Another newbie :)

[MeGrimm]

Hello everyone I'm sure this has been asked a hundred times here before so please be patient with me!

I used to be into helis and I now want to get back into the fun, but I don't know where to start! As I knew it the choice in microhelis used to be either Piccolo or Hornet, and other than that everything was more or less a toy, but now everybody seems to be making the things and the choice is bewildering with all the clones and cheap copies etc!

I can basically hover ( not as well as the heli can though ) and I'm conversent with RC and orientation etc so I'm looking for a micro heli which is going to keep me going as my abilities grow. Kind of an investment heli! By default I've been looking at the Hornet FP so I can put a CP head on it later, but is there anything better now? I'd prefer to stay with a micro heli.

Thanks for your patience / advice!

MeGrimm

[heliward0]

t-rex 450se v2!!!

[LipolyGone]

Depends on the budget mate as usual.
If you want the ultimate setup it has to be the new align trex 450 v2 se
£285 ish for the kit with motor & controller only.
If you want cheap then get a raptor mini titan at £100 ish for the kit.
Martin

[fatmantom]

or maybe a dragonus

[Thomas]

T 4 S V2
R 5 E
E 0
X

Even the people who hate Trex's love them, made by Carlsberg, well nearly they don't actually make helis but if they did......

[LipolyGone]

or maybe a dragonous

I found the Dragonus to be a very twitchy little thing Thomas hardly suited to the beginner.
I'd go for the mini titan its very docile set up for a beginner & for under £350 you can get it in the air. the trex is going to be a £500 heli easily.
Martin

[ChrisB]

Agree with Martin

The Mini Titan is cheap and sounds quite good but the 450 Se V2 is a different league but unfortunately its far more expensive

I love mine though,it flies just like a 600,its actually quite weird for such a small heli which i have always associated with being unstable and hard work,to be so steady in the air

[fatmantom]

I found the Dragonus to be a very twitchy little thing Thomas hardly suited to the beginner.
I'd go for the mini titan its very docile set up for a beginner & for under £350 you can get it in the air. the trex is going to be a £500 heli easily.
Martin

well i take it back lol. im not really sure why i commented because i have no experience in these sized heli's

guess i just wanted to fit in

Tom

[Biggles]

nice one Tom!

[MeGrimm]

Wow! I'm amazed at how quickly you've replied! I'm used to posting a question on a forum and not coming back till 2 days later!

So the trex 450se v2 and Mini Titan seem to be winners. I'd better do some looking about. Is the Trex a bigger heli (I'm assuming the 450 refers to motor size)??

[Bikeracer]

I've got a Dragonus and it doesn't seem at all twitchy to me,but I don't have anything to compare it to.The head is mechanically programmable from beginner to 3D.It's also available for £25.00 less than a Mini Titan.

It's certainly responsive,but will sit in a hover more or less hands off.

Allan

[Thomas]

I found the Dragonus to be a very twitchy little thing Thomas hardly suited to the beginner.
I'd go for the mini titan its very docile set up for a beginner & for under £350 you can get it in the air. the trex is going to be a £500 heli easily.
Martin

I have a friend who learnt to hover on an all in one thing, similar to a Trex but smaller - he had no experience of helis and managed to get the hang of it and he now has a Trex and a sim (my sim) and is finding it much easier,

A Dragonus or Trex is a perfectly good model to learn on, not as ideal as the big stuff but has benifits the other don't have.

The mini titan is a good model but is no way as stable as a Trex, even the old SE.

[MeGrimm]

Thanks guys!

Now all I have to do is find a decent supplier and DO IT - the best bit! Is it best to stick with new stuff? I haven't worked out a budget yet but everything seems far more expensive than I'd expected. I'm tempted to try ebay or the like.

[Jamez]

Be warey of the 'Bay', there are some bargins to be had, but there is a good chance you will get stung, everybody on here is raving on about Fast Lad for T-rex stuff, and Aurrora or is it Aurroura for the battery's, Don't scrimp on your speed controller and motor either, Also think about what transmitter you want, and add that to the cost, The DX7 is the one to go with at the moment (2.4 Ghz, reduce's glitching caused by electric's and interferance, and is almost impossiable to be on the same channel as anybody else). Don't forget a Gyro as well, by the best you can afford here, (for a Rex it's a Futaba GY401 and 9650 servo but this isn't cheap).
Shop around a bit.

[Philimon]

Hi MeGrimm

Welcome to the hobby.

I was in your shoes about 3 or 4 months ago. I was also scared about committing £££'s to the hobby, so I bought myself a Solaris 3D from Sussex Model Centre. For those of you that have not heard of the model, its a re-branded mini-pred.

For £180 I got EVERYTHING a newbie would need - ready to fly heli, transmitter, gyro, training gear, FMS simulator, battery and charger. Seems like a bargain, right? Well, it was, until I flew it. Then I realised that the package was designed for someone who had nothing, and being a plank flyer for many years, I had a little more than that. I now know I would have been better off spending £300 to ensure that some key things were a little better. I bought a GY401 gyro and a better tail rotor servo and that transformed the heli.

I've learnt to hover on it and I've now moved on to a .50 sized nitro machine. I still fly the electric more than the nitro, thanks to the local park.

My advice? Spend as much as you can afford. The mini-pred served my purposes, but it is a twitchy little beast and, frankly, I think I learned to hover on the sim, not on the heli.

If I were doing it all again, I'd get myself a mini titan / Trex 450S or something non-blinged, get two or three battery packs and a el-cheapo lipo charger for no more than £20. You *should* be able to get away for all this for under £300 and its a better way to start. Thats assuming you already have radio gear. If not, add £200 on to that for a DX7 sans servo's, or which-ever brand you'd prefer.

eBay? I'd stay away until you know more about the hobby. New is better, as it comes without a prior history and with a friendly smile from your local model shop. Don't discount the value of buying local. The invaluable support and advice for when things go wrong is worth far more than the money one can save by going the internaltion mail-order route.

Good luck and I hope that helps.

Regards
Andrew

EDIT: Oh my g****. I forgot to strongly recommend you get a simulator. Its really the best thing even before sliced bread. I've used FMS (cheap and nasty, does the trick), RealFlight G3 (like the yanks, its big and fat and over-rated & overpriced) and now Phoenix Sim (brilliant, lean mean **** machine, great value for money).