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Thread: R/C helicopters
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01-01-2010, 06:40 PM #106
I'm not sure, but I would say once you master flying a 6-channel heli. And that's no easy task. I'm not sure if you realize how much training these things take to fly well. Also, don't count out the electrics either - today's electrics with Li-Po and brushless power are absolutely amazing.
Finally, nitro engines are a pain, in my opinion. Many people like tuning and messing with them, I personally do not. I hate the smell of nitro fuel too - it makes me gag. I much prefer the 2-stroke gas engine in my Baja, but I don't know anything about gas helis. The nitro ones are likely what you're interested in.
I have great respect for people that fly the larger helis. That's a huge investment that can be lost at anytime with one mistake.
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01-01-2010, 06:59 PM #107
Start with an E-flite Blade mCX or other good name-brand 4-channel co-axial helicopter.
Once you learn to fly it, move up to the mCX. It's more stable than the other fixed-pitch single-rotor heli's, and it's small so you can fly it indoors, and crashes still won't cost too much.
THEN, you can think about the good stuff.
Ideally, buy a really nice 2.4 GHz controller at the same time you buy your first micro heli, you can use it with later upgrade heli's and have a controller you're used to the "feel" of.'89 Hydrostream Vegas XT, '90 Merc 2.4 Bridgeport PCU EFI
My YouTube videos________My Flickr photo gallery
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1706097519
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01-01-2010, 07:07 PM #108
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01-01-2010, 08:12 PM #109
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01-01-2010, 09:04 PM #110
My nephew has one of those $35 air hogs that I flew around his room for half of the day. Frigging amazing for such a low price.
I am a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma,coated in bubble gum,stuffed in a turducken. Δx Δp ≥ ℏ/2
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01-01-2010, 09:25 PM #111
Looks like a new toy for killing time at the job!
INXS
88 Checkmate/Starflite/225 Johnson
Member, The Paul Revere Society
Always Live Life In Excess
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01-01-2010, 09:54 PM #112
The 2-channel air hogs are fun at first, but they won't allow you to really learn the fundamentals of heli control and handling, because they can only control direction with rotation (rudder) input, and it's typically on the wrong stick. My little co-axial (below/left) can go forward and reverse by using its tail. This is a 3-channel co-axial helicopter.
The Blade mSR (right) is my obsession at the time. It is a 4-channel heli. This means it uses a swashplate and a pair of servos to control the attack angle of the rotor blades (the right-side X/Y stick) and gets rudder control from the added X (side to side) left stick control.
Controlling the nosing/pulling/rolling ("cyclic") AND rudder input, along with maintaining proper throttle input, takes a LOT of coordination. Just hovering tail-in takes some skill and practice.
'89 Hydrostream Vegas XT, '90 Merc 2.4 Bridgeport PCU EFI
My YouTube videos________My Flickr photo gallery
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1706097519
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01-02-2010, 01:14 AM #113
The lights look cool pyro
Blazer VLX150 w/ 225 Johnyrude
Hydrostream Viper (sold)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0OA6oxZoTg
Westwind mx15
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01-02-2010, 02:02 AM #114
Thanks to all of you guys, I ordered a Blade MSR. I think I'll be better off learning on a single rotor, so we'll see.
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01-02-2010, 03:54 PM #115
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01-02-2010, 04:58 PM #116
I'll see what cash I'll have let after I get my Banana painted and rigged. I'm sure I'll pick one up though.
INXS
88 Checkmate/Starflite/225 Johnson
Member, The Paul Revere Society
Always Live Life In Excess
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01-02-2010, 07:07 PM #117
The mSR is a great little heli, but it's taking me to the cleaners from injuries and repairs. Here's the damage toll so far:
Banged up my main rotor blades. They got out of balance too. Replaced them.
Broke a blade grip set. They are under-sized, and the screws rip through the plastic. The new replacement set won't hold the blade screws too well, they keep loosening. Loose screws=vibration. I have since ordered an aluminim CNC grip set. We'll see if it's any good.
Banged my tail rotor and knocked one blade out of pitch. Caused noise and vibration. Replaced it, and painted the tips white. Looks better this way. The CA reinforcement on the end of the tail motor cap must have done its job as a preventative measure-- The rotor was bent and rammed farther onto the shaft, but the motor is still fine.
(Kevin's motor came apart when he crashed in on the face of the tail rotor.)
Broke the landing gear near the front mounting pin. CA does not bond this plastic. Razor blade texturing allows for a weak mechanical bond under a hardened blob of CA, which is still holding up until I replace the gear with a new set.
The antenna, which the factory wraps around a canopy mounting pin, fatigued and broke free from the circuit board after 3 days worth of vibration and crashes. What were they thinking? I carefully (SMD) re-soldered the antenna wire onto the front side of the circuit board, arched it over and tacked the free end to the edge of the circuit board, onto a hardened blob of CA, away from any components. The antenna wire is now behind the front of the canopy, where it won't be harmed.
One of the control servo gears began to jam soon thereafter. Maybe a piece of glue or debris got in between a couple gear teeth. It would stop rotating when the gear came around to the same sopt. I scraped the spaces between the tiny gear teeth with the edge of a fresh razor blade, and finally got it to turn again, but it's a lot noisier than the other one.
Just today, an un-lucky crash dinged a gear tooth on the OTHER servo, causing it to jam. Again, a razor blade was used to true the gear teeth back into shape. Now, BOTH servos sound like a screaming baby during cyclic movement. Nice.
I kept the hole in the middle of the plastic flybar lubed with teflon bike lube, but it's still beginning to oval the hole out of round. This will cause handling problems once the wear gets excessive. The bird comes with a spare, so it's a known fact this part wears out.
Side note: These pivoting blades are made that way so they self-align during flight. I DO NOT recommend trying to notch the blades back to allow them to swing back further during a crash, as some heli forum users have suggested. After studying my modified, dinged, and broken blades and grips, I'm convinced that this will actually increase stress on the grips during a blade strike, NOT decrease it, due to the struck blade allowing the grip to continue rotating a few more degrees before the notch on the blade catches up and brings it to a violent stop. A shorter-swinging blade, as it's designed, will bring the blade grip to a stop upon impact with more of a rigid "lever" effect, with less secondary "snap" force against the edge of the grips.
I probably should have started out with a "better" 4-channel co-axial such as the mCX before trying to fly the singgle-rotor mSR. It definitely would have eased the learning curve a bit and prevented a few crashes if I had gotten the hang of handling a more stable heli first. But even so, I sill think this is a good little heli for someone getting started. It's a good hand-eye coordination excercise, quite a mental challenge at times. This is some of the best indoor winter fun I've had in a while...'89 Hydrostream Vegas XT, '90 Merc 2.4 Bridgeport PCU EFI
My YouTube videos________My Flickr photo gallery
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1706097519
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01-02-2010, 10:09 PM #118
pyro, sounds like you are having much fun with the msr,problems aside, it is ALOT LESS EXPENSIVE than it was 10 to 20 years ago & with all this modern & micro stuff available $ to fun ratio is great as long as parts are readily available, when i was a kid ,i used to "rekit" rc planes weekly when learning to fly on the cb radio frequencys,,, my dad would patch em up till they weighed so much that they would no longer fly , still had a blast!! keep at it
LTB OLDGUY
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01-02-2010, 10:21 PM #119
Thanks for the tips Chad. You guys are going to make me slack off on S&F here. .
Maybe we should set up a video contest or something...
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01-02-2010, 10:32 PM #120
check out banana hobby ,they sell a micro mountable camera system
LTB OLDGUY