What can a RC Helicopter do?

[tomatwalden]

I dont think this guy is really serious about purchasing and flying collective pitch helicopters as we all understand it, If he was that keen he would of carried out more research himself, rather than ask these mega simplistic questions and worry about something being 25% more expensive etc., etc

You never know! What seems mega simplistic to somebody who's been in the hobby for a while is often complex and bewildering when you're just starting out. Regardless, does it even matter!? Even if he just wants to dip his toe in the waters and see what all the fuss is about - that's fine by me !

Raven Morpheus - if you post whereabouts you are in Essex, you might find you're near some guys who can show you what's possible. There's quite an Essex contingent on here!

[procol]

my first heli was a micro cp heli, my god what a mistake, they have improved alot but with the benefit of hindsight what I would do in your position is:
1. get the RTF blade msrx - new (about £100 but comes with controller, battery and charger)
2. see how you get on, do you enjoy the hobby etc
3. get hold of a DX6i second hand (it will work with the blade and Phoenix sim) (about £50-£60)
4. save up for phoenix sim (this will pay for its self in saved crash costs anyway. £90 new or £60 second hand)
5. accept that you are going to be skint and get a 450 CP heli (£350+battryies and charger) or save a few hundred quit and get the BNF mCPX instead (£130 ish this will also work with the DX6i out of the box)

This way you can get started without huge investment, have stuff that people would by second hand if it turns out this hobby is not for you. the trouble with the nine eagles kit is it will only work with nine eagles kit, where the DX6i will work with any heli because you just buy a spektrum receiver unless you get a blade 450x or something else from the blade range because that has a spektrum receiver already

[450man]

DOH! Got it!

[Raven Morpheus]

I dont think this guy is really serious about purchasing and flying collective pitch helicopters as we all understand it, If he was that keen he would of carried out more research himself, rather than ask these mega simplistic questions and worry about something being 25% more expensive etc., etc

I don't know what to buy, apart it being from 4 channel fixed pitch or 6 channel collective pitch and being a micro heli. I've read many articles about the differences and I'm still not enlightened, hence me joining here and asking people who know.

And yes to someone who already flies my concerns may seem simplistic but I want to ensure that if I buy a fixed pitch 4 channel helicopter I'm not buying the wrong type of helicopter for the type of flying I wish to learn - i.e. stuff like doing proper banked turns, being able to move forward whilst the body is almost vertical and stuff like that. I'm not the sort of person who wants to fly from A to B with the helicopter almost dead level then just rotate on axis and come back the other way - to me that sounds very boring.

However nothing I've read previously gives me a definitive "Yes they can do that" or "No they can't do that, only a collective pitch heli can do that" answer with regards to 4 channel fixed pitch helicopters and the types of manoeuvres I'm asking about, hence asking the specific questions.

And yes I am concerned about costs, simply because as a rule I'd only be able to afford to buy spares, not a whole helicopter.

I've been given £150 as "a gift" and I don't have anything else to spend, so cost is quite an important factor. Buying the right helicopter now for what I want to be able to do will mean I don't have to spend money on another helicopter at a later date to learn to do the type of flying I want to do, or give up the hobby because I can't afford to upgrade.

You are probably right though, I probably won't fly a heli in the way you all understand it, I'm not likely to join a club or do aerobatic performances, and I'll only be flying in my back garden or the small area behind it or the small grassy area in front of the house I live in, or if I have the room, in my house. But I would like to be able to do the sort of manoeuvres I've described so deciding on fixed pitch or collective pitch is still important for me.

You never know! What seems mega simplistic to somebody who's been in the hobby for a while is often complex and bewildering when you're just starting out. Regardless, does it even matter!? Even if he just wants to dip his toe in the waters and see what all the fuss is about - that's fine by me !

Raven Morpheus - if you post whereabouts you are in Essex, you might find you're near some guys who can show you what's possible. There's quite an Essex contingent on here!

Yes this is pretty much what I want to do, "dip my toe in the water", but I want to do it in such a way that at a later date I'm not spending money on a new helicopter because the one I've bought can't quite do what I want it to (I'm not too bothered about inverted flight though).

I live in Braintree btw.

Someone mentioned buying a 2nd hand helicopter but I've been looking around (probably not in the right places admittedly) and I can't find any forums/sites with 2nd hand sales of helicopters that are within my budget that I would want to buy, like the Blade helicopters mentioned, I've even briefly looked here.

I tried a sim the other day, HeliSimRC 2.0 (I looked for FMS but it has probs running in Win7 apparently and I couldn't find it) and I realised that I'm not too comfortable with the idea of the heli getting to a distance away from me as I'll essentially be flying blind (I realise that it's down to me to stop it getting away from me but it will inevitably do so) and as I can't see the heli I'd have trouble turning it around/landing. I thought of buying a helicopter like the Hubsan Lynx with the video cam on it (although again my questions about manoeuvres that a fixed pitch heli can do would crop up), then at least I'd have some idea of where the heli is and I'd feel more comfortable. But even from Hong Kong/China that seems to be outside (or at the very top end) of my budget (once you add shipping).

I'm actually now wondering if flying RC helicopters is a hobby for me as the initial outlay is slightly off putting, the number of brands is huge, the quality varies, spares might cost a fortune, and there is so much I don't understand about flying one and what I can or can't do with either fixed pitch or collective pitch helis.

I'm kind of getting that "Do I waste £100+ on a potential hobby when I could go buy something else?" feeling.