cheap heli question???

[shayneyasinski]

hello all
been racing cars semi pro for 15 years and looking for a new slightly more relaxing hobby.
saw this on ebay and it caught my eye.
http://cgi.ebay.ca/NEW-PHOENIX-FP-RC...QQcmdZViewItem

any good???

[Danimal]

Hi shayneasinski
First off let me welcome you to the forum.
That ebay add sure makes that little Heli sound good. But hears my opinion on it.
From what I can tell with a quick search replacement parts are going to be hard to find for this little Heli. They offer an extra set of main and tail blades but trust me that's just the tip of the iceberg you'll find that your going to need to replace several parts as you learn how to fly a Helicopter. These 4 channel fixed pitch Heli's are vary hard for a new to pilot control so crashes are inevitable witch means lots of broken and bent parts. You say your looking for a more relaxing hobby but I'm afraid that a bird like this may prove to be vary stressful to learn with. Unlike other RC hobby's there is never a time when you can relax it demands full concentration from the time you spool up until you land and power down you need control every channel continuously and simultaneously . I've seen seasoned RC airplane pilots give up on Heli's saying that they are to hard to fly.
Pleas don't get me wrong the last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from getting into RC Heli's. Once you learn the basics its one of the most rewarding hobby's you can ever get into and can fast become an addiction. Its just my opinion but I fill that you would be better off starting out with a coaxial type of Helicopter.

[shayneyasinski]

you have said nothing i have not heard befor and i understand .
If your were to buy a good starter heli what would you buy???
I have a rc plane flying field 1500 feet from me so i see guys flying helis and plains all the time and they all say get a big gasser and you will love it.
they also fly 6 thousand dollar gas planes and have 2 or 3 of them each and seem to have big bucks to support the hobby.
I have my 12 grand worth of race cars and just want a cheap heli to see if i can do it.
what are the chances a newbie can fly a fixed pitch heli that sell for about a 100 bucks??
guy makes it look easy but so do the guys around here .
seller says he has all parts so thats a good thing .

shayne

What is it with this myth about r/c helicopters? FP isn't 'easier' than CP, FP is harder as it's all or nothing on the throttle. If you're familiar with r/c cars then orientation shouldn't be a hurdle. Buy a decent CP, apply your car handling skills and take it slowly. Don't expect to emulate the boys in the field overnight - that's why many give it up as "too hard".

[mwwalker]

I bought the phoenix fp in question, and its like the walkera #4, basically a copy!, the extra blades are great, but what you really need is li-poly batteries with a brushless motor!, While learning to hover, I could only maintain lift-off speed for about 2 minutes with the nimh batteries. For $60 bucks and $40 shipping, it's not bad. I've flown rc airplanes for 20 years and trust me starting out is a handful,lol. on liftoff they do drift to the left as you've undoubtedly heard, but keeping that tail straight is my problem!, but with that $100 bucks, i'm ready to move up and onward, i've actually got to where i can hover within an 4 foot square area, just use small inputs on the gimbals and it won't go careening off on you!

[shayneyasinski]

I think i will buy it monday .
the more i read the more i know that i am gonna be going big soon anyway .
I have guy around that fly big nitro stuff and they all say buy big first but i want indoor fun and i have a big bedroom (1100sqft ) so nitro is out.
fp or cp is a no brainer as cp is better but not for a 100 bucks.
I will keep you guys posted on what i end up with .

thanks for the help

[Daz(DJLFlapper)]

Hello,

Originally Posted by TwistedTim

What is it with this myth about r/c helicopters? FP isn't 'easier' than CP, FP is harder as it's all or nothing on the throttle. If you're familiar with r/c cars then orientation shouldn't be a hurdle. Buy a decent CP, apply your car handling skills and take it slowly. Don't expect to emulate the boys in the field overnight - that's why many give it up as "too hard".

The advice given in this reply is a repeat to what has been said before and I am afraid that it is bad advice like this that costs the newbie and puts them off for ever.
Do not try to learn with a fixed pitch right from the off UNLESS you are prepared to spend time and money having lessons on a buddy lead first off. If twistedtim new what he was talking about he would have warned you about the extreem hazards of learning from scratch with a collective pitch heli. Higher rotor RPM, the need for a computer radio that has the ability to opertate one in the first place. and the fact that unless you have got somone on your right arm to help you set it up and configure it you are not going to have it as easy as this guy seems to think.
Certainly being able to drive a car is not going to help you at all. I spent over 30 years with airplanes and when I tried to fly with a collective pitch straight off it cost me dear, Very dear.

The best thing you can do is get yourself a flight training simulator such as the reflex XTR or the realflight G3. there are others to choose from and they will do the job of giving you a great insight to flying whilst also teaching you how to react and fly these heli's.

A collective pitch heli carries a high main rotor head speed and therefor it is a very dangerous thing, If you get close it can and will cause you damage. The helis also get a lot more damage than the fixed pitch versions. they are also a lot more expensive to repair.
It is true you can learn to fly with them a lot more quickly than going the fixed pitch route but you must either spend a lot of time sim training or at the very least get someone to give you lessons via a training cord.

the fixed pitch is only difficult to fly if you dont have it set up for flight. It is simply a case of getting used to the way any heli flys and having the ability to fly them once the heli is set up. Have fun and if you want to go fixed pitch from the off follow some of the very good advice on here and you should have lots of fun.
I do recommend you get a simulator to help though, if not now later, but the sooner the better realy.

[shayneyasinski]

is there a world of differance between flying a fp heli then going into a cp heli??
when i race i only race 4wd touring car stock and some racers will race 4wd touring stock and mod and 1/12 pan car .
you may think a car is a car but even going from stock to mod is a world of differece.
a car that is set up for stock is not going to work for mod as mod is faster .
not all that much say 5 laps in a 5 minute race but it drives different .
same with 1/12 pan and 4wd touring .
in pan car you have to be smooth and glide the corners but touring you can be pushy and power around stuff .
so back to helis what i am wondering is if i buy fixed pitch and i fly it and i fly it well will i be screwed when i buy a cp heli??