americanchapin

Hi all. I am very intersted in buying an electric heli. I have had all types of boats, electric, nitro, big, small and love R/C. Now I want to get off the water and Helicopters seem to be the way. I want to start small and cheap. I would appreciate if anyone can point me to a RTF kit with electronics or at least a reputable dealer. I see a lot about the piccolo, dragonfly and hummingbird. How is the GWS dragonfly? I found an RTF with radio and electronics for $229 [link=http://www.allerc.com/]here[/link]. It seems like it has everything i need to try out this aspect of the hobby? what do you all think?

Sorry this post is so long!
Thanx,
Matt

helisfreak

My Feedback: (1)

What i would recamend you to do is, instead of going arround and ask people what is the best, you should find it yourself... Because now your asking for people OPINION, and everyone has different opinion... You should go arround and read some of the post that people have been posting... problem with certain helicopter and what there differences... And just a reminder, controling heli completely different then a boat... .... Im not trying to dicourage u. Have u done any reasearch and you already know the different type of helis? say, Collective Pitch, Fixed Pitch.... Micro, Mid Size, Full size... and there differences?

americanchapin

Yes i do realize people will post their opinions. I like hearing what others have to say about something. I can then make an educated choice about what I will buy. I have been researching helis for a few days now, I know what I want, Micro-mini size, fixed pitch electric heli. Thats why I had requested info on the specific models above. Yes i know its is no boat![&:]

Super-Hornet

Hi americanchapin

I only have GWS Dragonfly so some of the things I going to say is based on my observation and reading.

GWS Dragonfly 2003 => Identical twin (Separated by war?) to Hummingbird. GWS do make a quite respectable Receiver and Gyro. I feel that its Avionics are better than Hummingbird and much much better than Aerohawk.
Hummingbird => Mechanically the same as Dragonfly so what ever Dragonfly suffers or gains, the Hummingbird also inherit from it. I think the only different between Hummingbird and Dragonfly is its Avionics.

Spare part wise, Dragonfly and Hummingbird are interchangable (As I said, the mechanical are the same) BUT I do notice that Hummingbird spare part is a bit expensive (In certain items) compare to Dragonfly in my Area... Maybe due to import differences. Since Hummingbird is from U.S. (Century), maybe Hummingbird parts are cheaper over there.

Piccollo => No comment. I haven't physically seen it before.

Super-Hornet

StrangeRanger

americanchapin,
I'll follow up to Super-Hornet (who btw has been a wealth of info to me ), I too have a GWS DF and love it. I can also add that Dave over at AlleRC has great service. I've used him for a number of parts.
The DF's and HB's are very compatible. One thing I have noticed is that some vendors who sell replacement parts sell grey plastic parts and some black. My DF is all black. Don't know if it matters at all, just something to ponder.
Don't get hung up on Fixed Pitch vs. Collective Pitch, seperates etc. and all that stuff. Read the forums and I think that you will find that the DF or HB are great ways to get into micro heli's. I don't own a Picollo, but from reading forums they look a bit pricier to get into and maintain. I can say that the DF and HB's are very durable little rigs. They can take quite a beating. And trust me, as you are learning, you will beat them. Severly. Word of advice, buy extra parts now. Like main and tail rotors. You will need them and won't want to wait for new ones to show up.
Also keep in mind, the DF and HB's etc. are meant for indoor use or use outside on CALM (no wind) days. Think about what you want the heli for. But dang, at $230 it's a great way to get into the hobby.
If you are looking to get into a fun hobby to use inside or on very calm days, that is very durable, with pretty cheap parts and is also upgradable to a degree I think you would be very happy with a DF or HB. Just be forwarned, the learning curve can be steep. While these things are fun as hell to fly, they are twitchy little buggers. It takes patience and practice. Sorry I'm too lazy to link for you, but search for Radd's School of Flight. Oh, and a cheap, free flight sim like FMS may help. Good luck, read the forums adn you will have a blast.
j

raabid

Dont worry about helisfreak, he regularly flames posts. I'll help out with one for the Hummingbird vII. I bought the scale Airwolf model, flew it a couple of times, broke a tail rotor, and instead of just buying replacement parts, I bought the standard Hummingbird vII for $70 from Heliworld. BTW the main rotors are a different size for the scale version. I wound up liking the regular one better. About, 100 flights and 50 crashes later, the HB is bandaged but still flying good. I have a total of 180 tied up in the vII, however I already had a radio setup, and 2cell lithium batteries, which yield flight times of 15 to twenty minutes. If you dont have a 72Mhz radio I would probably just use the one Century sells. If you want to move up to bigger helis later you'll need to buy a Heli radio in the +$250 range, which is kind of pricey to fly a micro with. The lithium polymer batteries I'm using are 2cell 1350 Mah Thunderpowers. The cost me $35 a piece. I have two and will probably get one more. I bought the Great Planes Triton charger for $130, which is mid range for lipo chargers, but it will charge any battery I have(NiMH,NiCad,Li-Po).

I got hooked flying helicopters on FMS, and played with them extensively on there. I then found an out of date Flight sim from Ikarus that runs on my ancient Win98 System. It has a interface cable which lets me fly the sims using my Hitec TX, which was very helpful.

Banished Outside

Hi Americanchapin,

I own a Dragonfly & Scale Airwolf Hummingbird, I started as a total newbie with the DF, it is possible to learn on these heli's - don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but it does cost in broken tail rotors, main blades & motors!
But it's GREAT

I'd be inclined to go with the Dragonfly, personally I feel that my DF was finished better than the HB and the blades seem less brittle.
Just my opinion - Good luck with your choice.

Steve

americanchapin

Thanx guys! It seems like the Dragonfly over at AlleRC might be the way for me to get started. I now have to talk the wife into it!!!what parts should I buy with it, i know main and tail rotors were mentioned, any other breakage prone parts?

Super-Hornet

Hi

Last time I saw Century website that it has a crash kit but now I can't remember the link.

Based on my experience, spare parts needed for beginner are:
1 - Landing skids (Crash landing)
2 - Main Blades (U go and bang against wall or table)
3 - Tail Blades (U go and bang against wall or table)
4 - Extra battery. If possible go complete Li-Poly BUT u have to get Li-Poly Charger... unless your boat already using it.
5 - 1 Spare tail motor.
6 - Paddles Bar
7 - Paddles (May not required)

Hmmm... what else do I missed?

It is possible u can live without Spare Part #1 if you do cable tie your landing skids and battery support set.

Super-Hornet

raabid

Why not just buy 2 if there only 60 bucks

zeeshan

are the dragonflies 60 bucks if they are im buyin 10 lolz

Xperimental

Dragon fly is cool, once you get the hang of it... but so are the others...
The aerohawk i think from seeing friends who have them, are more stable at first... but after you get the right setting for the dragonfly.. it's very stable....

But dang! I lost another tail motor in less than one month... that's my 2nd motor this month! Didn't smell burnt though... at first it just doesn't have enough power to counter the force.. then it went silent... waks!

HB flyer

hi americanchapin..
where do you live??? i live in scranton, PA! i have a hummingbird...

Powmaster

My Feedback: (1)

Hi AmericanChapin -

I too am a beginner heli pilot. I started with the RealFlight G2 simulator and when I felt real comfortable with flying, hovering, landing, and etc., I bought a LiteMachines Corona from http://www.roffeetvhobby.com/ . I called them and asked for the upgrades such as a Mega brushless motor, Voyager Landing gear and carbon fiber tail rotor push rod. They gave me a great discount (credit for the stock motor which is junk) and fast service.

It took me a couple of nights to put it together but had no problems. Put the training gear on it and took it to the street. Made a couple of test "Hops" to get the feel of what it would do. After the third test hop, instead of letting it come back down, I keep the throttle on and tried to control (hover) it. Well, I hovered for several minutes without a hitch. That was three weeks ago and I'm doing FFF (fast forward flight) like I've been doing it for years. No crashes yet but I did by several spare parts should that happen. Parts are CHEAP. I suggest you take a close look at the Corona. Since it's a fixed pitch bird, it's not the easiest to fly, but it is pretty stable and like I've said, if you crash (and everyone does), parts are very cheap and available on-line or probably at your local hobby shop.

Here is the link to [link=http://www.litemachines.com]LiteMachines[/link] if you'd like to read up on it. Good luck in what ever you pick. A warning: This hobby is very addicting The picture below is me flying my Corona in Blythe California just yesterday. By the way, it was 92 F that day!

zeeshan

how mmuch are the hummingbirds