RC Helicopter info/discussion thread

[Gierke]

What would you guys recommend as a first outdoor helo? I have a couple 3 ch gyro indoor units and they are heaps of fun, but would love something bigger than can fly outdoor without being taken by the slightest breeze

[Dexamenus]

I have a Blade 120sr, its slightly too small for outside, it can deal with flying below tree lines where its sheltered, but any higher and its gone :P

[toopy28]

Originally Posted by infernal

i'm thinking about getting one of these just to mess around with inside the house. I dont really want to spend much, Mosquito one seems pretty good, anyone know of them?

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mosquit...g-station-7277

*ed* just found this http://www.hobby-lobby.com/durable_m...34226_prd1.htm might be better i think ?

for something indoors you can't really go past the
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=10998
is as good as a Blade MSR $56.55 with TX

vid : http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...e13a55f92bad78

or

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=12148
with 3axis gyro with automatic stabilisation for those "oh crap moments"
$72.43 with tx.

vid : http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...f60c353ea4768e

However if you are going to look into moving up to a larger collective pitch heli at a later stage then maybe start with Something like a Blade mCPx BNF
for some collective pitch indoor action and buy a decent TX like a DX6, DX7 DX8 etc... (just make sure its DSMX if you go spektrum)
http://www.bladehelis.com/Products/D...#quickOverview

Originally Posted by Gierke

What would you guys recommend as a first outdoor helo? I have a couple 3 ch gyro indoor units and they are heaps of fun, but would love something bigger than can fly outdoor without being taken by the slightest breeze

I started with a Blade 400 3D, crashed in about 1min first try. Now over 50+ flights and haven't crashed since "crosses fingers and touches wood"
(still havent taken the training gear off yet though) Best thing about it was that it came with a relatively decent TX (pity it doesn't frequency hop, but thats another story) that I have used for multiple other craft.

EDIT : I'd go the Blade 450 3D now though
http://www.bladehelis.com/Products/D...#quickOverview
comes with a DSMX TX computer radio (frequency hopping = good).
This is of course if you dont have a radio.

[AussieSausage]

Hey guys.

Can someone please help me put the flybar on my little twister heli!

I went and bought a new one, and it's identical to the old one.

Problem is, I can't get the flybar to link with the part on top that spins the blades.

There is 2 little links that hang down that connect to the flybar, but I can't get them to reach the top section, but they did with the old one.

I don't know WTF is going on, can't find a video either, don't know whats going on here.

[v81]

I finaly got it.

Click to view full size!
Looks pretty crappy in this pic, have since relocated RX and telemetry unit, tidied up wiring, gotten rid of training gear and fitted canopy.

Looks a million bux for a low cost first heli.
New pix soon.

[Rollsta]

Hey guys,

I'm after a pre-built "ready to fly" heli for about $200-$300 AUD
Any idea if those hoobyco ones are good?

Ideally i'd want a prebuilt because i'm lazy to build it, but if there are better ones that are build yourself, i'd get that instead.

Link to any would also be helpful - thanks guys!

[v81]

This is what i have (pictured above)
Less than $300AUD delivered, ready to go.
Just need 8AA batteries for the transmitter.

http://www.ehirobo.com/shop/product_...7k91bgt8ese423

[v81]

After a few flights i'm getting the hang of this.

Here are some better pics of my baby during a late afternoon flight.

A hover

Click to view full size!

A little inverted flight

Click to view full size!

Off into the sunset

Click to view full size!

Disclaimer, model helis are addictive.

PS,
Looking for HiTec HS-65HB (Carbonite) gearsets at a reasonable price... Anyone?
HobbyKing list them, but have no stock.

[rbdirty]

You should give ebay a try.

I bought all my servo's from there and didn't have any issues with them.

Usually cheaper than hobbyking and they are available.

[v81]

Originally Posted by rbdirty

You should give ebay a try.

I bought all my servo's from there and didn't have any issues with them.

Usually cheaper than hobbyking and they are available.

Cheers,

I'm looking for the gearsets, not the whole servo.
Servos are indeed cheap on E-Bay though, wish i'd know that earlier, thanks for the heads up.

Gearsets on HobbyKing are $2-$3 but are nill stock for what seems months at a time.
E-Bay are about $5-$6 plus postage.
Local shop are $7

If Hobby King had them I'd order 10 sets at that price.
The way i fly i might need them

[nidz]

I've been looking at the ESky V4.. Anyone had one of these and are they hard to fly? They seem to have a lot of spares and upgrade parts and have the double blade for stability.. I've only ever had those micro helis before.. Also cost around the $100 mark which is ok..

[xok]

Originally Posted by nidz

I've been looking at the ESky V4.. Anyone had one of these and are they hard to fly? They seem to have a lot of spares and upgrade parts and have the double blade for stability.. I've only ever had those micro helis before.. Also cost around the $100 mark which is ok..

I've got one, they're great heli's although they don't like a lot of wind. Parts are definitely easy to get

Does anyone have any recommendations for getting a Spektrum Controller (Dx6i min), I want to fly an MCPx but it looks to be about the same price as a blade 450/400 RTF... Not sure =]

[v81]

Originally Posted by xok

Does anyone have any recommendations for getting a Spektrum Controller (Dx6i min)...

I am running a DX8 with the Black Angel, for a start i really like the feel of it.

Almost twice the price of the DX6i, but has some awesome features.
Telemetry is a great feature.
I can get info like receiver pack voltage, flight pack voltage, temp and rpm all on the display.
Alerts can be set for low voltage / over temp etc so you can have advance warning of any issues.

Telemetry, the extra couple of channels and the idea of it lasting my 5 - 10+ years made it worth the money.
Being able to backup models to the SD Card has also saved me twice, once when i changed some settings on my heli profile and stuffed it, and again when i reset the profile by accident.

Fair bit of coin at about $495 but plenty of positives to justify it and no complaints.

[tas05]

I just got a nine eagles solo pro delivered and started playing. Each time I throttle up slowly the Heli rolls over to the left, blades hit the ground and I stop. I have to throttle up fast so it gets off the ground but then it won't hover just starts heading for a wall. I don't get time to adjust trim before it reaches an unmovable object. Any advice? I bought one of these as I thought they were beginner and pretty stable.

[v81]

Originally Posted by tas05

...Any advice?...

Speaking only from what i've read, not from experience.
Smaller non coaxial helis are less stable, thus more difficult to fly.

I went straight to the BlackAngel pictured above after a couple of flys on a coaxial and 5 - 10 hours on RealFlight 5.5 sim.