Helis and Maintenance

zt-OctaviaN

Hi guys,

Im wondering about helis and maintenance as Id like if I can squeeze some cash together to get into helis.

I race Off Road 1/8th buggies and there pricey to keep maintened e.g. a wet run and bearings are shot!! shock seals diff seals glow plugs tyres et etc and cleaning well nuff said on that youve seen the nationals pics posted by vectra!

From what I can see Helis dont really get that dirty dont get bashed around on the ground....much.... .

What are they like to maintain? If its the type you need to know its the Align T Rex 450 SEV2 and half thinking of getting? its alot to start but saves upgrading to another I was looking at DX7 for Radio gear as it works on larger models e.g. t rex 600

This will obviously be electric li poli starting out.

Any comments appreciated!

By the way anyone know if real flight G3 might work with a playstation 3 controller??? just got a windows driver for it! but its usb.
Realflight only goes via serial isnt it? anywhere these cables are available for the dx7?

Thanks,
Nick.

The Doktor

All i`ll say is... a cocaine habit would be cheaper!
until ya can fly that is..

Plug

Airplanes are the way to go or consider cocaine.

syl77

Once you initially buy everything to get into the air, maintenance cost is mainly made up of repairs from crashes. The general rule is, the bigger the heli the more expensive the parts are.
Look at the cost of parts for the general items that go when a heli goes down, Main & tail blades, boom (possible: torque tube), flybar, main shaft and spindle, linkages and possibly lipos (in electrics). These items are nearly always a given. In worst case scenarios’ you may crack frames, if these are carbon or G10, they can be expensive. The cost will depend upon the type of crash and how quick you hit throttle hold. Sense starting, iv had crashes cost me anything from 20 euros to 200 euros. I think I have been lucky, ive never had to replace electrics or engines. The trex 450 isn't bad cost wise to repair.
Maintenance also means time checking over heli for any possible problems that may occur in the air. The rest of maintenance cost is probably upgrades.
Not sure about G3, but with G3.5, you use a USB dongle when plugging in transmitter (G3.5 comes with a Tx). As far as I know, you can not use a playstation 3 controller with G3.

I would say flying RC helis is safer than cocaine, but after two separate incidents last week at IRCHA 2007 (world’s largest RC heli event) where two people were struck by heli crashes, now am not so sure...:)

Plug

do you have an pics or videos of that crash.

hobie

I think every heli should come with a flight engineer !!!! ...... :rolleyes:

The one and only Heli prang I've seen was a guy with a 'Master' heli rating ..... a split second wrong decision and it went into self destruct mode .....

It was very similar to this YouTube clip ..... If I rem my German the "Oh Shizer" (sp) just about sums up a typical Heli crash ....

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JdrBihTT3p0

Chaz

syl77 wrote:

Once you initially buy everything to get into the air, maintenance cost is mainly made up of repairs from crashes. The general rule is, the bigger the heli the more expensive the parts are.
Look at the cost of parts for the general items that go when a heli goes down, Main & tail blades, boom (possible: torque tube), flybar, main shaft and spindle, linkages and possibly lipos (in electrics). These items are nearly always a given. In worst case scenarios’ you may crack frames, if these are carbon or G10, they can be expensive. The cost will depend upon the type of crash and how quick you hit throttle hold. Sense starting, iv had crashes cost me anything from 20 euros to 200 euros. I think I have been lucky, ive never had to replace electrics or engines. The trex 450 isn't bad cost wise to repair.
Maintenance also means time checking over heli for any possible problems that may occur in the air. The rest of maintenance cost is probably upgrades.
Not sure about G3, but with G3.5, you use a USB dongle when plugging in transmitter (G3.5 comes with a Tx). As far as I know, you can not use a playstation 3 controller with G3.

I would say flying RC helis is safer than cocaine, but after two separate incidents last week at IRCHA 2007 (world’s largest RC heli event) where two people were struck by heli crashes, now am not so sure...:)

Not entirely aaccurate about the bigger the heli the bigger the spares cost. Many of the smaller helis like TREX 450 and ZOOM 400 types spares are more finicky and cost more than for example TREX 600 or Raptor 30/50.

While it is expected that a person will crash when flying anything - it doesnt always just happen, neither does it have to be expensive.

Im flying a TREX 600, around 35 flights and all ok (touch wood). I am not an experienced pilot, this is my first real heli. Did the 'training wheels' thing, then ditched them, now started flying mild 3d and basic figure 8 flying etc. Its not rocket science - just take it easy.

As for maintenance - there are some recommended things to do on each heli in time. It is advised that I relubricate some bits on mine now as well as general checks etc - hardly anything more than a bit of effort and time.

hobie

Why are so many exotic moves carried out at such low altitude ? .....

here's an example .....

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u3c3F1YSBXA&NR=1

Chaz

hobie wrote:

Why are so many exotic moves carried out at such low altitude ? .....

here's an example .....

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u3c3F1YSBXA&NR=1

Part of the fun / challenge. Nothing looks spectacular at 100foot into the air ...

The Doktor

I had to give up drink since starting....
.... though helis are better than drink ...:D

Cos its not necessarily the crashes thatll cost ya.....
...... UPGRADES!!!!!!!!!!

And dont tell me ya wont do em!

zt-OctaviaN

Ya i noticed that on the vids e.g that guy tried to go inverted and literly would have been a close call to complete the backwards rotation into the final position?? odd that!
Any way thanks for the comments so there not to bad just crashes can be costly if you dont flick the throttle switch!

Is 571 dollars including shipping cheap for:
Thats 430 euro (+ 95 euro customs at 22% if caught!)

Spektrum DX7 w/6100 reciever and 4 x 285 servos (for cyclic)
Futaba 401 Gyro
Hitec HS9650 (tail servo)

Nick

hobie

Chaz wrote:

Part of the fun / challenge. Nothing looks spectacular at 100foot into the air ...

You can say that again !!!! .......

Plug

hobie wrote:

Why are so many exotic moves carried out at such low altitude ? .....

here's an example .....

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u3c3F1YSBXA&NR=1

I thought you were missing an "i" in moves:D

vectra

zt-OctaviaN wrote:

Hi guys,

From what I can see Helis dont really get that dirty dont get bashed around on the ground....much.... .
Thanks,
Nick.

I think you should have stressed that word MUCH a little more..:D

gate82

hi
anyone know of any rc clubs around dublin where you can learn to fly rc helicopters?

coolwings

Sure.
Not all model flying clubs are happy with heli fliers.
That is because a minority of heli fliers prefer to fly in a way that doesn't fit in with the accepted practise in several clubs.
So "friendliness" can vary a lot, some are more friendly than others, and some are very friendly and have special heli advantages to offer .. instruction etc.
Try here for a start. www.maci.ie. I suggest you visit them and see where you like.

coolwings

Chaz wrote:

Part of the fun / challenge. Nothing looks spectacular at 100foot into the air ...

True for everyone, but wisdom is not crashing it trying to impress some idiot that can't fly, doesn't know what a Cuban 8, or Lomchovak is, and won't pay for the damage caused in putting the show!