RC Heli : Which one should I start with?

[ussfletcher]

Parrot AR drone 2.0 - but is a quad copter. Controlled with iOS and android devices but can be hacked to use a traditional 5 or 6 chan TX/RX. I'll let you know how well it does once it arrives.

I got into the heli stuff for a bit. It's fun until you demolsh them a few times. Still got a CP-pro in box somewhere collecting dust.

I believe I will be purchasing one in the next few days, as well. I have had a couple cheap RC planes and helicopters, but I have been really interested in these since the last version. After I get bored with it as it is, I plan on using it as a reference for a project I'm going to build.

 

[Raduque]

This thread inspired me to buy some replacement parts for my Honeybee FP, and one of those Syma coaxials to derp around the living room with.

 

[JJ650]

So, basically you sweat because you were afraid of a crash? Yeah, that is in every way directly related to how difficult it is to fly.

It's OK, life is a bitch when you're not that bright.

Troll much?

I am not saying racing takes no concentration. Quite the opposite in fact. The level of concentration is a few notches higher when stunt flying with helis.

Worried about crashing? Yeah.
A heli/plane crash is alot more involved and costly then replacing the common breaks on a pancar/truck/truggy.

 

[Thebobo]

None get DLG and fly like a man!

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Flew my 9053 last night for some practice and had a few hard crashes but flew better for the most part. The balance bar got bent to hell so I swapped it out with the plastic balance bar of the 9077 and also shifted the battery forward to put more weight in the nose. I'll fly today to see how these changes affect the flight characteristics.

I'm debating whether I need to reverse the B blade grip and change the tail rotor. The B blade grip reversal looks to be a PITA and I'm not sure I get why gaining 1" between the A and B blades gains you much, since I believe the balance bar colliding with the A blades is the major issue and the reversal would not change the space between them at all.

The tail rotor mod will increase the power but possibly burn out the transistors on the main board if the blade is too big.

Can any of you helicopter aces explain to me what a 600 size helicopter is or where is a good resource to read up on them? I found a really cool Airwolf fuselage in that size and thought that if I get into this hobby and get good, I might try an advanced build like that at some point but I want to read more about it.

 

[notposting]

The real ones as mentioned come $100 and up for quality. You can buy the remote separately and then you will be able to just buy helicopters and bind them to the remote.

However the S107's have a perfect place...with our toddler. I can crash it all over, he will grab it and bring it back or toss it, he has flown it numerous times (into the ceiling, floor, ceiling again, wall, tv, shelf BOOM). Durable and at ~25 per heli no biggie. Plus plenty of replacement parts.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

The real ones as mentioned come $100 and up for quality. You can buy the remote separately and then you will be able to just buy helicopters and bind them to the remote.

However the S107's have a perfect place...with our toddler. I can crash it all over, he will grab it and bring it back or toss it, he has flown it numerous times (into the ceiling, floor, ceiling again, wall, tv, shelf BOOM). Durable and at ~25 per heli no biggie. Plus plenty of replacement parts.

I almost bought a 107, but I wanted something bigger so I got the 9053 since it was only $50. I figured that once I get it modded to fly well, I could learn on it and then maybe move up the chain to a $100 chopper and then maybe one of the big boys.

Are "gas powered" (not sure what the fuel is for sure) RC choppers dead, or just at the very high end?

 

[Doublejr]

Gas are not dead, just pricey.

I get most of my rc info here http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/index.php

Pretty huge community there, and lots of good information.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Well crap. Took it out to fly and it drifted into my willow tree about 20-25 ft high. I couldn't get enough forward thrust to clear the tree and it tangled with some branches and came crashing down nose first onto my paver patio. Smashed the head cover badly and bent the aluminum frame.

 

[Pneumothorax]

Just don't get addicted like me. I've dumped about $10,000 so far on RC helis lol. That's 1/2 of my fleet up there. To the guy above who's trolling with on-road, much of on-road racing skill is your high speed hand eye coordination and learning the layout of the track. 3d heli flying requires the coordination and being able to constantly think in a 3d space in hi speed. Biggest cause of a heli crash is loosing your orientation. That is not so much an issue on road racing. One of the hardest 3d tricks is the chaos/piroflip, while rotating the heli at max speed with the rudder/collective stick, you have to track the heading of the heli and head the cyclic in the same direction. Meanwhile you also have juggle how far you are to the ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17lmeOfpxVU

Electric is where it's at. The latest 10,000 watt brushless motors powered with a 12s lipo setup (yes thats 50 volts of lipo battteries) will easily overpower the most powerful 120 nitro motors in the largest helis. Gasoline powered ones are barely powerful enough for 3d maneuvers. Their advantage is 30 min flight times.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Disassembled the helicopter and removed the side aluminum frame and hammered it back in shape. While I had it apart, I took the opportunity to go ahead and reverse the B blade grip and then I took it out for a test flight when I put it back together. It was flying in a straight line and getting some pretty good forward thrust. I don't think the grip reversal would make that big of a difference, but maybe it does.

 

[mcvickj]

This thread finally pushed me over the edge of waiting to buy a RC heli. I picked up the Blade MCX2 from Amazon. I have to say this thing is pretty awesome. I can already tell I am going to need more than one battery. Will have to pick up a few spares and the 4 port charger / AC adapter. Still trying to achieve a low level hover. The throttle is very touchy. I also need to do some trimming with the rudder to keep it from turning on me with no input.

 

[El Guaraguao]

Hey mcvickj, how long does one fully charged battery last on the MCX2? and how long does it last? I was thinking about purchasing a MCX2..

 

[mcvickj]

I bet it was a good 15 minutes of run time on a full charge. This little helicopter is very addicting. The battery that came with my MCX2 is a 1S 3.7V 150mAh 25C battery. EFLB1501S25 is the part number listed on the battery. The MCX2 comes with a charger but it runs on 4 "AA" batteries to charge the LiPo battery. It takes 30-40 minutes to charge the battery after it is drained. If you want to charge it using AC power you will need the 6V adapter which is part number EFLC1005.

 

[Pneumothorax]

If you want your batteries to last for a long time, keep their immediate after flight Voltage to >3.7 per cell (I do 3.75 for margin). If you fly till the electronics cut off at 3.0 volts your batteries won't last long at all.
For my mcx2 that was only about 4-5 minutes of constant hovering.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[JJ650]

If you want your batteries to last for a long time, keep their immediate after flight Voltage to >3.7 per cell (I do 3.75 for margin). If you fly till the electronics cut off at 3.0 volts your batteries won't last long at all.
For my mcx2 that was only about 4-5 minutes of constant hovering.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

You keep your cutoff at 3.7?? How much flight time are you getting?
I just normally let the electronics kill the power (sucks in mid-manuver ).

Mine have been sitting for so long, I don't know if they are even good anymore. Most went on to power some brushless truggies.

 

[Pneumothorax]

You keep your cutoff at 3.7?? How much flight time are you getting?
I just normally let the electronics kill the power (sucks in mid-manuver ).

Mine have been sitting for so long, I don't know if they are even good anymore. Most went on to power some brushless truggies.

Flight time all depends on your size of heli, motor/gearing, blade size, head speed, battery capacity, and most importantly - flight style. On my 450 with 3S 2200 batteries, I can hover for about 5 minutes or so with a 3450 head speed. With stick banging, I'm only getting about 3-4 minutes before 3.7 volts. On my 700E with 2000 head speed 12S 5300mah batteries, I can get 7 minutes of circuit flying and 4:30 on 3d flying.

 

[AgentUnknown]

To all those serious, get a sim. It saves u parts, and every crash it deducts a lil bit from paypal acct.