Help! Which Heli!

[MrKiwi]

Which one? I don't have a big price range and these are the only ones i can afford. I was looking into the Honey bee king 2 but I want to hear other peoples opinion. Thanks!

[2many280s]

I have an Axe CP and am about to buy a King v2. I love the Axe, but I'm switching to the king for belt tail and replacement parts price. The axe gets expensive fast in replacement parts. I'm new to helis and can usually run about 10-15 batteries through the Axe before a crash, But parts for the axe are quite a bit more costly than the king. Some parts are double the price of the king part.

[MrKiwi]

Thanks for the info! Tell me how the King flies please!

[2many280s]

There is a lot of info on the king over at rcgroups.com including some videos (same for the axe). Looks like a pretty stable flier stock, and even more stable with the EK2-0704a heading hold gyro instead of the plain 0704 that it comes with stock. The 704a gyro is about $40 at most places that sell the heli.

Only bad thing I have seen so far while researching it, is that a few people have had the stock motor fail within a few flights. Brushless conversion looks pretty simple on it though. The Axe could easily have the same problem though. My stock Axe motor was getting HOT when I first got it, the heatsink on the motor covers the vent holes on the bottom. I dremeled a small notch around the sides of the heatsink to clear the vents and it runs much cooler now.

Seems that all cheap RTF helis need a bit of work and have a few flaws. RTF seems to be more of a Ready to Fine Tune instead of ready to fly =) The ball links on the Axe break very easily, but there is lots of info on cutting the broken ones off and replacing with metal balls (one of the mods I've done to mine, can take a bit more abuse after that). I've never flown the Blade CP Pro, but I used to have an original Blade CP and I like the Axe more. The Axe is built pretty sturdy aside from the ball links. It can take a pretty good hit without breaking anything. The Blade CP I used to have, broke every time it got near the ground =)

[pitviper51]

id choose the king, i dont have it but i do have the belt cp, which is very similar the belt drive tail and fullfunction control make it my choice, got to take it slow tho hahah belt cp is a trex 450 clone,, flys smooth just not as beefy as trex
mike

ps, heres pics from my first heli flight ever, maiden in 2 car garage,,, bold .. yup... i dont do it anymore, haha the first one went good the second... not oh well

[Iamarookie]

I am in the same boat. I have always wanted to learn to fly Heli's, but never have. Have flown RC planes, but along time ago. I am 59, retired with alot of time on my hands. It would be greatly appreciated if I could get some suggestions on where to start. Most of the Hobby Shops here in Seattle suggest starting with a coaxial, but I am not educated enough yet to even understand that. I am a pretty quick learner, but need all of the help I can get. Also do you recommend a trainer. This is my 1st posting so HELLO TO EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!

[adjonym]

This might be a little late..but better late then never

Even though I'm no bad-ass heli pilot, i did go down the "i want to fly helis" road not long ago. During that time, i sure did some misstakes.
First I tried(as many others) the walkera way. That was a total failure. The electronics failed first hover try, and resulted in a crash. Now, go into any hobbyshop with a crashed heli,and try to get it fixed on the guaranti(warranty??) and you'll notice that it's pretty hard
So, being all mad about that, i just let it be, and continued to fly my plane for a while.
Later on the heli bug bit me again, and this time I bought a t-rex, and a better radio. I also realized that FMS(free sim) wouldnt give me enough training to learn this, so I bought a copy of reflex xtr.
So, after many sim hours, many crashes on the t-rex, i'm now able to fly it, and even be in control once in a while
So, what have I learned through all this. The answer is, A LOT.
I would go another route today. Even though people agree(and so do I)that large nitros are a better way of learning, I still would go with a smaller electric today. The reason being that I can go outside and fly whenever I feel like it, not having to go to an r/c field because of the noise, and safety issues.
So, i'd stay with electrics, but I would have bought one of the e-sky honeybee FP's. A friend of mine has one, and it's a blast to fly. It's small, so therefore it's a bit hysterical to fly, but on the other hand it's extremely sturdy. Most of the times we just pick it up, and blow of the dirt, and off it goes again.
It also have long fly times with a lipo on it. This is very good when trying to learn. It's also cheap to buy, which means that it's not a big deal if you get tired of helis, or if you feel that it's nto for you.

After that I still would have bought the t-rex, but like I said, looking at it today, i would have done it the opposite way, the FP first, then the t-rex.

so, Iamarookie, you do have some different ways to approach the heli flying.
The easiest to fly would be a larger nitro. The next step "down" is a 450 class electric. And for a sturdy flyer to learn on, you have the choise of the e-sky honeybee FP, wich holds up to many more crashes then the others, but are harder to fly.
Whatever you choose, your chance of success will be multipled in square by using a sim, and using it a lot.(10-40 hours before actually flying the real thing).
But then again, we all know how it is. When you buy your heli, you'll fly it the first day, crash it, and then spend the time on the sim quietly saying"dang, i had no idea it was that hard"

[bosshoss]

I started flying Helis last season, on a perfectly setup TREX 450. It was a handful, to say the least.

Stable , but SO responsive that in a flash I could get in trouble. I learned with a hoop that weighed it down, and made it softer to control.

THEN, a good frined let me have the sticks to his Raptor 50 (after I was off the hoop, and FF my TREX.).

The Raptor was a revelation, stable, smooth, and confidence inspiring. No doubt, had I started on the Glow Raptor 50 it would have been easier. But , maybe on the other hand, the Trex TAUGHT me precise control , and the Raptor was the reward.

At any rate, the Raptor is EASIER to fly, more forgiving, and gave me the confidence to get out of Fig8's, and start looping and rolling.

Go Glow....Raptor 50 ....cheap, parts are easy to get, crashes are cheap, and it is a very durable helicopter. The E powered big machines are for guys who know how to fly, and don;t crash as much, IMO. The batteries are almost always destroyed in a bad crash, easily adding to the cost.

I will be passing on my Rappy 50 soon, to a new pilot in our club. It served me and it's previous owner well.

Just as in the plank world...bigger flies better, easier, more stable............

[BillJ]

You'll be happy with the Honey Bee King...I test flew one at our field a week ago. Nice stable in hover ,nice belt drive tail control

Good platform for a beginner... I'd imagine replacement parts are resonable

[Lowkey3D]

HBKII, I'm flying one now. Great little machine to learn Heli setup and parts are cheap..
I went brushless from the start.

[VKGT]

None. Simulator first. I had a Honeybee and an Axe... Nothing in that class can compare to the T-Rex 450SE so I'd suggest saving up a few more dollars or kick it at a good sim if you don't already have one.