Mini or micro electric helicopter

[byhsu]

Hi everyone:

I would like to start flying helicopters. I have never ever played with RC helicopters or planes. I am interested in a simple to use, light machine, something I can fly indoor and outdoor. Something that will fly for about 10 to 15 minutes with one charge. Also would like to spend less than $100. Any suggestions? Also, what exactly is 3D flight? Thanks

[sportygreg]

For that kind of money all you get is a #4 Dragonfly or something similar that can only be flown outdoors when there is no wind.In some cases,3D simply means 3 dimensional which is why some cheap 2 channel helis can claim to fly 3D.A lot of people interpret 3D as being capable of inverted flight and aerobatics.

[byhsu]

Who makes the dragonfly and which other models are in that category? Mainly, I want something easy to fly, and that has a long flight time. Any features I should look for? battery type? Any suggetions where I can find the helicopters you are talking about? Thank You.

[New-heli-pilot]

Hi,

I think the #4 he is talking about would be made by Walkera, but if it is you will probably end up putting more than $100 into it because Walkera electronics are known to go bad and need replaced.

For a little bit more money you could buy the E-Flite Blade CX. Some people will say not to because it doesnt handle like most rc helis. The reason it wouldnt handle like a normal helicopter is because, normal ones use a main rotor and a tail rotor, the main controls lift and the tail controls direction. But on a co-axial (2 main blades) there is no tail rotor, but the 2 main blades spin in opposite directions keeping the helicopter stable without much work. If you want to turn its just a matter of one of the blades speeds up and one slows down. Aslo the blade CX is a fixed pitch(fp) helicopter, the main rotors must speed up to lift the heli, and slow down to lower it, this just causes slower reactions for climbing and droppping, making it easier to crash in wind. With a collective pitch(cp) helicopter the main blades spin at around the same speed, and just change their angle to lift or lower the heli, this gives you better reaction time and can let you handle wind better or even pesky dogs =P But the Blade CX will still get you used to the basic controls and can easily be flown inside.

Or you could buy the Esky Lama 2, which is a little bit cheaper and I have heard many good things about it. This heli is also a fixed pitch dual rotor(co-axial) helicopter.

Finally you might want to consider just getting a simulator for now, I really wish I would have did this, because now I have 2 heli's and neither one can fly for right now.

Hope this helped,
John

[mrmuffinmanvw]

The Walkera dragonfly 4 is a knockoff of the Esky Honey Bee fp2 they are both pretty durable in a crash but for a few $ more the honey bee doesn't have the walkera electronics or the problems that come with them. The honey bee fp2 is also in your price range. You can get one for around $100. on flea-bay.

[byhsu]

Thanks for the information regarding the coaxial blades. Now, I wonder how does one blade slow down, if both seem to be connected to the same motor?

Does a collective blade helicopter have two sets of main rotors too, like a coaxial blade heli? Also I am looking for a model that you can swap batteries, so while I am charging one, I can use the other one to fly the heli.

Does the battery voltage affect the battery life of the heli? like a 6V versus a 7.2V battery.

Thanks all for the information, you have been very helpful

[sportygreg]

With coaxials like my 5-4 Dragonfly there are 2 motors each controlling one rotor independently.A collective heli normally has one rotor with extra links and servo to change blade pitch during flight.It is the mah[milliamps] that determine flight time-the voltage determines the force of the electricity.All electric helis have the ability to swap batteries.

[badastinner]

I had a Walker 4 for a long time and only replace i servo but i agree with muffin you should fork out a few more $ and go with a better name brand. Co axial blades have 2 main motors and not tail motor. Some collective pitch and all fixed pitch helis have a main motor and tail motor. Some of the better collective pitch helis have a main motor and either a shaft driven tail rotor or a belt driven tail motor. Battery voltage is potiential power for the battery. If i were just starting out again i would get a sim and log a bunch of hours on that. I noticed you wanted easy to fly. But easy to fly and helicopter don't belong in the same sentence. If you have never flown anything it will be frustrating to try to fly a helicopter cold turkey. Even if you just got fms download off the internet at least that would show you basic flight characteristics and you can hone your reflexes. Good luck!