How Realistic?

[ChrisB]

True,,training gears oscillate and set of massive vibes on the model and also its very easy to put the tail into the ground and boomstrike...

[Greig_W]

True,,training gears oscillate and set of massive vibes on the model and also its very easy to put the tail into the ground and boomstrike...

I had found that sometimes on the sim with the trainer I would end up toppling it over because I cought one of the balls on the floor when turning too low down, which obviously wouldn't happen without the gear on. I will give it ago with the gear on at first and see how I get on.

As for the buddy lead I'm really not sure how many or what standard the heli flyers are at in the club so I'll need to look into that, when I have been up to the club I've only met 2 guys who wern't flying fixed wing although I've been told there quite afew but the weather this year as kept them away. I must ay that the ones I have met were very approachable and more than willing to help but in their own opinion are probably not capable of budding up.

[mak24seven]

The trouble with a sim is u can have a fag in one hand and a coffee in the other and keep the throttle open and the thing seems to stay in the air for ages, there's many a time I've let non heli friends have a bash on the sim and there in the air for ages lol, admittedly out of control but in the air! and u just no in real life that would equate to 20 seconds max before destruction, i now only use it like the real thing, try new moves and also recover without crashing and set myself 10 mins or i get bored, if u actually say to your self right I've got 7 mins of fuel and this thing is gonna cost if i crash u learn a hell of a lot on the sim, I've literally practiced a new move on the sim and stuck the heli in to it at the field and its the same apart from thumb shake and fear its for real, I've not been into this hobby for long but god knows how u old school boys got on without the sim, balls of steel comes to mind.

[Rick Rotorhead]

A competent instructor on a buddy lead has to be the number one safest way to learn, they can re-take control at any time so there is almost no chance of damaging your pride and joy. A good instructor will also get you over the initial hurdles very quickly, much faster than trial and error on your own. A good sim is invaluable and I put dozens of hours on mine (mostly for fun), but at risk of being the dissenting voice here, don't be too harsh on the training gear either. Good (and I mean well designed and constructed) training gear will reward you if used for what it was intended. It will save you money initially by preventing tip-overs on those first landings and early 'hops' when the heli kinda bounces around, being given barely enough lift to take off. My TG will also permit landings during low level slow ff, even sideways ones! and you can do knee high tail turns whilst ground skimming with almost no risk of damage. If your learning on your own, good TG is a sound practical choice IMO. Yes the heli, feels more sluggish and it increases the upright stability a bit too - but hey, isn't that supposed to be a good thing for a newb? I'm happy to put my TG back on before testing out major changes and re-builds, it costs nothing, but pride (for some, I guess) and saves much pain, so why not?
Sorry for getting a little off topic there.