Are 6 Axis Heli's easier to fly now than 15 year ago?

[jack10525]

Around 2004-2005 I got back into RC and bought a RTF Walkera 450 sized Heli off ebay. The thing looked pretty nice. I knew nothing about heli's but thought "how hard could it be? " LOL

Anyway I think I got it to hover a few times but kept crashing and replacing parts. I finally found a guy at work who checked it out and fixed what it needed and dialed it in. He offered to buy so I said yes and it was sold. This was before stabilizers were popular. I've had several dual rotor heli's and they are easy to fly but boring. Are newer heli's easier to fly now? Do they come with stabilzation?

Just wonder out loud but if you have any opinions or experience please share.

 

[tamuct01]

I started with the micro helis. First, a Blade MSRx (fixed pitch) and then the Nano CPX (collective pitch). I crashed the bejeezus out of them both inside my house, but it did teach me how helicopters fundamentally worked and how they are stabilized. The MSRx was flybar-stabilized with just a heading-hold gyro for the tail. The Nano CPX is a more modern flybarless design.

I remember discussing with a hobby store owner about my perils crashing the Nano CPX and he recommended getting a larger heli. "Bigger flies better" and he is correct about that. The larger helis are less twitchy and less affected by the wind. Unfortunately, they cost a bunch more when they crash.

The flight controller developments with multirotors have made their way into planes and helis as well. The 6-axis stabilization replaced flybars and gyros and the Spektrum SAFE or "oh crap" buttons have been added to right the craft and help avoid crashes. Also, simulators are now available to help develop that muscle memory without costing a fortune in crashes.

I fly just about everything, and I find that multirotors and helis fly about the same -- at least at my level of competency. So in some part, yes, helis now are easier to learn than in previous years.

 

[WillL84]

I had a blade CP but couldn't get the thing more than a few inches off the ground eer, it just wouldn't climb. I got rid of it and bought a Blade CX (dual rotor) and flew the crap out of that thing, it was pretty fun

 

[NickRehm]

I would say that 3D helis today only fly slightly better than they did back in the day. A 3D heli is not supposed to be easy to fly; it is meant to be as agile as possible, just like racing drones today. In that sense, the 3D helis were wayyyyy ahead of their time--and they did so with only mechanical stabilization through the use of flybars (yaw still used a gyro though).

The difference today, as tamuct01 hinted at, is additional features such as flight stabilization on the 3D helis that basically fly the heli for you in the 'Safe' or 'stabilized' modes (stabilized meaning angle-command, not rate-command controller). The second you turn those modes off and put it back into '3d heli' mode, it will fly incredibly close to how the 2004 450 flew...maybe just a little more 'polished,' moreso in yaw.

 

[Beaver5150]

I just revived a Trex 450-SE clone today after it hung from a ceiling for 3 years. It happens I'm using an Ikon-1 (MSH Brain-1) which was one of the first 6-axis heli-controllers of higher quality.
It's 6-axis function can be auto-level or "rescue" but not both at once. I keep auto-level and 3-axis mode on a 3-way switch.
Today's full setup routine was quick and uneventful with auto-level functioning perfectly and flew similar to a drone in "angle limit" mode.
My point is that it was nice to be able to get the heli right up and flying and to be able to cruise around in 6x mode without having to worry about being "on-it" every millisecond keeping it oriented and level. The gains in 3x and 6x modes are fully adjustable by a nice GUI that's as simple or complicated as I need it to be.
The little Blade 70s I have on the other hand, is 6-axis, but flies like a toy micro-drone.