Newbie with cap in hand

[Nighthawk]

Hello everyone! I would just like to introduce myself after lurking on the forum for a few days, i thought it was time to become a member.

I am a total beginner to RC Helicopter's. I have been looking for a hobby for quite awhile now, something that i can get my head and hands into. I wanted something challenging that would keep me interested.

When i was a child it was a distant dream to be able to start the Heli Hobby. To cut a long story short lol It was way to expensive in those days!

Recently i was speaking to a friend of mine who was thinking about getting a Heli, I started a little research for him and was amazed at how much Electrical Technology has improved Compared with nitro, anyway basically i have got the bug and i am going to buy one, Hopefully?

Of course, my problem now is which one to buy? I still have a limited budget of £200GBP-£250GBP which is about $390USD-$480USD. The main reason's for this Budget are that i don't want to spend the earth to see if i like it, but i also want something that i won't get bored of. The other (main) reason is the WIFE (I'm sure that alot of you understand this last reason lol ).

I intend to learn at a painstakingly slow pace and would like to start with a collective pitch machine, saving me having to sell it and upgrade in a few months/years?Is this a mistake?

I always like to purchase things that are better quality and will last longer for my money. I have been looking at the Hummingbird Elite collective pitch, Litho package with 6ch futaba receiver, brushless motor, and the t-rex450xl Litho package with 6ch futaba receiver, brushless motor.

I want to be able to fly outdoors but im in UK and if you dont know already, it's blooming Windy here alot of the time.

These Heli's i have mentioned above, seem to be very good with my limited experience of what people are saying about them. Would anyone be able to offer me any advise that might stop me from making any big mistakes. Also i could do with finding a UK dealer as i imagine that Shipping from the US would blow my budget.

So a quick recap then, i need to fly in/out doors in moderate wind, i would like 3d capable versions that are easier to control. I would like Electric. and extended flight time, and nice carbon and metal components if possible and a brushless Motor.

I am not sure if the ones i have mentioned above blow a whole in my budget or even if they would fit for my purpose. I would really appreciate some help and advise on this please.

I am also looking forward to making some new friends on here, so anyone feel free to reply, even if its not related to this topic and you just wanna say hello.

Thanks guys/gals

[nellster]

Hi Nighthawk,

Glad you joined the forum. I've only been in the hobby for 18 months and the best advice I could give you is to start off with something like a Hoverfly. It's a little tethered heli that plugs into the mains. It comes with a controller and costs about £60.00. DJL Flapper got me started with one of these, and I still have hours of fun flying in the livingroom and outside (weather permitting)
Parts are cheep, the three little props cost a few pounds. I am saying this because you will trash the heli and the more you pay for your heli, the more it will cost to repair. 18 months down the line and my T-Rex ended up on its side in a flower bed, and that was the maiden flight, that cost £60.00 to repair."Get my drift". Get something that will give you stick time and won't cost much to repair.
Happy Hovering

Nellster

[Nighthawk]

Hi Nellster

Thanks for the reply. I thought that i might get told something similar to the advise you have given me. While i was researching i noticed that alot of people had bought more expensive versions and were trying to sell them so that they can downgrade to an easier model. I suppose i just wanted to run before i could walk

I have just looked at the Hoverfly on hellihobby.co m its saying it costs about £145GBP, where did you get yours from or did someone sell you a used one.

Perhaps some better questions would be, how long on average does it take to master the Hoverfly? i know learning is an individual thing and that we all learn at different paces, but just a very rough figure will do. Like you have had the hover for 18months? how good are you now?

I am thinking about buying both a Hoverfly to learn on and a t-rex or similar just to look at and admire until i master the other Hoverfly (lol, i really, really want one). If i do do this then i would proberbly try to make my own up from a kit, this would have the advantage of me learning how it all works, so i can fix it when it breaks, it also spreads the cost so i could spend more! (shhhhh the wife nearly heard that lol).

I AM ALWAYS IN A RUSH, and the whole point of this hobby for me is to slow down and relax, so thanks for clarifying my mind, any suggestions for where to start with a kit, what to buy first, what tools are needed, places to buy etc.

Thanks again for replying.

[hawkman]

I would give serious thought about getting an RC simulator....you cant go wrong getting one of these...a good one is going to cost a bit...maybe about £100 try looking for 'Phoenix' for about this price it comes with its own dummy radio....so you get the whole package...plug and play.

Otherwise you can get fairly cheap helis that come with a simulator as well....you might have to trawl the internet to find something.

I shop with www.revolutionmodels.co.uk a great online shop that has served me well over the last couple of years.

I hear what you say about expense....I crunched my petrol powered heli a few weeks back....I didnt break much but felt really pissed off...for what I paid I could have bought a fleet of TRexes with loads of spare parts...but there we go...yeah...the bigger the heli the more it costs to repair if things go wrong.

Whatever you get make sure of a good parts supply....dont settle for anything less....steer weel clear of internet deals that seem too cheap to be true....every now and then people post here trying to find help for some obscure model that they bought direct from China etc....I dont blame people for trying this hobby out on the cheap...we arent all made of money.

If you have a spare 30 quid then do look at the tiny 'Picco z' its simple to fly and will bring you a lot of fun....its safe to fly indoors...its a blast...you can fly it anywhere indoors...take it to work and impress your mates

This little heli is so popular that I am still waiting for mine...its on a backorder.

Rob

[Nighthawk]

Hello Hawkman

Thanks for your valuable experience. I have just been trawling this great forum and i had come to the same conclusion about getting a sim, it makes perfect sense after reading peoples comments.

I think i am going to invest in a sim and a quality transmitter (currently researching types and costs.

I have a life time to get to grips with this Hobby (note to self- Slow down, be sensible and listen to all the people who have been there and got the t-shirt lol).

Sorry, if i have made comments that are similar to others previous posts, i do try to research before asking stupid questions, but im sure i will be asking plenty more corkers! its inevitable lol.

I would also like to just say that this is the nicest forum i have ever been on and i have joined a few in my time, i have not found one negative comment by any member yet. That is rare, no flaming and in my opinion thats an excellent claim to forum fame lol, well done guys for making this an inviting place to visit and discuss.

[Nighthawk]

[/quote][ I intend to learn at a painstakingly slow pace and would like to start with a collective pitch machine, saving me having to sell it and upgrade in a few months/years?Is this a mistake? [quote]

I learnt tonite that the above quote (bold text) that i made earlier, is a complete oxymoron lol!

Looks like im going to spend my budget on a decent radio, at least 8 channel, still not sure which one gives me most bang for the buck though, i want it to be able to progress along with me and my eventual upgrades etc.

Then after 8-10 weeks after using my sim, i am going to get the main part of the kit and start building it. I intend to take a long time building it whilst learning on the sim. I want to add all the best parts as i go along and so every couple i weeks il buy another part until i have a 450xl topnotch dream machine. Hopefully by the time it is built i will be accomplished on the sim and will be ready for the 450xl learning curve. Does this sound like a more realistic plan.

Good things come to those who wait.

Of course the radio's i like are £1300.00 lol alittle over the wee budget there . oh well one day when i am divorced i will get one

[Aztek1701]

Hi Nighthawk,

Welcome to the Forums

Sounds like you might be doing the right thing getting a transmitter and a sim. I personally use Reflex XTR which is about £120.00 on top of that you need to buy your Transmitter. Something to note is there is a bit of a price premium on txs with more than 7 Channels. Although you can use more than that if you are doing photography or a running scale model. 7 channels is enough. You can get the Futaba FF7 on its own for about £150.00 and probably offers a good compromise between price and channels (this is just my opinion of course).

If you want to buy an actual heli to play on, £120.00 buys you a B47 Twister. Its a co-axial that is designed to learn on and they are fun to fly in your lounge. It is a bit limited once youve mastered the basics but you'll always go back to it for a bit of fun when you cant fly anything else

The T-Rex 450 is a really good heli to get however, I would sway away from the expensive metal upgrades for it until you can manage a good hover, the only metal bit I would recommend for starters is the mixing arms... You only need to look at them wrong and they break. Also, be ready for the fact that a trex will cost you about £450 all up (before metal bits).

As to suppliers local to you. Midland Helicopters is in hinckley (www.modelhelicopters.co.uk) and is the biggest specialist model heli shop in the country (maybe even europe). Its not too far from you in Brum.

Also, they run a monthly indoor flyin at the Covenrty connexions sports hall. If you want to come and look at models and see them fly / crash depending on pilot lol its on this Saturday night from 7.00pm till 10.00pm I think. BTW there is a possibility that one of the best model heli pilots in the country (possibly the best) might be there. If so its worth a look.

Hope this helps..... Azzy

[Nighthawk]

Hi Azzy

Again, thanks for all the valuable advise. I had just come across midlandheli site last night and have emailed them about the radio and sim.

I am going to buy the ff7 then, i think lol.

I might go for phoenex sim as its abit cheaper.

Then in 8-10 weeks i will look again at what heli to get. It maybe that i decide to get the bigger trex 650, because i should have alot more to invest by then, we will see?

Ordering the other stuff today, so will let you know how i get on.

Thanks again