Buyers Guide Needed

[Drekhh]

Hi folks,

I'm new to RC helicopters and need some advice on what and where to buy. I'm considering a Raptor e550 kit for my first model and need a shopping list of parts to get me flying.

I have googled various online stores but none seem to list the full contents of the kit or provide a list of the necessary parts to get me ready for my first flight, this seems to be a common theme with the online retailers.

Can you help me compile a list of components (including part numbers) necessary to get an electric RCH kit Ready-To-Fly? (perhaps with best and budget options).

Also, a list of the best online stores would be helpful.

Thanks
Drekhh

[ricky174]

hi

good idea as i am a newbie too lol..so interested in posts..maybe a buyers guide section should be made up??

[Steve]

Before anyone on here can give you any useful advice, and they will without doubt, let us know (a) what your budget is, and (b) are you interested in electric power, or IC (engine + fuel) power?

As a rough guide - IC are generally bigger and more expensive. Getting an IC heli in the air will cost around £700ish from a standing start.

Electric helis start at about £25 for very small indoor foamy types.

Of course, with both categories, the sky is the limit in terms of maximum cost.

Good luck.

[Sieze2]

To be honest before you worry about the parts, you need to decide on a heli. There are plenty of types, and sizes. Personally I went for a T-rex 450 SE. The parts are plentifull and cheap, and it is a quality bit of kit IMHO.

Have a good read of the below link.

http://www.swashplate.co.uk/ehbg-v17/ehbg_index.html

If you are interested in the T-rex's then have a look at www.trextuning.com . Another good patentially good choice might be a blade 400 . Try doinf a search on it on this site. I say might becasue it hasn't come out yet. It will be around £300 and includes everything including charger.

[Drekhh]

Budget and Power

My post suggested a best and budget option as I don't want to limit myself. The plan is to build the helo over time, while I get practice on a sim

I'm interested in electric at the moment (thought the e550 was electic ) but I guess most parts are suitable for both types, with the exception of the engine requirements of course. Perhaps we could have a buyers guide for both

Sieze2 I did mention the Raptor e550 lets go with that

Also in further replies can you start listing some parts, ta

[Tim Procter]

(thought the e550 was electic )

The e550 is indeed electric and a certain option but!!!!

You can gaurantee crashes will happen and further costs will be involved.

Sieze2 made a good point with the T-Rex 450, Great heli that does everything you need with an abundance of spares available at "reasonable" low cost.

Also radio equipment is an expensive item too, My advise is take the 2.4Ghz route via Spektrum or similar thus eliminating glitches causing crashes from radio gear..

Hope this helps a little.

[heliward0]

well as a guide i have just finished a RAPTOR 620se (550e big brother) and it cost me just shy of £1150 (EXC TRANSMITER) so there is a rough cost!! for about £500-£600 you get a trex 450se,,

[Fixxxer]

There isn't many e550's around that I've seen and it has never really made waves in the market. Now this is surely going to start the flack flying but I would have thought for going the electric route that the align trex 600e would be your best option as you can get a kit including motor, ESC & rx battery as one package.

Remember that large electrics aren't exactly cheap on the pocket as a single flight battery will cost you around £170 and you'll want at least 2 to start with. Then you'll need an appropriate charger which is going to be upto £100

A good gyro & high speed tail servo and receiver will set you back at minimum £180 and then there's the radio. The spektrum as already mentioned would be your best bet I would think as it's 2.4ghz rather than the old 35mhz FM and eliminates interference which is ideal on an electric.

[Sieze2]

My post suggested a best and budget option as I don't want to limit myself. The plan is to build the helo over time, while I get practice on a sim

I'm interested in electric at the moment (thought the e550 was electic ) but I guess most parts are suitable for both types, with the exception of the engine requirements of course. Perhaps we could have a buyers guide for both

Sieze2 I did mention the Raptor e550 lets go with that

Also in further replies can you start listing some parts, ta

http://www.trextuning.com/buyersguide.php

I basically Have the Luxury setup with the SE 35 Amp ESC and ALign XL engine. Some parts on the list can be used in a bigger heli such as a T-rex 600, some can't. The list of suggested parts is a very subjective thing. For example some feel metal geared servo's are essential (as do I) however others are very happy with cheaper servo's. Most consider a futaba 401 Gyro a minimum spec gyro , and a Dx7 Spectrum setup essential due to the lack of glitches. You will find alot of opinions with Tail pitch servo's, so good luck with that. I suggest learning with wood blades, then getting carbon as your aerobatics improve.

As has been said by others go with a setup with a strong following so there are plenty of people to help you. Bear in mind it only took me 5 days working 2-4 hrs an evening to build a T-rex 450 SE V2. Its really not as time consuming as some make out.

[Drekhh]

Buyers Guide

Thanks for everyones advice so far, but I'm still confused

How do I get an electic RCH kit ready to fly? I'm assuming a kit is just the airframe and rotor assemblies, what else do I need to buy? (servos, transmitter, receiver, etc). Lets not concern ourselves with price or budget, once I know what's needed I'm sure I can find components to fit my budget.

Seize2 thanks for the link http://www.swashplate.co.uk/ehbg-v17/ehbg_index.html this is the best help yet.

Fixxxer isn't the e550 just an electric Raptor 30? or is this a larger model? I've heard larger models are more stable and perhaps a little easier to control in a hover.

Could you perhaps reply with the electric helicopters you are currently flying and a list of the parts you have installed, I think this would be of great help to all newbies like me Possible even recommend your favourite RCH kit.

---
Thanks Seize2 your previous reply helps a lot, starting to build a shopping list I think metal vs plastic geared servos is probably a budget thing for me, I will try for metal if I can stretch my budget a little otherwise plastic to save some pennies.

I take it the T-rex 450 is a very popular kit? How does it compare in size to the I.C. Raptor 30/ elec. Rapter e550 kits?

[ricky174]

hi

hi lads, im finding thread verry interesting..can people with not so deep pockets post please, theres me thinking a cp-belt was expensive ..na, ive been looking at the t-rex450xl £114 with brushless, please look at post and tell me what i will need to get this babby up and going and the cheapest decentest gear please.you say 2.4 ghz whats that all about? when your adding £180 for this £100 for that cant i just get the blade cx2 with 2.4ghz and put it in my £114 t-rex??£180 for a battery, .many thanx

linky
http://www.revolutionmodels.co.uk/ac..._RC_Align.html

[heliward0]

[QUOTE=ricky174;90322]hi lads, im finding thread verry interesting..can people with not so deep pockets post please, theres me thinking a cp-belt was expensive ..na, ive been looking at the t-rex450xl £114 with brushless, please look at post and tell me what i will need to get this babby up and going and the cheapest decentest gear please.you say 2.4 ghz whats that all about? when your adding £180 for this £100 for that cant i just get the blade cx2 with 2.4ghz and put it in my £114 t-rex??£180 for a battery, .many thanx

linky
http://www.revolutionmodels.co.uk/ac..._RC_Align.html[/QU no sorry it dont work like that mate!! any way its not deep pockerts you need its a credit card!!!!

[Fixxxer]

Drekhh, You are correct with the e550 being an electric version of the raptor 30. The T-rex 600e is a little bigger and is classed as a 50 size heli as it uses 600mm blades which in turn make it a little more stable (the bigger the rotor disc the more stability you will get).

I'm not really into electric's in a big way as I prefer nitro helis althought I have flown a trex 600e and it was very stable.

The trex 450 uses 320mm blades and is smaller than the e550 & trex 600. Everybody seems to rate them very highly although for your very first heli you would find it very twitchy.

I think your best route would be to start with a blade cx2 which will cost you under £120 and will have you hovering in no time as its a contra rotating heli that is fixed pitch. This will give you a general idea and concept of stick inputs without costing you an arm and a leg when you crash as they are very robust. Then read as much as you can on the forums, theres a vast wealth of knowledge already out there for new pilots. Get the low down on the diffrent models etc and the pro and cons with both electric and nitro. Either type is going to cost a fairly large amount by the time you have everything needed.

The worst thing you can do is try to cut corners by buying cheap equipment as you will only end up shelling out again for something that does the job properly.

[jamiesawyer28041978]

Hi folks,

I'm new to RC helicopters and need some advice on what and where to buy. I'm considering a Raptor e550 kit for my first model and need a shopping list of parts to get me flying.

I have googled various online stores but none seem to list the full contents of the kit or provide a list of the necessary parts to get me ready for my first flight, this seems to be a common theme with the online retailers.

Can you help me compile a list of components (including part numbers) necessary to get an electric RCH kit Ready-To-Fly? (perhaps with best and budget options).

Also, a list of the best online stores would be helpful.

Thanks
Drekhh

Hi DEKHH i had a raptor 550 kit built it added motor and speed controler and then promply sold it due to the cost of the batteries and advice on here.. If i were you and you dont and wont be fly ing in a noise sencitive area then id either go for the align trex 450s £130 ( includes motor and speed controler )with spectrim radio set 2.4 ghz radio £170 , futaba 401 gyro with a fast servo for the tail , about 0.10 sec speed £160.
The trex may come with a battery but id buy another 3s 1p lipo which is about £45 and a charger again for about £45 and your off flying TOTAL:£550 . Thing with electric helis is that the charging slows your learning process and nitro helis you just fuel and go , fuel and go all day if you want.
Ive got a Knight which cost me 160 pound with an os hiper 50 and hatori exaust which is another 170 pound , futaba 401 and 9254 servo to control the tail another 170 pound , thunder tiger carbon blades 40 pound , high capacity receiver battery £30 , radio gear all in £200 including servos , recever, and transmitter plus starting gear to start engine £30 and fuel on top Total :£800 pound and this heli rotar diameter is about 130 cm where as the trex 450 is 70 cm .

Id buy from either ; REAL RAPTORS , SKYLINE MODELS , MIDLAND HELICOPTER OR STUARTN s SHOP on here and i have in the past and can't fault there services at all .

P.S dont buy a 550 raptor there not taking off like the nitros did and there are far more sureior helis on the market just now like Alighn, Compass and JR models . Hope all this garball helps with you and happy buying

[Sieze2]

To give you an idea the follwoing T-rex 450S is £215 delivered from flying hobby in Hong Kong:

.Base TREX450S Kit
2.Align New 430L3550 Brushless Motor
3.Align 35X Speed Control
4.MAXWELL MX56 Ball Bearing Servo
5.MAXWELL MX56 Ball Bearing Servo
6.MAXWELL MX56 Ball Bearing Servo
7.MAXWELL MX56 Ball Bearing Servo
8.ALIGN RCE-550Head Lock Gyro
9.Aplus 3S1P 1800mAh 20C LiPo
10.Futaba PCM R146ip Receiver
11.Futaba 6EXH Radio
12.Li-Po Balance Charger

The offer below is £375 delivered. Is it worth spending £160 extra to get metal gear servo's as well as a 401 with digital tail servo and Spectrum technology with a carbon frame and carbon blades? Absolutely.

Combo Included :
1.TREX450S Carbon Kit
2.ALIGN 35X ESC
3.ALIGN New 430L3550 Brushless Motor
4.Hitec 65MG Metal Gear Servo
5.Hitec 65MG Metal Gear Servo
6.Hitec 65MG Metal Gear Servo
7.Futaba Digital Rudder Servo S9650
8.Futaba GY401 Head Lock Gyro
9.Futaba 2.4GHz Receiver
10.Futaba 6EXH 2.4GHz Transmitter
11.Li-Po Balance Charger
12.APLUS 3S1P 2200mAh XP 25C LiPo
13.Extra RexPro 325 3K Carbon Rotor blades

What ever you choose the cheapest way to buy new is from Hong Kong. Do a search for Flying Hobby on this site for more info.