Dragonus V Raptor mini Titan

[Flybar]

Help from an old newbie

As a newcomer I'll do a basic intro.
Haven't flown RC for many years,we had valves in the Tx's and relays and solinoids in the planes(planks) diesel engines(which could take all day to start).I live in S.Wales and I'm retired but not yet senile.
Things appear to have moved on, so I thought lets try a Helicopter.My first purchase even after some research turns out to be an absolute waste of time and effort to continually put right it's failings before even trying to get it off the ground.(not a Walkera but close).
So on to project 2, fingers slightly burnt. I am basically looking for a Helicopter thats reasonably stable properly engineered and has good backup for spares etc.
Whilst reading some Threads I may get Flak for going electric I assume that because the mini Titan is from the Raptor stable it must have been developed with the skill as the ic Raptors.
The Dragonus being a New boy on the block??
And then on to these Radio's ??
Any advice greatfully received
Cheers
Peter

[Bikeracer]

I'm also retired and new to todays heli's after a seventeen year lay off,so I can't really offer any advice,but after buying the Phoenix sim last week I wish a sim had been available back in the day.

Having very rusty memories of mainly hovering a Schluter Scout .60 powered,I decided right or wrong to get a smallish electric heli as I can fly it near home without noise to annoy anyone and it doesn't take up a lot of room or make any mess.

I've never had a fixed pitch heli so I went straight for collective pitch and chose the new Dragonus because I've yet to see a bad report or review of it.
Although it is the new kid on the block,it does have one advantage in that the head is mechanically variable by moving ball link positions from beginner to 3D flying which seems a good idea.The only downside is spares are not as widespread as something like a Trex,but availability should change over this year as the Dragonus becomes more popular.

I also bought a Spektrum DX7 radio which means there's no chance that it will cause anyone else interference and no one else is likely to give me any radio interference.

With me it's always get the best I can afford at the time as it usually works out cheaper in the long run.A friend loaned me a Twister CP over Christmas which started me with heli's again,but I don't think the Twister CP would be a good choice for a complete beginner as it's really only suitable for flying in dead calm or indoors.


Allan

[gazza]

The mini Titan gets a cracking review in this months MHW.

£149.99 including motor and ESC is pretty tempting

The Dragonus is a great heli. Two or three guys at our club have them and I was astounded the first time I saw one fly.

Absolutely rock solid even in 20+ mph winds.
Very strong too.... A radio lockout caused one to crash & only damage was a bent flybar I think I'd be torn between these two for my next small electric but the dragonus might just be the one to look out for.

[AndersUK]

When it was first released the Mini Titan was thought of as just another zoom clone, poor quality, twitchy and not very stable without loads of upgrades. Now that people have tried them it appears that they are in fact a really good micro with many of the flaws on other micros resolved.

I am probably biased because I sell them but I still consider the Dragonus pro to be the best on the market at the moment. I never thought a micro could be so stable and all who I have tried mine were extremely impressed. Yes they are expensive (not compared to the trex se) but compared to the mini titan, but then its all carbon and CNC. A good compromise is the Dragonus Elite which is less expensive, still has a full cnc head and tail etc but less carbon. Still as stable.

Good luck!

[Butuz]

Dragonus II Intruder I think is the way to go. Its so cheap (£109 inc ESC and motor from USA) and the spare parts situation will only get better once the European distributer actually get off their bottoms and start selling.

Currently having serious difficulty stopping myself from ordering one - i only just got my SJM400 in the air and I want to change it already.

Butuz

[Tean]

I can't comment on the Dragonus, but the Mini Titan is excellent.

[Ashley Davis]

I can tell you the Dragonus flies nicer than the T-Rex BUT it does suffer from glitch problems, specifically I would swap the carbon boom for an aluminium one and run with a base loaded antenna. Either that or go 2.4ghz like me.....never had a glitch lockout or anything.

[SRH990]

I've been flying a Mini Titan since just after they went on sale. I bought the kit with motor & esc and it was a very nice build, although the amount of plastic was a worry. I couldn't believe how stable it was on the first flight, much better than the trex 450 and I have an SE. It's since taken a while to get it more how I like a heli these days and some lighter paddles would be nice but it can 3D pretty well with the stock gear.

I had a good look into spares prices too, they are generally on a par with Trex 450 plastic parts, some up, some down and they are available now from a few sources. I've seen a Dragonus fly and it was very impressive but I'd say the Mini Titan would be easier for a learner to fly and cheaper, not sure about spares.

[Ade_Law]

what makes you think a titan would be easier for a learner? its all in the setup.

Ade

[Flybar]

Thankyou All

Thankyou all for the very prompt reply re- The Dragon V The Titan
I now have to find somewhere close that preferably stocks both and have a general look.No Heli. LHS around here I'm afraid.

I not sure if the stability question was thrown to me,but anything must be more stable than the last bit of plastic I bought.
In fact on their forum some people have never got one off the ground after 6 months of changing parts.(usually broken)
I have found a video build thread on Helifreak.com for the Dragonus.

Cheers for now

Peter

[Ashley Davis]

to make any micro more stable you just add collet weights to the flybar, dead simple.

[AndersUK]

I don't think it is as simple as that. In my experience, adding weight to the flybar does not make it more stable. It numbs the cyclic response, which I consider to be different.

Most micro helis are "twitchy" because of the slop in the components on the head. You are constantly having to reign the heli in because it wants to wander. I.e it doesn't have that "hover on its own" feel that can be achieved with a well setup/trimmed larger heli.

The Dragonus is the first micro that I have flown that is not wandering all over the place and when correctly trimmed, has that "hover on its own" feel like its larger counterparts.

to make any micro more stable you just add collet weights to the flybar, dead simple.

[moyesboy]

Looking at the small electrics bear in mind that trex outnumbers the others about 10:1.
This makes getting a trex450SE a good bet.
I started with some incomplete advice and went for an
x400 because it was supposed to be the new trex beater, but align had already launched the 450xl and suoon after the SE and now x400s are pretty rare. It was a very stable heli to learn on but my current "trex" is just as stable.

The important thing to to run 2400 rpm on the head and then it is nice and stable.

however with all the 450 size helis you should be able to use the wide variety of blades etc.

To fly such a heli in some unofficial place is attractive, but to do that the DX7 is the way to go definitely.

[Ashley Davis]

The Dragonus is the first micro that I have flown that is not wandering all over the place and when correctly trimmed, has that "hover on its own" feel like its larger counterparts.

I own and regularly fly both a T-Rex SE and the Dragonus. They are no different in the hover or in forward flight. The differences in their capabilities only shows up when you start to stretch the flight envelope a little more. The Dragonus does have better paddles than the T-Rex which I think accounts for the crisper cyclic feel, there's very little in it though.

[Ade_Law]

ash, your dragonus flies like no trex i have ever flown!

Ade