Beginner looking to upgrade?

[Nrjbull]

Hi all

So I have myself a e-sky lama v4 which is great fun. I've done a couple of mod's on it.I love flying it but it's a little slow ! And I don't really want to spend any more money changing the heli when another one could do the job but better!

So I'm a beginner with a heli plan!! And I just need some guidance?

I was thinking about getting a blade msr, a bnf version and a dx6i transmitter. I would sell the lama to help towards the new one because it would probably sit in the cupboard
I was thinking about doing this move because it would give me a little fun heli to learn with and plus it would let me get to grips with the dx6i .
And then i would be able to use the dx6i as things evolve.

So I suppose I just need advice on whether this is a good move to make??
Or if there is another road i should be looking down???

[dam74]

For that sort of setup you're looking at about £150-160 once you buy a BNF MSR new and a 2nd hand DX6i for around £60.

Personally I'd look at something a bit more usable outdoors now that the weather is on the up. The following would be my choice for starting off (in this order):

1. Blade SR (it's sort of a mixture between an MSR and Blade400 from what I can tell)

2. Blade 400 3D (yes it's about another £100-130 new to what you planned on spending but you might be able pick one up 2nd hand from here)

3. Twister Storm 3D

[tiddler]

The mSR is a good little heli and great fun to muck about with indoors. Outdoors only on a dead calm day.
But I agree with Darryl. As the weather is now on the up The Blade SR is a proper collective pitch helicopter which has just been released by E-Flite and is aimed specifically at the beginners market. So might well be worth your while taking a look at.
The transmitter that comes with the SR also has a trainer socket fitted so I believe it will work with the Phoenix simulator, which I would also highly recommend.

btw Welcome to the forum

[dam74]

I would of suggested the Thunder Tiger MD530 Innovator as it's apparently quite a nice little heli to start off with and has self-trimming/correcting software so if you crash it and slightly put the heli out of alignment it will correct this for you. So I hear anyway, haven't seen it in action myself
The only downside on this heli is the price. I think they sell for around the £400-500 so they're out of reach for the beginner on a low budget.

[graycbr]

Dx6i & phoenix plus a blade SR I would go myself , if the buget is tight use the TX out of the Blade SR package on Phoenix

[crofty]

Hi mate and welcome to the land of empty wallets

DX6i seems to be the choice of most newbies and yes Pheonix is a must if you want to keep the repair bills down.

The only other consideration is 'what if you want to go NITRO long term' although a 6i will do the job ideally 7 channels or more are better so you can run/ connect the govenor!?

Saying that I've got a 6i and havent connected the govenor..

All food for thought



Graham

[BladeBreaker]

Trex 450 clone like a copterx or flasher , they cost next to nothing My copterx 450 is as good as a trex 450 se

[dam74]

Trex 450 clone like a copterx or flasher , they cost next to nothing My copterx 450 is as good as a trex 450 se

Glad you think so

[dogbiscuit]

hi there. i started with the msr mid january and have now got to the stage where i can fly it around the room at speed. it has been great to learn on and cheap. a few sets of skids and one set of blade grips have been the total repairs needed (cheap) and if you mod the skids first then you can avoid breaking them. it realy does seem very durable and is good fun. you just want to keep flying it, and you can because you pick it up of the mantle piece and fly it around the front room, then get on with somthing else. great.

i just got my new blade 400 (comes with dx6i) a few days ago and am now getting used to the dx6i and how to program it, while flying the msr with it.

the great thing with the msr is you can have loads of batteries in use/on charge all at the same time. this means loads of flights per day. pick it up and fly whenever you fancy. lipos from hobbyking are $1.49 each for the msr

the sr was not quite out when i was deciding on my first cp heli, but in a number of previous posts i was led to believe that many cp helis could be tamed down enough for a newbie using a decent computer tx (such as the dx6i) an so what was the point in the sr? the jump from msr to blade 400 maybe lager than i anticated so i coild be in for a shock, and the sr could be the ideal gap filler. but you may also outgrow it quite quickly and wished you had gone for something like the blade 400. i think i would wait and see what people think of the sr before buying one, unless you have loads of diposable income in which case just buy one of each and build up a fleet like others on the forum. hopefully whatever you decide you will have fun. good luck

[dam74]

hi there. i started with the msr mid january and have now got to the stage where i can fly it around the room at speed. it has been great to learn on and cheap. a few sets of skids and one set of blade grips have been the total repairs needed (cheap) and if you mod the skids first then you can avoid breaking them. it realy does seem very durable and is good fun. you just want to keep flying it, and you can because you pick it up of the mantle piece and fly it around the front room, then get on with somthing else. great.

i just got my new blade 400 (comes with dx6i) a few days ago and am now getting used to the dx6i and how to program it, while flying the msr with it.

the great thing with the msr is you can have loads of batteries in use/on charge all at the same time. this means loads of flights per day. pick it up and fly whenever you fancy. lipos from hobbyking are $1.49 each for the msr

the sr was not quite out when i was deciding on my first cp heli, but in a number of previous posts i was led to believe that many cp helis could be tamed down enough for a newbie using a decent computer tx (such as the dx6i) an so what was the point in the sr? the jump from msr to blade 400 maybe lager than i anticated so i coild be in for a shock, and the sr could be the ideal gap filler. but you may also outgrow it quite quickly and wished you had gone for something like the blade 400. i think i would wait and see what people think of the sr before buying one, unless you have loads of diposable income in which case just buy one of each and build up a fleet like others on the forum. hopefully whatever you decide you will have fun. good luck

Dogbiscuit, hence why I suggested the SR

I started off with the Blade400 last Aug/Sep and it was more than I bargained for. Having never flown a heli before I was in for quite a bit of a shock when I lifted it off for the first time. I now own a Trex450 and am still learning but I'd say for anybody making the step from a contra or MSR then they should look for something along the lines of the Blade SR. As somebody once said to me. CP heli flying is like trying to balance a marble on a flat surface......so true.

[Nrjbull]

Thank you all so much for your advice.

I had I look at the blade sr and i have to say it looks sweet! And I suppose your right about wanting a heli to fly outside .
But the blade setup is designed to be stable and a little docile which will be great to start with but is it possible to change the settings as things progress?
I suppose I want a heli that can adamped with my progression.
Thank you all again

[tiddler]

Thank you all so much for your advice.

I had I look at the blade sr and i have to say it looks sweet! And I suppose your right about wanting a heli to fly outside .
But the blade setup is designed to be stable and a little docile which will be great to start with but is it possible to change the settings as things progress?
I suppose I want a heli that can adamped with my progression.
Thank you all again

Yup, the SR is fully capable of inverted 3D flight Although you would need a different transmitter like the DX6i to do this as the stock tx is set with all the necessary throttle and pitch curves to tame it right down.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIdD18VRbT0"]YouTube- Blade SR Inverted, Flips, Funnel.[/ame]

[Nrjbull]

Awesome !

Thanks

[dam74]

Yep, spot on. The stock transmitter which I don't think can be adjusted all is setup with low rates for cyclic and pitch/throttle curves to make it docile for beginners so they can learn the basics. With a more advanced TX you can set it up to be pretty aggressive. One of the Eflite/HH reps was explaining it in one of the demonstration flights.

[Nrjbull]

Brill it sounds like the perfect model .

I will also have to look into getting the phoenix sim , I'm guessing that the tx you get with the blade sr is compatible since they can bind with the spectrum range.

I better get saving some pennies!!!