RC planes/jets/heli

I'm tempted to try a 6-channel, collective pitch heli someday (after investing in Phoenix of Realflight sim of course), but with each crash costing $50++ in broken parts, and serious doubts about my reflexes, talent and necessary practice time may be happy with 4-ch, FP.

There are now several micro-sized 6-ch, 3D helis that are much more durable than the big guys (Blade MCP and Genius CP) for ~$200, but nothing beats watching a top pro like Alan Szabo do his thing:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU8o3djhvSU&hd=1[/ame]

Smaller helis than this can cause SERIOUS injuries, I hate to think what 600-size blades would do to human flesh....

Blade MCPx
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIon9WJYJ_E&hd=1[/ame]

 

He defies gravity with his stunts!

 

We tried aero-towing a glider last week...It probably would have worked great if I didn't keep turning inside of the towplane...getting ready to try again...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3ufxi4eZsU[/ame]

Dave

 

+1

That was one of the most insane things I've ever seen! I'm sure he's totaled his fair share of heli's before. They definitely look like the could so some serious damage to somebody!

 

I used to fly gasser helis about 15 years ago. The technology has changed so much that my EFlite MD520 is much easier to fly than my 30-size Shuttle from years ago. My plan is to get back to scale flying using Align helis down the road.

 

+1 on that. Still have the shuttle I learned to fly heli in one piece. ( how rare is that ).The Shuttle's swash plate is very sloppy compared to my Align Trex 450. Pizoelectric Gyros....all new tech stuff.
IIRC Shuttles (Hirobo) came out late 80's.LOL
Dinosaurs now.

 

Same here. My Shuttle has not flown in about 12 years and sits up in the attic, along with a 6 channel Futaba tx. I remember seeing an original Shuttle in a hobby shop in the Tokyo Ginza district during a visit there in '84.

 

The Man Who Made Things Fly

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dzjuxy_awQ[/ame]

 

another
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiJ4T3E-NM8&feature=related[/ame]

 

Hahaha! He's put some serious time and money in doing this.
The quote - When pigs fly - may actually happen with this guy;-)

 

Although the technology isn't brand new (moving them out for a next gen?), Horizon Hobby just cut the price on their Heli "Battle Pack": two 4-channel, 3.4Ghz, coax choppers with IR "guns" (plus extra blades and canopies, which is nice) for $99 +$8 S&H. Great price. When these came out each heli cost $139.

http://www.horizonhobby.com/products/force-combo-pack-FCE5000?cm_mmc=FORCE-99COMBO-FREEPARTS-_-Homepage-General-_-Slide-2

review: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1332479

Been saying that once these hit ~$100 I'd get a set, so a pack is now on the way for living-room dogfights to liven up the Christmas season

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GL2EZJt2gY[/ame]

just noticed at the set doesn't come with a charger; you have to use the controller to charge the supplied 120mAH heli battery. This very quickly drains the AA batteries in the transmitter, plus the 120mAH LiPos are pretty weak, so it's a good idea to also get:
Four higher cap 160mAH for ~$15:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-TURNIGY-NANO-TECH-1S-160mAh-BATTERIES-25-40c-E-FLITE-BLADE-MSR-MCX-MCX2-/170717487255?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27bf8e2097

and ideally one of these to charge up to 4 batteries at once:
http://www.amazon.com/Celectra-4-Port-3-7V-Li-Po-Charger/dp/B001XIMGP0

or a couple of these single-battery chargers for $12.5 each:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160677846833&hlp=false

 

+1 on that dogfighting w IR guns.
Your LR is gonna be a battle theater.LOL

 

I saw the same offer today. I have never tried the IR gun thing, but it looks like fun. How hard is it to hit your target?

Also, how many of these can fight at once? I've got two brothers, so if I bought a 4-pack of choppers for Christmas could we all fight at the same time? I am assuming so since they are 2.4Ghz, but wanted to make sure.

 

That's very cool stuff. I wonder how difficult they are to actually pilot and battle with. Would it be too difficult to aim for all but expert RC pilots, just right for the average fliers, or far too easy (and dull) by having too broad a hit area when firing?

All the best,
Andrew.

 

We'll see how hard it is. From the videos it seems like the IR transmitters have a fairly wide 'spread', and the review says that you can adjust the range I assume for handicapping more experienced pilots.
I've seen at least 4 'fighting' in one video, so apparently it's no problem.

BTW - here's a cool video showing 100 transmitters going at once, with no interference (skip to 3:00).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QaoXipp_288

Andrew - co-axial helicopters with gyroscopes are the most stable, easy to fly helis available. These are 4-channel, which means you can 'strafe', as well as spin, go forward/back, of course up/down. With a little practice you'll be doing nose-in/out pirouettes, box patterns, mildly banked turns, etc. Like most co-axs they can hover in one place 'hands off' just about until the battery dies.

Since my wife and buddies aren't as skilled pilots as I, if the range-adjustment (i.e. give my gun a shorter range, theirs longer) doesn't equalize things enough I may try to put a length of straw over the IR transmitter (less of a shotgun effect), or start out with one hit to their none.

For $108 I'm gonna find out!

BTW - The landing gear looks very similar to that on my Blade MSR, which means it's quite weak. I'll beef up the area where the struts join the frame with some epoxy before flying.

 

There is a kiosk in my local mall selling helicopters. The salesperson was very off-putting as he follows you around the display staring at you as you are trying to take in what they carry.
I'm assuming that these, while very cool looking, are junk and that I should be looking on line?
I would be looking to get something fairly large as when I become proficient with it I would like to attach a GoPro video camera.
Something in the Walkera line perhaps?

 

Stig - some kiosks sell "good" 3-ch helis, but almost always at much higher prices than online.
If you've never flown an RC heli, or even if you have and just want a cheap gift(s) (last year I bought 6 of these and gave them to nephews, dad, bro etc) or want to fly around inside, just get one of these S107g for $20 (add AA batteries or anything else for $5 to get free shipping):
http://www.amazon.com/Syma-S107-S107G-Helicopter-Yellow/dp/B004A8ZRB0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1322013947&sr=8-2

On RCGroups.com Walkera helis have their fans, but I'd say at least twice as many people say they're generally fragile and have their issues.

To carry a Go-Pro camera really the best, most stable platform is a quad-copter. I don't know that much about them but go to rcgroups.com and prepare to spend lots of time learning. I think decent ones capable of lifting a Go-Pro will set you back at least a few hundred bucks+, including a basic transmitter/controller.

BTW - my two sets (4 choppers) of Blade Force battle-helis arrived today. Just had time today to unbox and do some basic check flights and gun tests, but so far I'm VERY impressed. At ~15 feet the IR 'gun' registers a hit if it's aimed roughly in a 3' diameter circle around the target chopper. This will be good for my wife's and buddy's gunship, but on mine I'll put a longer length of heat-shrink tubing over the 'barrel' to make it tougher for me.
After we get back from our thanksgiving road-trip I'll do a more complete test and video, but I have no problem saying now that for $99 a set (add $5 worth of spare parts, like a battery, and get free shipping from Horizon Hobby) this is the RC heli deal of the year.
There are people on RCgroups who've been flying and battling with these for over a year with many crashes, and say they're still going strong.

 

I have a few questions regarding the Force combat helis:

Are these Blade or Horizon products, or are they a 3rd party? Are the mechanicals the same or at least comparable in quality to a Blade mCX? These seem like a heck of a deal, but I just don't want to buy a cheaply made "throwaway" type toy. Would you say flight performance is similar to an mCX?

Regarding 3 vs 4 channel helis, it seems the 3 channel helis don't have a swash plate.....so am I correct to guess that the 3 channels are (1) throttle which sort of acts like collective on a "real" heli, (2) relative speed difference between the two rotors which gives you yaw control, (3) and the vertical tail rotor which gives forward/backwards control. I suppose you wouldn't be able to go side to side with these, correct?

 

67:
These are an official EFlite/Blade/HH product, same quality and drivetrain ( with some different electronics to support the IR firing ) as the MCX. Similar spares are available, but if you're careful (cut throttle immediately upon crashing, try not to step on them or dunk them in water, don't take them up to 30' over concrete and cut the throttle etc) they should last a darned long time.

I never flew an MCX (went straight from co-ax 3-ch to the 4-ch FP MSR), but except for a bit higher weight due to the IR gear and full bodies (which is why you'll especially want to use 160mAH batteries instead of the included 125mAH) they should fly identical to the MCX.

You nailed it with the 3-ch controls. No "roll" or strafing possible. Still fun; quick ones are kind of like 'driving' an oversteering car in 3D.
For IR heli battles the ability to strafe is key IMO, but the "Force" set has the ability to turn off the "roll" channel for rank beginners so they can behave just like a 3-channel heli.

Don't even think about it any more, for $99 the Force heli set is really incredible.

 

Amazon.com has the set for $84.99 right now with free shipping. Just placed my order. Funny thing is that the set will ship from Horizon Hobby, and it's $99 if you buy it directly from them but $15 less if ordered through Amazon.

I recently got a Blade mcx2 and it's a LOT different flying a 4-ch bird than the 3-ch ones. My thumb needs some training to control collective (throttle) and yaw on one stick and pitch on the other stick.

The mcx2 and the 2 helis in the battle pack use the same batteries and share many of the same parts. I think the battle helis are mechanically very similar to the original mcx.

I also recently got a Syma S110g 3-ch, it looks like a half-scale S107. It's about as big as a large dragonfly and it flys MUCH faster than the S107.

 

Thanks guys,
I am sure I am not the only one quietly following this thread. Every year for the last three years I have bought two of the " mall" helis for my son and I from Santa. It has become a tradition and we have spent Christmas day flying them. I am planning on ordering two of the ones one Amazon tomorrow .

 

:O Holy cow they're practically giving them away. Now I have an excuse to buy another set for my nephews' Christmas gift.
The amazon deal doesn't appear to come with 2 extra canopies or sets of blades like the $99 HH deal but I'd have passed on these for $15 anyway.

The price difference about covers a ground target , which I thought would be cool to mount on an RC boat like the Bismark and have an air-to-sea battle over the pond.

Practice up with yours Jeff, I'll practice with mine and we can battle this winter

Heard good things about the S110g, just added one to my cart for the next order. Since I butchered my ultra-micro SH 6025 for an attempted micro-apache been wanting another super tiny 3-ch.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFMH1YAkYiA[/ame]


BTW - was looking online for an RC Duck for our pond and came across this guy's awesome creation:
http://youtu.be/07O5_EpYudg

details here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1515647

 

LOL, it's easy to get carried away with these things!

Kurt, I have to practice a bit then we can battle! Our car club gets together every Tuesday night at a local restaraunt, we can use their banquet room for a big space. Could also let some of the others play, too. I have 8 extra batteries (plus the ones that come with the helicopters) and the 4-port charger for lots of uninterrupted fly time.

My S110g had a bad case of Toilet Bowl Effect out of the box... pretty much unflyable. I loosened the upper blade mounting screws about 1/4 turn and now it flys perfectly.

 

Sounds fun Jeff - let's stay in touch via PM or email to coordinate, after the holidays when I've 'officially' opened the battle helis (keeping them in the basement and 'testing' them upstairs while the wife's at work until Xmas )

I know what you mean about going from 3 to 4 channel, you do have to retrain the thumb-brain connection.
I can imagine hitting a flying heli with another in-flight is a bit like trying to accurately shoot a pistol from the hip, while riding a horse. Effectively using 'roll' a 4th channel gives will be key to keeping the guns pointing in the right direction.

 

Hey,

So I've been lurking here and was eventually "inspired" enough to visit the LHS - I know I'm paying a little more than online but they carry spares for the little(ish) thing and he gave me a small break - It was labelled at $59.99 + tax but I got out the door for $50.

FWIW, it's a "Jin Xing DA Extreme 333" with a gyro, a ~30 minute charger and is in the FM band rather than IR.

My question is about trying to encourage it to go forward and backward with a little more "authority" - It's sensitive to throttle and yaw commands but needs full-stick before it reluctantly decides to go forward or backward - It does do it, but it seems to be struggling.

Anything I can do to increase sensitivity on that channel?

TIA, cheers,
Ian