Sort of new in Helis, need some help.

[Razor_Racer]

Hey guys, first post here. I have a Blade CX2 and so far its been great, but I want to upgrade to something bigger, and I have a BUNCH of questions.

First of all, nitro or electric? I suppose electrics might be the best move up, though.

Then, what size heli to get, and what kind? This is all sort of confusing to me, so I'm at a total loss. I want something bigger than the CX2. I looked around and saw that the T-Rex 450 was bigger, but I like the size of the T-Rex 600. My only conern in price - how much would each cost, RTF including radio/battery/charger? Thanks!

[Aztek1701]

Hi Razor,

Welcome to the forums and the addiction

To get an idea what you want you need to ask yourself a couple of other questions...

1. How much space do I have to fly this heli.
2. How much support do I have for the the heli.

For Question 1. if you are flying in a public park, then that eliminates nitro helis from the equation and unless the park is pretty big, the chances of running a t-rex 600 are remote. You need to remember 1 important difference between what you are used to compared to what you want to buy. Speed. All the models you are thinking about can easily do 20 - 40 mph in normal flight so they need a lot of space to fly. The bigger machines are really suited to proper flying fields. So to summarise this. If your flying in a public park, the Trex 450 is the best bet

For Question 2. I would suggest you seek out a local club and see what they are flying. Then look at joining the club and getting a similar model to what others are flying. The reason for this is that they will be able to help you set the thing up and will be able to test fly it for you. Again, if you have no clubs etc in your area, then I would suggest the trex 450 again because it costs less in spares.

The cost of getting a trex 450 flying is going to be roughly $750-1000 once youve bought everything you need to get it flying. A trex 600 is going to be about $900-1400 and a Nitro is going to be $1000-1600 These are just guesses BTW
The problem is that you need to get so much more than the kit ...

Heli.
Transmitter
Reciever
Crystals
3 Servos
Speed controller or throttle servo
Motor or engine if its not included in the kit.
Gyro
Tail Servo
Lipo Battery or fuel
Charger
Balancer (if you want to do it right)

You can buy packages and you might get a good deal on one.

The important rule of thumb is this.. The bigger the heli, the easier it is to fly (generally) BUT the more it costs to fix and run

Hope this helps and good luck with it ...

Azzy

[hawkman]

Thats definately a good load of advice there....I would totally reinforce the size thing....I run a Predator Gasser which is a lovely heli but needs loads of space....so when I am at work its out of the question....if I had a TRex 450 then I would be ok...because at work there is a nice little garden to fly in.

Spares costs? because you will have a crunch from time to time...its a fact for all of us.

I fairly minor/normal crunch is going to cost about one third the value of the helis first cost....so as the heli range gets expensive the costs will rise too...so do think about that.

I really like the Trex 450 series of helis....they might be small but they fly well....though can be a bit tricky....make sure to get a good simulator so you can get used to how they fly.

Rob

[Razor_Racer]

Thanks guys! To clarify some things:

-I have a about an acre of backyard
-No flying clubs, but my LHS has quite a bit of heli stuff. Not sure if they stock T-Rex parts, though.

It looks like the 450 is the best bet for me. Yesterday I started to look for places to buy these things, and helihobby seemed to be the best site for this. They have some awesome package deals, too. I have a budget of 800 dollars, for everything, including radio, battery charger... basically everything.

Heres a link to some 450s:
http://www.helihobby.com/html/t_rex_...r_edition.html

I like the "T-REX 450SA ARF Electric Mini Heli", the second one on the page. It seems fairly cheap. But also theres the real nice looking "T-Rex 450SE V2 Combo Kit", the one loaded with CF, SSG and that stuff. Its a bit more expensive and probably would cost more than 800 total, but I can go over my budget quite a bit.

The T-Rex 450SE V2 Combo Kit looks real good to me. I think I have a knack for flying helis, as I managed to get my CX2 hovering above 3 feet and doing simple turns and motions - on my 2nd battery pack.

Well anyways, here is a small shopping list:
T-Rex 450SE V2 Combo Kit - $540
Spektrum DX6 (with all the servos) -$200

As for charger, I'm completely clueless on what is a good one. Also I'm clueless about a gyro. Besides that, I dont really need anything else besides extra parts. The combo already comes with a battery, esc, and motor.

Thanks!

[hawkman]

Good luck with what you choose....I

[hawkman]

£$"£$"£%%£$%!!!!ing!!! computer

[hawkman]

Heres a good website for the Rex

www.trextuning.com

[Aztek1701]

Hi again Razor,

With an acre of ground to play with I would reckon any heli is usable in that space but without support, the trex 450 is still the better choice because the parts cost less.

As far as a gyro recommendation goes.. The Futaba GY401 takes a lot of beating but will cost you around $150-170 without the tail servo. The align gyro is much less but its not as good. A charger recommendation? I run the Robbe Power Peak ultimate Li which is a good charger (around $180 - power supply to run it from the mains) but again align do a charger for around $80. The important thing to specify is that it MUST BE ABLE TO CHARGE LITHIUM BATTERIES.

The spectrum dx6 is a good radio for the t-rex but make sure that the included servos fit the heli or you could be looking for 3 new servos.

Hope this helps... Azzy