Piloting Skills for L platers

[tomatwalden]

What's the price difference In LiPos? Eg.

An "average" 6S, 4500mah LIPO is about £50 give or take. So, £200 gives me 4 charged batteries = 4 flights. A 12S setup is two 6S LIPOs in series, so roughly £100 per flight battery.

[AnthD]

Thanks Tom , So a 500/550 will run a 6S but the elec 600 needs 12S?
So you have to run 2 lipos then ..
I was leaning towards a Elec as I have a background in electronics and thought this could weigh in but as Im wanting to do a lot of flying to gain experience this year it may be better with me to go Nitro and not have to worry about Lipos and just get the degreaser out end of flights :-)

[Peteski]

Hi James and very Valid point I agree if your just going to be a shaking wreck with sweat dripping down and the transmitter in your hand :-) doesn't sound enjoyable as a hobbie .

But on the flip side to this coin that's a person that is scared to crash there heli and just want it indoors polishing it , no one wants to crash there Heli Im sure but if without the confidence to fly what you have is one thing and cost is the other , I don't think just cause someone has a 500 they feel more confident I think this just comes down to the individual and again what they can afford to fly ,and as many have said larger Heli's are more stable ,personal I don't think id be scared to fly a 600 around and gradually between the Sim and flying bring up the flying skill.

On the hand like peteski says above anyone could buy a battered up 500 and use and abuse , but for the sake of how much that will cost compared to crashing the 600 I guess it's financially viable to have both then ..

For me, I think having a beater first is going to accelerate my learning curve without spending a load of cash on costly crashes early on. Would you really want your maiden outdoor flight to be with a brand spanking new T-rex 600 that you'd just spent the best part of a grand on and probably a few weeks building it up? I'd rather have less money hanging in the air at that point. For the sake of probably a few months practice until I found that I wasn't crashing the beater at all.

Be interesting to see how we all get on with this in hindsight.

[Peteski]

Thanks Tom , So a 500/550 will run a 6S but the elec 600 needs 12S?
So you have to run 2 lipos then ..
I was leaning towards a Elec as I have a background in electronics and thought this could weigh in but as Im wanting to do a lot of flying to gain experience this year it may be better with me to go Nitro and not have to worry about Lipos and just get the degreaser out end of flights :-)

Having played with nitro rc planes as a teenager, they are a massive pain in the arse compared to electric motors and batteries. I would think very seriously before going down the nitro route, but they do sound great!

[AnthD]

For me, I think having a beater first is going to accelerate my learning curve without spending a load of cash on costly crashes early on. Would you really want your maiden outdoor flight to be with a brand spanking new T-rex 600 that you'd just spent the best part of a grand on and probably a few weeks building it up? I'd rather have less money hanging in the air at that point. For the sake of probably a few months practice until I found that I wasn't crashing the beater at all.

Be interesting to see how we all get on with this in hindsight.

Peteski thanks for the the reply mate ,

it does sound crazy but I have gone by the book and invested like your self in a sim and good tramsmitter and held myself back ! Thank god for this forum ! .. But soon as I'm feeling great on the sim that's me unchained haha
dont get me wrong watching me on my first flight won't be one for the Fans ! :-0

[AnthD]

Having played with nitro rc planes as a teenager, they are a massive pain in the arse compared to electric motors and batteries. I would think very seriously before going down the nitro route, but they do sound great!

Could you Elaborate please Peteski pal .. Pain in the ass as in motor issues cold weather etc?

[tomatwalden]

Thanks Tom , So a 500/550 will run a 6S but the elec 600 needs 12S?
So you have to run 2 lipos then ..
I was leaning towards a Elec as I have a background in electronics and thought this could weigh in but as Im wanting to do a lot of flying to gain experience this year it may be better with me to go Nitro and not have to worry about Lipos and just get the degreaser out end of flights :-)

LOL, what do you think powers the FBL unit and servos and receiver etc. on a nitro!? Good as nitro is, you still need batteries (LIPO or LiFE) for a nitro setup (albeit smaller ones)!

Yes, most 600s require 2x6S LIPOs.

Hence why I say a 550 or below is a good balance point. A 550 is a BIG helicopter, but only requires one LIPO.

[tomatwalden]

Could you Elaborate please Peteski pal .. Pain in the ass as in motor issues cold weather etc?

Having got sprayed with nitro accidentally the other weekend by a mate's fuel pump, narrowly missing my eyes ... it's safe to say I'm sticking to LIPOs!

[AnthD]

LOL, what do you think powers the FBL unit and servos and receiver etc. on a nitro!? Good as nitro is, you still need batteries (LIPO or LiFE) for a nitro setup (albeit smaller ones)!

Yes, most 600s require 2x6S LIPOs.

Hence why I say a 550 or below is a good balance point. A 550 is a BIG helicopter, but only requires one LIPO.

Yes Appreciated a Nitro requires a Lipo for electronics , no ones brought that in to question .. But that Lipo lasts 6-9 flights before it needs replacing!

[AnthD]

Having got sprayed with nitro accidentally the other weekend by a mate's fuel pump, narrowly missing my eyes ... it's safe to say I'm sticking to LIPOs!

Make sure wear your appropriate PPE at all times Tom
including eye protection whilst standing next to any oil under pressure :-)

[Peteski]

Could you Elaborate please Peteski pal .. Pain in the ass as in motor issues cold weather etc?

They need a fair bit of tuning to get them running nicely - mixture etc. Also need proper running in. Then there's the insane noise (pro or con depending where you fly) and servo killing vibration. My thoughts are that it's just one more complication you can avoid when learning to fly an RC heli. Electric motors just work straight out of the box with no hassle, tuning or running in required. Nitros are more cool though!

[Chrisrw]

Hi AnthD,
Sounds like your going the right way about things. I'm a relative newbie here too (started with fixed pitch micros back in late Oct/Nov and started with the 130x CP in December). I have had a lot of sim practice (two toddlers here as well so outdoor flying is really limited!) so I know what it's like!
I quickly wanted more and so picked up a cheapy Blade 450x (Flybarless as I found fly bared a bit too scary). I absolutely love it. I had my first crash on Sunday (in the 450 anyway) and so far I'm hoping the only damage is the main gear, some servo gears (and the canopy but fixed with tape for now) total cost so far has been £8 for the repair. Probably could have been avoided as well - I really wanted to fly on the weekend (toddler duties hadn't allowed me any time up to that point!) and ended up going late Sunday afternoon - was loosing light at 4pm and should have stopped. Lost orientation for a split second (the disc was not as clear as it should have been) and banked the wrong way. Anyway, the point is a 450 class is usually cheap ish to repair. There were a few other mishaps that day (550's and bigger) and I suspect they were all in the 100's to fix.
The 450 is scary enough when your not used to hearing the high head speeds. Granted the bigger helis will in some respect be easier to fly due to their inertia making them slower to react to inputs but when they are moving at speed they absolutely terrifying (if you are behind the stick and flying beyond your comfort zone).
The 130x is a great little heli to get you going (I have a mcpx too but it doesn't feel the same with a powered tail). It really has given me loads of confidence and without it would never have taken the 450 step. The only down side with the 130x is due to its size and headspeed you almost always strip a gear when crashing or even just landing in long grass - so it has to be treated a bit like a larger heli in the respect that every crash will probably involve some cost (although the rest of the heli is quite tough).
I have been doing a few TH landings with the 450x and then tried some on the 130x - as in Tom's video (I don't have a one-way bearing) it will land ok from a foot or more ok (onto carpet or grass anyway!).
I would probably suggest something smaller and FP (I think someone mentioned the 200srx) or a micro like the msr or msrx for indoor practice (Both 5hane and Peteski have msr's I think and I had a fair bit of experience with the msrx). Also little quads are fund and help with orientation loads too.
Most of all enjoy it. My two boys are 3 (just) and 4 and already have 'heli' awareness - they happily play around me if Im playing with the msrx in the house - but know not to come too close to it (it can't really hurt you but obviously eye's etc don't mix with heli blades - so do exercise some caution obviously around people even with the micro helis). I also get the odd opportunity to fly the 130x in the park while they play on their bikes which is nice (now that I am confident enough to be able to tolerate the odd disturbance while flying!)

[AnthD]

Hi Chris ,
Thanks for the post great to hear your having fun and building a small collection there I think you hit the nail on the head its about enjoyment factor and having something your scared to fly would be a downer !
Yep fitting a hobbie in around small family's is fun ! Ha .. When I got my new DX8 and sim on my 2yrs ran over and basicly told me to hand it all over ! Ha .. But I'm a bit of a night owl so between a few catch ups of TV programs I'll use the Sim and try chip in to it 45 mins a night , vast improvement so far !

Heli wise the 600s I've seen have just made me think .. "I need one" but I may go for a 550 as per the reasons in this thread and Tom points out ..
Mo guess the bonus to crashing with Heli like your 450 is parts are easy to get and not breaking the bank along with repairing it is a good learning curve much rather learn to repair the 450 first ! Role in the summer so we can get some day light after 4:30pm !!! ;-)

[Peteski]

When I got my new DX8 and sim on my 2yrs ran over and basicly told me to hand it all over ! Ha .. But I'm a bit of a night owl so between a few catch ups of TV programs I'll use the Sim and try chip in to it 45 mins a night , vast improvement so far !

Ha, ha. snap! Our 5 year old wanted a go straight away. Also very keen to have a go with the micros in the lounge. Scary thing is, she'll probably learn much faster than me!

[Peteski]

Heli wise the 600s I've seen have just made me think .. "I need one" but I may go for a 550 as per the reasons in this thread and Tom points out ..
Mo guess the bonus to crashing with Heli like your 450 is parts are easy to get and not breaking the bank along with repairing it is a good learning curve much rather learn to repair the 450 first ! Role in the summer so we can get some day light after 4:30pm !!! ;-)

I'm feeling exactly the same way and think it makes a lot of sense to do your initial learning/crashing with something a fair bit cheaper and more expendable. I think starting out with a 600 nitro is quite daunting and potentially pretty expensive! I know many people did exactly that a decade ago, but then there was basically no choice. You had to be a lot more hardcore to get into RC helis back then, which is why I didn't take the plunge. We're a bit spoilt today by comparison.