Show off you Swift

[RAV50]

shaggybird,

Actually, it may sound expensive until you consider that the $200.00 battery pack is like buying 10 gallons of fuel up front for your shuttle to fly it for 150 flights. At 15 or so flights per gallon and at a cost of $18.00/gallon, that means you would have to perchase $180.00 of fuel to do so.

So overall there really isn't much difference in cost - and the Swift will fly circles around your Shuttle - it has a much better power to weight ratio and the lighter disc loading makes it auto like a feather compared to the Skuttle.

And as for maintenance - the Swift is MUCH LESS costly to maintain.

[shaggybirdman]

Originally Posted by Greybird

That was not meant to discourage you. It is just what I paid. You might get one for less, but not much.

oh your not discouraging me by no means. i currently have a blade cx2 witch is a great little learning heli for learning directional control. i have 10 batteries for it, so all i have to do is wait for the motors to cool to fly again. to do this with the swift could cost up to and beyond $200 a pack. it's just not cost effective for me. not to mention it takes over a hour to charge 1 pack. that's my biggest piss and moan about electric helis i have. i could cut the cost of a radio out if it didn't need a radio with ccpm mixing. i have a futaba 6exh already. i just won a hirobo shuttle plus off evil bay. just needs a radio witch i have. upgraded the gyro to it for another $50, so i have $350 invested so far.i'm sure there will be other things needed to actualy fly it, but after all this is a hobby, and hobbies cost money, but when it is ready to fly it will only be up keep, and crash parts. yes i will crash.

[shaggybirdman]

Originally Posted by RAV50

shaggybird,

Actually, it may sound expensive until you consider that the $200.00 battery pack is like buying 10 gallons of fuel up front for your shuttle to fly it for 150 flights. At 15 or so flights per gallon and at a cost of $18.00/gallon, that means you would have to perchase $180.00 of fuel to do so.

So overall there really isn't much difference in cost - and the Swift will fly circles around your Shuttle - it has a much better power to weight ratio and the lighter disc loading makes it auto like a feather compared to the Skuttle.

And as for maintenance - the Swift is MUCH LESS costly to maintain.

you do have a point there, BUT, and i do mean BUT to do the 15 flights in one day it would take $3000 for 15 batteries, or at 1 battery 30 hours of charge time. i'm not saying i would be flying 15 tanks, but i do think id be flying more than 3-4, and i could do them back to back witch can not be done with a electric heli. i don't think you not me, but you could fly as much here localy with your swift, as you could with a nitro heli. the weather hear has gotten more windy over the last 5 years, and i don't have access to a gym, or other large room to fly indoors.

the reasons i chose nitro over electrics is:

1) able to fly in higher wind.
2) able to fly back to back tanks of fuel
3) length of flight. yes you could put bigger packs in, and fly more than 10 min, but at what cost? $300, $400, or ??????? per pack.
4) no need to locate a gym to fly in. there are local flying fields.
5) a bit irrelevant, but (i'm a nitro car guy at heart) the sound of a nitro motor, and the smell of the exhaust.
6) i'm considering areail photography. bigger payload lifting ability.

probably other reasons to fly nitro over as i call them flashlight helis. they run on batteries like a flashlight does. came from my carpet sedan racing days.

so comparing the cost of nitro to batteries is like comparing apples to oranges. you can't get the same flight time in one day unless you spend a outrageous amount of cash.

now mind you i'm not trying to pick a fight/argument, but i'll probably get a E heli down the road one day. nitro is not better than a E heli, but better for ME, and that's what's important. the amount of room i have to fly in would not be safe to fly a single rotor E heli indoors.

[Greybird]

I like Electric because I can fly the small ones in the yard, and the Swift and Eco in a field by my house. Nitro needs to go to an RC field which is a 30 minute drive from here. I will get a nitro, or gasser in the future for sure. Probably a gasser because they are not as messy.

[shaggybirdman]

you must not have windy days on end in your neck of the woods like i do. e helis would get blown away.

gassers are way more expansive. i want one too, but.....

[RAV50]

Shaggybirdman

I fly eveything from Micro, mini and Swift electric on through 30/50/90 & gas helis and I find the Swift does very well in the wind (as well as any SHuttle I have ever had).

But I do agree with the ease of getting 15 flights in a day with a nitro relative to my Swift.

As I usually go out to the field and usually can only get about 5 or 6 flights in an afternoon (try to leave time for others to fly also), I find I can do so with the new faster charge lipo technology (TP1010 with balancer), with two or three battery packs ($400 - $600)

With my nitros, last year alone I spent over $600.00 in fuel cost. (I burn 30% as I try to keep the nitors performance as close to that of the Swift as I can.)

IMHO, they all have their place - I luv 'em all, but don't sell the current electrics short. The Swift really opened my eyes. Believe me, even with a 4 cell pack, it will outperform a Shuttle by about the same margin a Porshe Boxter will outperform your grandmothers VW Bug.

If you want to get 15 flights a day and you go out twice a week and do so, then you will need 104 gallons of fuel for a year. Now transfer that $1800.00cost into the cost of batteries (6 to 9)and you will see that you can easily afford enough batteries to give you 15 back to back flights.

As for flight time - the $300.00 6S1P Evo 4900's will fly my Swift for 10 minutes and the heli still will weigh in less ( 6 lbs 1 oz.) then any of my Shuttles (or any other 30's I have ever owned).

And no needle valves to play with, low noise, no clean up etc.

I do not see myself giving up my nitros in the near future, but I can honestly say, that this coming year, I will be flying my Swifts (can't wait for the 620 version) a lot more and will be spending a lot less money on fuel, which will go directly into more battery packs.

[shaggybirdman]

very good points. i just don't have the cash to drop $1200 on a e heli. i don't think you, or i would would/could fly 15 back to back flights, but it's nice knowing i could if i wanted to. to do it with a e heli would still be the better part of $1200 in batteries alone, so a swift would still be more like $2400 to have it be able to do a ton of flying in one day. besides there's alot of shooting the bull while at the field/track (i was a car guy first) i can spread the cost of fuel out over a years time.

i don't mean this to turn into a Ginger, or Maryann (Gilligans island for the youngsters out there) debate (i love red heads, but i still say Maryann). i like both e helis, and nitro. it's just that hear outside buffalo ny nitro gives me more time to fly, but i do want a t rex also. i just don't think e helis will fly as nice as a nitro with the weather i have to fly in.

[JustPlaneChris]

I know this is an old thread, but my Swift is new.

Equipment:

Neu 1910/1.5Y - 9T
Castle Phoenix 45HV
CSRC BEC
DS821 cyclic servos
JR 500T gyro / DS8317
10S A123 battery

I've also fitted it with Raptor 30 landing gear. AUW: 2823g (6 lbs 3.6 oz). It flies really great! I haven't flown a big heli since the 80's (Gorham Cobra 50) and I'd forgotten how smooth and stable they are compared to micros and minis. :cool:

Some video:

Swift 16: First day at the big field (7 min 46 sec)

I'm loving it so far! I just need to hit ebay for some more Dewalt packs to scavenge for batteries.

-Chris