One chance to get it right.........all advice welcome :)

[alex]

Hi all.

I know this question has been asked in many forms and I have read a huge amount of forum information, but here it is asked in a different form.

There is no way I will be able to collect helis, but I have been preparing my wife for the fact that there will be one more to come in a few months or so.

I therefore need help choosing the definitive heli that will last me for a couple of years and also allow my learning curve to go where I want it. By this I mean some 3D if I somehow turn out to have any ability, but also what if I turn out to be good at it and want to push further ( hypothetical I know, but trying to cover all instances)

I am currently flying 8s, can hover in all orientations ( some better than others) and enjoy some stall turns- I seem to have the right brain wiring and find control relatively intuitive.

I need something that will handle some wind. The majority of my everyday flying will be in a 2 acre field and noise is potentially an issue, though does not preclude nitro.

I have no idea about nitros at present, but am fairly mechanically minded and logocal. There is a good local club which I intend to join, so lots of advice if needed. They are predominantly Trex 600s, with the odd Raptor etc.

I like the idea of electric, but don't like the battery costs. I like the idea of learning something new with nitro, so am open minded. Is nitro a faf?

My options so far are

Trex 500- lower initial cost- will it take me where I want?

Trex 600- Electric- massive battery expense. Nitro- lots of advantages with the local club.

Raptor 50- Which version- there are a few out there.

Outrage Velocity.

Cost is important, but will not determine the choice.

I really just need some real world advice.

Thanks in advance

Alex

[stevieb337]

im sure its been mentioned before the battery v nitro thing

battery= initial pay out
nitro= smaller payout but over a longer period

yes 500's are great (i have one) but as you get better your moves get bigger/higher so a 600 would be easyer to see at hight/distance
im into the electric side at the mo but will move to nitro once i feel comfortable with my abilities as i like the scale side of flying so my nitro will be scale

hth
steve

[jamiem]

Realistically you want a 50 size nitro really. Electrics are great for switch on a fly fun, however for being your main learning machine, not ideal. Electric requires a ~1 hour charge, so you get maybe 6 or 7 minutes (of your lucky) of flying, then you have to recharge you pack(s), so you would need at least 4-6 packs to get a decent amount of flying in (plus maybe an extra charger or 2). One crash could write off a LiPo costing upwards of £100! The most fuel you will ever loose in a nitro crash is about £3 on a 50 size!

If you are definately joining a club, then a nitro is the way to go, and as it stands you wont go far wrong with any of the current crop of machines Trex 600, Outrage 50 etc etc

[Ross Northcott]

I flew electric for the first year but found the problem to be charging the batteries so decidided on trex 600 le nitro (best decision ever made) i bought 1 extra battery at £20 ish and can now fly non stop all day (provding no crashes).I fly for roughly 10mins land swap batteries and fly again while the other is charging, it takes approx 9mins to chage so all ready when i finish my first flight and so on.
I still fly my trex 500 a lot but i had 5 batteries now 4 after 1st crash and at £100 each it was a gutter to lose one in a crash (£100 = 25 lts of fuel = 8.5hrs of non stop flying approx)

[Nick B]

Its just got to be a 500 size.....probably seen 20 similar posts to this since i joined.....you will not go wrong with a 500.My charge times are 50-75 mins with 5mins of 100% throttle,30c turnigy 2560 being good for power and CoG.

Now,if nitro was an option,the results would of been Trex600n

[Planehazza]

I had a 450 to start with, was good fun. Now I have got myself a second hand 600N and I feel its just so much better to learn and progress with. Being my first nitro it was/is a steep learning curve, but I'm getting there and having fun

Get a 600N, you know you want to

[EtheAv8r]

Just to offer a different possibility......

I am purly electric, and my 500 will be up and running soon. Yes Batteries are quite expensive, but £50 a pot is now an option, and 4 batteries with local charging and another machine to interlace flying with, will last all day an give unlimited flying.

..... However if I were to go the Internal Combustion route, I would consider a Petrol engine over a Nitro as they are now well developed, perfectly viable, and the fuel cost versus Nitro is just a mere fraction, and it is a bit less messy.

[sacko]

600le super combo is going to be the most cost effective way, easy to setup with a lot of people knowing how to build one with their eyes closed.

If cash isnt a problem, then a Velocity is what I would go for (but be prepared to put the time in to set it up)

[Sesame]

I think Jamie has got it spot on, if you have access to a club and want ease of continuous flying then the 50 size IC has got to be the top favorite.

I have both 600 and 500, I love my 500 it will do everything I am capable of and will ever be capable of, but it has limitations decent packs are expensive they can be written off in bad crashes, you have quite alot of charging time, and to be honest are a real hassle in cold weather. infact mine have been tucked up in storage since the weather turned cold and its only now Im considering taking them out again.

just my 2p worth

[lex7919]

Its a cost and convenience choice imho, Where will you fly the most and how long do you have to fly each time, anbd how big is the area you will fly in.
The 500 is a truly wicked heli, i was pure electric and just got my first Nitro an Ely Q Comp & My Rave Env is on pre-order so yes i liking the Nitro Allot but will ever get rid of the 500?? No way not going to happen.
Having gone both routes, Dont buy into this Electric is more to out lay initially simply not the case ( big electrics maybe slightly more) The cost of a .50 size nitro is Considerably more than the cost of a 500 all up with 4-5 packs to go at.
Packs for the 500, yes there are ones for £100+ but a complete waste of money imho you can get some awesome packs for half of that and in these time less than half. There is no way to justify spending that much on a lipo it has no benefit other than a "premium brand" label ,Which imho is just an assumption due to marketing anyway.

Then on the other hand Nitro is a different ball game and such as buzz its a hard one to describe but its unique and i love it. So trying to say one over the other is a tall order, rather id work on the Mr's so you can have a 500 and a nitro problem solved

[jamiem]

comparing a 500 electric to a 600 nitro is hardly a fair comparison though is it lex7919? a 600 electric versus a 600 nitro, the cost would be very similar, especially with the LE combo deals available.

The fact remains though that when starting out, you need as much stick time as possible, and undoubtedly its easier to get masses of stick time on a nitro compared to electric. There are a few other factors to consider too; The power drops off through the flight on an electric heli, as the packs get older, you get less flight time and performance, a REALLY bad crash on an electric heli COULD take the whole heli out in a fireball if you puncture the LiPo in the crash (ok so it's rare, but it does happen!).

[EtheAv8r]

...
The fact remains though that when starting out, you need as much stick time as possible, and undoubtedly its easier to get masses of stick time on a nitro compared to electric.

Going to disagree here, I am all electric, and have on several days when I could devote time to a lot of R/C flying had 25-30 flights in a day most of them pretty much back to back (gotta have some tea breaks though).

So it is possible to get lots of pretty much continuous flying with electric. Admittedly this is using 2 models (or more) and alternating flying them, and having several batteries of each type, and having multiple charging capability on site. So it can be just as easy to get masses of stick time with electric.

[sacko]

^^ but a 600 electric is ideally going to be 10s to get the same amount of power as a nitro, needing 2 x 5s packs per flight, being able to go back to back you would need a Cellpro and about 6-8 packs, big bucks!

Plus nitro flight time are almost double that of electric.

You can have back to back flights with a nitro with just one model, all day long

[Si Goodchild]

I nearly bought a 500 when I started out but ended up with a Raptor 50 instead. It's a fantastic learning machine because it's nicely stable whilst still capable of being pushed quite hard and you can steadily upgrade the head with metal parts, put lighter paddles on etc. It's also fairly rugged, well priven, and the parts aren't too expensive either. Admitedly Align tend to do a 2-for-1 offer on most parts such as tail booms etc, but with a belt drive tail the overall cost of a prang is about the same (heck, it's the blades that are the single biggest cost: you could probably use cheapy FG ones to start with and move up to GF ones at £50 a pair later). If you smash the plastic canopy you're looking at £20, whereas a TREX 600 fibreglass item is gonna be pricey.

It depends on whether you're looking at the second hand market or a new purchase. TREX 600LE super combo deals are pretty hard to beat, but the Raptor Titan SE Combos are pretty good too.

Most modern .50 models will serve you well, the ultimate decision may well be down to what level of local support you can get at your club and LHS, the availability of spares when you need them in a hurry and which model you simply like the look of and will enjoy owning.

Si G

[lex7919]

comparing a 500 electric to a 600 nitro is hardly a fair comparison though is it lex7919? a 600 electric versus a 600 nitro, the cost would be very similar, especially with the LE combo deals available.

The fact remains though that when starting out, you need as much stick time as possible, and undoubtedly its easier to get masses of stick time on a nitro compared to electric. There are a few other factors to consider too; The power drops off through the flight on an electric heli, as the packs get older, you get less flight time and performance, a REALLY bad crash on an electric heli COULD take the whole heli out in a fireball if you puncture the LiPo in the crash (ok so it's rare, but it does happen!).

It wasn't meant as a comparison simply a real world situation as the OP asked for, as i own both these types of machine id say its fair comment and relivent.

The Size of machine, costs, place you fly, price to build and maintain etc etc need consideration when the real question posed was which will take me the furthest and cost is not the decider but is a consideration, You can learn everything possible on a 500 same as a 600,700. The 500 is definitely a cheaper way to get to that point.

Even a 600 electric is allot cheaper than a Nitro, No throttle servo,No Gov, No onboard Glow, No on board regulator, No engine or muffler to buy, Fuel,Stater, fuel pumps etc. With fuel the price it is if you fly once or twice a week that £30-£40 per week on fuel. Do you have a 7ch TX is another cost if you dont.

Granted you can get a combo nitro for £600 but still no servos or gyro, where as you can get a full electric combo for the same money add a rx and packs and your flying.

Any way its only an opinion at the end of the day it's all good in helping Alex make his own mind up on whats right for him.