What to do with a Heli?
08-11-2008, 04:06 AM
#16
I guess from what I've been reading here then, you guys would tell me to decline the offer on a used heli that a friend of mine has offered to sell me. I have no heli experience and I know he's had no luck trying/learning to fly it - seems he is constantly repairing it.
I'm guessing I would have no better time of it than he's been having and he has a big warehouse to play in at work. Right now I have little free time anyway and if these are a big time investment, I just don't have the spare time. Am I reading this right?
I'm guessing I would have no better time of it than he's been having and he has a big warehouse to play in at work. Right now I have little free time anyway and if these are a big time investment, I just don't have the spare time. Am I reading this right?
08-11-2008, 06:04 AM
#17
Some people crash a heli once and are done and sell the thing. Some crash once then learn about how it works and how to set it up properly and start slow. Its up to you but just take it slow learning how to fly.
08-11-2008, 06:08 PM
#18
Well, my friend Richard has crashed his about a dozen times - and after the last one, he put it away. I have not really paid that much attention, sometimes I'm laughing too hard, but I remember him saying blades, all the time its blades. This was a surpprise from his wife and its not cheap or entry knowing her.
I guess what I'm trying to get an idea on is will this take months or weeks or days? He got to the point where he is at now in a few weeks, but apparently never developed past a point when he put it away. I don't think he was ever able to complete a full batt pac without an incident.
If I'm going to try it, I would like to do better than that.
I guess what I'm trying to get an idea on is will this take months or weeks or days? He got to the point where he is at now in a few weeks, but apparently never developed past a point when he put it away. I don't think he was ever able to complete a full batt pac without an incident.
If I'm going to try it, I would like to do better than that.
08-11-2008, 07:26 PM
#19
What helicopter did he have.
08-12-2008, 12:40 PM
#21
A trex is a really good heli. If you take it slow enough and are persistant you will learn.
08-12-2008, 05:03 PM
#23
If you are just going to get a blade don't worry about a sim but if you are going to get a 3d capable heli like a t-rex raptor x-cell and so on you will definitely need a good flight sim like real flight.Believe me I used to fly planes all the time when I was younger and then flew a heli on the sim and it took me about 50 crashes just to be able to hover the thing half a$$.The real flight sim is pretty close to the real thing except for the wind.3d helis are not cheap and when you crash them they need to be completely checked over and setup again.Which is no where as easy as putting a car on the setup board.
08-12-2008, 05:18 PM
#24
I guess im the only one who learned without a sim
. I cant fly those things on the sim at all.
. I cant fly those things on the sim at all.
08-14-2008, 11:34 PM
#25
Tech Rookie
Flying a heli takes alot of discipline and practise. Ive seen guys practise 2 hrs a day and 6 months later they can still only hover.At first you crash a lot, almost weekly and its expensive . I would recomend a 450se cause when you do crash you only replace blades flybars and mainshafts costing about $30 per crash.The alloy head parts survive many crashes. If you get a plastic head heli you break a whole lot more so the crash cost is higher. And the align450se can do mental 3d or still be a good learner. Either way you will never outfly this heli.
Watch some vids on runryder and heli freak and watch people fly at the local club. It is pointless to buy cheap crap in this game as you will get frustrated when you try and fly a turd that doesnt want to fly.So unless this is something you want to commit to fully leave it alone. But once you get started you will love it. And once you start crashing once every 8 weeks or so, average crash at say $40. Theirs not to many thing s that you can do for $5 a week.
Pace your learning and dont expect to set the sky abalze in your first day of flying.
This is what i would recomend you to buy as a good strong,nice flying set up that will take you as far as you want
- Trex 450se v2(includes motor esc and blades and a lipo ithink)
-futaba gy401 gyro and 9650 tail servo
-hs 65 Metal gear servos 3 of em for cyclics (the plastic gear version servos break and anything less will cause the heli to be unstable as the servos are weak and do not centre
- Go with a dx7 or dx6i radio. pcm lockout sux on a heli ,and spinning metal parts cause lockouts
This is pretty much solid gear and anything less will result in a poor handling heli, so buy once but buy right.
I dont mean to put you off, i just hate seeing people spending money on junk and get frustrated and give up. Its a great hobby as you can go to a park fly for 20 mins and come home. where as a race meet can take up most of your day and you only get 40 mins track time.
Hope this helps
Watch some vids on runryder and heli freak and watch people fly at the local club. It is pointless to buy cheap crap in this game as you will get frustrated when you try and fly a turd that doesnt want to fly.So unless this is something you want to commit to fully leave it alone. But once you get started you will love it. And once you start crashing once every 8 weeks or so, average crash at say $40. Theirs not to many thing s that you can do for $5 a week.
Pace your learning and dont expect to set the sky abalze in your first day of flying.
This is what i would recomend you to buy as a good strong,nice flying set up that will take you as far as you want
- Trex 450se v2(includes motor esc and blades and a lipo ithink)
-futaba gy401 gyro and 9650 tail servo
-hs 65 Metal gear servos 3 of em for cyclics (the plastic gear version servos break and anything less will cause the heli to be unstable as the servos are weak and do not centre
- Go with a dx7 or dx6i radio. pcm lockout sux on a heli ,and spinning metal parts cause lockouts
This is pretty much solid gear and anything less will result in a poor handling heli, so buy once but buy right.
I dont mean to put you off, i just hate seeing people spending money on junk and get frustrated and give up. Its a great hobby as you can go to a park fly for 20 mins and come home. where as a race meet can take up most of your day and you only get 40 mins track time.
Hope this helps
08-15-2008, 07:26 AM
#26
Tech Rookie
I cant fly those things on the sim at all.
08-15-2008, 06:02 PM
#27
Ok I just bought a Blade 400 from someone who only ran 4 packs through it for $300 flat. I'm a newbe to flying, so please tell me this is not the biggest piece of chit like I saw someone post. I hope this wasn't a mistake, I thought $300 wasn't a bad price for a pretty much brand new Heli. The Heli was never crashed he said he didn't have the time for it.
08-15-2008, 07:00 PM
#28
Ok I just bought a Blade 400 from someone who only ran 4 packs through it for $300 flat. I'm a newbe to flying, so please tell me this is not the biggest piece of chit like I saw someone post. I hope this wasn't a mistake, I thought $300 wasn't a bad price for a pretty much brand new Heli. The Heli was never crashed he said he didn't have the time for it.
09-02-2008, 08:08 AM
#29
Ok I just bought a Blade 400 from someone who only ran 4 packs through it for $300 flat. I'm a newbe to flying, so please tell me this is not the biggest piece of chit like I saw someone post. I hope this wasn't a mistake, I thought $300 wasn't a bad price for a pretty much brand new Heli. The Heli was never crashed he said he didn't have the time for it.
09-03-2008, 03:01 PM
#30
Thanks for the suggestions. I've actually also talked to guys on helifreak.com and this is my plan:
I am going to get a simulator--I'd really like Realflight G4, but I'll settle for Clearview and a cheap controller.
After, I'll go straight to a Blade 400 or so, and replace the servos (I hear the stock ones strip all the time when it crashes, and aren't great in general) when I get a more steady job. So I guess I'll just log some time in a sim before I buy the real thing.
If anyone has a good Blade 400 for around $250 RTF, I'd seriously consider... or even Realflight G3.5 or G4...
I am going to get a simulator--I'd really like Realflight G4, but I'll settle for Clearview and a cheap controller.
After, I'll go straight to a Blade 400 or so, and replace the servos (I hear the stock ones strip all the time when it crashes, and aren't great in general) when I get a more steady job. So I guess I'll just log some time in a sim before I buy the real thing.
If anyone has a good Blade 400 for around $250 RTF, I'd seriously consider... or even Realflight G3.5 or G4...
You can also buy a sim cord to use your Tx with clearview, so that's pretty cool.
I think going straight for a 400 class heli is a good idea. I tried learning on the blade cp and got so frustrated I almost gave up. Then I bought a t-rex and it was a lot more fun. Now i can fly the blade but I would never have learned to fly with it and I'll never buy another one.
The cx could be considered a "real time sim". It will help with learning orientation (side in nose in etc.) But can't be flown in wind at all. And when it comes right down to it, it doesn't fly much like a CP heli.
Another heli you might consider is the EF Cypher 400. One of the local guys here swears by them and he's had a lot of different helis.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!