beginner heli ??
 

i realize that there are probably tons of threads like this, but i'm having a hard time finding any. i've searched here and over on rcgroups but i'm not having any luck finding information that i really need. so here goes.

budget $200 or less. don't want to jump in heavy to start as it may not be the thing for me. i really love flying planes, and this would be secondary.

no real heli experience. i've flown a blade mcpx a couple times, a couple air hog toys around the house, and a couple hours on my phoenix sim. i fly planes mostly, anything from my apprentice, scale stuff like the t-28 and albatros, up to my sbach and 3d profile planes.

i have a dx5e that i use on the sim. it's about wore out as the aileron pots are jumpy (over 200 hours on sim), and a flysky 9x (all stock firmware) i fly my planes with.

what i'm looking for is a heli that i could fly in the house, and outside. i have a couple acres but there are quite a few obstacles around. really looking for an rtf (or a pnp that i could use my flysky transmitter with).

3d heli's are of no interest to me, i find i like "scale" flying of these alot better. from my readings i do not want to go with a coaxial heli. i am confused as to either go with a fixed pitch or jump head first and go collective.

i've looked at the blade msrx, mcpx, and some of the walkera stuff.

any good recommendations??

hoghead.....

Your choices of the "blade msrx, mcpx, and some of the walkera stuff" seem to make good sense for indoor flight.....anything you take outside will need to be bigger in order to enjoy flight when a breeze comes up. Those mentioned may cause you frustration while learning out of doors.

Check this link out:

http://rc.runryder.com/helicopter/vi...bot=1363029996

You'll find loads of threads related to "good beginner heli's"........I'm not sure why you.."i do not want to go with a coaxial heli."......comes into play. Although, once you've mastered fixed pitch, a coaxial will seem boring, they are good learning craft, relatively inexpensive and easy to repair/set-up.....and will quickly get your skills ready for the more advance fixed pitch.

Many (good plank pilots) have made the mistake, after mastering plank flight, jumping into the collective pitch heli's.....I won't go into all of the pit-falls, but two of the most serious mistakes are:

1) Being over confident about your flying (plank) skills and not accepting those skills only translate to 40% of what will be required to accomplish reasonable heli skills.

2) Repair and building skills for heli's are much more complicated and 50 times (or more) expensive, even if you decide to go the clone path and build or buy a knock-off. Starting out with good equipment (more $$$) is one of the major keys to success. YOU WILL BE REQUIRED to build/repair/set-up heli's much more often than with planks......for most beginners, problems in flight, 99% of the time, result in rebuilds. Heli's are bricks, they do not glide.

A fixed pitch craft may a good choice, less expensive, will teach you build/repair and flight skill prepartion into a collective pitch will be faster.

Take a look at these:

http://www.horizonhobby.com/browse/p.../:cp=1/:ip=45/:

http://www.hobby-wing.com/4ch-single...ermediate.html
Many out of stock, but the selection gives you a good idea....shop around.

You may want to up-grade your TX/RX equipment, since most pnp, reciever ready models will not be compatible with your existing system.

Hope this sheds a little light on the subject.

thanks for the response. right now i'm leaning toward the walkera super fp or the mini cp. reason is they come with a decent transmitter, however, the mini cp comes with a pretty nice 7 channel devo.

my focus is really more inside, and outside in a pretty small area (1.5 to 2 acres) by my house. i also have a good friend that will allow me to fly in the local gym. he flies his heli's there!

i realize that the hobby grade heli's are alot different than the "toy" grade, but the "toy" grade coaxial heli's i've flown were very boring.

i'm still a plane guy at heart, but i really enjoy watching scale flying of helicopters. i think that would give me something to do inside when the wind is to high to fly my planes.

the more i play on the sim, the more i realize that plane skills don't translate very well. nowing what each stick does helps, and some of my plane orientation helps, but turning is totally different.

as far as building/repairing, i really get into that. all the technical aspects are one of the biggest draws to the heli's. i tend to research things to death. i want to know all the fine details, and like taking time to make sure my stuff is set up correctly. planes are ok, but there really isn't a ton of setup to do. heli's, on the other hand, seem to be alot more technical.

later on this summer i'm planning on upgrading my transmitters and receivers. at that time i'll probably go futaba altho the spektrum dx18 is looking pretty good.

well i have a used blade mcpx v2 heading my way. will see just how long it takes me to tear it up!!

hoghead...good choice!

A couple of things to check and a warning........

It's used (never seen one that didn't suffer from a bit of abuse), be very diligent about your first look-see. Check all screws for tightness, check for wear on the mixing/washout arms and linkage arms...basically the rotor head assembly should be tight, no slop and responsive. Since it's a ready-to go-on-board gyro system, check the response of the tail with the main blades removed. I'ts not uncommon for an older model to have a motor that's on it's last leg...very critical, an easy replacement.

Outside of the normal TX/RX response things (all electrical connection and compatibility issues) which I'm confident you can manage, the only thing I'd remind you of is.....this little heli is quick...not fast. So, any over reaction/over correction on your part (thumbs) may end up on the floor (expo rates come to mind)......all part of the learning curve.

Have fun...You've picked a heli that there is a ton's of info and parts seem to be available on line at many places.

i've been reading alot about the mcpx. the guy sent me a video of the heli flying, so i know it actually works, but i will go over everything before i try and fly it.

thanks for the tips, i'm actually thinking about breaking everything down, looking everything over, and reassembling it so that i know for sure things are lock tite'd, aligned, not wore, ya know.

my brother has a dx6i that he's not using (went to the dx7s), so i'm gonna borrow (read steal) it to fly the heli with!!

i'm thinking that while doing the tear down, i might replace some parts. heard that a metal swash was a good thing to add, also the xl tail boom (solid CF) is also a great thing to add.