New Guy Needs Help

Hey guys..... my first post and a question everyone asks

I am trying to decide on a first Heli and love the looks of the Kyosho Caliber 24

I also like what I read about the Piccalo helis......

I am leaning towards the Kyosho but....
Should I be looking at any others ?? I am a glider pilot currently and not too bad - been flying for a while and gettin tired of winches, large fiels, and high starts to fly.....

SO....... any suggestions and opinions are valued here as I have not seen any of these birds and want something that will fly well and handle some learning bumps........

Thanks guys

Im also getting a kyosho caliber, they look great! look really sturdy aswell!

I have seen the piccolo and no way does it look as good or sturdy!

[vcampos]

Hello EIGHTWGT,

Glad to hear that you are interested in starting with RC helicopters. Let me tell you that you are going to have a lot of fun. I completely understand what you are going through I was there once. Now, you are deciding either to go with Nitro or Electric…

Well, The Kyosho Caliber is a great “Nitro” helicopter for a beginner like you but if money is tight I would recommend an “electric” RC helicopter.

I heard and seen nothing but good things on the “Align T-Rex 450x” This electric helicopter performs very well in the air. And as a beginner, it will give you the much added practice and it also has a collective pitch system which simulates the “Nitro” RC Helicopters.

You can see more if you like at: http://www.helihobby.com/html/trex_helicopter.html they have pictures and a video.

Also, to tell you the truth I don’t know that much about the “Piccolo” but, I think it looks small and fragile…Sorry, maybe somebody will reply with some information on the “Piccolo”

On a side note… I would strongly recommend a “Flight Simulator” like the G3 by Great Planes or the Reflex. A flight simulator will help you cut the learning in half and save you some money on crash repairs…

You can see more if you like at:
http://www.realflight.com/products/g3_main.html
http://www.helihobby.com/html/reflex3d.html

Watch the Reflex video if you get a chance, it looks realistic.


Regards,
Valentine Campos

[Daz(DJLFlapper)]

The picolo pro is a lot smaller than the heli suggested, It is a very capable heli and is fantastic for its size but I would agree that it is not the model to learn with. I have looked at the heli suggested for the first time and first impressions are that it would be quite impact resistant. You will get the usual damage that you get when the heli crash's.
I wouldn't say that it is Best to learn with electric but they have become more rugged in recent years. I would recomend going with a model such as the Caliber as with this heli it can be setup to give you soft flying or hard flight response. Its parts are also available and relatively fairly priced.
The added wieght also means that if you learn in a relatively windless day it will be more stable than electrics of that type.

The best advice I can give is to learn to fly on a good flight simulator on a PC that can handle the graphics. This combination can and will save you a fortune in repair costs.

I'm sure that what ever you choose to do you will enjoy this hobby.
It's a bug that once it bites your hooked as long as you go the right way about starting.

Regards
Darren