|
Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 11, 2012 7:52:40 GMT
|
|
|
Post by billyray on Feb 14, 2012 19:11:58 GMT
By Heck tha' can't beat a Barnsley lass
|
|
|
Post by phoenixpete on Feb 14, 2012 20:56:27 GMT
Mmm. Excellent use of lovely wife. I bet she has doubled sales. Love that zippered dress Question. would this be suitable for a begginer? Not Linda you perves The helicopter. Cheers Pete.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2012 21:07:28 GMT
Question. would this be suitable for a begginer? Not Linda you perves The helicopter. Cheers Pete. The heli is a bit big for beginners and one crash could mean the end of it or a nice repair job. I have a big coaxial - the Sky Taxi. It's too big to fly indoors safely and can be quite rocky outside with small breezes. If it dropped, it would break easily under its own weight. Mine is still going fine, touch wood. No crashes yet!! You're better off starting with a little MCX heli from Blade. Very light and easily flown indoors without damage to the walls or yourself. If those blades smacked you in the face, you'd be scarred. Helis aren't worth taking chances with. The potential for self-harm is quite high while you're learning, so the small ones are far safer. (They could easily take an eye if you got too close though) I always think of a heli as an upside down flymow. Linda also looks more appropriate to the experienced member. I don't think she flies Vitgin Airways. She certainly knows how to hold a big chopper safely, but then again, she IS a Barnsley girl.
|
|
|
Post by phoenixpete on Feb 14, 2012 21:36:50 GMT
Thanks Rabbit. I will take a look at the MCX helli's If you click on Linda's ebay picture it goes to Photobucket where you can spend ages looking ::)as there are 2232 pictures Apart from Linda there is a great looking heli called the Falcon. Pete.
|
|
|
Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 14, 2012 21:48:06 GMT
Totally agree with Ian.... that thing is a liability if you don't know one end of a copter from another... one SMACK and it's toast. DEFINITELY start off with a coaxial like the MCX2.... I was getting quite good at "hovering" my Honey Bee CP3.... the other day I got complacent and it fell on it's side before take off.... took Sam 3 hours to repair it.... such a sensitive bird. SERIOUSLY..... size means nothing, the bigger and faster they are the more likely you are to end up spending more on spare parts than actually flying them... start off at the beginning and work up slowly.... I can now control my Solo pro V2 so well that I can land it on my head.... must take a vid
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2012 22:22:01 GMT
There's not really a 'quick' way, Pete. I've been flying my way up the Blade helis and am now working with an MCPx which is a miniature collective pitch helicopter.
Unbelievably fast and unstable, but flies brilliantly when you have it under control. If I had started with this one, I would probably have damaged the walls, and worse, myself. It's quite lethal really.
I've spent hours on slower, more stable helis before attempting this one and what I've saved in repairs, I've spent on the next heli.
I've been pretty strict with myself, learning the ropes and flying safely (and I have a lot of spare time to do it in). Nothing really beats going up the ladder as you progress and imo, it's not worth jumping and taking chances.
The heli needs to be matched to your flying skills or else you will get bored because either it's too easy to fly or it's too hard and you get nowhere.
The big helis are flying weapons and there are quite a few dealers who sell them with no sense of responsibility whatsoever. I can't believe that for instance, the Honey Bee is marketed as an 'indoor and outdoor heli'. In a normal front room, it's a lethal weapon - I've done it!! One hit, and the blades will shatter and send splinters around the room while it destroys anything it hits and sends debris everywhere.
The blades are big and the spin very fast.
Best starter heli? MCX or MCX2. Spot on for a beginner. I still fly both and enjoy them.
|
|
|
Post by phoenixpete on Feb 15, 2012 14:08:34 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2012 15:07:48 GMT
A couple of things I was told from the beginning (thanks to Mike and Ian) which were great advice;
1) Go for a 4 channel from the off, more fun and the control ergonomics remain the same if you upgrade.
2) Go for a radio controlled as apposed to infra red, as the latter won't well in sunshine.
Worked for me!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2012 18:26:03 GMT
There you are Chris ..... now you're saying the same!!!
Pete, if you don't envisage going any further, it stops with those 3 channel helis. If you think you'll get into it (as I suspected Chris would) it's a waste of money. The sticks don't work the same so you have to relearn on the bottom rung again with four channels.
The four channels are:
Left/right Up/down Forwards/backwards and the real skill in heli control - the whole heli left/right. That channel is the one that's missing from the 3 channel and it is used over and over with better (and more lifelike helis) to keep them straight and to turn with real guts.
With the fourth channel, you can straighten up and bank on the turns so the heli leans. Once you've learned that skill, single rotor helis will go so fast, you wouldn't believe it.
The more I get into it, the more I realise just how important that fourth channel is in the real control of much more difficult to fly helis that are basically flying like the real thing.
The fourth channel is the biggest factor in the control of my MSR x and the MCP x which are both very fast single rotor helis. The first is a fixed pitch, so very good indoors and the other is a Collective Pitch which is a bugger to fly, but unbelievably good both indoors and outside in wind. Because it is collective pitch, you can fly downwards if the wind lifts it, whereas the fixed pitch will just go on rising like a kite.
However, that fourth channel is the one that is the key to keeping them straight as an arrow and gaining real control.
You may not believe it now, but the more I've progressed, the more strongly I feel about that channel. It's the key to good flying.
The MCX and MCX2 are four channel coaxials. Extremely stable and you can make the biggest cock up with the sticks and they stay up in the air. The batteries are separate so you can be charging some while you're flying and they are the first step on the rung to good flying rather than just the little toy ones.
The MCX is cheaper and not perhaps as nice looking as the MCX2 which has a full body. However, I have taken the body off mine since it does fly better imo without it - especially if you take it into the garden. (In NO wind) You pay that money for a transmitter that works outside at LONG range and a charger for spare batteries if you buy them.
They are rock stable in flight and I still fly mine for relaxation although they are so easy now for me.
With something like those two, you learn how to hover, with the nose looking away from you, left from you, right from you and the hardest - the nose looking right at you.
Then turning with straight turns. Then banking turns - but they don't really bank that well because they're coaxials, but good practise anyway.
Basically, they're really good trainers and the skills learned (it is a REAL skill to fly them all) are more easily transferred to much more serious flying helis.
Beware though - it's addictive. I've loved the challenge and am virtually flying a CP safely now, but it takes a lot of hours of practise.
Many think that they'll get one of those 3 channel things and sit with it. The reality is that they can become extremely boring to fly since they are very easy and you either move on to a decent one, or you give up because the built in battery dies.
I started with toy ones actually. I had 6 given to me by the owner of the company. Loved them and flew them like a jet pilot, but as soon as I met the MCX2, I realised their limitations and lack of speed. (I blame Mike for that) They also don't work outside. I love taking them out for a fly as long as there is zero wind.
One MCX is worth two toys. The toy ones are what everyone thinks flying helis is about, but it's not really. It's just a flavour of what it's like to fly, tamed down.
Chris, has number 2 arrived?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2012 22:08:40 GMT
Ian,
No.2 is delayed. I ordered it with a bag'o'spares which have taken longer to gather than the supplier anticipated. They have only just sent the heli with what spares thay have leaving the balance to follow.
I echoe what you were saying about turning a heli "realistically", it really does increase the enjoyment.
Once I've got the hang of the new one I'm hoping for rather more speed as the Falcon is rather slow on forward speed.
|
|
|
Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 15, 2012 22:25:32 GMT
A polite way of saying they're shite. Actually, they are shite... up down, forwards, backwards.... you're very limited to doing anything "fun" with them and if the transmitter loses line of sight they drop out of the air. Great little toys but you (very) soon get tired of them. I thought the Solo V2 was incredibly difficult to fly, at first, but can now put it exactly where I want it to go (at speed) without even thinking about it... I'm not even conscious of the transmitter controls... they all take a bit of practice but when you get it you really become one with the machine... I would definitely recommend going the 4 channel route and the MCX / MCX2 is a great intro into the crazy world of RC 'copters
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2012 22:51:28 GMT
;D That's about it, Mike!! Chris, if you'd like fast, try and MCPx. Fast forward and you wonder where it went!!! Going up can be the same. One minute it's on the floor, the next, it's somewhere in the sky!!!
|
|
|
Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 16, 2012 9:32:09 GMT
Biggest shock I had was out in the garden.... Honey Bee CP3 sitting there "booted up" and all ready to go.... I was faffing about with a cigarette before taking off and inadvertantly flicked the "idle up" switch.... HOLY CRAP! It shot up into the sky like a ROCKET It took me some serious nerve to actually get it down again.... since that "episode" I am VERY wary of the idle up switch and am even thinking of disabling it. Basically you go from zero to FULL throttle in a split second.... accidentally flick that thing and you could end up in Hospital, from ground to sky in a second If you (or someone else) happened to be holding the Honey Bee at the same time it could chop through your arms It was probably the best "take off" ever, shot up into the clouds like Superman, but the most hair raising couple of minutes getting it down again
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2012 12:19:35 GMT
I did that with the MCPx, Mike. I have the transmitter set at 100% at 0 and full throttle with 80% in the middle. That means you get equal positive pitch as well as negative so it can literally dive at the ground!!
Mine also shot up but I managed to get it back to normal mode while it was up there!!!
Even the MCPx could do some real damage!!
|
|
|
Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 16, 2012 19:50:24 GMT
I did that with the MCPx, Mike. I have the transmitter set at 100% at 0 and full throttle with 80% in the middle. That means you get equal positive pitch as well as negative so it can literally dive at the ground!! Mine also shot up but I managed to get it back to normal mode while it was up there!!! Even the MCPx could do some real damage!! I'm still surprised these are legal.... you would have thought, by now, that some knucklehead would had managed to kill himself with one
|
|