Set-up without connecting the main battery

[alistair.howie]

Am fully aware of the capabilities of the 550, and my lack of capability! I chose it over the 600 on the basis of some advice about it being a new design, having longer flight times and just generally being a better helicopter than the 600 ... and I was initially looking at the 600 because of its stability and because it was what I had had a couple of lessons on in the first place.

It can be tamed/dumbed right down with throttle curves and expo, right? Think I've managed to achieve that in Phoenix.

I went for FBL in the first place because of all the well known advantages, not least build/rebuild simplicity and my view that it's ultimately the future. I took advice on whether FBL was a no-no for a complete newbie, and the opinion was that it wasn't. I just need to make sure I don't need the training gear anymore when I go to fly it because FBL apparently doesn't like that during dodgy takeoffs/landings.

I went for v-bar blueline express 5.0 on the basis of what I took to be majority opinion on various forums that it was superior to Align's 3G system. I got a great price from RCMarket.org, which switched out the Align 3g electronics and even convinced me to go with savox servos, including the Savox equivalent of the Align 650 tail servo. Not sure, they might have seen me coming, but all in the price was still better than anywhere in the UK, and they bundled a nice (non-Align) carry bag as well :-)

[alistair.howie]

Thanks for the advice, Vic. it was for precisely that reason I was thinking of plugging an extension lead into the battery port on the receiver, and leaving it tucked in there permanently, only bringing it out to connect to the receiver battery when doing set up.

I take your point though about the other required set-ups needing the main flight battery. To start, I think I will just go with a separate receiver battery, for my own peace of mind. Once I'm a bit more familiar with things, then I'll go with your approach. Hey, after all, I did't even know where to plug the ESC into a couple of hours ago, so I guess i can't be too cautious!