when I first started , I am doing some figure of 8s with them all now, hope to have my A license as soon as the weather changes.

[trillian]

There is also a part of me that sees all those Trex 600s in a row and wants something different!

I know what you mean. I have nothing against the 600 and they look very nice. But I gravitate towards the slightly different options. having said that my two Raptors get more airtime than my other helis combined, so far anyway, and this is largely because they just work and have a certain rugged simplicity.

[trillian]

Bigger the better, messed around around crashing them little 450sized helis, then got myself a Raptor 60 got that set up, and it was great to hover and move around a bit, then came along the millie pro awesome machine hovers great, now have a Trex 600, and it doesn't seem so big as they did when I first started , I am doing some figure of 8s with them all now, hope to have my A license as soon as the weather changes.

Do you still have the Millie ? 'Just curious.

I hope to get my Robbe's in the air a lot more as the weather warms up.

[alex]

Thanks for all the great replies- certainly food for thought

[trexaddict]

Tx

Just to make it clear i am not saying you need a govenor all i meant was if you do get a new radio as you suggested you may find buying a seven seems to be a more economical way to go. i myself started with a raptor 50 and a 6 channel tx for the first year

cheers Mark

[trexaddict]

Hi yes you can have a gove without a 7th channel so a six would do fine