staffy-bull

Right guys, being a woman i dont know the first thing about these so was hoping some nice guys on here will be able to point me in the right direction? Im looking at buying hubby a r/c helicopter as a pressie from the kids, i dont have a clue about them at all and dont know what one i am best off buying and from where?? Dont really want to spent more than £150 for him to smash it up..
Any help is greatfully appreciated..

Vicky

NACRO

However much you spend it will get smashed up. My friend let me have a go at his Raptor on a you break it you fix it basis. I ended up with a £50 repair bill.

Great fun though I can imagine the novelty would wear off pretty quick.

Maybe you could ask your question here?

Raptor Mad - Raptor RC Helicopter

wilffive

You can get them for about £20 now.

We had one at a recent works do during the dinner in the evening on the tables. It provided hours of entertainment flying it round the room buzzing people on other tables and the guest speaker.

Great fun - just get some rechargeable batteries.

billythekid

I have been flying electric helicopters for a couple of years - prior to this I have done almost everything else RC, planes, boats, cars etc etc.

How old are your kids and have they flown anything RC before?

I spent about 2 times the cost of my first helicopter in parts after crashes and general wear and tear. Apparently this is quite good going.

Also, you will (IMHO) need to get a good PC simulator (RealFlight G3.5 for example) and spend ATLEAST 10 hours on the sim before going for a real flight.

I will also then highly recommend you either seek advice from someone how has flown before or download a course of the internet.

Might sound like I am going OTT but dont forget 2 things, firstly this is the most dangerous RC "toy" you can buy - they will easily cut fingers clean off, people have been killed. Secondly, it takes quite a lot of time - I can spend 3 - 4 hours fixing / trimming / maintaining my helicopter for every hour of flight time.

I would highly recommend that you go for a co-axial bird, Lama V3 is an example. But its still going to need a bit of care, training and repair from time to time. Also they are indoor only really, you can fly them outside on a dead calm day but really any wind and you will be eating dirt.

After this if they really get the hang of it you can go for a bigger / faster bird, TREX / Z400 etc.

Good luck.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

I'd start simple with an indoor toy one that "just works". When it breaks if its something he loves then move on to a proper one. Unless of course you are sure its a proper one he wants.

staffy-bull

Sorry its for hubby from the kids, the kids wont be touching it as my little lad prefers to fly his flying superman.

billythekid

Oops forgot to say:

Here for advice

Electric RC Helis

Here for starter helis..

RC Electric Helicopters / Radio Control Helicopters Specialist - RCMODS

Brendan Hughes

Has he already flown RC planes? If not, maybe a plane would be easier to start with. My wife might think I'd like a RC heli as a typical boy's toy, but the truth is I don't have the time or patience for anything that difficult.

staffy-bull

He hasnt really got alot of experiance flying helicopters but at weekends when we take the dogs up our fields and our lad flys his superman, a couple of mates come up and fly their helicopters (petrol ones), he has had a go with them and loved it.Just thought if we got him his own that would keep him occupied up the field whilst i get on with sorting the horses..

billythekid

In which case you could consider going for a fixed pitch 4 chan helicopter... Honey Bee is a good one. Can also be flown outside on still days. I started on a similar helicopter and then moved up from there. Definatly have a read on RCU on how to set them up, a badly set up helicopter is so hard to fly, a nice balanced set up is 100 times easier. My current helicopter will hover very easily - but mainly due to the balance / set up.

billythekid

Only problem with planes is space - you need a lot of it - a helicopter can be used in a fairly small space - a double garage is all you need for small stuff.

Brendan Hughes

In that case, brilliant - most importantly, he's got a couple of mates to turn to for advice.

That doesn't apply to me as I don't have any friends

billythekid

By the way Tower Hobbies have RealFlight G3.5 on offer at the moment...

pslewis

This is what you want:-

Twister Bell 47

You can get free flight sims which do the job.

No need to spend more than £80 to get airborne in something more than a toy.

I have had this Bell47 for 2 years and enjoyed every minute - I have never flown a Heli before.