Confused Newbie

[mart59]

I,m a total novice to rc helicopter,s and this question must have been asked many times before, but I have a splitting headache with looking at all these helicopters recommended for beginners so I would be great full for advice on what to start with I have about £200 to start with and any advice would be great full

[Leigh Beaumont]

If never flown before id get a contrarotator to fly indoors you can nail all the basics with this heli to start you off, A simulator is a big must also and will bring you on fast as crashes cost nothing, most use pheonix which I use.

Once your comfy hovering tail, side and nose in and correcting heli and putting it where you want you know your progressing, there are a number of good helis for flying out doors small ish and cheap to Run, 450 size are a good starting heli if you have mastered hovering , blade 450x is a great heli nice and stable smooth and will do most 3D out the box so you won't out grow it fast. 130x is nice and cheap easy to repair and not scary to fly again once you can hover, remember you will crash we all do so you want to keep it cheap to start as expensive crashes will get you down and make your bank account look sick. But once your into it and flying its a great Hobby and loads of fun good luck

[Gate88]

Sadly £200 isn't enough to start up with unless you want to enter the tricky 2nd hand Market.
Probably not what you want to hear but...

Even if you could scrape a Heli and Tx together for that price you then need "spares" and that's what costs the money in the early days.

If i were you I'd buy a half decent Tx and a copy of Phoenix sim, practice, practice, practice over the winter while you save up for a Heli.

[AcidDrink]

Spektrum dx6i + Phoenix simulator will get you going. You need to buy a dx6i without any receivers/servos, just the transmitter (mode 2 - important!). Dx6i will be fine up to 500-600 size heli, definitely for all smaller Blade bind and fly helis, so it's a good "investment" , you won't have to buy a transmitter twice.

For Phoenix, it's probably worth posting an ad here in wanted section, you can have it for around 55£ if you find someone who is selling. Tx, I'd buy new, unless you know the person who is selling. New Dx6i costs about 90£

It's winter, so flying outside is pain in the arse and not fun, especially for beginner. I'd recommend buying a bind and fly Blade MCX2 (about 53£), it will bind to your Dx6i and you can fly safely in your living room, practising orientations and if you practice on Phoenix first, you won't be crashing it a lot. Buy 2 or 3 extra batteries for it as well, they are rather cheap. Only problem with MCX2 is that you might get bored of it rather quick, but it depends on how fast you learn. Anyway, having a physical heli will make all of this much more fun.
Do not buy an used heli, no matter how great the deal seems to be.

If you can stretch your budget to about 250£, you should be able to get it all.

[dogbiscuit]

Do not buy an used heli, no matter how great the deal seems to be.

all my helis have been second hand except for an msr....... I have never had problems buying this way. you have to learn to sort out issues anyway as soon as you crash and damage your new heli

[skeldog]

Or get a sim and dx6i
They do deals
I did it the other way round and bought a blade 450 combo
Rtf
I crashed it so many times just trying to take off!!
I got a sim then and soon picked it up!!
No more crashes then until i learning 3d

[tomatwalden]

I,m a total novice to rc helicopter,s and this question must have been asked many times before, but I have a splitting headache with looking at all these helicopters recommended for beginners so I would be great full for advice on what to start with I have about £200 to start with and any advice would be great full

For a complete beginner - assuming you have never flown an RC helicopter before, I would suggest you start with one of the following. They will be indoors only pretty much, though most can fly outdoors in no, or very light winds. None of these are "strategic" purposes - by that I mean, if you find you really like this hobby, none of them will take you further, and you will need to buy again. People will certainly advise you to get DX6i or similar controllers, and the Phoenix Sim. This is all good advice, but is based upon the premise that you absolutely will progress and move onwards and upwards. If you just want something cheap to "test the waters" so to speak, read on ..

For starters, get an RTF (ready to fly) model which will come with an included controller. If you get a BNF (bind and fly), you will need to source a transmitter seperately. I don't advise this, as modern controllers are computerised, and not all work with all helicopters. Gone are the days of flying on clashing bands however!

Also, get a "mode 2" setup. 90% of people use this. In short, mode 2 means the throttle and rudder on on the left stick, with cyclic (pitch/elevator) on the right. If you get mode 1, the controls will work differently.

Finally, bear in mind, that everyone here is offering opinions generally on what worked for them. Everyone is different mind, so to a certain extent, you need to do your own research and choose what is right for you - good luck! (and welcome to the forum!)

So, here's my suggestions :- (all are under £200 for the RTF version)

1/. Blade mCX2 co-axial
2/. Blade mSRX fixed-pitch, single-rotor
3/. Blade 120SR fixed-pitch, single-rotor

All of the above are "micro" helicopters and are 4-channel fixed pitch birds. They will serve you well. If however, you are feeling more confident that you're going to like this hobby, you could try the following, but now the cost rises sharply.

4/. Blade 450-3D RTF mode 2

This is a much bigger helicopter - not in the micro category and will require alot more patience. Birds this size demand a lot respect as they're quite dangerous too. As I say, the choice is yours really, but here's my view for what it's worth.

1/. Get a micro heli from the top list above
2/. DO NOT GET a "bargain" heli that seems to offer lots for very little money. They will almost certainly be unflyable and will just put you off this great pastime!

Best of luck! - Tom

[mart59]

Thank's for all the advice I have just ordered a DX6iand Phemix sim from King's Lyne models they where going what I think was a very good deal £159 +postage should get it tomorrow looking forward to setting it up. I intend on using this first and in January purchase a BNF hele.

[Sheldrake]

Good decision. Welcome to the forum and the hobby. Say bye bye to your bank balance.

[helijohn]

all my helis have been second hand except for an msr....... I have never had problems buying this way. you have to learn to sort out issues anyway as soon as you crash and damage your new heli

This is true. I started with used kit. Lots of cheap nitro deals going too if you could get assistance when buying.

I,m a total novice to rc helicopter,s and this question must have been asked many times before, but I have a splitting headache with looking at all these helicopters recommended for beginners so I would be great full for advice on what to start with I have about £200 to start with and any advice would be great full

Have you thought of taking a trip to somewhere like Midland Helicopters for a chat and a looksee.

Thank's for all the advice I have just ordered a DX6iand Phemix sim from King's Lyne models they where going what I think was a very good deal £159 +postage should get it tomorrow looking forward to setting it up. I intend on using this first and in January purchase a BNF hele.

A sim is a great start but were it me I'd want to get my hands on a physical heli.

[cjcj1949]

The small helis on Phoenix are not very realistic. I'd start with the big trainer. Phoenix is very good on the 450 and bigger helis and the aircraft. There is a big difference with the 450 and bigger in real life and that's the fear factor. Mainly fear of breaking it and having to fix it. Makes things much more difficult than Phoenix until you can do it, then it's easier than Phoenix. It's not usual to listen to advice either, as it usually involves spending more than you thought. You'll enjoy Phoenix and the Dx6i.

[mart59]

Received Tx and Sim today a great bit of kit a lot cheaper to train on the Simulator as I have crashed quit a few times but I,m finding it great to train on.

[cjcj1949]

You might like to look at a Simstick if you have a big heli. Stops you having wires from the tx. I'd try and pretend that the crashes are real. May sound silly but at least rebbot the computer every crash. It's still a lot quicker and cheaper than fixing the real thing. You just need to be able to takeoff and land. As you takeoff the heli will move to the left and you need to lean it slightly to the right for a stable hover. You can still play and crash often if you want, but at some time you'll need to know how to fly and not crash. Then you can tell the rest of us how to do it. Flying close to your limit is optional and good fun. Your real life limit will be lower than your sim limit. Watch out for the "this is easy stage" and land at once.

[mart59]

Have just ordered mCX2ca and blade 120sr as suggested in previously thread while in the shop I saw the Blade 450x which I think might be my next hele when I become competent in flying helecopters but would like to know what hpeople think of this helecopter as the shop gave it a very good report.

[foxypike]

listen to the advise. its correct and free