Help wanted choosing my next heli
- Thread starter stang8802
- Start date
Yes and no.
Flybarless has fewer parts, therefore less to repair and longer flight times since there's less drag through the air. They are also more quick to respond since you don't have to translate input through the flybar system. This time through the flybar is also what makes the flybar helis work in the first place. Flybar out of the box will be easier to fly. Flybarless will be twitchier unless to tame the settings in your radio. If you don't have a radio capable of that, then you will want to get a BeastX flybarless controller since you do all of the adjustments on the controller and not in the radio. I don't know off hand of any others that are that way. When you start looking at flybarless, your price goes up considerably. Look at the Blade 450 and Blade 450X. There's a few hundred dollar difference between them and the main difference is the cost of the flybarless controller.
Honestly.......for a first heli, I'd probably recommend a flybar. The setup is a bit more challenging since there are more parts to align, but once you learn it it's pretty fast to do. The heli will be slightly more tame out of the box and it will cheaper to get into. ?The parts are a bit more since there's more to buy in a crash but compared to the cost of the flybarless unit you can crash several times and be money ahead. Right now you can pick up the flybar blade 450 for 170 bucks and the 450X is still 500. If you look at the Blade 300X flybarless, it's way expensive too. It's all due to the electronics. Now, you can get much cheaper flybarless systems, but I can't speak to their quality. If you are interested I can point you to some discussions on that when you are ready.
Currently my only flybarless heli is my mCPx. My 400, all my micros and my Century Hawk nitro heli are all flybar. When I get ready to build my next heli it's definitely going to be flybarless but I'm ready for it. I can do flips and rolls and hover nose in, inverted etc. so I'll probably be more likely to really get the benefits.
A friend of mine that I usually fly and build with is along the same path. He started with a Blade mSR, Pheonix Sim, Blade Nano CP, then Blade 450 with flybar, now he picked up an Align T-rex 600 nitro that he's building up while he gets better on his 450. He had his first good crash last week where he lost orientation and planted it. He's got flybars in everything but his Nano. He went with the 450 flybar due to the cost of the heli after they dropped the price. He could get two for the price of the flybarless 450X. The heli is still more than he can really handle even with the flybar. Honestly, most pilots aren't probably good enough to realize the benefits of the flybarless system but they will notice the more rapid movements that make them feel "twitchy".
With all of that said, you can spend a lot of money and get a system that will rescue you with a flip of a switch. DJI has systems that will hold it in position for you until the battery dies or you run out of fuel. There are amazing systems out there but I think they're sort of cheating. You should learn to fly first before doing stuff like that. Those systems are great for photography or really super expensive models like giant turbine scale models etc. but for a play heli, it's sort of ridiculous to have a 2,000 dollar controller.
Flybarless has fewer parts, therefore less to repair and longer flight times since there's less drag through the air. They are also more quick to respond since you don't have to translate input through the flybar system. This time through the flybar is also what makes the flybar helis work in the first place. Flybar out of the box will be easier to fly. Flybarless will be twitchier unless to tame the settings in your radio. If you don't have a radio capable of that, then you will want to get a BeastX flybarless controller since you do all of the adjustments on the controller and not in the radio. I don't know off hand of any others that are that way. When you start looking at flybarless, your price goes up considerably. Look at the Blade 450 and Blade 450X. There's a few hundred dollar difference between them and the main difference is the cost of the flybarless controller.
Honestly.......for a first heli, I'd probably recommend a flybar. The setup is a bit more challenging since there are more parts to align, but once you learn it it's pretty fast to do. The heli will be slightly more tame out of the box and it will cheaper to get into. ?The parts are a bit more since there's more to buy in a crash but compared to the cost of the flybarless unit you can crash several times and be money ahead. Right now you can pick up the flybar blade 450 for 170 bucks and the 450X is still 500. If you look at the Blade 300X flybarless, it's way expensive too. It's all due to the electronics. Now, you can get much cheaper flybarless systems, but I can't speak to their quality. If you are interested I can point you to some discussions on that when you are ready.
Currently my only flybarless heli is my mCPx. My 400, all my micros and my Century Hawk nitro heli are all flybar. When I get ready to build my next heli it's definitely going to be flybarless but I'm ready for it. I can do flips and rolls and hover nose in, inverted etc. so I'll probably be more likely to really get the benefits.
A friend of mine that I usually fly and build with is along the same path. He started with a Blade mSR, Pheonix Sim, Blade Nano CP, then Blade 450 with flybar, now he picked up an Align T-rex 600 nitro that he's building up while he gets better on his 450. He had his first good crash last week where he lost orientation and planted it. He's got flybars in everything but his Nano. He went with the 450 flybar due to the cost of the heli after they dropped the price. He could get two for the price of the flybarless 450X. The heli is still more than he can really handle even with the flybar. Honestly, most pilots aren't probably good enough to realize the benefits of the flybarless system but they will notice the more rapid movements that make them feel "twitchy".
With all of that said, you can spend a lot of money and get a system that will rescue you with a flip of a switch. DJI has systems that will hold it in position for you until the battery dies or you run out of fuel. There are amazing systems out there but I think they're sort of cheating. You should learn to fly first before doing stuff like that. Those systems are great for photography or really super expensive models like giant turbine scale models etc. but for a play heli, it's sort of ridiculous to have a 2,000 dollar controller.
aiidanwings
Senior Member
The problem I had with flybar helis was that when I flew aggressively, the rotor blades would strike the tail. That, and recovery seemed sluggish.
If you are having that problem, then you need to stiffen the damping of the head. Another common cause of that is the main rotor blades being too loose. Your main blades should be tight enough than when you hold the heli on it's side and lightly jerk it, the rotors should barely move. Overly soft dampers will also do it or dampers that are worn out. I had to replace my dampers yesterday before flying because they were too soft causing too much deflection of the rotor disc.
If you are having problems with a sluggish heli that hasn't suddenly become sluggish, you can adjust things like flybar weights and paddles to get it to be more responsive. If you look at all 3D helis up to just a few years ago, they all had flybars and they were extremely responsive. Flybars aren't bad by any means, they are just more complex mechanically and have more drag through the air. If set up properly they can be flown as hard as anything else.
If you are having problems with a sluggish heli that hasn't suddenly become sluggish, you can adjust things like flybar weights and paddles to get it to be more responsive. If you look at all 3D helis up to just a few years ago, they all had flybars and they were extremely responsive. Flybars aren't bad by any means, they are just more complex mechanically and have more drag through the air. If set up properly they can be flown as hard as anything else.
Blade 200 SR X
I found that the 200 SR X is a very good beginners heli. I had some experience with 3 ch and quads, but wanted to begin my journey towards the CP-helis. Got the 200, and the SAFE-technology is a blessing for a newbie. Now I fly without the "training wheels", but I can let others without much experience try it on the easiest setting. Self-levelling and bank restrictions make it very easy to fly.
It can also take some wind, and after adjusting a bit also packs some punch.
I found that the 200 SR X is a very good beginners heli. I had some experience with 3 ch and quads, but wanted to begin my journey towards the CP-helis. Got the 200, and the SAFE-technology is a blessing for a newbie. Now I fly without the "training wheels", but I can let others without much experience try it on the easiest setting. Self-levelling and bank restrictions make it very easy to fly.
It can also take some wind, and after adjusting a bit also packs some punch.
