RC Helicopters

rhysduck said:
Self Taught.
Half and half. (It was built when I received it but I stripped it down and rebuilt).
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So your telling me, you went straight from a sim.

Built and trimmed an Align 450 then used it to learn to fly?

We are talking about 3 very complicated skills here:

Building
Set up
Flying

You sir are a genius!

I thought I had done well!
 
I started with Phoenix and a trex550.

Got a good deal on a dx7s and Phoenix while building the 550.

Starting again, I wouldn't start so big as the 550 scare the bejesus out of me when spooling up! I had the sim and a mate who was competent in setup and training me. Having someone buddy box you lifts the pressure a little.

The advancement of cp micros is brill. They give you confidence that when you crash it won't cost much and teach you the orientation and controls you need for bigger birds.
 
Reality Bites said:
I started with Phoenix and a trex550.

Got a good deal on a dx7s and Phoenix while building the 550.

Starting again, I wouldn't start so big as the 550 scare the bejesus out of me when spooling up! I had the sim and a mate who was competent in setup and training me. Having someone buddy box you lifts the pressure a little.

The advancement of cp micros is brill. They give you confidence that when you crash it won't cost much and teach you the orientation and controls you need for bigger birds.
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Well said sir!

Trex 550 is the same size as the Raptor 30.

This was THE beginners helicopter 10+ years ago before the micros came onto the scene.
 
The 550 was a little intimidating to say the least. Could have been due to not having the confidence in control too. I was also learning in the winter months when the wind was strong. It was very good in the wind which helped.

I found it was crash costs which was my biggest fear. The sim will teach you the basics but I found it harder on there than i did for real.

To start now I would use a sim (assuming I had no one to help me learn basics) and a 130x. Or if I had help, straight to a 130x or similar. My bigger bird would be a 500 to start after that.
 
SkodaMart said:
So your telling me, you went straight from a sim.

Built and trimmed an Align 450 then used it to learn to fly?

We are talking about 3 very complicated skills here:

Building
Set up
Flying

You sir are a genius!

I thought I had done well!
Click to expand...

The Sim helped massively (sank a good few hours into that) Without that I'd never have gotten on with the 450.

A genius? No, far from it. But just because you find it a "very complicated skill" doesn't mean that I found it hard to grasp. I'm not saying it was easy by any means orientation is the main hurdle I found.
I guess starting young on gliders/planes helped a little.
 
rhysduck said:
But just because you find it a "very complicated skill" doesn't mean that I found it hard to grasp. I'm not saying it was easy by any means orientation is the main hurdle I found.
I guess starting young on gliders/planes helped a little.
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It wasn't the flying I found hard, (however it still took lots & lots of practice). The building and setup takes a lot of reading and research, best to have someone who knows what they are doing to help you in the early days.

But saying that, I did make it difficult for myself by going for HK clones.

A total noob with no flying skills wouldn't last 20 seconds with an untrimmed heli.
 
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Looks like there are plenty of different routes to take!

When I said I didn't want to buy something too simple I was referring to a helicopter that has no scope for advancement. The 3ch one I had a go on wasn't trimmed and didn't have a gyro but within 10 minutes I could hold it steady and fly it under chairs and tables and land it on a coaster. I understand that's just a toy but I need something (4ch) that's easy enough to learn on but will enable me to advance to some of the medium level skills without needing to upgrade. If I get to an advanced level in month/years then great but there's no point buying a cheap unit that after a couple of weeks has nothing left to give.
 
I would advise you ignore 4ch toys. If you have half a thought of giving the hobby a go or want any kind of learning challenge, start with a 6ch. Something like the Msrx would be a good starter, not good for outdoor but crashes well inside.

4ch models outside have been classed as dangerous by some due to lack of any real control, not my views as I've never flown one just the views of others.
 
rhysduck said:
No it's not.

Here's my list:

  1. Phoenix RC Sim
  2. Align 450 SeV2
It's not a long road at all.. it all depends how YOU want to do it. I really don't see why you thought you had to buy all those different helicopters to eventually get to a 450 size bird. :confused:
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+1 for phoenix sim.
get a cheap transmitter from hobbyking and the usb lead.

it's stupidly easy in the sim though not because the sim is bad just because the view point and it being really hard to miscalculate the helis positioning


took me about 10minutes before I was flying circles around my self in the sim but occasionally I would still struggle to get it landed.

If I ever got back into RC heli's I'd probably just get a GPS module that can fly it back to me/to a hover.

some of them work like fly by wire controls on a realy aircraft as well and stop you doing any silly little mistakes
 
I only finally bought Phoenix sim to learn aerobatics.

I couldn't get my head around inverted without it.
 
arknor said:
+1 for phoenix sim.
get a cheap transmitter from hobbyking and the usb lead.

it's stupidly easy in the sim though not because the sim is bad just because the view point and it being really hard to miscalculate the helis positioning


took me about 10minutes before I was flying circles around my self in the sim but occasionally I would still struggle to get it landed.
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I found the total opposite. I found the views in the sim rubbish and easily lost track of it. It was fine for basic orientation learning but found it easier to learn with a real model.

I would advise against cheap crap from hobbyking too. In my experience they bugger your order up, insist on umpteen details from you and take ages to sort it out. Not just me, check their forums!

Get a decent starter radio likes dx6. Can get them second hand for £50ish, maybe less now new versions are coming out. A second hand learner model will cost you around the same and if you really wana the sim, the official leads and software sell for around £25-30.
 
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Where is Phoenix that price? I've only ever seen it Twice that price.

Avoid spektrum if you value your model and don't want it trashed :D
 
arknor said:
If I ever got back into RC heli's I'd probably just get a GPS module that can fly it back to me/to a hover.

some of them work like fly by wire controls on a realy aircraft as well and stop you doing any silly little mistakes
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You can do that now. Skookum 720 black edition with the GPS module. It'll cost you £700 but it's doable. 8m hard deck and return to home. It even logs flights in 3 dimensions so you can play it back virtually.

Didn't stop the guy at our club's heli meeting the ground at speed as he had it in the wrong mode.
 
rhysduck said:
Where is Phoenix that price? I've only ever seen it Twice that price.

Avoid spektrum if you value your model and don't want it trashed :D
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Lol, won't get into a futuba vs speccy argument ;-).

Second hand. Loads of them on heli addicts as people are going real flight instead. I sold mine for £28 but was literally the cable and cd. It came as a bundle with my trusty dx7s ;-)
 
There's nothing wrong with DSMX, it's as good as it gets.

Whether you choose DSMX (Spektrum), FASST (Futaba), DMSS (JR) or ACCST (FrSky), you'll have no problems provided you install your receivers correctly.

I'm personally switching my models over from DSMX to FrSky because I'm not a fan of the satellite receivers they (Spektrum) insist on.
 
Here's my view on HobbyKing.

Stay away from the Orange Radio, DSM2 is outdated and there is no warranty support like you get with Spektrum.

The HK 450 GT CCPM 3D Full Alloy is a decent kit.
It costs around £37.

I have fitted the following genuine Align parts to get a helicopter that is as good as an Align Trex 450 GT V2.

  • Main shaft
  • Main gear
  • Tail drive gear
  • Tail pitch slider
  • Canopy

I have also fitted a RJX flybarless head and Tarot ZYX.

It flies flawlessly and looks good too.

The HK 250 isn't great, and I find it hard to recommend, but the HK 250 flybarless head is superb for $20.

You do have to fit genuine Align radius arms and feathering shaft however.

If you are looking for a 450 Pro clone, go for the Tarot one instead, it's almost as good as the genuine Align.

 
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I have a nine Eagles Bravo SX indoor choppah!

Cant even get it to hover properly, although my lounge is probably not the right place to use it! :p

So it sits unused in le garage. :(

/my RC helicopter story.
 
Bigpops said:
I'm personally switching my models over from DSMX to FrSky because I'm not a fan of the satellite receivers they (Spektrum) insist on.
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You don't need satellites with the new Spektrum AR600 / AR610.
 
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