Anyone into RC Helicopters?
 

Does anyone fly RC helicopters here? Indoor or outdoor.

For Christmas one of my gifts was a little RC indoor 3 channel helicopter. It is ridiculously fun and handles really well... fairly easy to control. I have since ordered two more (Syma 107G and Syma 108G) so I can spend a bit more time flying before I need to charge them back up.

http://img.alibaba.com/img/pb/562/22...eb4_106484.jpg

I am certain after about 5 days of this I will get bored and will want to bump up to larger outdoor choppers... Anyone have any thoughts on what I should look at when I do? I kind of feel like I need to get something cheap to help build up my skills before I buy something badass and expensive.

FL4Motion, I see you shaking your head at me. :p

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how about this? Russian Mi-35 Attack Helicopter |Jet Fighter Picture

I fly an MI-28...




























In Battlefield 3. :|

well sh!t, you're halfway there already. :tup:

I'd modify it to hold a camera, so you could take some pretty cool land shots.

I got one from my brother for Christmas. I was enjoying it when it crashed and the forward/backward propeller quit working.
Oh and I also left it in Tallahassee at my in-laws.
I need to get that mailed to me and fixed. It was fun.

I just got one as a Christmas gift but it was really a toy..very hard to control it and it broke very quickly...but i got interested and ordered a slightly better one..Funny i should see this post..the new one is due today..In fact its the Syma 107 that you have..

I see where you can get a pair of them that shoot lasers against each other and you can have real dog fights..sounds like fun..also I see one with a camera inside and that is something I might get this summer..
But for now I am getting just a small mini copter just big enough to fly indoors...

The S107 is fun and easy to fly. I'm modding mine for more speed and battery life :icon17:

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How much did you pay for yours? Mine was $27 supposedly on sale from 50 something..
Its Sunday and it still has not arrived..getting anxious!
Think of all the money I could have saved if I had gotten into rc helicopters instead of sports cars!!:icon18:

Ever use those flight simulators? Thinking I might get one ..good practice on a computer to avoid real life crashing..especially when learning..

I paid about 25 shipped for mine through Amazon.

What Sims are you talking about? Regular flight sims or the rc Sims? I have been flying with FSX for years... but haven't used any RC Sims. I want to try one though.

Well i am still waiting for mine to arrive..
I was reading about various sim programs to teach you how to fly while avoiding the risk of damage to your copter or plane..
I found one at
Phoenix model flight simulation :: Demo

The good and the bad of it is this.. its a great way to learn, so they say but i found out that my system will not support the graphics needed to run it..,i found out that by downloading and testing the program...So now I need a new graphics card or most likely an entirely new computer..So I am going to pass for a while..I figure the small one I am getting will be fine and unlikely to get damaged and if I really want to go bigger I will get the card and the sim and then the copter...I saw two that I liked...one was a pair with lasers to battle each other and the other was one with a camera inside..
But i am just starting and so its the small ones first..

Coaxial helicopters (two sets of main rotors) are easier to control and more stable. They are also less maneuverable. When you get to the larger helis, they tend to be like the real ones, with a main rotor and tail rotor (CCPM), and helis are inherently unstable. The flight experience with these helis will be very different.

I took up RC helis as a hobby 2 years before I got myself a Z. Since having a Z, I haven't been flying...can't support car mods and helis together...not enough $$$. :tup: My first heli was an Airhogs one. The one you have is way better than my first. And within 3 months I got into an Align TRex 450 SE V2. 6 months later I got into an even bigger heli, an Align T-Rex 600 E (electric).

The best thing you can do is buy yourself an RC aircraft flight simulator, such as Real Flight. I spent 12 hours practicing how to hover (with the tail towards you). before I took the 450 off the ground. It's a great learning tool and way cheaper than having to fix a heli after a crash. For a while, that's all you're going to do...hover. Even that will make you white knuckled some times. Join a few forums, go to your local hobby shop or look up a local RC heli club...talk to other hobbyists and read up on how to learn to fly properly. Get familiar with the safety precautions and rules...these helis are really not toys. They can be very dangerous, but when used properly, they can be a lot of fun!

Good post djpathfinder but you say "Since having a Z, I haven't been flying...can't support car mods and helis together...not enough $$$.
How much do these things cost!!??? i only paid $27 for my first and and figured even a good one would cost less than $200..Even with a sim thats only another $100 or so...not like owning a Z car..

Well, if you get brand new and decent equipment, it can be a pretty penny especially when you're starting up. For instance, the most basic transmitter (e.g. Spektrum DX6) will cost about $200. An upgraded 7 ch. transmitter like a DX 7 is about $300. Then you can get really insane with a 10 ch (to operate scale model lights, retractable landing gear, etc) that's over $1000.

450 sized heli kits are $200-350 for the basic airframe. 600 or 0.50 sized heli frames are around $450, then you have the servos and electronics, motor upgrades (yes, there are different mods and upgrades you can buy for RC helis, like for real enthusiast cars). CF blades for a 600 sized helis cost $75-100. You can go fancy and get illuminated night blades. So, after a crash, you could be spending as little as $3 to fix damaged landing gear to $100 for blades alone, to several hundred if you have extensive damage. LiPo batteries range from $30 (cheap ones from HK) to $200 if you fly electric...and you're going to want to have 3 or 4 of these. If you fly nitro, you need to buy fuel.

There's specialty equipment like aerial photography rigs and equipment you can buy and make for yourself, if you're into that. Scale helis are cool and some people go all out...lots of possibilities to spend your money on. :-)

I enjoy scale flying and was practicing a lot of slow flight, trying to make my heli look like a real helicopter. I had bought an Airwolf fuselage but never got to finish the build. Others like 3D/stunt flying.

A first time set-up and 450 bird will likely cost you $1100-$1500 (including a new transmitter). An electric 600 bird will be more into the $2000 range. Not a cheap hobby, but hella fun!

I flew an align nitro trex 600 into the ground, mind you first heli not a good choice but very stable due to size. I also have a trex 450(really twitchy in comparison), and a Outrage Fusion 50(a little bigger then my trex 600 best heli I've personally flown that I haved owned) its an expensive hobby one that I've put to the side for a moment. I really like how the fusion 50 flies, and it is easy to work on the total build ended up costing about 2k on this one not including radio as i had one already. So yea its expensive but fun till you put it in the dirt.

I would suggest to anyone to go check out helifreak.com a good resource of information regarding this hobby and a lot of people willing to help.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Yeah, helifreak is good. Love Finless Bob's build videos. I learned a lot about how to build and configure the settings for helis from them. Also learned how to solder watching those videos.

I got my helicoper today and part of the instructions read this way:

Trun on the switch ( yes they spelled turn that way) Now here is the part i dont get...

The motive handle ( accelerator) must be pushed to the maximum control route of travel first, then adjust it to zero ( lowest) after that, you can turn on the power of the helicopter to fly the normal operation..


That is an exact quote...Can anyone translate this? I have the Syma 107

I saw one with a camera and all that cost around $200 ..what's wrong with that??

We're talking about two different animals. People do up rigs to bring up dSLRs or high end video cameras and set up remote gimbals and firing.

so what do you think? Think a cheap copter like this would be worthwhile or just a piece of junk?

You know I also like to write..perhaps you read my stories posted on this site...now that is a really cheap hobby!!! :)

Technology keeps improving and there's a lot more RC flying toys and options available now compared to even 5 years ago, so prices are coming down. A "cheap copter" is how I got started. There's a lot of cheaper indoor options these days that are a lot of fun. They advertise the ones with a camera that you can use to spy on other family members. I'm sure they're a hoot. You can write about your RC heli adventures. :-)

Well i learned one thing today...you cant fly these infra red copters outside even on a very calm day..the sun interferes with the signal.so I guess it has to be radio control next copter...
I am already talking about my NEXT copter and I just got the other one yesterday!! Bad sign!!:tup:

I have Heli-Max Axe CP that I got to fly for all of 20 seconds before I crashed it on the side of my house. Damn thing is a pain in the *** to fly.

I also found a Parrot AR.Drone someone crash landed in the park. Missing a few parts, but I'm gonna try and fix it or just sell it.

A big screen TV can interfere with IR signals too.

any of you guys have cameras on your helicopter? Eventually id like to get one to rig a full size HDSLR up to.

I was working towards it, but didn't feel quite comfortable slinging several thousand dollars of rig and camera on a heli yet...but the results can be quite amazing. There's also the problem of getting a license or permit to do it in the city...much easier in the country.

I was just looking at this exact helicopter today. my niece got one for xmas and we had a blast playing with it. then I got a groupon that they were onsale today... soooo tempting

so funny i bought two syma s107 for me and my little bro, yes these things are fun as hell for 15 mins. May get the airwolf replica soon.

Small copter
 

Well i have used the helicopter for all of two days and already I see where this thing is very limited.. very short range..limited maneuverability, slow speed..long time charging for few minutes flight..
Yes I see it now..like having a Neon instead of a 370Z..didnt take long to realize that...but it is winter and you cant fly the others indoors... i know that much!

You are right ..the syma is ok for starters but already i can see its limitations

Is the airwolf much different?.? if so, how is it different..

Unfortunately, the mini lipo batteries don't last very long. I have a Blade mCX just for kicks and those batteries last 6-7 min. They take about 10-20 min to charge depending on the charger. The nice thing about that heli is you can take out the batteries...so you can buy several batteries to reduce down time.

Getting a heli that uses 2.4 GHz transmission will be way better than IR control for sure.

I had too look closely to see your cars front.. does it look that way when you drive it?:icon18:

Not always. Sometimes meaner when I'm driving spiritedly. :rofl: My boys are huge Cars movie fans and I photochopped that cuz I thought they'd get a kick out of it. At that time I told them the car only talked and moved when no one was watching. LOL!

Subscribing.

Well have learned one thing...start small and inexpensively..I cant tell you how many times I have crashed this thing...I know what to do but its not an automatic response.,so by the time I figure it out,..,i am on the ground.,..but so far no damage..

They can take a beating before they break. Just make sure you inspect the blades after you crash.

I know that the Parrot AR.Drone is a quad helicopter and not a true single or coaxial blade helo but from what I see it looks pretty cool. Way more expensive though but not as much as for a full blown RC helo and easier to fly. Folks are modding them to hold GoPro HD cams to get some great video. Check the link to see what one videographer has done to the AR.Drone.

AR Drone / GoPro DIY Aerial Video Mods - RC Quadcopter on Vimeo

That would be awesome at ZDayZ for some cool aerial shots. Only on a calm day, though.

My thoughts exactly. I am considering picking one up.