minimole

hi, firstly, im duane, aka minimole, and i live in the UK, london. at the moment i own a traxxas emaxx, and all my previous rcs have been cars.
im interetsed in getting a micro heli of ebay, and have a few questions.

1.firstly, does anyone on here live in the uk, and where did/do you get your helicopter/parts/upgrades from?
2.what is better, the aerohawk, dragonfly, or any of the other cheap micros that are found on ebay?
3.what about the piccolo? is it worth paying almost double to get this? are parts interchangleable?
4.is it better to have all the electronics in a 3in1, or sepaerate?
5.i have read through all of RADD'S SCHOOL OF ROTARY FLIGHT, and was wondering how many of you actually followed this guide, or did you just teach yourself?
6.what if an approximate speed of these helis, compared with rc cars?
7.would it be ok to charge the batts on a charger with variable ampage, 1amps to 6 amps, and with an ac charge of 7.2v to 9.6v? (its this charger here:http://www.ripmax.com/FS_Access_Chargers.html )
8.ive read a lot of the tail motor in the dragon fly failing quickly, i was wondering if you had to replace it with the stock one, or could you replace it with something like a graupner?
9.what kind of runtimes do you get with the stock batteries and motors?
10.are both motors the same?
11. would it be possible to get the cheap micro heli first, the get a piccolo and put all the electronics in it, and then get the proper piccolo electronics when you have a enough money?
12.do you kinda have to go to a moel shop to get them to set it up for you, balance it and trim it all out? or is it possible to do it yourself quite easily? would you need to get a blade balancer e.t.c?
13. im only 13, with quite a slow income, and was wondering if i will be able to handle and control the heli, as well as be able to pay the cost of parts?
14. also, for you uk heli flyers, have you any idea how much imprt duty, tax e.t.c will be?
15. roughly what scale are these things?


thanks a lot, and im sorry about the number of questions


Duane

p.s, i was thinking of getting one of these helis, or ones similar(i dont want to get one quite yet)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...&category=2563
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...&category=2563
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...&category=1200

FHHuber

1.firstly, does anyone on here live in the uk, and where did/do you get your helicopter/parts/upgrades from?

There are some guys fromt he UK on here... there are several threads that mention places to get parts and upgrades.

2.what is better, the aerohawk, dragonfly, or any of the other cheap micros that are found on ebay?

I personally won't trust any stuff from E-bay... too many people sell thier garbage.

3.what about the piccolo? is it worth paying almost double to get this? are parts interchangleable?

The parts won't be interchangeable with other brand helis. Some people have messed around and stuck other brand mixer boards into the Picolo, and that can save money because the other brand boards are usually considerably less expensive than the $150 (US) Picoboard. The radio equipment is generally interchangeable buit none of the Picolo specific mechanical parts or upgrades would be expected to work on other micro helis.

4.is it better to have all the electronics in a 3in1, or sepaerate?

If you fuse protect the mixer board... you generally are better off with it. The problem with the 3-in-1 is if you burn out one part you have toasted the whole thing. The mixer is useless if you can't operate the tailrotor. The 3-in-1 will save weight and with a micro heli weight is your worst enemy.

5.i have read through all of RADD'S SCHOOL OF ROTARY FLIGHT, and was wondering how many of you actually followed this guide, or did you just teach yourself?

I haven't looked at that site at all... I am adding the electric micro heli for indoor practice for bad weather days, when I can't fly my .30 glow powered heli.

6.what if an approximate speed of these helis, compared with rc cars?

Very slow. The RC car will run in the vicinity of 35 mph true speed with ease. the micro heli is not going to do 1/2 that. The .30 glow helis are pushing thier limits to get up to 50 mph.

7.would it be ok to charge the batts on a charger with variable ampage, 1amps to 6 amps, and with an ac charge of 7.2v to 9.6v? (its this charger here:http://www.ripmax.com/FS_Access_Chargers.html )

As long as you set the ccharger correctly for the battery... it will work. Do not charge NiMh faster than 2C rate. NEVER charge a hot battery. If you fast charge a hot battery be ready for it to explode.

8.ive read a lot of the tail motor in the dragon fly failing quickly, i was wondering if you had to replace it with the stock one, or could you replace it with something like a graupner?

There are non-OEM motors that will ft and work. See the thread about Johnson motors.

9.what kind of runtimes do you get with the stock batteries and motors?

Depends on how you fly it and how well the heli is set up... you SHOULD be able to get 7 min from the stock battery pack.

10.are both motors the same?

No the main rotor motor is MUCH larger than the tail rotor motor.

11. would it be possible to get the cheap micro heli first, the get a piccolo and put all the electronics in it, and then get the proper piccolo electronics when you have a enough money?

Its possible... not necessarilly the best idea. You are essentially planning to throw away the initial $200 on the cheaper heli if you go that route.

12.do you kinda have to go to a moel shop to get them to set it up for you, balance it and trim it all out? or is it possible to do it yourself quite easily? would you need to get a blade balancer e.t.c?

Depends on the heli and your level of knoledge. It is very helpful to get assistance from an accomplished heli flyer. But the micros you can learnon your own if you are careful.

13. im only 13, with quite a slow income, and was wondering if i will be able to handle and control the heli, as well as be able to pay the cost of parts?

Handling the heli.. shouldn't be a huge problem based on age. Hand-eye coordination is the key there. paying for cost of parts... depends on how much you crash.

14. also, for you uk heli flyers, have you any idea how much imprt duty, tax e.t.c will be?

I read one post of a person that had to pay 35 pounds (I don't have the "L" symbol without hunting for it) in impport fees and shipping above what was expected when he placed his bid on a microheli on e-bay... (I can't remember where he bought it from... I don't think it was the US)

15. roughly what scale are these things?

I'd put them about 1/20 scale... maybe 1/24 maybe 1/16. Depends on the body style and which micro heli.

minimole

thanks a lot FHHUBER
i would appreciate it if anyone else would be able to answer my questions, prehaps if you have a different opionion, e.t.c
hope you can help,
Duane

ALLISONMO2

My Feedback: (35)

i have an aerohawk and have had to do quite a bit of work to get it "flyable". i have previous heli experience(glow) so i thought this would be easy. no way. i have had to cut blades,replace flybar with shorter metal one,make longer langing gear,custom battery mount,use shorter piccolo control links for the swashplate,make longer servo rods,replace swashplate with upgraded ball mod one,gone to li-poly battery, and sand sand sand the head all balls every moving part. that being said i can hover from 10sec-1 min. and fly mostly under control around my yard. sometimes the wind is in more control than me. i absolutely love it and am still suprised by how durable this tiny piece of plastic is. i would do it again in a heartbeat.
also search quaker1's posts. also has an aerohawk and is in uk.
mike

minimole

so is it actually bad to buy a heli from ebay? Even if its from rc-expert who has like 10000000 feed back(slight exageration) so is it still not safe, even with him?(they are all brand mnew, shipped from hong kong)

also, what do you think is better for me, the aero hawk, or the dragonfly? what aboput the other ones in the links in my first post?
alos, what about the piccolo, i might be able to pay quite a lot more if it is really woth it right now.
Duane[8D]

minimole

i forgot to ask a few questions

when, and if i get a heli, will i need to balance the baldes, cut them e.t.c.??
how many of you used radds (www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html) to learn? it looks good, but it takes a loooonnngg time....(like 10 batts without leaving the ground!) what about the micro lessons on radd?

surely, there must be plenty of you living in the UK!!! where do you shop? what do you fly?

if i get the aerohawk/dragonfly, what spare parts should i get with it?(the auction will hopeflly already come with a spare tail motor, rear and main baldes, and training gear), so what else would you recommend(spare skids, motors e.t.c.?)
Sorry for the lenght of the posts,
Duane
[8D]

VinceHerman

Radds is the least frustrating way to learn. Oh, if you use a simulator for 40 hours or so you would likely be able to skip it. But, if you used Radds methods IN the simulator, you would get the quickest startup.

Patience, persistence and practice are the keys to getting through this steep learning curve. (from Hogster's sig file)

lastdayonearth

I'm from the u.k west country (ooh argh!) and i'm new to rc heli's.
i bought mine from my local model shop but i've found [link]http://www.smartech-europe.com[/link] do the skylark and aerohawk but their prices tend to be more than that on ebay. but they dont charge for u.k shipping and they also stock all the spares.
my local model shop has only just start selling electric heli's so he doesnt know much about setting them up so its a learning curve for both of us.

that dragonfly with the lead to connect the transmitter the pc looks very interesting... i wonder if there are any mods where you can control the actual model through pc?

minimole

thanks for the replies,
so what is actually better, the skylark, aerohawk, or the dragon fly. im more leaniong towards the dragonfly cos i can get better deals on them. are there actually any difference inbetween them?(design and materials)
also, is it safe to buy from rc-expert from ebay?

lineman55

Aerohawk[8D]

thiswillfly

bought my aerohawk from rc-expert - no probs. Shipped very fast to UK 7 days but you will have to pay £20-30 additional handling fee. Still, best price I could find even with this added.

get my smartech spares from raiden-tech, very cheap. e.g. tail motors $5

aerohawks are very tough and durable and fly great once balanced and trimmed properly - see other aerohawk posts. If you do go for aerohawk package - wouldn't bother payin extra for training gear - never used mine. Also thought Radd's school is a bit OTT for these micro heli's, aerohawks bounce well so don't be afraid to give it a go rather than mess around at ground effect level. A few hours on a PC sim would be useful to familiarise yourself with the controls.