Mini pred

[jez]

Good evening,

Could i have your views on weather i should buy a mini pred as my first heli to learn with and hopefully not grow out of its ability to quickly if i get on well.
Many thanks

Jez

[reg]

hi there,that is the way i went,at first it seemed like id bought the wrong thing,i didnt know anything about helicopters,i took it back to the shop as i was unhappy with what id bought,it turned out it was down to me and not the heli,i had a chat with another minipred owner and all is now good,in about a week im now hovering around the garden for a full battery,im not saying this is the best heli,i dont know how well it would hold up to full on 3d,but learning to hover and doing some lazy eight and things it seems fine,i see it that if you spend £500 on somthing your not going to do seems a bit of a waist,but spend £200 on somthing that has everything you need,and you dont like it its not the end of the world,if you enjoy it get somthing better and use the minipred as a thing to test new moves,if you crash it throw it away,
mark

[jez]

mini pred

Hi Reg,

Thanks for your reply, did yours fly out of the box or was there some setting up to be done first, as i am new would i be able to set it or do i need someone who knows what they are doing.
Also how long does it fly for on a battery and is it quite stable.
Sorry for all the questions, 200 quid is alot of money so i need to be sure.

Jez

[Mike W]

I just got a mini pred and i got someone i know to set it up .... i think for RTF out the box for a noobie to set it up is a little too much and i can alreayd fly fixed wing ..... theres so many variables with flying a heli that i read for about a week before i even bought one lol ..... i always wanted to fly one and for the money ya pay for em ya not that much out of pocket if ya dont like it .... I junked the Tx tho and got a decent radio ... but i cant fauylt this heli for me to learn on after only second go had it hovering hehe .... but people i know that have this heli seem to like it ... dunno bout full on 3D but it seems strong enough ..... theres some vids on youtube of people flying them as well ...... hope this helps

[jamiesawyer28041978]

Hi there if I was you and a lot of guys will prob agree , you should first go to a local heli club and get aquanted with them to see what gear they are using and popular helis that are there . Never know you might get a shot of one on a buddy box. If you decide this looks like fun now then I guarantee you will ge hooked in no time . A phenix sim is a good path to take for learning and giving you time to save up for a heli. Small electric helis tend to be twitchy and harder to fly plus there is the issue of having to wait for the battery to charge, Raptors or knight s are good all round helis which can be very good to learn on and if set up propperly can do all sorts off fancy stuff but its the cost issue . If its not for u then you can allways sell it on in the future

Regards Jamie

[reg]

Hi Reg,

Thanks for your reply, did yours fly out of the box or was there some setting up to be done first, as i am new would i be able to set it or do i need someone who knows what they are doing.
Also how long does it fly for on a battery and is it quite stable.
Sorry for all the questions, 200 quid is alot of money so i need to be sure.

Jez

hi Jez
out the box i found that the rear servo needed the horn taking off and moving as it wasnt at 90degs, so the rear would turn alot on its own,since moving and adding some trim it now stays in the same place,iv not done anything else and it seems fine,the batterys last about 10mins,if you look on ebay there is a chap selling eflight chargers for about £8 posted from hongkong,they charge up in about 2 hours,you can get better ones that probly do it in 30mins for alot more money,the eflight is a balaced charger witch you need realy for lipo,as for being stable,it would probly be if i was any good LOL
good luck
mark

[fatmantom]

hey jez ur about 10 mins drive away from me and i do own a mini pred (pretty much) so i can show u mine flying and try and help u out a bit. i also have a raptor50 so u can take a look at what u will most likly progress to.

your local (good) club is farnham heli club (fmhc.co.uk) i am not actually a member yet due to a waiting list but i have been down there a few times.

cheers,

[jez]

Thanks

Hi thomas,

I will probably be getting one tomorrow from farnborough as it seems to be a reasonable choice for a beginer and a reasonable price for a starter heli.
I am hoping they are going to set it up for me but if not your help would be much appreciated. If they do though maybe we could meet up one evening and you could give me some tips on flying it as i am probably going to need all the help i can get.
Have you been happy with your pred by the way.

[fatmantom]

yep sure. just a warning though, the chances u'll crash it r very high lol it happens to everyone! but parts r very cheap so u will be ok.

i didnt start out on the mini pred and so when i got it i could already hover because of my practise with the sim and my little bell 47.
but
when there set up well, as everyone eles sais, they are pretty good and i think u will be ok!

i have actually just crashed mine into my shed lol fortunatly i have all the new parts i need! and will be back in the air tommorow! lol

good luck with the purchase!
cheers,

[jez]

Thanks

Cheers Thomas,
I will def crash it but it will be worth it. Like i said hopefully it will get set up tomorrow so i should think my first crash will be tomorrow.
I will contact you through this forum and hopefully if its still together we can meet up next week weather permiting and you can show me how it should be done.
Many thanks

Jez

[fatmantom]

lol! it will have to be next week as i will not be here for 4 weeks after that!

just found out my main shaft is really bent and i dont have anouther one of those! more money to be spent!

which shop in farnborough are u going to? i need to get myself a shaft now!

cheers,

[Geoxis]

All,

I am not sure whether it was bad luck or something... I got my mini pred 1 month ago and I am a newbie to all this. It is all gone wrong with it and the shop where I bought it, is not useful whatsoever! Basically today was the second time I got it out and the Tx got broken (tail) and I tried to fix it no luck there and I already spent (£200 purchase) + (£50 2 set of carbon blades) + (£150 G3.5 simulator) + other bits... I find the mini pred really difficult to fly and would not recommend it as a firt timmer.
I have not had joy so far... I am thinking of getting something bigger as I have been told they easier to fly, but don't want to spend a fortune now !? I am confused!!!!!

Is there anything I can do for the remote? I showed the shop where I got it from the Tx and the guy said it is just the string in other words, fix it yourself... don't you have some sort of guarantees on these things?

I am really disapointed at the mo and slightly concerned about the whole thing .

Anyway any advise would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[robgt]

I showed the shop where I got it from the Tx and the guy said it is just the string in other words, fix it yourself...

I don't understand this sentence?
What is broken?
How is it broken?

Cheers,
Rob

[Geoxis]

I don't understand this sentence?
What is broken?
How is it broken?

Cheers,
Rob

Sorry I was a bit frustrated when I wrote this email.

My Tx for the Mini Pred is broken. I took it back to the shop and the response was " ohh it is just the string inside you need to put back. To explain further now that I opened my Tx.

The joystick where you have the throttle and the tail rotor blades command. The tail rotor blades command should always go back to his position (in the middle)... it does not anymore.

When I opened the Tx last night I discovered that there is a part which holds the string that seats between 2 thin plastics bit to hold in position and one of the thin plastic bit is broken, therefore there is no fix for my Tx unless I change the whole Tx... Meaning the servos etc... after the second time out without any major crashes.

That's just great, I am a bit disapointed with the whole thing especially with this shop at the minute to be honest.

[robgt]

It suddenly dawned on me that you're meaning spring (not string) once I read the whole post (I was quite confused!). It makes sense now and I know what's broken inside.

I don't know which Tx you are using though...

Two things come to mind here.
1. The Tx is poor quality or was made badly (or both) and has failed. It should be possible to use some CA (cyano acrylate) glue to fix the broken plastic part inside to hold the spring in place again - but possibly not? I don't know? You would need to judge that.

2. You shouldn't have to change the servos just because you change the Tx - they are not related.

Voice your concerns to the shop and ask them to fix the Tx - if it's hardly been used it seems like a poor quality part that has failed and they should be trying to look after you as a customer by getting it replaced or fixed.
Cheers,
Rob