New To The 6CH World

Nutcaze;

I'm so glad I found you before I purchased the Blazing Star. Your help made my decision to buy it and the video related to the top blade issue was great. It's an awesome little bird and I have enjoyed learning on it.
Not a good bird for outdoors but great fun in a calm environment.
Since I'm no longer a newbie flying this coax, I had bought the Art Tech falcon 400 and it came with so many problems out of the box, I returned it to Xheli and exchanged it for an Exceed Blue Ray 450SE.
I'm new to the 6ch world and figured since it's a lot like the Trex 450 without the cost, parts and information would be available.
I should recieve it on 4-13-09.
I've been reading and gathering information about set up and I was wonder if you had any tips or things I should be aware of ?

Any advice will increase my learning curve and maybe make my maiden flight enjoyable!

Thanks,

Jdion2

Be sure to buy or make yourself a training gear. It will save you a lot of crashes. The single rotor handles nothing like the coax. The coax helis are fine, and a lot of fun, but what you learned on the coax isn't going to help you much on the single rotor heli. They fly completely different. Use that training gear and take your time learning. Also I recommend that the first time you spool it up you do it with the heli clamped down to a workbench to make sure everything is working properly and with no glitching . One thing for sure, you will have a ton of fun with your new heli. Just be patient.

Donnie D

Thanks Donnie;

Finally had time to dive into the new bird......did all the bench tests and set-ups and was pleased to see almost everything out of the box was set within decent tolerances for normal flight.

I've had time to live test her and you are somewhat correct about the differences btw the coax and the collective pitch.......glad I have spent many hours on the Blazing Star, at least that taught me enough to negotiate the TX with some confidence.
The Blue Ray is 10 times the bird and requires 3 times the thinking.
Everything with collective pitch responds fast.......skated across the floor 15' in less than 3 sec. before I caught my breath........
Once I get the left skating, throttle and aileron control under my belt this will be a lot of fun......the bird want's to hover, it's just me not having enough command at the moment.

I'll put the advice to good use.........slow my corrections down and think a few steps ahead of the bird!

Thanks again!
Jdino2

Sounds great. Don't forget the training gear and just be patient. They all want to scoot to the left at lift off. Give it just a bit of right cyclic at the light on the skids point and just hop it around a bit at first to get a feel for it. Have fun.

Donnie D

Yo "JD" look up RADDS school of rotary flight and take the time to follow it!!! Sounds silly at first but IT WORKS.. I messed around with my HBK2 for 6weeks before I found it and I followed it. Sometimes it felt I was goin back a step but I stuck with it and I must say there is no way I'd bve here if I haden't followed it!!! It will ead ALL skiding around for good ande you will be in the air before you know it..hoovering like a rock!!!

Fatdaddy;

Thanks for the info....I down loaded the PDF RADD's flight instructions.....
Wow.....lots of punishment....lol...Radd is an old school instructor....love it!
This will really help and yes I will be taking a few steps backwards but "got to learn to walk before I can run" (or crash)......

Nice to see that there are many "old" guys like myself "55" that are interested in this hobbie.......will keep the cob webs upstairs away...
I started in this with my son, but he quickly lost interest...... to much to manage and not enough instant satifaction!......you can blame the high tech video games for that....
He's really bright but boredom sets in with kids today if they don't seem to master things right away.......besides he just got into restoring a 72 comet...his first car and that has now taken his complete attention....along with sports and girlfriend.....lol

Thanks again....I'll post how things work out occassionaly

Jdino2

Yes I agree, I'm glad you've decided to go the RADDS way. I assure you, you will feel connected to the heli by the time your done!! I know what you mean with the kids and not having time to do it. My daughter Alex told me she wanted to learn a couple weeks back, So I took the chance she really would and set her up with a really nice heli. A Genuis Screamer 480. The thing is done up to the max right out of the box, well here it sits waiting for her to come up with the time to gewt started... I really do hope she does(cause at 19,well you know we don't have that many things that we do together anymore) but if not its one more heli for me!!!LOL
Hope you can make the FUN FLY Its gonna be a BLAST!!!

check out the screamer at thunderpowerrc.com you can get tham on Ebay.. sometimes very cheap!! I got one for 56 with servos,gyro, ESC batt. motor,360 blades ect...
I can't say enough about how sweet this is.. comes in 450 and 480

jdino2 - RADDS is an excellent way to train. I didn't follow it myself but it is a must read for beginners.

You might try to pick up a HBFP to learn the basics of single rotor flight. Its alot cheaper and easier to repair then the Blue Ray is. But the HBFP will teach you the basics and if you can find a large indoor area to practice in then you should be able to progress into single rotor helis pretty easily.

Just remember to take it slow and keep it low till you get better

Also like Fatdaddy said, it'd be really cool to see you at the funfly. I'm gonna be bringing some helis for beginners to practice on, so if you need more help then we'll give you as much as possible.

I somethimes tyhink I should have started with a FP heli. Maybe it would have been easier. But then I heard someone say that if you could learn on the King that you would be good for anything. So I stuck with it and as for the others being easy to fly now we will see. I really do feel pretty good about where I'm at with the king, only starting this past Jan. and as far as forward flight now. That little king is really crazy quick, really like on crack or something but I think I finally got it. It also has been a BEAR to maintain and keep adjusted. Things readjust themselves quite easly so its like you all the time got to check. First thing I find I do with each battery pack is when I bring it up to hover is get a good look at the disk to see how the trackin looks!! It only takes a couple packs for it to wander out of track. But I'm hoping all the extra effort is gonna be worth it!!!

I JUST WANT TO FLY!!!!!!

Nuttcaze.......

I'd love to do the funfly......however, I'm in So Calif........
It would be a great experince for me!

Thanks to both you and Donnie......you've been an awsome source of info.....

I've been practicing RADDS techniq with my Blazing Star.....even though I have full command of this bird.......surprised to see how much (or) little command I thought I had......The box and right side in stuff is very good.

I won't be purchasing another bird right-a-way.......so the 4channel fixed pitch will have to wait....I'll continue to practice with the Star....and take it easy with the Blue Ray for now.......I'm in no hurry to replace parts on the RAY......I'm still skating with her and applying little skid lifts....

I'll be fine....and having fun anyway..........

Thanks again!

Jdino2

Just a little up-date........
Well, it's been two weeks of HBFP sim training and a little cheating on the RADDS method......I got the blue ray to hover......in a confined space!.....Not a ding on anything....lol
Thanks to you guys and alot of patience.......I now have lost most of the "harmful" fears and thinking ahead of the heli.
My next step will be hovering with nose pointing at me and rotating the tail......my landings still have a tiny bounce.....a far cry from where I was 2 weeks ago......
You guys were spot on about the size stability........this 450 trims very well...it's just so damn fast........lol

Anyway, I'll keep working on it.....let you know more later!

Thanks for your encouragement!

Jdino2

Jdino2:
Watch it with the "old guys", 55?? I've got a decade on you (and then some)and just going from coax to HBFP? Bin flying for a whole six months...and in Canada that's about one week of flying!!!
Keep up the good work and keep the comments coming. You young guys inspire us old foks
Dave

Hardfourteen.....sounds like a black jack hand.....lol

Good to hear from another inspired dad....!
Yes, one of the advantages of living in a nice climate is the time we can spend outdoors....allthough I haven't flown the Blue Ray in the sunshine....I'm still in the garage......lol....besides, with the sunshine comes tons of yard work........putting a cramp in my flying time at the moment.......
What has really helped though is the sim time and my little Blazing Star........both have given me confidence and an understanding for the TX and trim controls of the 450.....Like everyone has suggested, a hbfp may have been a better starter but with age comes wisdom and more patience...both of which I have applied to this new adventure....I seldom make the same mistake twice and I'm in no hurry.......something I've noticed about most of the younger more eager guys who seem to be willling to push their envelope and end up learning how to rebuild before they master flying...I'd rather spend my time flying and maintaining.......that's not to say I won't crash, but at least it will come after I've had some enjoyment learning....
I'm well aware of the saying " there's only two kinds of rc heli's, ones that have crashed and ones that will cash - crash"...........

Joe