Heli dilema...

[vtrnutter]

Ok, so I've been thinking and researching quite a bit over the past few weeks in the quest for my first heli. I have a bit of a dilema which I am hoping somebody can help me get my mind straight on.

Dilema is as follows, on the following choices:

i) Blade 400. Cheap to buy and fairly cheap to repair. Lots of information on web to tame the settings to suit a beginner. Can be upgraded when cheapo components fail and then said upgraded components kept for next heli.
ii) Real deal Trex 450. Seems like a well specced piece of kit for £300 or so, and Align seems to be highly regarded. Downside is that being my first heli, I will probably crash a lot (despite 2 years on a sim). Might be too nice to learn on. Also, like the Blade is on a 400/450 size and quite small, making it harder to learn, less stable etc.
iii) Phoenixtech Flasher 500ESP. Trex 500 clone, and relatively cheap in RTF form. Ok, so stock servos / gyro are probably not the best but will be adequate for newb flying. Benefit of this is that it is a Trex 500 (clone), interchangeable parts, and because of cheap price, I will be less worried about crashing a £300 clone compared to a £500 real thing. Benefit also is that it is a 500, which means one less upgrade in the future and is more the size of what I really want to fly. Downsides are more expensive repairs, bigger batteries etc. Other benefit is that being a larger heli, it will be easier to find room for my DX8 RX and telemetry gear compared to the 450.
iv) Pheonixtech TT360. Slightly larger rotor in this form, making it more stable, but still physically the size of a 450. Well priced, but still only a 450 and is not the size I really want to fly.

I am leaning towards the 500 but am wondering if this is really a good idea or not? Please can anybody offer any advice to assist?

Thanks.

[Boggy]

Ok, so I've been thinking and researching quite a bit over the past few weeks in the quest for my first heli. I have a bit of a dilema which I am hoping somebody can help me get my mind straight on.

Dilema is as follows, on the following choices:

i) Blade 400. Cheap to buy and fairly cheap to repair. Lots of information on web to tame the settings to suit a beginner. Can be upgraded when cheapo components fail and then said upgraded components kept for next heli.
ii) Real deal Trex 450. Seems like a well specced piece of kit for £300 or so, and Align seems to be highly regarded. Downside is that being my first heli, I will probably crash a lot (despite 2 years on a sim). Might be too nice to learn on. Also, like the Blade is on a 400/450 size and quite small, making it harder to learn, less stable etc.
iii) Phoenixtech Flasher 500ESP. Trex 500 clone, and relatively cheap in RTF form. Ok, so stock servos / gyro are probably not the best but will be adequate for newb flying. Benefit of this is that it is a Trex 500 (clone), interchangeable parts, and because of cheap price, I will be less worried about crashing a £300 clone compared to a £500 real thing. Benefit also is that it is a 500, which means one less upgrade in the future and is more the size of what I really want to fly. Downsides are more expensive repairs, bigger batteries etc. Other benefit is that being a larger heli, it will be easier to find room for my DX8 RX and telemetry gear compared to the 450.
iv) Pheonixtech TT360. Slightly larger rotor in this form, making it more stable, but still physically the size of a 450. Well priced, but still only a 450 and is not the size I really want to fly.

I am leaning towards the 500 but am wondering if this is really a good idea or not? Please can anybody offer any advice to assist?

Thanks.

500 it is then

[idbvideo]

For a 500 size heli, check out the Giant Cod site, they have a HK500GT carbon fibre heli for £72 but you have to add your own electrics. I have planned mine and it will cost £230 ish plus batteries. I have the airframe built. I am going to use 2 x 3s in series, I already have these for my 450.

Unless you have a transmitter you will need to factor the radio gear in. With careful shopping you could get up and running for £400 including battery, charger an dx6i tx/rx!

[Streetluge Chris]

Seems to me you wont the 500 if you going to buy a clone buy 2 then you have complete set of spares.

[Gaza07]

The 500 is a very good heli

[heli]

I bagged myself a re-fitted Blade 400 for £140 this week. Spent most of my pennies on a new DX8 and Pheonix Sim. That gives me enough to get on with for now. Started saving and planning for Logo 400 FBL (500 size heli). Initial cost is much higher than a similar Trex but from what i've read is a superb bit of kit and not that expensive to repair. But hopefully the Blade 400 will take the brunt of my abuse!

Logo in some very good hands
[ame="http://vimeo.com/18573458"]Nico Niewind at the Black Forest on Vimeo[/ame]

[rcwhirlygig]

Trex 450 pro super combo if wallet permits, it flies great accepted you will need Tx and Rx and I would def suggest training carriage and the spares aren't too costly set of blades from Alin-trex £13

[stumpe]

The flasher 500 is a good Heli for the price, I have one and it's done me good over the last 12 months, brought 2nd from the Bmfa, got good servos / scorpian esc and a Spartan gyro and total was still £100 less than the trex ESP price

Also got a dx6i and again it does me fine, can go up to a 700e size I think, I will never go nitro (dirty smelly things ), dont think the misses will let me have enoguh helisnto run out of space on the tx, so it's going to last me years.

Not too sure about the hk 500, some people say it's great for the price with a few upgrades needed to get it flying, some people say wouldn't touch it for that price, if I didn't have the money to get the trex / flasher then try the hk Heli and save some money, but be aware it may not save you money in the long run as you will tend to upgrade your Heli at some point (if you go for the hk Heli) with the trex helis they don't need upgrading at all to get full 3d out of them.

I started on a belt cp (don't laugh) but had nothing but issues with it and spent months just bobbing around the floor, when I got my trex 450 it was just so nice that I was doing small fig 8s, climb outs, piros with the first few flights, it was all down to confidence in the end but the belt cp just did not give me that, trex was like a breath of fresh air.

Just buy right 1st time or like me u could waste money on something that you just won't like

Lee

[vtrnutter]

Thanks a lot for your input.

[Gareth-71]

The flasher 500 is a good Heli for the price, I have one and it's done me good over the last 12 months, brought 2nd from the Bmfa, got good servos / scorpian esc and a Spartan gyro and total was still £100 less than the trex ESP price

Also got a dx6i and again it does me fine, can go up to a 700e size I think, I will never go nitro (dirty smelly things ), dont think the misses will let me have enoguh helisnto run out of space on the tx, so it's going to last me years.

Not too sure about the hk 500, some people say it's great for the price with a few upgrades needed to get it flying, some people say wouldn't touch it for that price, if I didn't have the money to get the trex / flasher then try the hk Heli and save some money, but be aware it may not save you money in the long run as you will tend to upgrade your Heli at some point (if you go for the hk Heli) with the trex helis they don't need upgrading at all to get full 3d out of them.

I started on a belt cp (don't laugh) but had nothing but issues with it and spent months just bobbing around the floor, when I got my trex 450 it was just so nice that I was doing small fig 8s, climb outs, piros with the first few flights, it was all down to confidence in the end but the belt cp just did not give me that, trex was like a breath of fresh air.

Just buy right 1st time or like me u could waste money on something that you just won't like

Lee

SPOT ON!

My advise? A good but repairable heli, so trex450 or 500 clone. The 500 can be a bit of a monster when learning unless its calmed down in setup.
The 500 clones are very good nowadays. Still, I tend towards to 450, safer, cheaper to fix. Most important is follow your heart more than your head :-)
- you must be happy with what you have.

Gareth

[Freakmode]

I started on a Trex 450 which was great, wish I never sold it.

I have a 500 now which is not as much fun but a lot easier to fly

[coptermanic]

I'd go for the 500, but not from G-C!!!!!!!!!

[lankey]

500 is a great size, but I'm adversed to recommending the HK500GT.... I have a feeling you'd be spending a lot of time swapping out to better parts.

They just give me the heeebie jeebies..... all that bargain basement stuff swinging 425mm blades!!!

[aaron-88]

Try ehirobo for the copterx cx500 just under $100 and it comes with all the cnc alloy upgrades on the tail and head!my copterx 450 is sweet!havnt had a problem with a parts on it!

[idbvideo]

500 is a great size, but I'm adversed to recommending the HK500GT.... I have a feeling you'd be spending a lot of time swapping out to better parts.

They just give me the heeebie jeebies..... all that bargain basement stuff swinging 425mm blades!!!

I bought one (HK500GT from GC) last weekend. The only thing that is naff is the landing gear (Its one piece plastic molding) but it feels man enough!

The tail is all metal except for the plastic bits that are plastic on the Align.
The head is also metal.
I had to take all the metal to metal bolts out to locktite them, most already had locktite on them! I do this on any pre built model anyways!
Oh and those blades - a better match than my Align 450 blades were, they came already perfectly balanced!

Must have been lucky, but its a viable cheap way into helis