rc helicopters

[Hawkney911]

I bought a Blade 120sr from a local hobby shop on a whim a few weeks ago and I have to say its been a fun and rewarding way to kill time. I always had RC cars growing up nitro and battery but every time I mentioned getting into helis someone told me of a friend of a friend that destroyed his thousand dollar copter. These smaller helicopters have such little weight that they can take quite the beating. Very easy and forgiving to learn on and the keep you in your comfort zone. When you do crash they do not flop around like a dead fish destroying themselves.

So does anyone have any experience with phoenix-sim? I am on a mac so my sim choices are limited.

[JavaBrewer]

No idea about the RC helicopter - but it looks like fun. Just an FYI about flight sim software, if you really want to run a PC based flight sim on your Mac you can download VMWare and create a virtual PC on your Mac. You will need a licensed copy of Windows - buy one used or scrounge around for a retired PC you own and use that license. Then you can install the flight sim on the virtual machine PC. If your Mac has good memory and multiple cores the VM will be very speedy. Just FYI. Good luck.

[dhoward]

I've had Blades and Trex's. They are a blast. Now I'm going to have to dig them out and charge batteries!

[Hawkney911]

David - Thanks for the advice, I will look it that. I also have a few old pcs laying around so maybe I will just up the graphics card and hook it up to a tv.

Dan - My only worries is this one of those slipper slope situations like all hobbies.

[dhoward]

It IS a slippery slope. But that's what makes it fun!
Wife: "Is that ANOTHER new helicopter?"
Me: "No. had this for years. You probably just didn't see it...."

[tevake]

Absolutely astounding, I had thought those RC airplane videos we saw a while back were over the top, but this was almost unbelievable. Some of those maneuvers defy all forces know to man and machine.

Cheers Richard

[944Larry]

When you said RC chopper I went and hid. I tried one about 20 years ago and found out that every part that is on a real one is also on a model and about as expensive. I was flying a real one every day for a living at that time but found out that doesn't help any. In all fairness the technology is much greater now. I stopped and watched some guys flying a couple the other day and they were even hovering upside down. Unbelievable what they could do.

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by 944Larry

When you said RC chopper I went and hid. I tried one about 20 years ago and found out that every part that is on a real one is also on a model and about as expensive.
.

The first one i bought was back in 1985 A Schluter .60 think it was called a Heli-boy. Must have spent a grand in replacement rotor blades and parts. Then I picked up a Hirobo Shuttle, that one had a gyro in it. ( only slighty less harder to fly...) also a fortune in replacement parts.
The newer elctric ones are sooooo much better.

[dhoward]

I started on a Heli-boy too.
Expensive.
Still have a tail boom and tail rotor.

[Tim Hancock]

I watched that kid in the video fly similarly in a gymnasium in Toledo last spring.... IIRC he is sponsored by Futaba.

[mikeesik]

My Son has had probably 5 now and myself one.

It is amazing how Kids obtain the coordination and skill so quickly to fly one of those.
I'm not terrible but I might as well be using the controls with my feet.

[osidak]

I am building my Chaos 600 and have been learning on the Phoenix using a Hitec Aurora 9 transmitter. Hope to maiden it this coming weekend

[cashman]

So I was flying my Trex 450 at a wide open soccer field the other week. I was practicing upside down hover and got a little low. I thought I could pull out of it in time before hitting the 4ft high fence behind me. I thought wrong. Clipped the top of the fence. I have yet to assess the carnage.

I always find it amazing the magnetic pull of the lone tree or the fence behind you has. they're like black holes.

[dhoward]

Target fixation.

[Teutonics]

Originally Posted by Hawkney911

Wow. Can you imagine being a passenger in that if it were full-size?!?

[David McLaughlin]

My heli is very similar. It took me more than a month to just feel slightly comfortable with a tail in hover. Look up mikeysrc for some very helpful videos and how-tos. Sorry I can't help with the sims.

[mikester]

I have almost a dozen of these things...do a search I think there are already a couple of threads on them.

[944Larry]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

The first one i bought was back in 1985 A Schluter .60 think it was called a Heli-boy. Must have spent a grand in replacement rotor blades and parts. Then I picked up a Hirobo Shuttle, that one had a gyro in it. ( only slighty less harder to fly...) also a fortune in replacement parts.
The newer elctric ones are sooooo much better.

Ohhh, so the one in the pic above is electric. That explains the not beating itself to death part! Still don't think my nerves will stand another one!

[mikester]

I also do RC airplanes - or at least I used to. Haven't had much time for it lately but I do have a couple of Micro's from Horizon that I like to fly in my front yard in the evenings after the kids go to bed.

The best one is the Park Zone Vapor as it has lights and it's just a great flying 3 channel bird. I love it.

[911_Dude]

How does that helo in the vid hover with the nose straight up?