[MarkCrowe]

OK, I've introduced myself in another thread already, but thought I'd start a thread directed solely at first-timers like myself.

Having some casual interest in the hobby for years, while on a recent trip for work I had some time to kill so went into a hobby shop not far from the hotel (Hobbyworld in Saskatoon). Years ago I did a lot of plastic models, then got older and more busy with work, and a few years back wanted a 'winter hobby' and started rigging up for model railroads. I've never laid a track, built some kits, but never had room for a layout. While looking around this shop, I of course admired the RC planes and such hanging from the ceilings, and the small display of micro helis on the counter. One that caught my eye was the LiteHawk, a micro heli with a lot of metal parts. Looked simple enough and similar, but much higher quality than the Air Hogs and ripoff dealies I've seen in Bargain Stores and Fields, etc.

I was tempted at the price tag, but left, not wanting to bite off more than I could chew and having limited funds (I thought). That night at the hotel, I surfed the net and looked up the little beastie. It turns out that the importer had some nifty videos on youtube. I was hooked. It just so happened that I had more funds available than I thought, and $60 wasn't going to be an issue with the Warden (wife- same difference). So the next day I went back, picked one up, and headed home. Got some batteries on the way, set it up to charge, and couldn't wait to try it.

First day, first few times, were pretty rough. While having a decent theoretical knowledge of how they fly, it's always about the muscle memory. Or lack of it. The controls for the LiteHawk are more sensitive than I would have expected for a 'cheap' heli. I won't call it RC because, technically, it's not. It's controlled by a 3-ch infrared system similar to a TV remote. Also, with 3 channels, it doesn't handle the same way a typical heli does. Collective (up/down), Pitch (forward and backward) and Yaw (horizontal rotation). No sideslipping with this one. The counter-rotating blades and 'gyro' stabilizer keep it fairly stable, but it did not like to hold a hover. Practice continued, with the appropriate terrorization of the cats and dog, and a few minor scrapes when I set it down hard in response to loss of control.

Second day, two things: found a video online of how to 'hot rod' this particular model by stripping some of the extra metalwork. This video was done, again, by the manufacturer, with the admonishment that it was for experienced flyers, and that it did reduce some of the crash survivability. I watched the video, and decided to keep it in mind until I had more practice.

While flying, I had a sudden loss of lift, and a strange noise from the rotors. The top rotor would spin, the bottom not at all. An inspection revealed that the gear from one of the motors had somehow slipped off, and no drive was being sent to the rotor. Luckily the tiny thing was found and I started to disassemble the LiteHawk. In the process, I decided to follow the 'hot rod' procedure as the manufacturer claimed it added more than 2 minutes to the flight time. Everything back together, time to try it out.

Well, it was certainly more responsive! Faster to get off the ground, and much less throttle to hold altitude. But the balance was off enough that the hover problem was far worse; it was now fairly nose-heavy. Some of the parts removed were two metal support booms for the tail rotor; I put them back on. That helped, but not quite enough. So I put the horizontal stabilizer fin back on. That solved it! It still is a tad nose heavy, but much more controllable, more responsive, and I get a good 10 minutes of flight time out of it. And I've practiced enough that I can keep it in the air, moving about, do touch-and-goes, etc. on one go. This, it seems, is progress.

Now I already find myself researching a larger heli. This one is turning out to be a dandy trainer for someone completely new to model flying, it handles crashes well, is very stable for what it is, and seems to be a great way to get some of the basics in hand before spending what will likely become a great deal more money.

I'm now looking at a Blade SR, or stepping right up to a Blade 400 or equivalent. As a beginner, I'm partial to having a setup-in-a-box as compared to buying individual components, with the limited knowledge I have. More involved purchases will come as that knowledge increases, I'm sure.

[JimMcIntyre]

Welcome Mark,

I'm no newbie, but new enough to remember my learning experience.

I began with an LMH, basically a small fixed pitch heli with a balky little glow engine. I learned the basics of hovering and a little forward flight with this inexpensive (comparatively at the time) model.

My next heli was a Nexus 30. Wow! With this being a "full house" (it had collective pitch) model, I expected this to be a much more difficult model to fly. True it had to be built, and was much more mechanically involved but, this was an invaluable learning experience. With this heli I manged to master nose-in and other perspectices and moved on to simple aerobatics such as loops, rolls and the terrifying yet, absolutely essential skill of autorotations.

Having progressed to the point where the Nexus was proving little challenge and, already having modified the design to accomodate further collective range, I then decided to buy the new (at the time) Raptor 30...

Wow! This thing was way more responsive, I progressed much faster and was thoroughly enjoying practicing sliding autos etc.

Still I wanted more. The opportunity to move up to a 60 size heli came in the form of a TSK Mystar 60. I could not believe the power and precision this heli came with. It's definitely capable of maneuvers way beyond my own abilities. The problem is, I really can't afford to replace/repair it.

Along comes my buddy with a heli that reminds me of my original LMH ... it's small. I'm impressed that it's electric (no more downtime due to engine tuning) and full collective. I recall the instability of my tiny LMH so I'm skeptical ... off we go to the field.

Windy ... gusts to 20kph, there's no way I'm going to see this fly today right? Wrong, he proceeeds to set up to fly ... well at least I'm going to see a spectacular crash .... WRONG! Either my buddy has suddenly developed mad skills or this little heli is as stable as my Nexus was. Now it's my turn "are you sure?", "Yep, go ahead, at $200 all in, I have a spare" he smiles at me.

Well ... to make a long story short, the little heli is not only as stable as my Nexus was, it's as nimble as my Raptor, maybe a little more!

Long story short, I forced him to sell me his spare.

Check it out when evaluating your next purchase. My HK450 flies several times a week while my TSK is now more of a nice showpiece in my workshop....

Here is his initial test flight this spring, hot off the build table, no trimming done; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2h3FxXQ2TA

[waylander]

I progressed very quickly in my RC Heli "career". Started with an airhogs, moved to a co-axial Esky Lama V4 (basically the same as an Eflite CX), then to a 300 size electric CP, then 450 CP then 600 nitro. I then kind of went down in size to micro sized electrics (100-200) and now own around 20 helis total.

This is a very addictive hobby and there are so many different machines out there that I never get bored (well sometimes on my sim I do). Between all the micros I fly inside and the 8 450 and larger helis I have they're a blast to fly, every where from my backyard to the flying field.

I will say that jumping from a 3ch infared to a 300 size SR or 400 size blade 400 is quite the leap. The first thing to realize is that the controls are different. If you enjoy your 3ch infrared might I suggest something like a self stabilized MSR first? Being a single rotor you'll have much more control but it is self stabilized so if you let off the controls it should hover on its own.

This is just a suggestion not a requirement as it's a small enough investment to see if you actually will like the hobby and is a great indoor flyer as well.

[MarkCrowe]

I watched the video, looked up the heli in it (the HK450).... My LiteHawk is that, in miniature (the LH has counter-rotating blades and no swash plate though)... but the airframe is identical, only on a larger scale! Looks fun (and at those prices, I just might go that route with some prodding on the transmitter and batteries, etc.).

Thanks!

[rotormonkey13]

For what it's worth I've played with those light hawks. Yep, they're fun for what they are for sure, and they will teach you a bit. BUT!!!

They'll teach the wrong muscle memory. Rudder control is over on the right stick (which drives me bonkers btw!). On just about any other hobby grade heli, rudder is on the left stick (assuming mode 2 which is what most folks fly).

Just a heads up that controls won't be the same when you move on to your Blade 400 or Blade SR.

If you think you're in the deep end, and you're going to get into the hobby, here's my input:

1: Between the two, go with the Blade 400. The airframe is flyable with the electronics it has, and it comes with a good computer radio. Best bang for your buck available today.
2: Before even trying to fly the Blade 400, get a sim. Even if it's a free one like FMS, and practice up on that first. Otherwise your nice shiney new heli probably won't last long... You thought the litehawk was sensitive? It's got nuthin' on the B400!
3: Don't tie yourself down to helis that are pre-built. Yeah, I get you don't have a lot of knowledge right now, nobody just starting out does. But don't cheat yourself from the experience. Kits that you build are invariably of better quality than those that come ready to fly. You can put better electronics in them for cheaper, and you will LEARN how they work. The only gotcha is that you'll probably have to get some experienced help with radio setup and a lookover your heli before your maiden flight.

Learning radio setup, and how they work was half the fun for me. I didn't have any help - but I did have finless bob.

Go take a gander at Finless bob's helifreak tech room at http://www.helifreak.com. This guy has loads of build/setup videos on there. I would've been lost without Bob when I bought my first heli.

Good luck, and have fun!

[MarkCrowe]

Well, as much as I'd like to, I won't be rushing into it- I think. I'll look over as many different types and setups as I can, as many magazines and books as I can, and find what fits. I'm not averse to going with a RTF combo and then trying a kit.

As far as the muscle memory, I know the controls aren't going to be the same- the controller I have for Microsoft's FSX taught me that, and I've flown planes and helis on that with some success. I might see about a sim with a controller; the free ones line up with my tastes (as cheap as possible) but I don't see the benefit without a controller.

Thanks again for the advice everyone; I'll keep you all posted!

[Perry3182]

Being as you're from Grande Cache maybe you may frequent Grande Prairie a bit? If so check out Extreme hobbies/Splatter paintball. They have all the eflite helis there on display. These are about the only ones you will find parts for here in GP. Wonderland has a few as well. Going to the blade 400 would be a giant step. Seeing as how winter is coming I would suggest a blade msr to fly around indoors and a good sim. Realflight, pheonix are a couple of good ones. The blade sr120 would be another good indoor heli but would require more room. Both of these are fixed pitch but will help with basic orientation. If you must go collective pitch I don't think the blade sr cp heli is all it's cracked up to be. Check around Helifreak.com and runryder.com. These are greaqt heli sites. Used is a good way to go, which is really too bad seeing I recently sold a trex 450se rtf with dx6i and enough spares to get you through 2-3 crashes for 300.00 and I could have demo'd it for you here in GP. Trexes are great and 450 is a good learning size. I have a hk450 pro belt drive and so far so good but it hasn't seen much airtime. It's a cheap airframe but I outfitted it with some really good electronics so it should be good.

[MarkToo]

Welcome to the hobby Mark. With a little patience and practice you will find flying helicopters a very rewarding challenge.

Take your time and enjoy the ride.

Mark

[OICU812]

Welcome, as Perry says if you ever venture up north an hour or so, get in touch with us. I also travel past your way frequent so just PM me with you number etc and could hook up on the way by.

[MarkCrowe]

Perry3182 and OICU812; nice to know there's someone not too far away. Yes, the family and I come to GP every now and then for shopping and such; I'm sure setting up a 'howdy, how are things going' is possible. Think I'm going to start a 'shopping list' of helis and parts; look at the costs for each, and probably order up a sim. Biggest problem right now is it's the middle of hunting season, and that's another expensive hobby of mine (I seem to have a few of them); but hunting is done for me around the 20th of December, and ice fishing only takes up so much time.

Thanks for all the advice and tips, I'm signed up on helifreaks (same name as here) now also and got my subscription for Model Airplane News started. Let the researching begin!