RC Helicopters

Oh absolutely, I get your point but the thing is that many view these as toys. This can be said for the small Silverlit models but the bigger ones can be seriously nasty if they go wrong. Many people think that if they can fly a small 2 channel jobbie that they can fly a full 6 channel model too, which is notoriously difficult.
 
Diddums said:
Oh absolutely, I get your point but the thing is that many view these as toys. This can be said for the small Silverlit models but the bigger ones can be seriously nasty if they go wrong. Many people think that if they can fly a small 2 channel jobbie that they can fly a full 6 channel model too, which is notoriously difficult.
Click to expand...

Who the hell would jump from a Silverlit 2 channel to a Raptor?

You actually have chosen my progression through the hobby but have omitted the:

  • Blade mcx
  • Blade msr
  • Blade msrx (crap)
  • Blade mCPX (great)
  • Blade 300X (great)
  • HK 450 GT
  • HK 450 Pro
  • Align 250
 
Last edited by a moderator:
bloodline76 said:
Someone at my work is selling a petrol helicopter but not sure how much they want for it.

It's about a metre long and pretty old. Not sure if it works. Any suggestions on price, probably a good ten years old.
Click to expand...

Any 10 year old model is worth pretty much nothing, unless it's as spares to someone who already owns the same one. If spares are still available (there is a chance if it was a popular model), it might be worth a little (£100 or less), but modern electronics (servos, gyros) have advanced so much in recent years, it's not worth bothering with the old stuff.

I've been flying for 5 years now, and while my oldest (by far) model is 4 years old, it has been upgraded in that time and spares are still plentiful.
 
Trust me, they exist.

I'm not trying to talk someone out of this, I'm merely saying be careful. The last thing this hobby needs is another statistic.
 
Bigpops said:
Any 10 year old model is worth pretty much nothing, unless it's as spares to someone who already owns the same one. If spares are still available (there is a chance if it was a popular model), it might be worth a little (£100 or less), but modern electronics (servos, gyros) have advanced so much in recent years, it's not worth bothering with the old stuff.

I've been flying for 5 years now, and while my oldest (by far) model is 4 years old, it has been upgraded in that time and spares are still plentiful.
Click to expand...

My IC Raptors are both 15+ years old, both fly fantastically well.
I paid £100 for one and £180 for the other.
 
SkodaMart said:
Who the hell would jump from a Silverlit 2 channel to a Raptor?

You actually have chosen my progression through the hobby but have omitted the:

  • Blade mcx
  • Blade msr
  • Blade msrx (crap)
  • Blade mCPX (great)
  • Blade 300X (great)
  • HK 450 GT
  • HK 450 Pro
  • Align 250
Click to expand...

people actually do that, the sort with more money than sense, my local hobby shop guy has refused to sell expensive big helis to these people becuase they tried buying one as a first or second one instead of their wee toy one,

they don't have a clue what their doing but think because its big and expensive they can use it.

on the flip side he will happily sell a expensive quadcopter/drone thingy as their so easy to fly compared to helis, he says their hammering the heli sales and thus stocks less copters.


i like your self progressed from small things like the blade mcx, msr, blade 120 etc

got a blade 400 3d in the cupboard, only powered it up once in the kitchen to test i callibrated the dx6i controller properly for it,

now i got a new model dx6 and the set up manual is useless, so will be a while before i get to fly it, although handled dads old blade 400 in a sports hall well for basic moving and hovering, i save trying inverted for the nano cpx, mcpx and in the future my 130x, and got pheonix flight sim, then ill take the plunge with the 450 3d and do easy stuff with it :)

people do seriously think they can buy a big pricey one just because they think its a big toy ask my local model shop owner lol


any one tried the wee nano quad, twister neon x, i found it good fun in the house for a short while before i got bored, 3 flight modes plus a flip function in any direction lol
 
Last edited:
Yrkoon said:
people actually do that, the sort with more money than sense, my local hobby shop guy has refused to sell expensive big helis to these people becuase they tried buying one as a first or second one instead of their wee toy one,

they don't have a clue what their doing but think because its big and expensive they can use it.

on the flip side he will happily sell a expensive quadcopter/drone thingy as their so easy to fly compared to helis, he says their hammering the heli sales and thus stocks less copters.


i like your self progressed from small things like the blade mcx, msr, blade 120 etc

got a blade 400 3d in the cupboard, only powered it up once in the kitchen to test i callibrated the dx6i controller properly for it,

now i got a new model dx6 and the set up manual is useless, so will be a while before i get to fly it, although handled dads old blade 400 in a sports hall well for basic moving and hovering, i save trying inverted for the nano cpx, mcpx and in the future my 130x, and got pheonix flight sim, then ill take the plunge with the 450 3d and do easy stuff with it :)

people do seriously think they can buy a big pricey one just because they think its a big toy ask my local model shop owner lol


any one tried the wee nano quad, twister neon x, i found it good fun in the house for a short while before i got bored, 3 flight modes plus a flip function in any direction lol
Click to expand...

Quads are the best to learn the basics with without a doubt.

you could omit half my list just by choosing a decent quad such as the Hubsan.
 
SkodaMart said:
Quads are the best to learn the basics with without a doubt.

you could omit half my list just by choosing a decent quad such as the Hubsan.
Click to expand...

yep, the hubsan x4 is brill and the wee neon x is just like it but smaller, their both sweet around the house, got both, love my dads newer model x4 handles even better than my original one :)

http://www.elitemodelsonline.co.uk/...rs/20217-/Twister-Neon-X-Micro-Quadcopter-RTF thats the neon twister about half the size of a hubsan x4 and inbuilt battery but decent enough run time and charges from usb pretty quick, plus 2 differant lights for front and back so can fly in the dark and freak out cats, untill a kitten jumps for it lol :)

oh a recent southpark had drones lol
 
Last edited:
If you want to get into rc heli's, I would recommend a flight sim of some kind. Get used to how a heli fly's before buying the real thing. Crashes can be costly!!

I thought I'd be able to fly one with ease, I was wrong. My 450 has crashed twice and never left the ground :o:o:o :)


A RC hobby can be very rewarding. I love people stopping and watching while I fly/drive my stuff. Then you get the questions on what it is, how much, what range, what speed etc.

When I was a kid anything remote control had a 6ft cord with it so you had to walk where ever it went. Now you can send it miles while you are stationary. Exciting, but also scarey!
 
Last edited:
Diddums said:
Trust me, they exist.

I'm not trying to talk someone out of this, I'm merely saying be careful. The last thing this hobby needs is another statistic.
Click to expand...

I'll get a picture of it on Monday and you see if you recognise it. It might not be that old but just dusty and not looked after.

Does flying helicopters in bf4 count as practice? :p
 
Wow.

I'm sure I couldn't fly something like that. Well, I could fly it, no problem, but after flying modern kit, I'm sure it would frustrate me. The "flys like it's on rails" and quick cyclic rates of modern flybarless systems have totally spoiled me.

I flew my old fly barred 450 last year and couldn't even manage a full battery without it getting on my nerves.

Aren't you tempted to stick some nice fast digital servos and a modern MEMS gyro in it/them?
 
Bigpops said:
I'm sure I couldn't fly something like that. Well, I could fly it, no problem, but after flying modern kit, I'm sure it would frustrate me. The "flys like it's on rails" and quick cyclic rates of modern flybarless systems have totally spoiled me.

I flew my old fly barred 450 last year and couldn't even manage a full battery without it getting on my nerves.

Aren't you tempted to stick some nice fast digital servos and a modern MEMS gyro in it/them?
Click to expand...

Both helis have good gyros, futaba GY401 and digital tail servos.
All my smaller helis are flybarless, yet I still like the feel of the raptor.
Tarot ZYX has a 'natural' feel, Beastx feels a bit more robotic.
 
I still think Raptors are epic value for money.
They are perfect for me at my stage in the hobby.
I can loop etc, hover inverted, but that usually requires a sit down afterwards whilst I calm down lol
 
sometime ago there was discussion of a 4 bladed copter thing thats good for kids, easy to fly etc. around £30 from amazon? any idea what it is as I would like to get my little brother it for xmas

cheers
ross
 
Regy53 said:
sometime ago there was discussion of a 4 bladed copter thing thats good for kids, easy to fly etc. around £30 from amazon? any idea what it is as I would like to get my little brother it for xmas

cheers
ross
Click to expand...

syma x4 and hubsan x4 are the 2 normally recommended for quadcopters
 
SkodaMart said:
Both helis have good gyros, futaba GY401 and digital tail servos.
All my smaller helis are flybarless, yet I still like the feel of the raptor.
Tarot ZYX has a 'natural' feel, Beastx feels a bit more robotic.
Click to expand...

The GY401 is a decent gyro. Many swear by them and they still fetch good money when you come to sell.

I've flown the Tarot ZYX, and the Beast X in the past, but now I fly Vbar on everything. It seems to suit me best. I even tried the Spartan Vortex, but swapped it for another Vbar.

I haven't flown a large fly-barred model since my Trex 500 still had its fly-bar back in 2012, so I've forgotten what it's like. Everything I've bought since has come out of the box as a flybarless model.

I do have a Raptor, but it's the E700 model. It is the best flying model I have. Partly because it's a 700, and partly because its 750g lighter than my other 700, which is a Compass 7HV.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom