Total beginner here, need some advice

[Kel91]

Hi everyone,

I am really interested in getting into this, looks amazing! I was hoping the people here could give me some advice.

I am wondering where is the best place to buy ready to fly petrol helicopters. I would
not have enough confidence to build one but I hope in time I will. Just for now I want to experience the joys of flying.

My budget is around £250, if you guys could recommend anything I would be so thankful

[Boggy]

Welcome to the forum Kel

[paul 5ive-t]

Eh up Kel, decide which transmitter you want to love and nurture then invest, then buy a sim and practice, worked for me. ;-)

[tomatwalden]

Thankfully such things as "ready to fly petrol helicopters" don't really exist. Otherwise there would be more on the news regarding people decapitating themselves or losing limbs with their flying buzz-saws!

Most people start with a 4-channel fixed pitch micro helicopter, or a computer-based simulator. Or join a club and learn with a buddy-box.

Start looking at something more like this ... BLH2000UK2 | Blade 200 SR X RTF UK Mode 2 (BLH2000UKC2)

[kenny d]

Hi kel , welcome, learning to fly heli's is an apprenticeship & you kind of need to start at the bottom and work your way up , wouldn't normally start with a nitro which I assume would be 600 size , even hovering can be difficult for a newbie, I start my friends off with a Wltoys 911 which you can buy for under £30 with transmitter , gives them a cheap insight into Flying heli's , Kd

[Grumpy]

As per Tom's reply, genuine petrol power helis are very rare and usually have to be custom made, they go by the common name 'Gassers'. You would be looking at a budget in the thousands to buy one.

Most internal combustion engine helis are not powered by petrol but by 'glow fuel' which is a mix of methanol, nitromethane and oil. These are commonly called 'glow power' or 'nitro power'. These can be bought as kits but not fully pre-built. Again you are looking at a big budget and they are very much not suitable for a raw beginner starting out on his own.

An electric heli would be a more realistic approach. Depending on your experience of RC and your access to someone to help you could start with a micro size heli or if you have someone to show you the ropes something a bit bigger like a 450 or 500. Your £250 budget would realistically only get you something at the smaller end of that range, RC helis arent a cheap hobby.

[myxiplx]

Welcome to the club, and oh boy, you're about to find out just how far down that rabbit hole goes :-)

As mentioned above, you can't find a ready to fly large helicopter in the shops, but that's really not a problem as it takes a while to build up the skills needed to fly those safely, and by the time you have those skills the building and maintenance aspect of the hobby should also be familiar to you.

You could potentially pick up a second hand nitro helicopter off eBay, but I would strongly advise against it, there's a steep learning curve to run those helicopters and each crash can easily cost you £100 or more.

The good news is that there are plenty of great choices if you're interested in flying, any of the options below are worth considering:

- WLToys v911. These are 4-channel fixed pitch helicopters, typically around £35 for the helicopter and transmitter. They're good enough to fly indoor or outside in light wind, and tough enough to learn on.
- Pick up a second hand Spektrum transmitter and a simulator. A sim on the computer is one of the best ways to learn, most people in the hobby have one. Crashing on the sim is free, so it typically pays for itself ten times over in the first year alone!
- Maybe the Blade nQX. This is an indoor quadcopter, but it flies very much like a helicopter and is a great way to have fun and learn to fly at the same time. It's safer than a heli, and easier to repair, and it's a great introduction to flying.

After a couple of months with those, you'll be ready to pick up something more challenging. I'd recommend the Blade nCP S or Blade 230S. These are slightly more advanced models, but still have stability modes and recovery features to help you avoid crashes. If you learn the basics first you'll find either of these are very capable and a lot of fun to fly around.

After that you should be able to fly anything :-)

[waveydavey]

Welcome Kel

[Pj1969]

Welcome to the forum Kel, like others had said, start at the bottom. This is a fantastic hobby to get into, which takes over your life and you will get a notice of divorce off the Mrs at some point lol, but we on here are all about Helis and helping one and other. You really need to start off with something small, electric and something that will help you get your head around orientation and the basics of how a heli flys? Even look at getting a twin coaxial heli (2 main rotors) just to get you off the ground so to speak. Then maybe onto a trex 450, they are a good heli to start you off and parts are cheap, believe me you will need them. You can also pick up a flight sim quite cheap now, which again will help.
Its not all going to be as easy as it looks, it's the re-building which is an art as well, learning to set up a swash plate, servos, esc, fly bar less unit and getting the heli to fly like it did before you crashed is baffling sometimes, but the guys on here are always on hand to answer questions.

If if you can, look into joining a club near you where you are aloud to fly, join the BMFA also and GET INSURANCE, don't just go down the local park where people are and dog walkers, because dogs love to jump up and try to catch a low flying heli. I don't want to come accross a miserable git, but just a few hopefully helping tips into the other side of Helis?
This is a sport/hobby that is amazing and you can get so much out of it, my self and loads off here have just come back from Spain, where a big completion was held and it was fab, not saying you have to do that, but it's such a great sport and you meet some great guys.

Good luck and if you need any help or advise, feel free to ask all the heli nuts on here.

[mole hunter]

Hi Kel and welcome to the wonderful world of money blenders!

Good advice there especially about avoiding ebay - full of bent gear. I would recommend joining a club even before you buy a heli as you'll be able to tap into some very hard won experience - FOR NOTHING.

We might be a bit out of your manor (east of Chester) North West Heli Club but you might find a club nearer here BMFA Club Map

Either way - do lots of reading before buying!

Chears, Marty

Secretary - North West RC Heli Club

[Peteski]

Welcome, this is a great forum to join for advice on how to get started. As people have already implied, it's a very steep learning curve. I would start off with a good simulator and see how you get on with learning to fly before you start having to deal with real life crashes! It can take a good month or two just to learn to hover confidently in all orientations. But it's well worth the effort and very rewarding, you just need to be patient. I started last winter with a good sim, decent transmitter and a couple of small micro helis to practice in the house (that's £365 invested without even stepping outside). With those I picked up all the skills needed to fly advanced outdoor helis by spring and by the summer I was starting to get into aerobatic sport and even basic 3D flying. It all comes together as you practice and soak up all the information on this site. It's also worth joining a local RC heli club if you have the time, as it will shortcut the learning curve, especially on the build and setup side. But you can certainly go it alone successfully if you follow the advice here.

Enjoy!

[Kel91]

Genuinely want to thank everyone who posted! Your aadvice advice has totally been amazing! Some of it, very eye opening.

I will start of small, wltoys 911 seem to be common and suggested on here. I think I'll get myself one to test! Hopefully keep progressing. I am looking for a club to join, I don't drive al thats a bit of a problem. Shame I can't fly there, paradon the pun.

Thanks guys, really made me feel welcome here! I am sure these forums will be a big help to me!

[Peteski]

A v911 is a great low cost way of dipping a toe in the water. Let us know how it works out.

[Kel91]

Just ordered my one now! Will do guys, thanks again

[Dean airwolf]

Welcome to the family. Enjoy it m8.
I am learning too
200SRx all day long to learn with.
Good luck.