R/C Helicopters

[A1FlyBoy]

I know there are some r/c plane and jet pilots on here... anyone an avid helio pilot? I've done the r/c planes, but never really got that deep into it as the nearest r/c field is an hour away. Some of these helicopters do amazing 3D aerobatics and with a large park behind my garage, it makes the ideal training zone.

I'm looking at the Kyosho Caliber 30..


http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXFFG2&P=

The electric birds are about 1/2 the price, but are limited to 15-20 minute flights, can't be flown with any wind and don't have rotor pitch. For those of you who fly r/c helios, how long does it typically take to learn to get comfortable with hovering and getting into forward flight?

 

[tom1178]

I used to fly rc planes for 6 yrs or so, but never had any interest in helicopters. My friends father built one before, flew it around his yard for a few minutes before totalling it. From what i've heard they are very difficult to fly, almost impossible to teach yourself....even moreso than teaching yourself to fly an rc plane. If you are interested i'd suggest driving out to where you know of somebody who knows how they work/fly, it'd probably be worth the drive.

 

[great cornholio]

I have the PIccolo Fun and I think it is a great starter. The helo can be bought pretty much ready to fly and it only costs like 300 bucks and comes with everything you need. It is small so like you said it cant really be flown in any wind. However you can fly it inside if you have a big enough room. This helo is "easy" to fly so to say...well I guess about as easy as helos go. The replacement parts are cheap and the helo can hold up to a pretty rough landing. So far I've just been hovering mine and keep it low enough over the grass that I can just cut the power and let it fall a few feet into the grass. So far I haven't broke it yet. I would also get the sim for it. It will cost you around 250 bucks but will save you thousands in the long run. I have no experience with gas powered helos they cost way too much money.

 

[Ganja60Heavy]

RC 'copters

FlyBoy;

I was intensely involved in learning R/C choppers (for about a year) in 2000. I now don't have time or space to fly them, but will tell U what I've learned.

First of all, the choppers are awesome. I built 2 Kyosho Nexus choppers. I was a rank beginner, and had no help, but I did read Ray Hostetler's book, and took the hobby quite seriously. The Kyosho models are well-engineered and easy to build and setup if you are detail-oriented and a little mechanically-inclined.

I spent a good deal of cash on the hobby: $1,000 for each model w/ radio, plus another $200 on support equip such as starter, battery, fuel pump, blade-balancer, battery tester, etc.

It takes a long time to learn to fly these things. Training wheels are a must while learning to hover. After about 3-4 months (2-3 sessions per week) I was doing large figure-8's at fairly good speed, and got cocky enough to try a nose-in turn (where the choppers nose crosses your line-of-view) and for that split second, the controls are "reversed". Well, I dumped the machine over and heard the awful sound of a crash. I had to rebuild the chopper with about $150 new parts (rotor blades, main rotor shaft, push-rods) and many hours of shop time.

You are also the mechanic, so be prepared to work on it alot and have some mechanical down-time. The reason I bought 2 was that I was serious about learning to fly and wanted to always have a working model even while one was awaiting parts. Except for about a week after that crash (my only mishap), both models were always in flying condition.

Figure about a year or more of training before you get into serious aerobatics. Definitely invest in a computer simulator. I did not have one, but it has to save lots of time and money, since eye-hand training is the essence of controlling a chopper, and you have to be really good! And the ability to manage all spacial relationships is an added challenge that the pilot of a real chopper does not have (they are always in the seat facing forward).

Choppers are very complex machines, and the little models are miniaturized, awesome renditions of real helicopters. You must take detail very seriously to succeed at this hobby, since the heli has to be finely tuned and setup in order to fly.

I would still be flying them if I lived in a place where I had the space......I now fly for an airline and live in an apartment with no nearby fields. Someday maybe I'll fire 'em up again.

Let me know if I can help U any more. I'd be happy to help you out. Go for it!

 

[dsee8driver]

R/c

I bought the Real Flight G2 Sim after a friend, who does fly R/C choppers recommended it. I think it's definetly a must to learn how to fly these machines.

I know we stay at a lot of hotels and trust me, staying at a Holiday Inn Express is not going to help you! I crunched a few R/C birds before the training program.

 

[Tripower455]

I've been flying RC airplanes since 1979, and have dabbled with helicopters a few times. The new ones are light years ahead of the stuff I messed with (Schluter Mini Boy, Kalt Baron), but they are still a LOT of work to fly, and to keep flying. I figured I spent 1 hour maintaining them for each MINUTE of flying them. Then I started playing with ducted fans, where the work/fly ratio was 1/2 hour per minute! Nowaday I fly modified, scratch built trainers (sorta like an ugly stik)with big 2 stroke engines.

 

[SDCFI]

I went out and bought a Nexus 30 a couple years ago. Two VERY important tips: 1) Don't think you're too manly for training gear, it will save you lots of heartache, and 2) Get an experienced pilot to help you set up and test fly it. Even a minor crash is expensive when you have to replace blades, feathering shafts, and main masts, not mention the linkages for the rotor system. I never used a simulator, but I'm sure it would be a good investment. It'll be a few hours at least before you're hovering comfortably. Once you get it going forward it's not much more difficult then an airplane, just make sure you have a lot of room to work with. It's been about a year or so since I flew mine, I should be moving closer to home in a couple months and plan to break it out again. It's a lot of fun...until you crash it.

 

[A1FlyBoy]

Thanks for the input... keep em coming!

 

[great cornholio]

Definatly get the sim. Im sure its saved me at least 5000 bucks. If you crash the sim no biggie. If you crash the real thing then its time to bust out the wallet. I flew the sim for about a month before I was brave enough to try the real thing. At first I didn't buy the sim and I bulit the helo, but then I put too much money into the helo and was like heck whats another 250 bucks for the sim. Its the cheapest 250 bucks I've ever spent in my life. If I had to pay for all the times I crashed the sim I'm sure I would have put at least 20,000 bucks into the hobby. And you can try stuff like hovering upside down on the sim. Its not too hard to do when you have a reset button.

 

[flyifrvfr]

I have two Thunder Tiger Raptor 30 helicopters. I highly recommend this helicopter because it is easy to build, has a belt driven tail rotor, and can easily be repaired after crash. The belt driven tail as opposed to the wire driven tail is better because in a crash, the belt will more likely save the tail rotor system. The wire drive won't brake as easy in a crash which will result in tail rotor damage every crash.

I also second the sim. I didn't have the money to buy a sim, so I took a chance each time I flew. It didn't take me too long to learn to hover, in fact, I couldn't wait to get the training gear off and go into forward flight. I currently have my helicopter apart and I'm building a scale Bell 222 for the raptor.