RC Helicopter for ~$80-$150

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  hashtagbargain on 29/01/2013 - 17:28

  break*

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  shah2007 on 29/01/2013 - 19:27

  http://dicksmith.com.au/product/SE0037/black-swann-r-c-steal…

  have a look at hear they have very nice and cheap helicopters

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  gumbs on 29/01/2013 - 20:52

  Have you used an RC Helicopter before? The <100 ones will all be twin rotor with a horizontal tail rotor. These can only fly backwards and cannot pitch sideways. I've got a pair of swann IR choppers which I got of dicksmith for $30 and they're fun. But the limited control means you can't really do any tricks or anything flashy. For $30 they were a good introduction and they lasted me for 2 or 3 hours of fun. But at the full price of $100 I would be annoyed with them.

  So basically make sure you're getting a 4/5 channel with a single rotor and vertical tail rotor so you can actually do some more complicated manuevers. They are ALOT harder to fly though.

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  quirkykiwi on 30/01/2013 - 07:35

  Hi Patricksmith…..I taught myself to fly helicopters with this one. The learning curve was a little steeper than with a coaxial (which my 3 year old child managed to fly when we tried in a shop….that was too easy and very limited).
  The hobby king one is cheap, has great spare parts (in about 200 flights I have only managed to break one main rotor and 2 tail rotors)
  http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idP…
  This heli is able to be flown easily inside but then when you are ready you can easily fly it stock outside in very light winds. Then when you get really good there is a simple modification you can make to the flybar that allows you to fly it outside in decent wind. It is still tiny and light so it is never going to manage strong wings. The best bit as well is that it is 2.4ghz technology so allows you to fly in bright sunlight (IR radios cannot) it has a range that allows you to fly the heli to the limits of your vision. The included radio allows you to fly it in a learner mode the go full on later on. Hovering is very easy to do and you can almost do this hands off in a large enough indoor room. Great for learning to fly.
  Well within your budget, even with the postage. Go for fast postage as you will be waiting at least 2-3 weeks with registered airmail. It is worth the extra to get ems.
  Quirkykiwi

  Let me know if you want any more information.

  You cannot go wrong with this heli. It

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  quirkykiwi on 30/01/2013 - 07:36

  I concur with the other comments, the IR ones and the coaxial ones are a waste of time…they are TOO easy to fly.

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  boab88 on 30/01/2013 - 09:38

  Thanks QuirkyKiwi,

  I just bought your suggestion. Lurking but sounds like it will be a perfect introduction!

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  quirkykiwi on 30/01/2013 - 14:17

  No problems. It is a great heli (I brought it with me to work today and went flying in my lunch break….4 batteries worth of fun - which are now charging plugged into my computer).
  For those that are interested in spares, tips, tricks, modications. This helicopter is exactly the same as a WLtoys V911.
  There are loads of information out there. If anyone is interested I am happy to point you in the right direction.

  Once you have (SLOWLY) learnt how to control it hovering indoors, you can SLOWLY get used to forward flight, then controlling it nose in, sideways etc.
  I must admit I was a bit impatient and over confident when I first started…but soon learnt that I needed to get the basics down pat first before going crazy. Now I just go crazy.

  I have also got the Turnigy X9 radio from hobby king, as it has many more tuning options (not really needed but it feels nicer to fly it from a really good radio). The included radio is absolutely fine for 95% of the flying you will do with this Heli (especially if you are new to Helis).

  Also tip for the newbies. When you fly indoors be aware that the helicopter will be very sensitive to breezes, backwash (off walls etc) and the ground effect (when you try and hover it close to the ground it will move around alot….once you get above the ground effect - about 30cm up it will be much much nicer to fly).

  It is VERY easy to over control the heli when you first start. VERY small movements are required to control it. It takes a while to get used to doing small gentle movements but once you crack that it suddenly all makes sense and controlling it becomes much much easier.
  I started by trying to get it to hover first. No control of rudder or for/rev/left/right. I wanted to get it to be able to hover almost stationary so that I wasn't fighting it for control always.
  I did this by taking it up to a hover using the throttle then using the trim buttons to try and cancel out and drifting that was happening. Each channel at a time then back to the ground.
  EG
  Hover - if it starts to drift forward then 1-2 clicks of trim backwards then back to ground
  Hover - if it starts to drift left or right then 1-2 clicks of trim left or right then back to ground
  Hover - if it starts to rotate then 1-2 clicks of rudder trim then back to ground.

  If you are patient (and do this on carpet away from walls) and if you remember to close the throttle if it is going to crash (and it will!!) then you should not sustain damage, after about 10 or so hovers you should be able to get it up and hovering for longer periods so you can get used to getting the height sorted (still not using the rudder or left/right/forward/back controls).

  Once I was at that point I slowly introduced forward and back into the mix (always making sure that the helicopters tail was pointing at me - it gets crazy very quickly if it starts drifting off centre!)
  Then I got used to left/right
  and finally I practiced with using the rudder so I could always maintain the tail towards me.

  One final tip.
  Make sure that when you first start up the helicopter, you put the battery in then put the heli on a FLAT surface and leave it to initialise. This allows the gyros to set up and which then lets the helicopter maintain it's direction without your rudder input when it is flying. If you don't do this right your helicopter will be all over the place and it will be VERY frustrating!

  If it is going crazy for no reason. land, take the battery completely out, then start the initialisation period again.

  Each battery will last about 7-8 minutes of flying time. You will know when to land as the helicopter due to lack of battery as it will start rotating without your input on the rudder (yawing)