Thinking about getting into Heli's or have questions, Let me know!

[Nitrohuffer]

Boogie,
It sounds like you already can fly quite well if you can hover inverted. It's just like planes. After the initial cost of purchasing the equipment, the expense is directly related to the amount of time it gets stuffed in the ground. My brother Jeeum is an experienced plane flyer and the only thing he's had to put into his heli's is gas. He is on his forth or fifth gallon and is not flying conservative either. If you know how to fly and have help available with setup, it sounds like an electric may make the most sense for your situation. Go for it!

[Boogie]

I have only flown them on the sim. Remeber it's just a sim!! I will probably go with the T-rex if I can afford it. Would a Futaba 190 gyro be good enough?? Although I'd like a 401 I won't afford the package.

[sincity]

The TRex for a small electric heli is about the best I've seen so far. I have the SE and I am extremly happy with it. I used to have the Raptor 30 and then went with 2 Fury Extreme 90's. I sold the 90's since getting out to the field was a real pain with our newly created family I've had the SE flying for about a month now. Electric is the way to go if you just want something to fly in your backyard. They are a bit harder to control and a bit harder to see since they are smaller, but if you're just learning to hover and do some circuits, you'll need to keep it in close anyways. Plus, no mess to clean up and as long as you have 2 to 4 batteries, you can keep flying all day without waiting too long for something to charge.

The money for a crash isn't too bad on the TRex's either. You'd have to stuff it hardcore to get over $100.

JayB,

A good ARF really doesn't exist Most ARF's you're going to want to break them down to loctite everything and check all your linkages.

A turbine is typically powered through a gearbox to bring the 80K RPM's down to something reasonable for the geartrain of the heli.

I like that there is a heli thread on here, but if you're REALLY interested in getting in to the helis, you should check out www.runryder.com for the skinny on just about every popular heli made today.

Shawn

[Nitrohuffer]

	Quote: Originally Posted by sincity
	I like that there is a heli thread on here, but if you're REALLY interested in getting in to the helis, you should check out www.runryder.com for the skinny on just about every popular heli made today. Shawn

Rubish!! JayB,
Stay here, this is your home! RR's not bad, but take the product opinions with a grain of salt. Bring your dakota because that grain is going to be about 400lbs! LOL!

[Nitrohuffer]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Boogie
	I have only flown them on the sim. Remeber it's just a sim!! I will probably go with the T-rex if I can afford it. Would a Futaba 190 gyro be good enough?? Although I'd like a 401 I won't afford the package.

Try and get something heading hold. I would go 240 the minimum.

[RappyMan]

One thing that is different with glow helis vs planes is tuning the engine. It's best to keep them running rich till you get the hang of tuning one or the engine might suffer. My method for tuning in the motor is start with it way to rich & then turn in the needle a bit till it starts flying right. After it's past the four cycling & getting into some power - fly for a minute or two, land & put your finger on the engine backplate (don't hit the cooling fins though.) It should be running cool enough to keep your thumb on it for 5 seconds or so. I'm usually cool enough that I can keep a finger on there without getting burnt.
Servos - digitals (no metal gears) are great - but I put 416 flights on my Raptor 50 with the baseline Futaba 3001 servos. Then a motor gave up in the aileron servo giving me a small crash and I went over to the digitals. I was expecting something magical, but really couldn't tell a difference. After some more flying time, it does seem a bit more locked in and light on the sticks - but not much different. This is my own opinion - I can't prio flip yet, but beat up the R50 with all the other tricks I know. Probably give it more abuse in the air trying things I'm learning - like the tail first inverted & bailing out of it.
No matter what, it's always a fun flight with the chopper. The "wow" factor of a chopper is great too. They are sort of rare & attract attention even if you are just hovering it.

[Geojungle99]

Hey there,

A few years ago I got a really good deal on a new Raptor 30V.2 and have never done anything with it because I don't know anyone in my area that flies heli's. I'd like to put it together and start practicing with it so I was wondering if theres anyone in the Riverside area that could give me a hand on set-up and maybe fly it for the first time to get it trimmed. I've been flying giant scale for a few years but I know nothing about heli's. So far I have a Futaba 401 gyro/9253 ( I'm pretty sure those are the right numbers). Any recommendations for servos? I'm not partial to any brand just as long as they work good and I don't have to upgrade them later. The heli is an Arf with the engine already installed and I fly with a Futaba 9C radio so I just need a hand with set-up and programming. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
George

[Flyinfool]

George,
Your gyro and servo are a great choice.
If you want servos that you will not outgrow on that heli I would recommend the Futaba 9252's for the other 4.

After that the only 3 upgrades you need will each be a case of heli fuel.

There is a great site http://www.raptortechnique.com/ that will walk you through the setup and programming.

[Geojungle99]

Jeff,

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out and I should be able to get it knocked out. What about the first flight? I'm assuming that heli's require trimming just like an airplane would right? I can fly on the sim but I honestly couldn't tell you what a good flying heli feels like so I need to find someone that can fly it for me and get it trimmed out. At least that way I'll know that the crappy flying is me and not the heli.

Thanks,
George

[Flyinfool]

The best thing for a first flight is to find some experienced help.
Going to a heli fun fly with your heli will always find experienced help.
Even if you have to drive over 100 miles each way it is worth it to get started right.
Look on the AMA website to see if you can find a heli club to visit.

It is possible to start on your own if you have to.

Get training gear and for your first flights do not let the heli get to more than 1 foot high.
If you fly any higher than a foot, the training gear can not help to keep you from tipping over.
Your first flights will look more like bunny hops and only last a couple of seconds each.
If the heli does anything that you didn't tell it to reduce the collective slightly and land to try again.
If the tail gets turned, resist the temptation to "fly" it straight, walk over and straighten it out, or reposition it to a safe area.
Since you have been flying on the sim this process may only take one or two flights.

As far as trimming goes, check that your CG is on the main shaft or SLIGHGTLY nose heavy with full fuel (Full fuel only applies to helies with the tank behind the CG) once you get proficient you can set your CG to be right on the main shaft at half fuel.
It is normal for a heli to drift left at lift off. A stationary hover in no wind will have the heli leaning slightly to the right. This is normal on any heli with a clockwise rotor. After a short while you will automatically give that little bank at liftoff. For the first flights some people will put a 1/4 inch thick piece of wood under he left skid to give you that slight right bank before lift off.
If the heli wants to drift in one direction with no wind, then you may need to ad some trim to correct. If there is wind the heli should drift with the wind when trimmed correctly.

Now my fingers hurt.

[Nitrohuffer]

I needed a break I agree with everything Jeff said. The trick to set up is to build it exactly to the manual. 90 degrees at linkages, level swash,, and correct length links will give you a almost perfect set up. Pound the sim! When you get ready to go with the real thing you will be better off.

[Biff]

Nitro, Great read and even I can understand it!! Nice. Here's another for you. Why is it mandated that you must take off and wiggle everything then land and look at the transmitter, then blast off into wildness? Hmmm,,,

Here's my next one. I've been flying choppers on the sim a bunch. The chaos,,,,WTF??? Can't make that one happen at all. How about walkning us simboners through it?

Dang!!! I just coined a new one,, Sim-boners!!! Yahoos like me who are brave on a sim but a wimp with the real thing. Nice huh?