electricfan

My Feedback: (1)

i have a few years of experience in rc planes, and i want to get an electric heli because they are quiet and you can fly them anywhere. it is a debate between the regular Piccolo, and the ECO 8. i asked hobby lobby which is better for a beginner, and they said the piccolo is better. i need some feedback from some of you who have one of these. thanks

Dodgey99

OK, you really should search this board with that question or something like "beginner heli". You'll find loads.

The Pic and the ECO are VERY different birds. I'm a pilot of 8 weeks now and have both (plus an R22 and a Pic Pro :-) .

For learing, basically, you can do it with the ECO, but you MUST follow some lessons, such as radds at http://www.dream-models.com/h/index.html .. If you follow the lessons to the letter there is no reason why you should not be able to learn to fly with zero damage. I know PLENTY of peoplo who have.

The advantage with learing with a bigger, collective pitch heli is that they are easier to fly. The disadvantages are that it is more expensive, it will cost you more to repair. You will suffer down time if you crash. It will intimidate you at first. It is capable of really hurting you or others around and you have to wait for calmish, dry weather.

A Pic is much more "skittish" to fly, but the same principle apply. You can do the lessons with this too, though your initial hovers can be tricky as such small helis suffer very badly from their own turbulence (ground effect) at low (below 2 feet) altitude. The advantages are many: Most crash damage can be sorted with CA and sticky tape, cheap repairs, you can fly ANY time.

The disadvantages are: You WILL want / need to upgrade it very soon and this will end up costing you what and ECO 8 would have. It is crap outdoors on anything other than a dead calm day (talking about the pic FP here, not the CP).

I tell you what I did, and if you can stomach the cost I think it is a great way to do it... I bought an Eco 8 AND a Hummingbird (same as Pic FP). I was dicking around with the HB whilst building the Eco 8. by the time I had built the ECO 8 i was already confident enough to hover it as I had learnt over 3 days how to handle the HB. I still ove both. I go to the park and fly the ECO 8 and then fly the HB inthe living room at night when I get home, or it is too windy.

Wright Flyer

If you are considering something as big as an Eco8 (an "outdoor" heli) then why not get the LMH Corona 120 - the most durable beginners e-heli there is. If you just search for "Corona" on here you'll find TONS of info but I think you'll be very hard pushed to find ANYTHING negative said about it!

Cliff

astronut30

My Feedback: (5)

Yup, I can't say enough good things about the Corona, your chances of sticking with heli's is far greater with the Corona than the piccolo or the Eco 8.

If possible, stay away from a micro heli if you never flew helis before, of course it's possible to learn on it but it's a lot tougher, because of it's size, it's very finicky and you have to set it up and trim it just about right on to have a chance at it.

A Corona on the other hand is very forgiving with set up and it is really stable not to mention very crash friendly. It is also nice and simple which will also take out frustration from the learning process, pretty much plug in and fly.

A Cp heli is a lot more complex and takes more time to set it up and program and when first learning, the simpler the better and although flies better especially in the wind etc. would not be as good an idea for a beginner. (just my opinion)

You can't lose with the Corona imho, they hold their resale value really good and the money you WILL SAVE while learning to hover with it will probably be enough to get you an ECO 8 or whatever u may wish to get in the future. (figure, put aside $30-40 or so everytime you crash the Corona and you'll see! That's probably an average of what it would cost for the Eco 8 per crash, am I wrong?) While learning with my Corona, Ive spent about $25. total for approximately 7-8 crashes and tip overs while I learned to hover.

Plus, the corona is so relaxing and fun to fly that a lot of experienced pilots have them in their fleet.

electricfan

My Feedback: (1)

thanks very much. so let me get this straight...
is a piccolo easier and cheaper to repair, but a little more skittish than an eco 8? does an eco 8 already come with cp? where can i get a corona, and does it come with cp? dodgey99, in the end have you spent more on the pic or the eco, and which one have you had more crashes on? thanks again

electricfan

My Feedback: (1)

hi. i have researched the corona, and it looks like a MUCH better heli than the piccolo. it is cheaper, too. i think i will save up for it. I appreciate any input or tips on the corona. thanks

astronut30

My Feedback: (5)

The Piccolo, I'm assuming is a lot more skittish than the Eco 8, I personally never flown an Eco 8 but it's a safe bet that the Piccolo is not a little but a lot more skittish than the Eco 8. It sure is way more skittish or less stable than a Corona, that I know for sure since I've owned both of those.

Yes, the Eco 8 is a cp heli....

The rest of the questions, someone with an Eco 8 would have to answer

Although it looks like you made your decision.

I believe Roffeetvandhobby has the best price on a Corona kit at about $175+shipping.

I'd recommend if you're not going brushless to go with an Atomic Force motor http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXW934&P=7 , I believe Roffeetv may have this in stock too. Oh and get yoruself a Dean's 2 piece whip antenna.

Castle Creatoins, Pegasus 35 esc works fine

A nice HH gyro helps a lot in the learning process, I like Futaba, go with a gy 240 or gy401 depending on your budget.

HS-81 servos with metal gear for cyclic, and another with or without metal gears for tail rotors. www.servocity.com has free shipping.

Just some ideas

Dodgey99

Hi again mate. 1st of all, all of the advice above is good. I have heard great things about the Corona. The only reason I went straight for an Eco 8 is because I, like a lot of people, am technically minded and enjoy building, understanding, and working on complex things. I would have got a Corona but I kknow that although it is great to fly, and VERY hardy, it would have not been involving enough for me. That is purely my angle.

In answer to your question. The Pic is a LOT easier and cheaper to repair than the Eco 8 but a LOT more skittish. BUT - it is fun in a much different way to the ECO 8 - you can fly it with no "fear" so you fly completely differently, with much more fun at first because you can simply "try" it and "try things with it". If you simply "have a go" with an ECO 8 you'll have a £40-£100 repair bill on your hands.

I have crashed my Pic (HummingBird really) HUNDREDS of times. I have crashed my Eco 8 twice. The one crash was because I flew in too strong winds for my abilitlies at the time. My fault. The other was because I mis-configured my Electronic Speed Controller on my new brushless setup and it cut out and dropped out of the sky. The first crash cost me £10. The second cost me £40 (from 40ft in the air).

You will get all sorts of good advice here. There is one thing to bear in mind. There seem to be two sorts of beginners.

1. Like me - I have played with RC cars for ages. I have played flight sims and games all my life. How a heli works makes sense to me. I learnt to hover my Pic on the first day.

2. Others - Dive in at the deep end. No real flight dynamics knowledge. No RC experience.

There are obv. people in between!

If you are

1 - then go for an ECO 8 or pic (depending on weather you plan to fly in or outdoors)
2 - then go for a Corona

Hope that helps

KIlla_Krab

I already have my piccolo pro just the heli tho
I just finished putting it together today i need to know something tho? I am getting the above reciver so dose this mean i need the pico plus board plus what dose the board do anyway???
P_aul

KIlla_Krab

wrong Post

Mini Boy

Hi Electricfan!

This is just an observation of mine, AND your wallet has to be taken into consideration ... BUT it seems to me that too many "heli newbees" worry about getting a first chopper that either has, or can be upgraded to collective pitch for when you get "bored" with the fixed pitch limitaions. Sorta like buying a car that will be your only car for the rest of your life. I think that most novice heli pilots will spend so many hours learning the basic "nose out" hovering, "right side in" hovering, "left side in" hovering, then "nose in" hovering, windy conditions, "figure eights", then forward flight, that the "first" heli will have gotten so banged up that you really wouldn't want to spend any more $$ to upgrade it. By that time you'll have all the beginnner mistakes behind you, You will also have had time to research out what your next machine should be.

Get a Corona ... it's fun and educational to build, reasonably easy to balance, set up & fly. It's reliable, can take some pretty rough treatment without breaking the bank, and it will SURVIVE.

My 2.003 cents worth,

Happy Choptering,

Russ

Dodgey99

I've just test flown my Pic Pro for the first time....

For God's sake, dont try and learn on one! Great Heli, but definately not one for learning on.

I have 4 helis now, and not commenting on the Corona - cause I have not flown one!, teh easiest by far to fly is the Eolo R22