Questions from a confused rookie

Hi Everyone,

I have some basic questions about helis, and I was wondering if any of you could give me some help. I've been looking at helis for awhile now, and I have a lot better idea of what I should get after reading the other posts here.

Give me your opinions on this setup, but keep in mind that I'm a beginner:

Raptor 30 V2
OS .32SXH
Futaba GY240 Gyro
Airtronics RD6000 Super w/ 5 94322 ball bearing servos

I'm not sure about the gyro, everyone is telling me to buy the GY401, but I was told that the 240 is a good unit, and I want to try to save money where I can.

Where is a good place to buy all of this stuff? I was looking at heliproz, but I was wondering if any other places would be good to buy from. If I bought everything from them, do you think they'd give me a small discount?

What are "grey market" dealers? I was told that heliproz would price match anyone but grey market dealers(they gave me the examples of cyberheli.com, helihut.com, etc.), and I was unsure what that meant.

How is the Raptor V2 different/better than the V1? Is the new Caliber better than the V2?

Is the RD 6000 Super a good radio? I talked to a guy at my flying field, and he swore by them. He said that they offer the most bang for the buck. I've also read a lot about the Hitec Eclipse 7, how does this radio compare to the RD 6000 Super?

How long is it going to take me to put the kit version of the Raptor 30 together? It's not the ARF version, because I was told that the Thunder Tiger engine is bad. I want to get flying as soon as possible, because summer is really moving by fast.

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide me, I'm really glad that this message board is here because it's helped me a lot so far.

Hi Henchman#5

Im just a begginer too but i can tell u that u cant cut costs when it comes to helicopters

I have brought the raptor 30 v2 Arf (I would not advise buying the kit it dose look difficult to build)

So far the Arf was so simple to put together u put the tail boom in tail blades on, Glue the main blade grips then install the blades and cut ur canopy out and apply decals so simple

As far as the motor goes buy the ARF kit and get the pro 39h (more power ) than most 30 size helis.

As for radio and gyro i brought a CMS 540 gyro and a JR X-378 radio system witch i would recomend easy to use great heli options 5 point throttle curves the lot.

As far as where to buy these things i cant help u there Cause im in Australia

hi henchman#5

the gyro is a good one and will do the job just fine


you can try rick's rc helicopters a verry good place to shop they're in texas and service is beyond great.you might get a discount.
don't know about the caliber but if you are bying a new heli than you will get a v2 the v1 has been replaced by the v2 same bird just a little better.
get the kit learn about your heli as you build it don't worry we will help you .you can even call me if you wish.i just set up and test flew a v2 last weekend smooth as can be

even if you buy the arf take it apart reassemble it and make sure all is well fasten,i higly recomend you do this why trust someone you don't know with the cash you've invested,i havent seen an arf yet that did not have a loose part or something reversed on it.
the radio should be fine never used one myself but i know poeple who have them and love them.
it will take you maybe a week to get going.

don't be shy to call if you want

happy shoping steff

Okay, so this will be a good setup for rookie, but could you tell me what grey market is? I'm curious because I've heard people talk about dealers that sell grey market part, but I don't understand what they're talking about. Anyone know?

humm iknow of black market
aftermarket
but have no clue as to what grey market means....sorry dude

grey market means that the stuff is bought in a foreign country and then imported to this country rather than coming through the companies official distributor. Tends to end up cheaper if you are in the UK as we get ripped off for almost everything over here.

You can get problems if the foreign version is any different from the UK version, and with stuff like charger voltages etc that are going to be different.

tanx arachnoid now i know wath you mean here in canada
some electronics with get true the states tend to loose all warenties so we're on are own when we buy these products

fly safe steff