Buying my first heli

[Davej9999]

I'm going to buy my first heli which one should I go for and why????? Cheers

[Eckchaz]

Welcome mate

Personally.. get a SIM like phoenix first.. Theres a few like the Thunder tiger innovator.. very docile for beginners and can be set up differently later on.. I went for a 450 class which was too twitchy and it wasnt till I brought a 500 (more stable) that I really started to make progress!!

[Boggy]

hi dave and welcome to the forum.

that really is a very complex question.
post up
what are your aims? indoor /outdoor/at a club/local park.
do you want lessons/coaching?
what is your budget?
have you flown anything before?
do you have radio equipment already?

[supamansuper]

I'd buy a blade msr,just because of the time of year,not going to get much outdoor flying.Also you can crash the msr as much as you like and it'll still fly,I crashed into a wall from 30 foot picked the heli up and off it went.

[Davej9999]

Hi Ron I defo want to fly outdoor and would like to eventually have a decent heli I ain't really got a budget and defo need more info on flying and would be up for coaching not sure if there's any my way as absolute beginner only ever had r/c cars! Cheers

[Gaza07]

A visit to your nearest club would be a good idea you can find local clubs on the British Model Flying Association - the body responsible for model flying in the UK

[DaveMac]

I asked a similar question aswell earlier this year. You need to decide how much cash you are willing to spend, alot of the smaller helicopters that are on sale are not really good for learning on as they are unstable, however on the other side of that the bigger it is the more its likely to cost to repair when it crashes.

Have a read through through this section on the forum, their are lots of people asking similar questions and getting advice. Definately try find a local club, as with this hobby the experience and support is essential.

[tiddler]

Defiantly worth getting the Phoenix sim before getting an actual heli.
Then when you do get your hands on the real thing you'll be far less likely to crash it first time out
If your serious about flying helis then you'll end up buying Phoenix anyway. So it makes sense to use it to learn with first rather than repeatedly crashing the real thing in the early stages of the learning process.

Once you've learnt the basics on the sim, there are a number of heli choices you could go for.
Many start with a 450 size, as the parts are cheap and easy to get hold of. The larger helis are more stable, but parts are more expensive.
Its a bit of a minefield for the novice tbh But Phoenix is without a doubt your best starting point

[Davej9999]

Cheers all I'll defo buy Pheonix sim and after talking to a few people at heli clubs they've directed me towards a raptor 50 is this a good heli and worth buying?????

[simon1]

Cheers all I'll defo buy Pheonix sim and after talking to a few people at heli clubs they've directed me towards a raptor 50 is this a good heli and worth buying?????

I would say thats pretty good advice if a nitro powered heli is what you wanting? If its electric I would say a trex 500, good heli for the price imho.
I have a rappy 30 and they are great, you won't hear many owners of raptors slagging them off

Oh and pheonix for £80ish will save you £'s more in the long term

[tiddler]

I would say thats pretty good advice if a nitro powered heli is what you wanting? If its electric I would say a trex 500, good heli for the price imho.
I have a rappy 30 and they are great, you won't hear many owners of raptors slagging them off

Oh and pheonix for £80ish will save you £'s more in the long term

Another heli worth taking a look at is the Thunder Tiger Innovator MD530 that Eckchaz mentioned.
It was my first cp heli, and they are brilliant for a novice.

I've still got mine and absolutely love it

But get to grips with Phoenix first

[alex]

Another heli worth taking a look at is the Thunder Tiger Innovator MD530 that Eckchaz mentioned.
It was my first cp heli, and they are brilliant for a novice.

I've still got mine and absolutely love it

But get to grips with Phoenix first

Agreed- it took me a really long way and is way easier to fly than a 450 or 500- it's a slightly expensive step in the short term, but saves lots long term unless you have lots of self control and a club to help with with the Raptor. The Innovator will take you to significant fun forward flight and circuits long before you have programmed your thumbs well enough to do the same with a 50 size nitro- just my opinion, but I would not be at the stage I am now without the Innovator and Phoenix.

[idbvideo]

Heres the rub though, to use the pheonix sim don't you need a real transmitter? According to their web site it won't work with a USB controller.

I am in a similar position as Davej999, working out what to buy. I figured I would go the sim route first and bought a Reality Craft Heli master controller. It came with junk software, but went the ClearView route.

I am trying different sizes of helicopter now, having reached a reasonable hover using a TREX 600 model.

For me I want the best of both worlds - fly outside during summer and indoors in a sports hall during winter.

My own thoughts on heli are

T-Rex 500
T-Rex 450
Blade 400

The last 2 can be had for under 450 with all you need to fly - from my investigations. In fact the Blade 400 3d is RTF.

Although my preferences are size - ie 500 size for stability, I fear that this may be too big for sports hall flying. I am off to one of my local clubs to see what they say on Thursday as they fly indoors mostly.

[tiddler]

Heres the rub though, to use the pheonix sim don't you need a real transmitter? According to their web site it won't work with a USB controller.

I am in a similar position as Davej999, working out what to buy. I figured I would go the sim route first and bought a Reality Craft Heli master controller. It came with junk software, but went the ClearView route.

I am trying different sizes of helicopter now, having reached a reasonable hover using a TREX 600 model.

For me I want the best of both worlds - fly outside during summer and indoors in a sports hall during winter.

My own thoughts on heli are

T-Rex 500
T-Rex 450
Blade 400

The last 2 can be had for under 450 with all you need to fly - from my investigations. In fact the Blade 400 3d is RTF.

Although my preferences are size - ie 500 size for stability, I fear that this may be too big for sports hall flying. I am off to one of my local clubs to see what they say on Thursday as they fly indoors mostly.

Phoenix works just fine with a LP5DSM tx which can be picked up for peanuts these days.

And anyway, no one said this hobby was cheap.

Now having said that many noobs start by getting a cheap heli, crashing it (a lot) repairing it (a lot) upgrading it (a lot) and spending a fortune in the process only to end up giving up or getting Phoenix (eventually) and then see the light and get a decent heli
I know, I've been there

The Innovator although not cheap, is a brilliant beginners heli and in the long run is likely to give the novice far greater early success and because of that cost far less in repairs. It also comes as RTF and yes it truly is ready to fly straight out of the box.

[terryk2000]

My first heli was a honeybee FP...crashed it many times and although parts were relatively cheap I still spent a small fortune on parts. Then i went for a Rappy 30. Great heli to learn on..upgraded it later to a 50, which I still have. As mentioned Pheonix is a must but even with lots of virtual practice the reality is that this is an expensive hobby.