Starter Heli

jayo99

Hi Guys,

Thinking of getting a starter heli and have a couple of questions..

. Is electric motor generally the way to go as they are cheaper/easier to fly?

. What is the maximum flying time for electric motor helis?

. What is the maximum range for electric motor helis ?

. Is it easy enough to fit a camera -I've seen this heli (http://radiocontrolledshop.ie/coaxial-helicopters-remote-control-helicopter/2804-6600200-twister-24g-police-helicam-remote-controlled-helicopters-.html) but I heard the flying time is poor ?

. Can I re-use any of the pieces (radio / servos) should I progress onto an engine driven heli later ?

Thx!
jayo

peter bermingham

If you want to get into helis get a collective pitch heli like a trex 450. Flying time would be around 10 to 15 min and when learning ya would want two battery's as 10 to 15 min is not alot of time. Or you could go the nitro road the raptor 30 v2 is a good starter heli now if buying the nitro heli new your going to need a engine pipe transmitter something 6 channel or more starter fuel pump fuel charger glow starter also would recommend a flight sim the phoenix one is good. I started with the raptor 30 i find it a good all round heli its a great hobby to get into. I have crashed me heli twice now and each crash cost me 100 euro but dont let that put you of thats part of the learning curve.But their are some good second hand helis out their adverts.ie donedeal and maci have some for sale with buying second hand the heli is set up just add receiver and away you go . The best bit of advice i can give you is find a rc flying club near to you go their and have a talk to them before you buy anything . You can find a list of clubs here hope this helps MACI - Model Aeronautics Council of Ireland

jayo99

thx Peter for your suggestions.. Looks like as you said the Trex 450 is a good starter and I see there is also for sale on maci..

thx
jayo

peter bermingham

Ya that one dont look to bad at all. Give the radiocontroledshop a ring for transmitter and other bits you need i use them all the time you wont go wrong dealing with him.Look at the futaba transmitters their good . And good luck with what ever you buy they take awhile to learn to fly but when you get their ITS GREAT .Thats where the sim comes in it will save you hundreds if you are close to mayo ill can help you out with what ever i can good luck

Quandry

As a general rule of thumb, smaller things are more flighty and harder to control in the air. I learnt on a second hand Raptor 30 so I would be biased to that method rather than going for a 450 or coaxial.

Yes on a glow model you have the engine to play around with but the bird is pretty stable in the air even in a bit of a breeze or gusty day. I have a 450 size electric (Hirobo Embla) and while it's a sweet machine I would not say it would be as easy to learn on as an old Rappy. The good thing about the Raptor was that because it was second hand I wasnt too worried about banging it up a bit if I crashed it. Also at the time parts were pretty cheap however that was a lot of years ago now and maybe these days it's not so easy to buy Raptor parts.

Two important things you need when starting are patience and help. What county do you live in and do you have friends that already fly R/C?

I also agree with the above poster about getting a simulator, it's a good way to build up your skills quickly.

syl77

If i had to choose between the two, and coming from one who also learnt on a Rappy 30 and also had a trex 450, i would go with the rappy 30.
As Quandry said it will be more stable in flight and will handle the wind alot better. Its also mechanical CCPM which is a little easier setting up when starting off over the 450's Electronic CCPM. I also found the OS 38 engine I had in my raptor the easiest engine to maintain, never gave me a days trouble.
However, the above advise is based on learning to fly, you mentioned attaching a camera, so electric is the way to go as the glow powered heli will have vibrations that will be seen on camera footage.
My advise - learn to fly first, thats where the enjoyment is...
Thumbs up also for radiocontroledshop.ie .....

peter bermingham

hope i didnt give you bad advice as the other two posts says the raptor 30 is better in the wind and we get plenty of that its a very stable heli to

jayo99

Hey Peter, np on the recommendation... All feedback is welcome

I hadnt even considered the vibration from a glow powered heli.. Good info syl77

I was at the curragh yesterday where a numer of guys were flying model planes.. Some v nice models ! No helis tho

Bruthal

jayo99 wrote: »

Hey Peter, np on the recommendation... All feedback is welcome

I hadnt even considered the vibration from a glow powered heli.. Good info syl77

I was at the curragh yesterday where a numer of guys were flying model planes.. Some v nice models ! No helis tho

The electric helis have vibration too, not as much though. The nito oil can also be a problem for cameras.

Quandry

jayo99 wrote: »

Hey Peter, np on the recommendation... All feedback is welcome

I hadnt even considered the vibration from a glow powered heli.. Good info syl77

I was at the curragh yesterday where a numer of guys were flying model planes.. Some v nice models ! No helis tho

If you're stuck for heli guys to talk to, there will be some in the Phoenix park tomorrow afternoon for sure.

Another heli worth considering would be a Hirobo Sceadu 30 or 50 size. They're a similar design to the Rappy (good for learning) and are coming up at good prices. eg:

http://radiocontrolledshop.ie/used-rc-products/3577-hirobo-sceadu-50-used.html
http://radiocontrolledshop.ie/used-rc-products/4051-shuttle-sceadu-evolutionnitro-helicopter-used.html

Hirobo helis are good quality and fly nice. Here's a link to my Sceadu reserection thread if you want to see a Sceadu in detail:
http://www.rcparkflying.com/radio-control-park-flying-forum/34-helicopters/39856-hirobo-sceadu-evo-50-back-in-action

Hopefully I'll be up flying my Sceadu tomorrow in the Phoenix Park if weather and time permits.

Quandry

Unfortunately the blusty and rainy weather has ruled out heli flying today..

Irish Steve

For what it's worth, I made the decision to get something slightly larger, and got a Trex 500 clone, which came fitted with a Turnigy 9X radio and a GA-250 tail gyro. I also got 2 batteries, (6S 3000 Mah) so that one can be charging while the other is being used, and with a good charger, they will charge in 30 minutes.

Prior to the 500, I had about 5 minutes heli flying time with a very small coaxial, so realistically, no sensible heli experience. I've put about 10 hours on the 500 at this stage, and had no major mishaps, albeit that I've been learning effectively indoors, so no wind issues, and have spent a lot of time reading, checking and making sure of my information.

I spent some time using a simulator before starting flying the 500, and the 500 had been set up by an experienced pilot, so the basic setup was within reasonable standards. I did some radio flying a good few years ago, and have some full size fix wing flying experience, but the helicopter is a new area for me.

So far, I've replaced a blade, clipped by a leg from the training gear that hopped out of it's hub, with no other damage, so the training gear got fitted with bolts to prevent that happening again, and I've replaced a couple of gears in the tail rotor drive after a tail rotor ground touch, but they are the only flying incidents, and I'm at the stage now where I can do a full pack (about 8 minutes) at flight power, so get it off the ground, and keep it in the air for the entire pack, in hover and close in movements, (all tail in still, nothing too adventurous) but with movement out and back to the front and sides of the landing spot.

With a little more experience, I've been making changes to the set up on the transmitter, which is fully computerised, which has made it easier to fly, and I've also done a few things to the settings on the machine itself, which has improved it's stability. It will almost fly hands off, which for a machine that's not fitted with a flight stabiliser, is encouraging, and I will be experimenting shortly with a stabiliser, not that the 500 needs, it, but a much larger scale Nitro machine that I have for sure will need it, due to it's rarity and age.

Electric is a lot less hassle in terms of where you can fly, Nitro needs space away from people and houses to a greater extent, and Nitro needs a lot more field gear in terms of starters, glow plug power, fuel and pump, and more time for things like cleaning between flight sessions.

there are good clones, and there are bad clones of the 500, and knowing which is which is not easy. They can be considerably cheaper than the Align range, and the Turnigy is a fraction of the price of something like the Futaba and other top end radios, and as far as I'm concerned, they work well.

Don't try to do this on your own, you will need to be able to talk to others that have already been there and probably shredded the T shirt several times. If you get it wrong, helicopters can be a very expensive hobby, get it right, or even nearly right, and it will be much more rewarding.

The radios can be used in any model, flying, or on the ground, like a car, or steam railway, and it's easy and cheap to get extra receivers, and servos, but they can be moved from model to model if the budget is a problem. The modern computer radios can hold settings for a number of different models, and it's a few button presses to change from a helicopter to a glider, or a powered fixed wing aircraft.

Hope that helps

Steve

Bruthal

Irish Steve wrote: »

Prior to the 500, I had about 5 minutes heli flying time with a very small coaxial, so realistically, no sensible heli experience. I've put about 10 hours on the 500 at this stage, and had no major mishaps, albeit that I've been learning effectively indoors, so no wind issues

Once you get used to flying them, they are well able for good winds from the 500 size upwards. I find the trex 450 tail can lose authority when turning quickly in strong winds, but the 600 one it has hardly any affect on.

You will notice if in a hover, if an increase in wind speed happens, the heli has increased lift as the wind removes the blades own induced downflow of air through the blades, which means it needs slightly less lift to hover. The opposite then happens if the wind drops a little where the heli will sink a little. Its very noticeable in very blustery conditions.

The same happens when the heli hovers near the ground, the ground reduces the downward induced flow of air through the blades also, by blocking the air flow straight downwards (in ground effect), so if you gently let the heli sink from about 6 feet, it will stop sinking about a half rotor diameter from the ground. For full size helis, this means they could in certain conditions, actually take off from a high altitude location, but cant get up away from the ground.

I think full size helis actually have this max altitude (with in ground effect) listed in their specs.

Irish Steve

robbie7730 wrote: »

Once you get used to flying them, they are well able for good winds from the 500 size upwards.

Fortunately, I've done a lot of full size (fixed wing) flying, so had to get used to the ground effect scenario and I've noticed that also with the model heli's.

The 500 is the training machine for a much larger and older historic heli, a friend has a 30+ year old Graupner Bell 212, and as a result of getting involved with restoring that to flying condition, I now find myself the proud and happy owner of one of these amazing machines, thanks to some serious good luck on E-Bay.

They are OLD, parts are like Hen's teeth, and they are not as easy to fly as a modern machine, but I am seriously looking forward to getting this monster in the air. That will be a while yet, I'm not going to risk it until I'm happy with the basic skills on the Trex, and only then will the Bell become an option, and with a stabiliser gyro on it, as it's not a 3D machine, far from it, so gentle realistic flying will be the limit of the Bell operation, but even that is going to be impressive, especially if we get to the stage where 2 of them can be flown in (loose) formation, mine is still Nitro, so limited as to where it can be flown, the other one has been converted to Electric power, but it will be capable of outdoor work if the testing we've been doing recently is anything to go by.

It's going to be interesting, and fun, we'll probably have some heartaches along the way, but it will be worth it.

Cheers

Steve

Bruthal

Irish Steve wrote: »

Fortunately, I've done a lot of full size (fixed wing) flying, so had to get used to the ground effect scenario and I've noticed that also with the model heli's.

The 500 is the training machine for a much larger and older historic heli, a friend has a 30+ year old Graupner Bell 212, and as a result of getting involved with restoring that to flying condition, I now find myself the proud and happy owner of one of these amazing machines, thanks to some serious good luck on E-Bay.

They are OLD, parts are like Hen's teeth, and they are not as easy to fly as a modern machine, but I am seriously looking forward to getting this monster in the air. That will be a while yet, I'm not going to risk it until I'm happy with the basic skills on the Trex, and only then will the Bell become an option, and with a stabiliser gyro on it, as it's not a 3D machine, far from it, so gentle realistic flying will be the limit of the Bell operation, but even that is going to be impressive, especially if we get to the stage where 2 of them can be flown in (loose) formation, mine is still Nitro, so limited as to where it can be flown, the other one has been converted to Electric power, but it will be capable of outdoor work if the testing we've been doing recently is anything to go by.

It's going to be interesting, and fun, we'll probably have some heartaches along the way, but it will be worth it.

Cheers

Steve

Sounds great that with the older heli`s,,, yea them type heli`s are for realistic type flying, and that type of flying is a skill in itself. I often try flying the 600 around like a real one, nice and easy, and it takes more concentration to do it smoothly than lashing it around fast.

You should take some video of it when you get it flying, and put it up.

laurah

I am selling a trex 500.

See my ad on adverts.ie

http://www.adverts.ie/radio-control/trex-500/1688658