Spectrum DX8/DX9

[AnthD]

The 'size' of a heli can be misleading when it's quoted in mm or inches. Added to the confusion is that larger helis size designation is their actual blade length, but smaller ones isn't blade length but just some random designation that doesn't really relate to anything tangible (for instance a '450' has blades in the range 325-360mm). 500 size helis are sometimes a 'true' 500 with 500 blades and sometimes (like the Trex) smaller, with 425mm blades.

The weight of the heli really tells more as to how 'massive' they feel in real life. In round figures:

• A 500 (425mm blade size) is twice the weight of a 450
• A 550 is twice the weight of a 500
• A700 is twice the weight of a 550

A 600 is obviously somewhere between a 550 and a 700 but closer to the 550.

Hi Ste , When you explain it like that it's crazy to think the 550 is double the weight of there 500 model! And again the 700 .. It's a pain in the arse this Trex range .. It's like Ramge Rover ! There's just a model for everything .. im guessing the higher I go up in model the more it is to repair so a 500 for me will be lots of fun and not breaking the bank too much !

[Grumpy]

Yeah, opinions vary on what's the best size to learn on but for me personally i found that the 425mm blade '500' to be a good compromise between big heli stability and smaller heli 'user friendliness', practicality and cost.

I had a 450 before the 500 and always found it very twitchy an frenetic, the 500 was like slow motion in comparison which gives you a lot more thinking and reaction time.

Someone who has been around helis longer than me might be able to explain the 'logic' behind the size designation on the smaller helis, it must have been for some reason. Possibly '450' referred to the motor size in brushed motor days? It's not just Align that follow this convention.

[AnthD]

As a Newb you assume you start with a small Heli and work up , obviously budget comes in to play with what people can afford to purchase for there first Heli but I'm assuming Heli's like the 450 would be for less experienced pilots , seems to be everybody has said the same , the bigger Helis are more stable .

anyway Flight sim is here tomorrow so will get up and running , I'll be 360 by Friday !!

[AnthD]

So it's all here ! Will set up tonight although the Mrs is thinking I've turned in to some Electronics geek and giving me strange looks !

[Peteski]

Nice one! Enjoy.

[Grumpy]

You just need a heli now

[AnthD]

Ha thanks for reminding me Grumpy!

Sim im feels good although I've set the DX8 up and that gives me 4 channels on the sim is that correct?

I have got the hang of invert pretty fast have a few clips but wouldn't little me attach here ... I do Like the phenix v5 sim great fun .

[trillian]

As a Newb you assume you start with a small Heli and work up , obviously budget comes in to play with what people can afford to purchase for there first Heli but I'm assuming Heli's like the 450 would be for less experienced pilots , seems to be everybody has said the same , the bigger Helis are more stable .

anyway Flight sim is here tomorrow so will get up and running , I'll be 360 by Friday !!

When I first started I spent a long time on the sim, probably 6 months before thinking the next logical step was getting a real model. This was 2008 and all the little micro helis didn't exist yet. I also wanted to spend as little as possible because I wasn't sure how much I'd like it anyway. So I got a 450 but was not at all comfortable with it (probably due to poor setup in retrospect). Then I went to a flight school and flew a Raptor 30 and although it was very scary it seemed a lot closer to the sim. So I got my own Raptor 30 and only flew that for about a year.... and then the rest is all a bit fuzzy and one day I woke up with a whole room full of helicopters!

It was probably a couple years after I started that I came back to the 450 and loved it. But when I got the Trex 500 it imediately took over the role the 450 had held because it was just that much bigger to where the visibility and wind handling is so much better.

[AnthD]

Hi Trillan ,

thanks for for the post mate , I'm hoping at spend a lot of time with the sim and just getting brain training, I'm using the Trex 600/700 on the sim both pretty stable here but it very easy for thinks to go wrong very quickly!! The sim is great though graphics are pretty good and there's loads of settings so this is me for a while on 60"

image.jpg

I will ask guys I selected the memory 2 by pressing Clear and back so I could change to Heli on the pad , I did have a alarm saying mode one until I swithed to mode 0 on the DX8 does this mean that it's set up on mode 1 or something ?

[Grumpy]

Probably best to fly a heli on the sim of the same size or smaller than the one you intend to buy. Larger helis fly as if in slow motion compared to smaller ones, so if you fly a big one on the sim then switch to a smaller one in real life you will get an awful shock.

[AnthD]

Hi mate ,

just popped the 500 on now .. I've got a long way to go ! .. Going to just try master hovering instead of trying to be silly with 3D like a idiot!

[Grumpy]

Going to just try master hovering instead of trying to be silly with 3D like a idiot!

Good call. Sims are chonically boring so you do feel compelled to play around and do stupid stuff, but the get maximum benefit from the sim you need to just focus on practising the basics, regardless of how tedious it is. Hovering in all orientations is what you need to get comfortable with before anything else.

[French Paul]

Good call. Sims are chonically boring so you do feel compelled to play around and do stupid stuff, but the get maximum benefit from the sim you need to just focus on practising the basics, regardless of how tedious it is. Hovering in all orientations is what you need to get comfortable with before anything else.

I couldnt agree more on this as most successful pilots will also agree!
this might be the most boring part of learning but it's definitely the most important part, time spent hovering in the beginning will give you great satisfaction later on!

[AnthD]

Thanks , I know your right but like Ste said .. Yoi get bord and try sill things ! .. Although I've been drilling take off and land also flying backwards and forwards in lines and slowing down to a controlled land also .

Out of interest there's a few Trex 500Ls on eBay at the moment for not much money at all is it a older model here's a example below >>

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=151551124345

[Peteski]

If I was buying something like that used, I'd only do it through a known source like a club, reputable shop or perhaps a well known member on this site. Basically I'd want to be reassured I wasn't buying a pile of junk.