Beginner's guide

[Eagle430]

I've bought an electric helicopter at a cheap price, the body is a trex 450 align and the main rotor-blades but the back tail and rotors are from an esky model. It has also basic hs81 servos and the standard align headlock gyro. I am struggling to get it flying so far every time i have tried i just crashed it. (I have an indoor coaxial with gyro helicopter that i can fly it around the house with ease,so am a bit familiar with the remote control configuration). The guy that sold me the helicopter has been flying helicopters for 2 years now and he can fly it with out any problem, hover it etc.

I also have the AeroFly Professional Simulator and on the simulator i usually fligh helicopters with out crashes (just flight-hovering not 3d or loops). However my trex 450 is very 'nervours' when trying to fly it i make corrections all the time and i never got it higher than 1meter. I am also a bit concern in case it comes out of my control i don't want it to hit me or any other person-car.

Can you give me a few tips how to start flying? Could it be the actual helicopter not suitable for a begginer? - I am thinking of selling it and buy a Trex 550 electric as it would be more stable and maybe easier to fly? Any suggestions-guides will be appreciated

[ModdyJo]

I am (or was) in the same predicament. I bought a 500 size heli on ebay years ago and never could seem to "get it". I can hover fine on the simulator but reality is quite different. The simulator helis are setup already and the radio is properly programmed, two things that I have come to realize are very important. Setting up the gyro correctly was my biggest challenge; leveling the swash, balancing and tracking the blades, throttle and pitch curves were the next challenges. Helis that are RTF out of the box have all these items setup at the factory and will be easier to fly. Even though I live in a large city with lots of clubs I never took the time to find someone to teach me all the things you need to know to fly a heli. I taught myself to fly planks quite sucessfully and my ego has interfered with seeking help on the heli. Needless to say, progress is slow. There is lots of good info on the net but nothing will be as good as having a flying buddy. Buying a bigger heli will not be the answer unless you have the setup and programming figured out. In my case, the larger helicopter just meant more expensive crashes. A 1 meter hover is a good place to start but if you are constantly making corrections you may have a setup problem. Then again, constantly making corrections is what flying a helicopter is all about.
Take all that I have said with a grain of salt as I have yet to progress to forward flight. I just like to hover in the driveway.
Good Luck.

[daisydog]

Learing to fly is different for every one. Yes flying a bigger heli is more stable. But the cost of crashing is more. ($30-50 for the T-Rex 450, $300-400 T-Rex 700 both are light crashes)

Biggest thing is to have a sim..which you have and A+ to getting a good one.
Second is getting some help at the field as ModdyJo suggested.
Third is time on the sticks. You gotta keep flying to get better. There aren't any short cuts.

The 450 is a great heli to start and learn. Most people flying today started with that heli as their first CP. Some even say if you can fly a 450 you can fly anything.

I have a T-Rex 450, T-Rex 600N and T-Rex 700N 3G. Out of all of them when I fly the 450 I'm the most relaxed as I'm not thinking about how much it's going to cost to fix it.

A lot of people rush to buy more and bigger helis. IMO you have to learn to fly before taking the next step.

[ideas]

So what the best heli to start out with ? i am new to the hobby as well an have been doing lots of reading an watching lots of videos.. It seem like the HBFP V2 is the best heli to start out with. What you guys think ?, remember that i am new to the hobby, just been reading.

[ideas]

So what the best heli to start out with ? i am new to the hobby as well an have been doing lots of reading an watching lots of videos.. It seem like the HBFP V2 is the best heli to start out with. What you guys think ?, remember that i am new to the hobby, just been reading.

[TeeJayShelton]

I say sim first and then buy a 450/decent tx and put co-pilot or flymentor on it. either one will pay for itself and will be able to make a collective heli fly like a coax as far as stability goes.

[TeeJayShelton]

I had a FPV2 great heli. I have nothing bad to say about it it taught me and my oldest son a lot before we sold it however you can set up a 450 cp to be as stable

[ideas]

So are you guys saying the the FPV2 is not a good choice for me to start out with ?

[TeeJayShelton]

Ideas,
No I am not saying it is not a good choice. I loved the one I had ,you can learn orientations, hovering, forward and backward flight and its easy to repair and set up. It will be great for learning on a tight budget. I would not say it is the best but it is definately good. A simulator is the first and most important thing though.

[ideas]

So which one would you say is the best for learning then.. i already ordered a sim.

[DKS_ONE]

It really depends on what you want to learn. CP helis are a completely different platform from FP helis. I think the best approach is to fly your sim with both styles of helis and see where your interests are. You'll likely choose CP because FP is pretty easy to master and won't give you as much challenge or versatility. FP will help you learn orientations though which can be helpful with CP training. So really, it falls to you as to whether you want to take it easy first and get a decent feel for orientations without alot of challenge or if you wanna bite the bullet, learn the challenge of a CP heli and take it all on at once It's really hard to say what's "best" for training/learning.

[TeeJayShelton]

If a person is serious about getting into this hobby and wants to progress quickly without breaking the bank I would say a 450 or 500 with co-pilot 2 on it. But there is a huge price difference between a Honey Bee FPV2 and starting out like I am talking about. You can find a Honey Bee new or used with lots of parts for round a 100 bucks. The other way you are talking more like somewhere between 500 and 1000.

The Honey Bee will get you learning but will be limiting you as far as model capabilities. If wont fly well in wind. (You have to be careful not to let good old mother nature turn it into a kite for you as you have no negative pitch to forcefully bring it down.) You cant flip, roll, or invert it. The tail will never be able to hold anywhere near as well as an inexpensive gyro on a driven tail. It will never be a acrobatic powerhouse but will get you started and help you learn all for about 100 bucks ready to fly. Crash cost will be cheap as long as when it goes in you get off the throttle and don't cook the 4in1 which cost almost half as much as a new heli. If you only want to get into upright flight and cruising around and aren't really interested in getting into aerobatics then by all mean I would say this is the way to go.

A collective pitch 450 or 500 will be more challenging and more expensive to get started in but if you approach it slow with lots of sim time and your goal is aerobatic flight it will be the better way to go. If you go this route there will be a much steeper learning curve. The set-up on a collective pitch heli is everything. You can set them up to be very tame and user friendly or very aggressive. More important than the heli is the transmitter. You need to be sure to get one that is programmable without a computer. Where you are looking at the lcd on the front of the transmitter while making changes. The reason I say picking the transmitter is more important than the heli itself is a good transmitter will serve you through many helis and planes and make it where you can setup those helis and planes properly.

The reason I say co-pilot 2 is it will pay for itself by stopping one bad 500 crash. It is easy to setup(once you know how to setup a collective pitch heli it is simple). It is only good for outdoor flight and has some terrain limitations but once setup properly it can level your helicopter in a second. It can be left on to help you learn orientations and help you into actually flying your heli, you can slowly back it off to where you have more and more control and it helps less. You can fly with it completely off and have it as just a bail out on a push button if your heli is going down. Oh and did I mention that when it stops one hard 500 crash it will have paid for itself.

[ideas]

Thanks alot for alll the good info.. i will really look into them all..

[TeeJayShelton]

[suomynon]

Slow and methodically may seem less fun at first, but more rewarding (and cheaper) after the first 10-20 battery packs. You'll spend more time flying and less time waiting for replacement parts this way.

Try RADD's school of flight:

http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html

[Arclight338]

I respectfully disagree that "RTF" are "easier" to fly right out of the box. A very LARGE part of this hobby is truly understanding how to set up your heli-and most of all WHY.

If you understand this-and thanks to FInless Bob and his assembly and setup videos-you CAN understand setup. A "RTF" heli is RTF for whom? An experienced stick banger or a REAL novice. Most helis are immensely powerful when you get into a TREX 450 or 500. A novice doesn't and couldn't utilize all the performance potential and you WILL be overwhelmed.

Even a Blade 400-allegedly test flown and good to go-isn't necessarily a good experience for a new pilot. If you can find a mentor-or at least study this site like a fiend.

Double check or have someone else double check the setup. Tone down the power and give it a shot. Jump in with both feet-but if thinks aren't set with a novice in mind, your first experience will feel like swimming in molasses- and being one step behind the machine is enough to ruin your day.

[helipilot1]

personally i would play with the blade sr 120 cheap parts easy to fly

[helipilot1]

Originally Posted by ideas

So which one would you say is the best for learning then.. i already ordered a sim.

try the blade sr to start with

[PittJitsu]

I started with an Esky KIng2 and a BeltCP. Both where a waste of $ and gave me a false understanding as to the characteristics of a CP heli. In short, the BEST setup still leaves these helis flying worse then a Trex with the worst setup. If you have the discipline, the best way to go IMO is to buy a SIM, use it regularly to develop good hand eye and stick input memory, then go out and purchase a decent 450, even a used one with good components, and stick on some training gear and give it a go using Radds flight school. ( google it). IF you take it slow, there is no reason why you cannot learn on a decent 450. Parts are relatively cheap and fixing your heli's boo boos is all part of the learning experience. Setup is half the battle in a successful maiden flight

[1stheli]

RTF is great but those are NOT straight of the box flyers..... you still have lots of prep as well.