4 channel 70cm fixed pitch for a beginner?

My dad was thinking about buying me a helicopter for Christmas but he decided not to because he wasn't sure if I'd like it. After all his research though he thinks he would like to buy it for himself and he asked me to help with research.

What do you guys think of this heli for a beginner with practically no heli experience (except for a little one controlled by an iPhone)? He is wanting a challenge as long as it isn't impossible for a beginner.

Here it is. The one he was looking at was one on Amazon and it comes with a small camera to put on it. (He'd probably get the one with out the camera).

This heli is a 4-channel fixed blade with 70cm diameter blades.

Would this be a good heli? Or is there one similar that'd be a better deal?

Thanks for any help!
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
That looks like an okay helicopter but once you crash,and you will, it's probably hard to get parts or support. For ten dollars more you can get a blade msr. It's thought thousands of people to fly and there's a huge aftermarket support as well as the best customer service in the industry. I had one as my first helicopter as did my brother and many of my friends. It's a wonderful heli. I highly recommend I over the one you listed, based on personal experience.

http://www.amazon.com/Blade-3000-mS...UTF8&qid=1360406628&sr=8-1&keywords=Blade+msr
 
That looks like a great heli, but we were both drawn to the idea of a bigger one instead of those micro ones and we realized we will just be getting in over our heads and crashing too often, so my dad and I are going to get RealFlight w/ Heli expansion and THEN get a real one :)
 

lonewolf7717

Senior Member
That looks like a great heli, but we were both drawn to the idea of a bigger one instead of those micro ones and we realized we will just be getting in over our heads and crashing too often, so my dad and I are going to get RealFlight w/ Heli expansion and THEN get a real one :)
Kudos!!!!! Can't tell you how many times I have seen new flyers ignore suggestions to buy a simulator first before dropping huge cash. Smart move that you won't regret, just wished more rc flyers went about it the way you are.....saves a lot of headaches and grief.
 
Kudos!!!!! Can't tell you how many times I have seen new flyers ignore suggestions to buy a simulator first before dropping huge cash. Smart move that you won't regret, just wished more rc flyers went about it the way you are.....saves a lot of headaches and grief.
Thanks, yeah I was a little reluctant to spend the money on a simulator when that money could buy one or two new planes or helis but I think it'll definitely be worth it seeing as my dad and I are just getting into the hobby. But why are flight simulators so expensive?!
 

lonewolf7717

Senior Member
I agree they are pricey but when you take into consideration almost any aircraft you could wish to pilot from multirotors to fix wing parkjets is at your finger tips 24/7 that price seems a bit more reasonable. Unlike you I did not learn to fly with a sim and believe me the amount of time lost repairing and or trashing totaled planes during my early flying experience was far more than any simulator. The other advantage is once you get good at basics and want to try some fancy flying you can always go back to the sim to train and re-train to get the maneuver down pat before trying it for real. Other up side the sim is always fun to fly, to keep your skills sharp when weather is less than cooperative, for instance without a sim I haven't flown in 4 or more weeks due to crappy weather, if I had a simulator I could at least be working on my skills until the weather gets better.
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
Have you priced Phoenix? It's typically cheaper than real flight and regarded as a better simulator or Helis, by heli pilots. I prefer it. It's more realistic. Plus the updates are always free.
 

Dark_fox

Junior Member
A very good first step is a simulator, however my first helicopter was a Coax 4 channel and to this day I am glad I started with that. It taught me the controls without the fuss of crashing into my wallet every 30 seconds, these days the steps afterwards are much broader now that micro electric helicopters are on the market.

I am a strong believer in E-flite micro helicopters, they are expensive but they just fly so well from the second they leave the box, I have never been disappointed by one yet. The blade mCX is a nice first step helicopter (although now its probably been outdated by newer models), I taught someone with an MSR and found it to be a very durable beginner friendly single blader. Its fixed pitched but in my hands I had it stall turning in a back yard, surprisingly agile for a fixed pitched heli with a decent tail motor for a change.

I tell people to be able to fly a single bladed helicopter and be comfortable doing it you need to get the controls to a muscle memory, when you get truly good at flying a helicopter you can fix a mistake before you realize its happened, this is a common thing for me as my hands react way quicker than my thoughts. This requires the proper step ups and practice, don't be too concerned with upside down flight at the beginning, after 4 years even I only do lazy upside down flying. You would be surprised how amazed people are just watching you fly in smooth, fast, low maneuvers instead of trying to keep up with your spinning upside down death machine as it gets thrown around in a controlled manner.