Ready to buy (I think)

New to Helis, but have planes, cars, a boat and a hovercraft. In the final research phases. Sim from esky and code from clearview should be here soon.

Live in iowa, work in finance, love my toys.

Looking at an esky honeybee Fixed, a falcon 40 or what my LHS sells helimax Novus FP. Dont know much about the 3rd one.

I would recommend the Honey Bee Fixed Pitch. More online info and help available than with the other two. Plus it is a great little trainer.

Donnie D

STAY AWAY from the Falcon 40 its a very spindly cheaply made bird, I was even affraid to spin mine up!! I closed the box and sold it without even puttin it the battery.

I have a differing opinion than most here. I say jump right in and go for it. Something along the lines of http://www.xheli.com/exrc2450sert.html
With your experiance with RC, orientation will not be much of a problem for you. You would learn to hover the FP and then be looking for more very soon.
A lot of people here will argue with me but if you read through the posts most start here new to the hobby and in a very short period of time are looking to a bigger CP. There is a little more to setting upand tuning a CP but we all have to learn it anyway.

What ever path you choose I wish you all the luck and hope you enjoy you heli as much as we do.

Darrel

I agree with Prel. I only commented cause I had a Falcon in my hands. I bought it for my wife and she has since decided not to fly. I would have sold it before she tryed to fly it anyway and got her a HBFP. I got it after having my HBK2 for a couple months. I also would suggest to anyone who has a fair amount of hand eye cord. to go CP and work hard at it. Thats what I did, but not on purpose I didn't know any better at the time. I also agree that most of the guys here or anywhere would not agree with us but everyone has got their own thoughts. Mine are go with a HBK2 hahahaha!!!! No I really mean it!!!! I've made out ok and I think that anyone who really wants to fly RChelis will get it in the end like I did!!!

No really I think the best heli to start with is the ESKY ESmart!!!!! It is cool!!!!!

i like the hbfp cuz its a lil tank man ive done some damage to mine and it still flye for instant i sumerged it in oil and it still flew but if u wanna go big get an 600 lol there awousome lol but in my opinion the hbfp is awousome

wow look at the feeback. Thanks guys. I will stick with a fixed pitch for simplicity and cost reasons at this point, and it looks like the Honeybee.

Hi branflake,

If you have read around in the various forums and helps out there, you will see there is a "traditional" path and a not so traditonal path in approaching your first heli.

This "traditional" path makes a lot of sense, in that you get something like a Falcon 40 (or Honey Bee Fixed Pitch) because it is cheap, and relatively simple and has a fixed pitch blade. Nuttcaze has good vids on that bird and they are worth having a look at. It also explains the differences between 4 channel and 6 channel. The complexity of the heli is simple, so it is easier to learn, and understand.

My experience is that the larger heli's are more stable, I have a Walkera 4#3B - it is a micro heli, and very hard to hover. I also have a 300 CP Pro, and it also has a reputation for being on the "skiddish" or "flighty" side, meaning less stable.

My 450 (although no a beginers heli) is what I've been putting my time into, now that the weather outside is starting to calm down a bit.

So, remember that a Fixed Pitch heli is not going to tollerate wind very well, so your local flying conditions should take that into account.

Nuttcaze has posted a recommended first level 6 channel heli the Belt CP (look under the 6 channel section of this forum). I went the 6 channel route to learn how to hover (so this is what I would call... non-traditional). I wanted a heli I could grow into, and I live in a windy area, so I wanted a 6 channel to learn on, but that's just a personal preferance (and maybe cause I'm crazy to).

Some other things I would mention are: when learning to fly, you will crash, so you want inexpensive parts to keep you going (so Blazemob & Donnie D make a good point). Make sure you have enough space (garage, or other protected space) to do things like spin ups to get a feel for the heli before you take it outside. And like Prel & Fatdaddy have said... you can get a limited funtion heli, or bite the bullet at get a 6 channel. I would echo their point, don't let a 6 channel intimidate you, but don't let us talk you into something your not comfortable with either. I think it is fair to say a 6 channel may cost you more in parts, but you can also grow into it.

happy hovering,

Tristar

Thanks TriStar. I am going to try the traditional FP method. Get decent, tinker with it and see what makes them tick right and wrong, then go for a belt CP or bigger.

I purchased the esky simulator so I'm hoping that will help. I will def look into the honey bee and yes fixed pitch is my dream. Going to the park showing off some heli skills lol

branflake12 wrote:

Thanks TriStar. I am going to try the traditional FP method. Get decent, tinker with it and see what makes them tick right and wrong, then go for a belt CP or bigger.

Thats what I always suggest, keep us posted on your progress

Thanks Nutt, will do. Sim should be here tomorrow. I have demos installed for FMS, clearview, proflight and one other one I cant place now. My LHS really REALLY wanted to sell me real flight g4...a little out of the price range. Looking for a deal on a honeybee with a lipo right now.

With no previous R/C experiance I purchased a Honeybee King 2 6ch CP to start with just because I wanted to have somthing I could spend alot of time with and not have to upgrade soon and I love it. Today i actually destroyed some head parts but I am learning and it is great FUN!!

The HBK2 is also what I learned on too!!! I love the little crack head!!!LOL It is a wild little beast. But its easy to work on and parts are cheap enough. Good luck and check out RADDS school of rotary flight. I consider it a must... but who am I ???
I think starting out with an ESmart really is the way to go!!!LOL

I just started flyin this year. I started in a honeybee king2. It took some time on my clearview simulator and a few sets of blades but parts are cheap for this heli. I bought a couple used birds for parts for a song on ebay. With your airplane experience I think you will run out of heli very quickly with a fixed pitch. Just my 2 cents. I would try a cp heli. King3 or belt cp come to mind. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I started by playing around in FMS with a Playstation 1 controller with a USB adapter... LOL Then I bought a used Blade CP on craigslist (I don't recommend this - buying a used heli that is - you just never know what you're going to get and prices have dropped so much that it's usually just a few bucks more for a new one) that ended up not having a good battery, so it'd only fly for about 30 seconds.


Then I sold the Blade, and got an E-Sky Belt CP V2 (which just dropped $50 in price - D'oh) and an EXI 450SE. Definitely happy with the stability and performance of the Belt CP.


There is definitely something to be said for having a belt driven tail and a heavier heli as a beginner. And with the EXI 450, you can go to your local hobby shop and by trex parts when you bury the Belt CP in the dirt. Or just buy another EXI 450.

Just thought I mention that I once again have a full metal "E" complete for sale!!!