Help required with intended purchase

[Beans]

Although I'll be going for a radio and sim in the first instance, I've been thinking about the next phase of buying the heli and accompanying gear. I'd very much appreciate opinions and advice on the following.

Main
Radio: DX7
Sim: Phoenix
Heli: Raptor 30
Gyro: 401/9254Engine: No idea yet. Any suggestions?
Exhause pipe: Can someone suggest a quiet one?

Accessories
JP 120 Economy starter
12v Fuel pump
Glow plug
Fuel
Car battery
Field box

Have I missed anything off my shopping list? Does all that sound ok so far? Is there much difference between fuels and glow plugs that I'd notice at this early stage in my flying? Also, will the radio come with enough servos for the job or will I need to purchase any additional (apart from the one that comes with the gyro)?

[simon109]

Hi,

I would go for a 50 it's not going to be much more than a 30.

Zimmerman are supposed to be quiet, never had one though. You can just use the exhaust which comes with the Raptor kit.

OS 50 Hyper.

You will also need servo's unless you are going to use the supplied one with the DX-7 ?

or something like some Futaba 3152's for cyclic and pitch and a 3001 will do for the throttle.

That will get you going.

Simon.

[simon109]

You will also need a switch and a RX battery, and a fast charger would be a helpfull.

Simon.

[Beans]

I was intending to use the servos that came with the radio (if there are enough of them and they are considered good enough).


What advantage would I get from the 50 over the 30?

[simon109]

A little more stable as it will spin larger blades, and if you get a 30 chances are a few months down the line you will want to upgrade it too a 50 everybody does

More power incase you need it to get out of trouble.

I'm sure the DX-7 servos are fine, I have no experiance with the DX-7 stuff.

Simon.

[Made2Fade]

I agree a 50 will be a more worthwhile purchase. Nicer/easier to fly because there more stable in the hover too. But if ya did go for the 30 then get the os 37szh engine. Yeh the zimmerman tuned mufflers are quiet too. As for fuel you wont be needing a high percentage of nitro so early so id say go for coolpower or magnum (10 - 15% nitro). You'll need a hex start adaptor for your starter if you go for a raptor. Probs an idea to get some spare glow plugs too... i use os8. And also a longer reach glow plug spanner will come in handy if you havent already got something for the job.
Lee

[moyesboy]

Just getting everything together for my first nitro heli myself (flown trex450 electric so far).

I went for the 50.
The raptor kits have a muffler in them which will do for starting out.

It seems well possible to start the heli with a battery electric drill if you have one and beleive lots of people do that.
The starter engages with a hex key so you need a long allen key with the right size hex with the bent bit cut off in your drill. (saves buying a dedicated starter if you already have a battery drill). thismight not work with all helis, but seems to with the raptor which has a one way bearing on the starter shaft that stays in the heli. Other helis have the bit in the heli constantly rotating and a one way bearing in the removeable starting shaft I think.

Glow stick with its own mains charger.

Hand crank fuel pump.

no car battery required (unless you want to charge the heli rx pack/tx from it with a field charger).

So far I have a minimalist attitude to field equipment!

DX7 is what to get especially if your club uses JR as it will buddy to a JR I think, unless you want to use 35Mhz stuff that was going cheap used (might get a higher spec one cheap that way, but you don't need the fancy programming and 2.4G is the way to go really).


DX7 servos can have problems (search this site). There are enough of them in the radio set (4, thrtl, collective , 2x cyclic).

There is a slightly lower cost logictek gyro that might be as good as a 401 - try skyline for one as I think they are involved with importing them.

The concensus here is the OS is the engine to get. I wont start any arguments about that.

A 50 costs not all that more, and is supposed to be nicer to fly, and will take you further. I'm bound to say that having just bought one

[Smoothound]

I'm not sure if this is still true but the standard Rappy muffler
did have a habit of coming apart in flight so it's best to get the upgraded TT one or another one of your choice

[Beans]

Is it a case of around another £100 for the 50 over the 30 for both the kit and larger engine? What about repair costs for the 50? Are they any higher than the 30?

[phil485]

without wanting to sound like a clone. Have you had a look at the knight 50 sport. Kit price is similar to Raptor 30 but for a 50 size airframe. I was going to replace my nexus with a rappy or sceadu 30, but I have decided to go with the knight sport.

[Made2Fade]

Spares are pretty much near the same price i have found. Sometimes only pennies diffrence. Its gonna be well worth you going the 50 route. The engine and kit will be a little more expensive but it'll be worth it in the long run.
Lee

[Nutz]

Like others had said, Raptor/Kinght 50, OS Hyper 50 engine, 401/9254 Gyro/Servo and DX7 TX is my recommendations.

Spares are easily available from a lot of places for the Raptor and was king of the helis but the popularity of the Knight is catching and the basic 50 price is quite attractive, if I did not have a Raptor I would consider the Kinght.

[SRH990]

The Raptor 30 and 50 share lots of common parts, the only real differences are the tail boom and belt plus longer blades, most other parts that get broken in crashes are the same. Might be worth waiting a while as I've heard that Raptor prices are going down soon, could be bullsh*t but my source was pretty reliable.

If you can wait a few months the Trex 600 Nitro should be on sale, current 600 parts are around 50% cheaper than Raptor parts and the 600 has a much better head than the Raptor (imho of course ).

I can't comment on the Knight 50 but the ones I've seen have been pretty impressive value.

[Nutz]

Trex 600 nitro.............were, tell me more,,,,,how much, I want one

[SRH990]

Trex 600 nitro.............were, tell me more,,,,,how much, I want one

Apparently Jason Krause and the Zabos's are over in Taiwan testing it out for the next month, expected to be on sale in April. If nothing else it should make Thunder Tiger sharpen their pencils a bit