Points of this hobby

[Planehazza]

Just curious to know. Who buys, builds and flies and that's the end of it?

I'm a geek, so I really enjoy the technical aspect of it all. I love the building, the strict order to things (setting the servos to 90, then doing the mechanics...) and the constant tinkering. My friends still don't believe just how much involvment and learning there is in this hobby.

I know some hate building and just enjoy the flying, but I love building the model and knowing the time invested pays off

[cupracing]

Love every aspect apart from paying for it

[SamS]

I enjoy the building part, but there comes a point when I'll loose my patience and leave it for a week or more.

I too love the technical aspect of helicopters, and feel although I have a fairly good understand or how they work etc.


But, flying the helicopter is the best part for me, love it when I impress not only myself but other people at the field.


Only thing I don't like about this hobby is how addictive it is, and how much I spend on it

[trillian]

Yeah I'm a total geek about it. I got so deep into the workings of rotorheads and flybars, paddles, dampers, phasing, blade c of g, etc. etc. determined to figure out how to get different helis to fly their best. I also like a little bling and playing with colour schemes and stuff.

In a way I envy those folks that just got a new kit, built it and take it out and fly and that's it. The hobby must be so much less complicated for them. After having lots of different helis, nitro, petrol, electric, of all sizes, I do kinda think the right way to do it is have two of the same heli for your main machine, whether it's a .50 or .90 size or whatever, something you really get the biggest kick out of flying. This way you know one design really well and you have a backup so that (in theory) you always have a days flying when you go to the field. Then maybe have something small to sling around sometimes.

I think it's amazing that we have such a dedicated industry supporting the hobby. We are spoiled for choice now and I think it's really the best of times when it comes to the tech side because we have helis that can do almost any maneuver we can imagine and have the skill to pull off but it's not at the point of where the heli does it all for you, you still have to be able to fly it. They have become easier to fly in terms of being precise and accurate and predictable. My only gripe I suppose would be that ESC and LiPo technology could do with a bit of help, it does work most of the time but isn't quite 100% just yet (maybe it is if you go top of the line for ESC and LiPos but the price gap is so huge).

[Idleup95]

Ive just started the building side of it, not very good at it tho :P

[Planehazza]

I echo the above comments 100%. The more I get into stuff, the more I'm having issues or spending time tinkering. So like you say trillian, I sometimes envy those who can just get on and fly and that be it.

You're not the first person I've spoken to who's had that opinion of having two of the same, or just sticking to one model so that you're always flying the same thing so you are more consistent. I get bored and crave builds so I like to have something different

Yeah it's been a while since anything "big" has hit the battery market. Hydrogen fuel cells please

Ive just started the building side of it, not very good at it tho :P

Internet guides, build threads on here, help from friends and practice are the best things for building

[Guest]

If I had the space to work on it I'd love it all (workshop currently being converted from a garage, I have high hopes, although the compromise was that the laundry would be in there so I may get sick of doing that!).

The lack of space means I just enjoy the flying bit and really curse when anything needs more of an investigation or repair..

[Vikki]

I like the flying but don't mind the build when it sneaks along.

[AcidDrink]

I don't mind building, but flying is what interests me most, if I have a heli which I set up and it flies well, I don't touch it, I am not really interested in tinkering, upgrading etc. I just don't have time for it and don't find it very interesting, it's just bolting stuff together and electronics are really simple (hence I buy helis which don't need upgrades, except eflite ones ). I am in it for flying in a good company.

[Guest]

Yeah that's true - the company is great. I've gone a few times without a heli just for a change of atmosphere from work or the loving family (which is great and all, but..)

[pgkevet]

..can't see the excitment of screwing a box-full of bits together: the sort of thing a girl in dagenham can do. Now if it involved the hand-crafting of parts then that would be a skill element.. I enjoy a bit of woodwork and woodcarving. Building is just a plod to me, done to get the end result, with a load of hype and nonsense making it out to be something more than it is.
Setup means you need to understand a few basic rules and use commonsense and is just another plod and crashing and mending is a real PITA.

I like flying.

They start on my building works and new man-cave tomorrow. Now that will be a workshop to be proud of when it's finished. The barn just isn't dry enough for expensive bench tooling and hobby kit and pc's with drawing programs...

[Lynx.1677]

I love building but I am impatient so cannot wait to get things done. I love flying though but crashing is the worst part. That second or two once it's gone in is the bit i hate. Don't mind rebuilding though. Worst part is when something just doesn't work properly for no apparent reason. Does me heed in.

[jimmyhorns]

..can't see the excitment of screwing a box-full of bits together: the sort of thing a girl in dagenham can do.

Ouch :lurk5:

[vanman]

Well if im honest i love the tinkering and building and keeping everything working a 100% but the flying is what it is about !!and i could spend all day at the field on my own and did that many times when i started out ,,,,, i also agree with two helis the same ,But when i started the hobby a experinced flyer told me it not what you fly its how you fly it

[trillian]

I don't mind building, but flying is what interests me most, if I have a heli which I set up and it flies well, I don't touch it, I am not really interested in tinkering, upgrading etc.

Yeah, once I have a heli flying the way I like I don't change it, I then just maintain it and fly it. And the thing is, despite having a few that I spent a lot of money on, I can get as much of a kick flying the 500. I do love the way the bigger helis look in the air and obviously they're better in windy conditions and everything but I can get the buzz I need with the 500 or even the 450.

I will say, my 'tinkering' phase is now just about converting a couple nitro helis to electric. It was a challenge getting the Robbe Futura to fly like I wanted, working the compromise between the right tuning of the flybar and fast enough cyclics, but I acheived it in the end and going through that process forced me to learn a lot. The most tweaking I ever did was with my Trex 450 SE V2 a couple years ago. I tried so many different things and finally arrived at a combination that I felt was probably as good as it was going to get. I do like arriving at that point of being happy with it and leaving it un-changed from then on, I am not into tweaking just for the sake of it.

I'm the same on building Dan, I get very impatient to see it finished. I don't like rebuilding after a crash because I find it really annoying to have to spend money and effort just to get back to what you had in the first place.