[waylander]

Well hope you have fun. Since you can obviously afford it, it's entirely your choice what you buy. Considering the fact that you have a restricted flying area, i'm just wondering why you would choose a .90 size electric to begin with? I started with a 300 size electric and while I gave me some trouble it also made me a better pilot. It was also cheaper to fix and didn't cause too much damage when it hit something.

I don't recommend the 300 size, if I had to do it over again I'd have started in a trex 450 but whatever.

[OTTERTOK]

Well to start with advice is very nice and appreciated, sarcasm the world is full of and not needed. I have been flying RC airplanes for 20 years now and real planes for 6 and in the world of planes bigger is easier so I thought that theory would apply to helicopters too. I would like to get away from nitro. But like anyone starting into a new field of RC I know nothing about electric RC thats why I come to this great community of RC Canada where guys know what their talking about and like to help people getting in to new areas. So as you can assume by the question I am just starting so 3D is out and sport flying is out, learning and getting 2 inches of the ground and hovering is where I fit in. Amazing Hobbies in London is where I saw a 90 size Heli it came from Europe and yes it was $1500.00 just for the Heli.

[martinic]

Alright - now you've given us a little information. So, no knowledge of large electrics - that is a problem. You'll need lipos for a 90 e-heli and they cost lots. 10S2P 4000mAH packs cost about $400 each and will give you ~8 minutes of flight on a 700mm blade e-heli. The actual flight time will depend on a number of variables.

You will also need more than one of these packs, 4 is a good number.

The big problem is that lipo batteries have little tolerance for mishandling. If you over or under discharge them, you will destroy them. One mistake is all it takes. In the worst case, these batteries can explode in flames. They have a huge amount of stored energy.

Also, you are dealing with very high voltage and current - it can kill you. The smaller e-helis use lower (safer) voltage.

Charging these very large packs is also problematic. You need expensive chargers and complex balancing systems. If you intend to field charge these packs, you will need a rather large generator.

From a safety point of view, you are much better off learning how to work with electric power systems and proper handling of lipos using smaller setups (lower voltage, less powerful).

Even if you have plenty of money, you would be well advised to start with something smaller (much smaller) and learn your lessons of proper setup and electric power system optimization with safer, less expensive helis.

The beauty of electric is that you can go much smaller than with nitro (down to palm size that you can fly in a small room). Although larger helis are easier to pilot, they are not necessarily the best ones to learn on due to the cost of mistakes. You wouldn't give a first time fixed wing pilot a $5000 50% aerobatic aircraft to learn on; similarly you don't generally learn how to fly helis on a 90.

You could go to a 50 size e-heli to start, but you would do just as well with a mini heli like the MiniTitan or Trex 450SE. Believe it or not, these mini helis can be set up to fly very stable for a beginner. Yes, they can also be set up to fly wild 3D - it's all in the way you configure them.

Going smaller than a Trex 450 will make piloting more work, but the cost of error is even less (less mass = less damage when you crash).

If you want to start with a larger heli, stay with a 50 size e-heli (e.g. Trex 600) or smaller. The Trex 600 runs on 6S (22V) 5000mAH packs that cost $300 each. Parts are not overly expensive.

ARF helis are generally cheaper small ones. The worst ones are the ones that sell for under $200 RTF. When you mention ARF in helis, this is what comes to mind. Because of the significance of setup for helis, you need to build and setup helis and learn these valuable skills; an ARF doesn't give you these skills. Also, an ARF heli is rarely set up to fly out of the box. Even if you had a perfectly setup heli RTF, you are one crash away from having to rebuild and set up yourself. An ARF is not an advantage - there is no fast track to getting in the air. The only short cut is having experienced help. It is for these reasons that the mention of an ARF 90 is a silly concept. You can't fly 3D without lots of practise - similarly, you can't have a good flyign heli without careful setup.

Flying helis is 50% piloting, 50% maintenance/setup.

[OTTERTOK]

Thankyou for all the positive advise, so it is going to be alot harder than I thought, so I should actually buy a kit a book learn the fundamentals of helicopters and take a year to build and familiarize myself with the radio and heli before flying and keep it small. Plus join a club maybe and see how it is done.

[SJrcflyer]

Definitely the right idea!! You can still buy a good radio and gyro etc, but start small. If I was doing it again I would of considered getting a mini titan first before jumping right into my Raptor50.

Choice is yours, but best of luck.

[Tmaxx4ever]

Originally Posted by OTTERTOK

Thankyou for all the positive advise, so it is going to be alot harder than I thought, so I should actually buy a kit a book learn the fundamentals of helicopters and take a year to build and familiarize myself with the radio and heli before flying and keep it small. Plus join a club maybe and see how it is done.

It is not a very hard thing to do but it requires that you go about it the right way. It's hoping in a real Cessna and doing a solo...it is very easy to do but without the proper learning, it would be difficult to say the least.

Book's, with respect to this sort of thing, are somewhat impractical....check out www.helifreak.com or www.runryder.com and look at the various build threads and setup threads or ask here.

Joining a club is the best thing you could do (see what the local guys are flying and see what you have for parts supply). Parts supply will be one of the main deciding factors with respect to what heli you buy. You will need parts sooner or later...guaranteed. The Align and Thunder Tiger stuff is readily available all across the country.

Whatever you do, ask lots of questions. The right answers are out there and we are here to help.

[Colin]

There are some excellent points made by the various members who have posted in this thread. It’s great to have a community so willing to help.

OTTERTOK,

It’s good to see you're considering a smaller model. You don't necessarily have to take an entire year to build and familiarize yourself with the heli and radio. That will naturally come as you spend more and more time flying and working on the heli. Just like building an airplane there are tips and tricks that you’ll learn along the way. If you take your time and carefully build the model you’ll have a problem free machine, as long as you stick with reputable manufacturers. The radio setup can be confusing at first, but if you seek help from an experienced local flyer you'll have no problem.

like martinic said, the 450 size helis can be setup to be very stable for learning. I recommend the Mini Titan, but there are many choices avaiable.

Colin

[OTTERTOK]

To all of you, thankyou and sorry for the silly start I appreciate all the help I can get. Will have a look at the Titan.

[martinic]

There is no one ideal first heli - there are many. The choice is a largely individual one. If you have local support, then buying what the locals fly and know is a proven strategy; if you are going it alone, then you need to do your homework to determine what will be best for you.

I personally like the 450 size electric (Mini Titan or Trex 450SE) due to their convenience and flexibility (great for beginner through pro). Flight time is what you're after and such a heli will give you lots of it; you can fly it in your neighborhood early in the morning and no one will know you're there. That doesn't mean that it's the right heli for you (but you really can't go too wrong).

You're best to learn about helis by doing. Setup is the biggest initial challenge; although a well setup heli will be much easier to fly, you will be lacking the skills to do it properly. Thankfully, there are resources to help you.

Local club
More experienced pilot
Forums (RCC, RunRyder, HeliFreak, RC Groups)
Videos (Bob White - terrific free videos on Helifreak)
A quality simulator (RealFlight, Reflex, Phoenix, etc.)

Since you're interested in electric helis, you might also want to have a look at the Electric Helicopter Beginner's Guide. Although it's a little dated now, it still contains lots of good information and is a valuable read. It is free.

There are quite a few threads in this subforum relating to beginner setups. Make good use of the search facility and you will find lots of good information.

[OTTERTOK]

Thanks very much, will do as you suggest and learn.