Hubby Getting Started

[islandalleykat]

Hi,
I am looking at purchasing a heli for hubby for Christmas. He has great hand eye co-ordination and is really a smart guy. I am looking at an E-flite Blade CX RFT. I guess my question is "Is this something that can be expanded on in the future to do ariel tricks or should I get the Blade CP RTF...I am completly lost here as you can tell. These things are not my forte and I want him to be thrilled, not dissapointed. I need some reccomendations on what to start out with but I do not want to break the bank just yet.
Thanks
Kathy

[hawkman]

The blade CX would be ideal, from what I have seen......I own a Twister Bell 47 which is small, electric and very stable to fly....and its controls are full functional too.

I dont know if the CX comes with its own PC based RC simulator....this would be a real bonus.....simulator time is very important....otherwise the heli would get flown...crunched...and forgotten about.

Rob

[New-heli-pilot]

The CX does not come with a simulator nor can it be upgraded for aerobatics. With the CX though, a simulator is not really necessary as it is so easy to fly, I was hovering on my 3rd flight, though my first and second ones were disasters.

[Danimal]

Hi Allykat
I agree with hawkman the Blade CX is a good choice for a first Heli however it really isn't something you can expand on or do any trick flying with. The Blade CP can be upgraded to do sport and 3D flying but I wouldn't recommend one for a beginner. I'm sure you have heard that properly setting up and flying RC Helicopters is a hard skill to master and a small collective pitch (CP) Heli like the Blade CP is vary unforgiving in the hands of a new pilot. They are more fragile and more expensive to repair when you crash and believe me we all crash. The Blade CX is a much more stable and durable training platform for the beginner but people seem to out grow the counter rotating type Helicopter's pretty fast. There is another type of Heli that kind of falls in between the CP and CX as far as stability, durability, capability and repair cost called a Fixed Pitch (FP). They make for good trainers and some can be upgraded to the CP type head system for that trick flying you mentioned.

[Aztek1701]

Hi Allykat.

Id agree with everything thats been said before. To learn to fly, you dont want anything other than a Blade CX, if hubby takes to the sport, then its time to look at more aerobatic models, that you dont potentially waste a lot of money on a heli that will be destroyed 3 seconds after take off. Oh yeah, and send him here to introduce himself and ask questions when he gets it.

You might also want to visit and maybe print to make into a "how to fly manual" for the big day the following...

http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html

This is a great place to start for a beginner.

Good luck with it ... Azzy