Help a newbie! Is this a good deal for a beginner?

Hi Everyone,

I'm a first time poster, and I was hoping you could lend some of your expertise in a decision I've been pondering. I'm primarily an RC plane pilot, but I've always wanted to learn to fly helis. My brother-in-law convinced me that if I learned to fly a plane first, learning helis would be a lot easier. So, I stuck about $500 into a trainer, engine and radio and have been enjoying flying it since.
Anyway, I was in my local hobby shop yesterday and I saw that they had a bunch of consignment aircraft for sale in varying levels of completeness, and one of the helicopters caught my eye. It was a completely assembled Raptor 30 V1 with a Thunder Tiger engine (the one that came with the ARF) and an Airtronics RD 6000 Super Radio and servos. I'm not sure which gyro it had in it, but the entire package was ready to fly for $600.
The clerk told me that he knew the owner of the heli personally and he assured me that it had only been hovered for a few hours. The store's helicopter pro had flown the unit with no problems and it was guaranteed to be set up properly and ready to fly. The heli looked like it had been well taken care of, and I could see no signs of wear or use. The clerk told me that the reason the previous owner wished to sell it was because he wanted something more powerful to do aerobatics with.
I don't know anything about helis, but I do know that the Raptor V2 is out now, which make the V1 seem a little old. I'm new to RC helis, but I think I'll be a quick study because of my simulator time on RealFlight. I want a heli that is affordable, easy to learn on, with the ability to do some aerobatics. My question is, will this unit meet my needs? Any input would be really helpful because if this really is a good deal I'd like to go pick it up before someone else does. I've looked all of the individual parts up online and I saw that it would cost me around $900-$1000 to put together the same combination on my own, but I'm not sure if it's worth the additional money just so I can have a new heli. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I was wondering how the new Raptor V2 is better than the V1. Someone told me that the Raptor 30 V1 wasn't as powerful, so it couldn't do as many acrobatics as the V2. Anybody know?

hi henchman#5

thi is a good deal but you can always try and get it for 550$
the extra 50 $ will get training gear and fuel
the raptor is agreat litle machine and will get you into advanced flying ,all in good time just take it cool we'll help you as you progress.
the diff with v1 & v2 for power !!!same engine diff carb and for parts i think you will be bying v2 parts so it time your heli will be a v2.
if you go for it when you get at home, go true all the nuts and bolts,links ,srews,tubing and battery, a good cycler\charger to make sure they're still good.

now it's flying time any trouble just ask

steff

Thanks for your help , but now I'm a little confused. The only difference between V1 and V2 is the carb? You say that eventually I'll have a V2 because the parts are all interchangeable? Also, what kind of tricks can I do with a Raptor 30 V1 that I can't do with a V2? Is it worth the extra money to get a new V2? Will I still be able to find parts for the V1 if I crash it? I'm afraid that the more I learn, the more confused I'll be.

hey me again

just remembered something a few friends of mind have had difficulty with the v1 carb and had to change it.
the engine would stop in hover , without running lean.
the new carb did not do this.
so when you buy this see the expert at the hobby shop,
ask him to show you how to start it,the preflight check,and if possible to fly a tank of fuel to see if all goes well.
if it doesn,t that doesn't mean not to buy it simply that you can offer less in order to get the new carb

happy shopping

steff

hey was wrigting at the same time you where.
the v1 will do anything the v2 will do.
parts i was told that v1 parts number all changed and when you order most parts are the same just diff num#.
vi was the fist generation rapter with a few glitches.
v2 corected these.
v1 still an excelente machine.
if you like i can give my phone number and you can ask away

steff

Thanks for all your help, but I'm still uncertain. What about the radio? It's an Airtronics, and I've been told that they're not very good. It's only a six channel, but it is computerized and offers mixing. I've also heard that it's sometimes a better idea to buy and 8 or 9 channel radio so that I won't have to buy one later as I get more advanced in the hobby. Will I ever need an 8 or 9 channel radio, and if so, for what? I've been looking online and I've been seeing a lot of good deals on used helis, but I'm not sure if I should order one or just stay local and buy this one. After all, this one's already been inspected by a heli pro. What do you think?

i you can look at it closehand and have your heli pro explaine and check it out for you then this is beter,cause online you never know what you will get the picture might be of last season.
a good percentage of people who sell is because they had nohelp,crashed got discouraged and just want to get rid of it
as for the radio i'm not a fan of aitronics i prefer futaba by far but
for a biginer this should do just fine you will save money wich you can use to burn fuel ,this is the key to succes fly,fly,fly
those extra chanels are for diff things,like on my vario heli i use chanel 1,2,6,8 for my ccpm set up,4,5 for gyro 3 for throtle
and seven for retractable landing gear
so i think for now this would be o,k and when you get better
you just sell it and get a realy good one, by then you will most likely want a better ship or bigger

steff