RC Helicopters

Rilot

Rilot

Rilot

Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
23,630
Location
Wargrave, UK
I'm looking at getting an RC helicopter. I don't want to spend a lot but I do want a full 3D capable, 6ch one. Must be electric too.
I am a novice when it comes to RC helis but I do understand the controls having flown a real heli a couple of times.

I'm looking at one of these:

Walkera Dragonfly #60

Walkera Dragonfly #36

Walkera Dragonfly #39

Walkera stuff seems to be fairly sturdy but a bit a rough around the edges compared to US and European models. Bear in mind this is for fun only and I don't intend on competing or anything.

My preference at the moment is for the #39 as it has a brushless system and LiPo battery which means no motor repairs and longer fly time. It also has a seperate ESC rather than the radio integrated one in the cheaper models.

Advice?
 
look on ebay, brother bought a heli for 25% of the UK price.
btw these ideally have to be used indoors, a empty garage is big enough. Trickiest part is getting it setup, ie so the heli doesn't wobbly whilst starting up, drifting etc. Learn slowly, take off and land on 1", move either direction by 1". Don't just blast off and start doing loops..there's a video with a bloke in a fullsize goes out of control and crashes.

checkout RC universe, you'll have more people there than on here.
 
SO cool... I have thought about getting one of them, and also a RC nitro car, but cant justify it at the moment

Stelly
 
Make sure you get a training undercarriage(wider).

Also it is not the same as flying a real Heli.(done it as well) especially when you reverse controls when it is flying towards you, i.e. move stick left and it goes right

If it is reasonably expensive as it probably will be for a 6 chnl, take lessons using a buddy link(same as dual control).

A gyro will help with control of the tail too.

If in a public place get insurance.

I used to fly nitro powered RC helos (had a model of Airwolf)

Similar but older to this

http://aabt-collectibles.co.uk/product.php?id=4507&pcat=282

an electric airwolf in the states (4 chnl)

http://trendtimes.com/airchecoreto.html
 
When i was at Uni my housemate got an RC helicopter. He spent a week building it and 30 seconds crashing it. Oh how we laughed.

Second time round he got those training landing gear (2 big sticks with wiffle balls on the end) THey make it almost impossible to not land the right way up. Deffinately invest in them.
 
i have been flying rc planes and helis now for 6 or so years, too much money in them it scares me, you wont go wrong with any of them really, there ok, wont handle wind though, bear that in mind, li-po and brushless are better as li-po batteries are lighter BUT for gods sake make sure you 100% charge them as recommended. They are very dangerous if not handled and charged correctly etc.

YOU need insurance PERIOD <END OF>. the BMFA is the governing body here in the UK, it must use 35mhz as well. Get it set up correctly, go to the BMFA site and find a club in your area, they will help you when you have built it and you think you have it set up correctly they will then check it out and test fly it for you.

Insurance is so important, those blades can spin at anything up to 3500 rpm and they will cut you, can and have decapitated people (very recently) and only recently a young child died whilst at a flying field. I cannot stress this point enough.

If you think you dont need insurance because you will only be flying in your garden etc, bear in mind people up to 7 miles away MAY be flying there helicopters or planes at a BMFA sanctioned and insured club and you could be on the same frequency and interfere with there models and it is possible to "shoot down" another model through interference from being on the same frequency. Some of you MAY think that a plane / heli loosing control and crashing in to a farmers field is nothing to worry about, Sure, but imagine if it was a school play ground, residential area, etc etc, planes can glide for a hell of a long time. Dont want to sound a kill joy, just want you to be aware.

Look at Midland Helicopters web site for some models. They are a very good company of RC heli's here in the uk


http://www.bmfa.org/
http://www.modelhelicopters.co.uk/acatalog/m_index.htm

Look on the following forums for help.

www.runryder.com/
www.rcgroups.com
www.rcuniverse.com


Runryder is very good, scroll down and look at the electric heli area. Buy when you are 100% sure what you want. bear in mind spare parts availability as well
 
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Rilot said:
I'm looking at getting an RC helicopter. I don't want to spend a lot but I do want a full 3D capable, 6ch one. Must be electric too.
I am a novice when it comes to RC helis but I do understand the controls having flown a real heli a couple of times.

I'm looking at one of these:

Walkera Dragonfly #60

Walkera Dragonfly #36

Walkera Dragonfly #39

Walkera stuff seems to be fairly sturdy but a bit a rough around the edges compared to US and European models. Bear in mind this is for fun only and I don't intend on competing or anything.

My preference at the moment is for the #39 as it has a brushless system and LiPo battery which means no motor repairs and longer fly time. It also has a seperate ESC rather than the radio integrated one in the cheaper models.

Advice?
Click to expand...

Try to have a fly in a model shop as some of these cheap electric helicopters are a real pain to fly. Kinda ruins the fun of it. Most electric ones really don't fly to well outside and any wind can be a problem.

Need a decent sized space indoors for ideal conditions.

Make sure you get one where spares are readily available as well.
 
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