4 Channel RC Helicopter Spec me

Lakeland

Lakeland

Lakeland

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Joined
1 Nov 2005
Posts
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I'm after something circa £100 for a full package inc postage. I think I'm right in saying that for a beginner willing to put the effort into learning how to fly I should be looking at a helicopter with 4 channels?
There are quite a few recommendations in the other thread but most of the suggestions are about a year old now.

I'd probably be willing to go to £130 at a push if it was worth the extra :D
 
I'd also be interested to read what is recommended to begin flying helicopters as well. I'll be interested n spending a similar amount if it is durable and very cheap to repair bits that brake in the early days.
 
I read the title and thought somebody from Channel 4 wanted advice on a helicopter :s
/Disappoint
 
Dont know whats new and in now, but the Esky Honeybee V2 served me well, Fairly cheap on spares, quite a few upgrades, also a huge amount of mods to do it, such as buying a seperate Gyro and modding the 4in1 controller to take the Gyro - Which results in a more stable honeybee again thats a cheap mod to do.. now im running a 6ch T-Rex 450, still can only fly it like a 4ch, i havent mastered the invert flying or the other tricks - Plus this weather is useless for helicopters outside, my blades freeze up after 5 mins :( I thought the colder weather would keep the motor cooler and give better preformance, i was wrong..very wrong.
 
I've been flying a Blade MSR for a while now and I've been very impressed.

An ideal stepping stone from a coaxial helicopter.

It's the helicopter I learnt on before progressing to full collective pitch (Blade 400 in my case). It's simply the best 4 chan/collective pitch helicopter there is for the price.

If you aren't looking to progress any further and just want the MSR as a toy rather than a stepping stone to something better, then the stock controler in the RTF package is perfectly adequate and can be had for around £110. If you want to step up to a bigger heli later then the package linked above withthe dx6i controller is a cracking deal.

nicks3607 said:
I've got my son an mCX2 from Kings Lynn model shop:
http://www.kingslynnmodelshop.co.uk...1782/E-Flite_Blade_mCX2_RTF/product_info.html

I spoke to the shop on the phone, and the guy I spoke to flies "proper" helis but still flies these indoors, he reckons they are the best indoor RC heli.
Click to expand...

That's not collective picth, that's coaxial - it'll get boring real fast. Nothing more than a toy whereas the MSR is a REAL heli with the challenging learning curve applicable to all collective pitch heli's - if you can fly an MSR you can fly a bigger heli - not true of the MCX2.

The next step from an MSR is variable pitch blades (MSR has fixed pitch blades) but it only takes a minor adjustment to your flying to master.
 
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If you're looking to get into helis quickly and to learn the controls, then go for the mSR. The down side to starting with the mSR, is it's self stabilising, and will hover on it's own. This means you have to learn to fly again once you want to move on, only this time you're comfortable with the controls.

If you want to learn to fly in one step, and you have the space to fly it, go for the HoneyBee fixed pitch. Once you can hover it in all orientations and fly lazy 8s, you can fly any helicopter you like, and pretty much all of them will be easier to fly than you'll be used to.

PS. I own both a HoneyBee FP V2 and an mSR.
 
Is the HoneyBee FP V2 too difficult to fly for a complete beginner? Or should I get a E-Flite Blade MSR - DX6i Radio Combo, then the HoneyBee once I've mastered the MSR? I assume after mastering the Honeybee you can then start flying Nitro helicopters?
 
The boring answer to all this but the one that ultimately would give you the best kit and allow you to fly proper helis more quickly is get a copy of: http://www.phoenix-sim.com/news.htm

and a decent radio (spektrum dx6i or above would be my recommendation)

That way you learn to fly without breaking stuff and can move straight to proper kit built helicopters. I did this with my trex 450 (had played on a co-ax but that gives you 0 preparation). I could hover and do basic circuits on the sim and it saved me a lot of crashes. My trex 500 hasn't been crashed yet and I'm not looking forward to that one!
 
Skidder said:
The boring answer to all this but the one that ultimately would give you the best kit and allow you to fly proper helis more quickly is get a copy of: http://www.phoenix-sim.com/news.htm

and a decent radio (spektrum dx6i or above would be my recommendation)

That way you learn to fly without breaking stuff and can move straight to proper kit built helicopters. I did this with my trex 450 (had played on a co-ax but that gives you 0 preparation). I could hover and do basic circuits on the sim and it saved me a lot of crashes. My trex 500 hasn't been crashed yet and I'm not looking forward to that one!
Click to expand...

This, I bought a copy of Phoenix when I got my 6 channel DX6i spektrum radio :)

Well worth the money to practise on
 
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Got myself a Honeybee V2 the other month, can be had for less than £100.

There are lots of spare parts and upgrades you can do to the machine, and the parts are quite cheap.

Ive been practicing on the helisimrc simulator on the PC for a few weeks now and can just about get the thing to hover!. lol.

Ive taken the honey bee outside and spun her up but not attempted to hover it yet. Im waiting for some better weather but as soon as it comes ill be getting out there.

Reading lots of forums etc it seems that flying a RC helicopter is a steep learning curve and you will end up crashing a lot.
This is one of the main reasons for getting the bee as the parts are that cheap.

Have a look on youtube there are lots of videos about the bee, and some great setup guides.
 
ScoobyDoo said:
Got myself a Honeybee V2 the other month, can be had for less than £100.

There are lots of spare parts and upgrades you can do to the machine, and the parts are quite cheap.

Ive been practicing on the helisimrc simulator on the PC for a few weeks now and can just about get the thing to hover!. lol.

Ive taken the honey bee outside and spun her up but not attempted to hover it yet. Im waiting for some better weather but as soon as it comes ill be getting out there.

Reading lots of forums etc it seems that flying a RC helicopter is a steep learning curve and you will end up crashing a lot.
This is one of the main reasons for getting the bee as the parts are that cheap.

Have a look on youtube there are lots of videos about the bee, and some great setup guides.
Click to expand...

It sounds like the one to go for then. What radio do you use or was there one included?
 
Trifid said:
It sounds like the one to go for then. What radio do you use or was there one included?
Click to expand...

Its included in the package.. A Esky, very popular radio.
And it comes with the lead to connect the radio to your PC via usb to enable you to fly the helisimrc simulator or FMS simulator.
 
I was also looking at these over the weekend and was pretty much set on a MCX2 (coaxial?) with a DX6i as a starting copter for myself.

However reading the posts above it seems that the MSR (collective pitch) may have more longevity?

Can someone try to summarise the real world differences between these two types and what one can do that the other can't? I take it they are both 4 channel copters, so they both require the same amount of 'flying'?

Also I was watching an MCX demo video and the guy let go of the controls and the copter just went into a hover. Do they all do this or do you need to use a preset on the controller?

Cheers
 
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