what are some good beginner helicopters to consider?

[Marzipan]

there are a few brands with beginner options in the $100 range. I'm reading and watching reviews for the models Eachine, XK and WLtoys have to offer, but wanted to ask if there are any other solid brands that I should also look into?

if you have any pointers, tidbits or wisdom a beginner should know and be aware of in their quest to find and buy their first helo (is that what you call them for short?), I would be greatly appreciative!

i'm not sure if I'm on the ball here...but I don't think I want a 'copter (can you call them that?) that's less than 6 channels as I'd like it to have features and functions I can grow into. doing some stunts would be awesome once I'm comfortable with it.

 

[FlamingRCAirplanes]

Check out the Blade 70S/120S2.

 

[PsyBorg]

These are some of the most stable and beginner friendly hei's I have seen in years. Its a balance between cheap crap toy grade and full on big boy toys. Asking for something less then 100 dollars locks you mostly into the cheap crap toy grade so don't expect much growth scaling with them. If you are serious about learning I would say go with an entry heli like this that can be set as docile as a feather but will adapt and grow as your skill grows.

The blade brand can be ok but they are made to wear out fast and do not take a crash too well. The ones I had stripped drive gears if you looked at them funny. I have had blade helis and these seem more resilient even though I don't own one.

 

[Marzipan]

These are some of the most stable and beginner friendly hei's I have seen in years. Its a balance between cheap crap toy grade and full on big boy toys. Asking for something less then 100 dollars locks you mostly into the cheap crap toy grade so don't expect much growth scaling with them. If you are serious about learning I would say go with an entry heli like this that can be set as docile as a feather but will adapt and grow as your skill grows.

The blade brand can be ok but they are made to wear out fast and do not take a crash too well. The ones I had stripped drive gears if you looked at them funny. I have had blade helis and these seem more resilient even though I don't own one.

thank you PsyBorg!

I appreciate your sense of irony. can't grow into anything under $100 and then suggest I consider the heli 101, one of the best beginner helos you've seen recently.

not being snide or sarcastic either!

what makes this one stand out vs the XK K100, K110 or K127 and the Eachine E119, E129 or E130?

actually...what is the story behind the XK K127? it's not listed on their site.

 

[PsyBorg]

thank you PsyBorg!

I appreciate your sense of irony. can't grow into anything under $100 and then suggest I consider the heli 101, one of the best beginner helos you've seen recently.

not being snide or sarcastic either!

what makes this one stand out vs the XK K100, K110 or K127 and the Eachine E119, E129 or E130?

actually...what is the story behind the XK K127? it's not listed on their site.

Well sir you did state you had a budget of 100. Just pointing out that you should not have high expectations for that price vs quality and features hehe. Like I said I know ABOUT things from spending far too much time online. My experience with helis has been a 60 size competition nitro heli from the early 90s, a pre Bladecp heli, and a Walkera V2d03 which is a brick house for such a tiny bird IMO.. THEN I found quads and haven't looked back since hehe.

 

[Marzipan]

Well sir you did state you had a budget of 100. Just pointing out that you should not have high expectations for that price vs quality and features hehe. Like I said I know ABOUT things from spending far too much time online. My experience with helis has been a 60 size competition nitro heli from the early 90s, a pre Bladecp heli, and a Walkera V2d03 which is a brick house for such a tiny bird IMO.. THEN I found quads and haven't looked back since hehe.

yup...again, not a criticism.

if we go up to $200 for the budget, is that enough to get into something that can do simple aerobatics?

the Heli 101 looks cool, but I am a bit cheesed at the semi-proprietary battery packs.

 

[Marzipan]

are any helos headless?

 

[PsyBorg]

yup...again, not a criticism.

if we go up to $200 for the budget, is that enough to get into something that can do simple aerobatics?

the Heli 101 looks cool, but I am a bit cheesed at the semi-proprietary battery packs.

To be honest I am too far removed from the heli scene sir. The one to ask who is certainly more current on things helicoptery is @F106DeltaDart He has some amazing scale helis he flys and I am sure he has dealings with new pilots in his participation at events and such. He may poke his head in here now I tagged him so give it a bit of time or send him a private message and tell him I pointed you his way. If he cant help you I am sure he knows someone who can far better then me.

 

[Marzipan]

To be honest I am too far removed from the heli scene sir. The one to ask who is certainly more current on things helicoptery is @F106DeltaDart He has some amazing scale helis he flys and I am sure he has dealings with new pilots in his participation at events and such. He may poke his head in here now I tagged him so give it a bit of time or send him a private message and tell him I pointed you his way. If he cant help you I am sure he knows someone who can far better then me.

thank you for your thoughts, Psy (may I call you Psy?)!

 

[PsyBorg]

are any helos headless?

I believe some can be set to use a headless mode but to be honest its best not to learn one way then have to learn a new way to fly. Sort of like starting with 3 channel fixed wing then switching to 4 channel where stick functions get moved. Start slow with basics and learn the end style you will always fly.

That said. There are flight sims now that can train anyone up over time with far less cost over all and MUCH less frustration and down time for repairs. No matter what your skill level crashes are going to happen. The hard part with young kids is keeping them focused so they dont get into that "Lets see all the cool ways to crash this" mode and goof off not learning and real skill..

 

[PsyBorg]

thank you for your thoughts, Psy (may I call you Psy?)!

You can call me anything but late for dinner good sir!

 

[Marzipan]

I believe some can be set to use a headless mode but to be honest its best not to learn one way then have to learn a new way to fly. Sort of like starting with 3 channel fixed wing then switching to 4 channel where stick functions get moved. Start slow with basics and learn the end style you will always fly.

That said. There are flight sims now that can train anyone up over time with far less cost over all and MUCH less frustration and down time for repairs. No matter what your skill level crashes are going to happen. The hard part with young kids is keeping them focused so they dont get into that "Lets see all the cool ways to crash this" mode and goof off not learning and real skill..

I agree about kids and crashing...which is why I want to start my grandson on a quadcopter. hopefully that feeds the interest and helps him with his motor skill control, etc, so that come spring, he'll be game to try the EZ3 First Flight pack with me.

I hate being called late for dinner! first it's a mouthful (HaH!) and I don't always pick up on it when said...

 

[L Edge]

How old is the grandson?
What type of acrobatics do0 you want to do?

I would start him on a quadcopter first. That way he can get to understand what function each control does. Helis take high levels of concentration even if they have "safe" functions. Back off the throttle too fast, hit a gusty wind, have the chopper rotate and face you(controls are reversed) and you can bet, repair bills are going to skyrocket. Helis are high maintenance(crashes) vehicles when learning.

Notice there are only a few people on this site that have attempted this area. Example-If you attempt acrobatics, the center position of the throttle, is zero degrees on collective, 100% is about 12 degrees, and throttle off is negative 12 degrees. All the time the motor/engine is whirring. Imagine level flight where you pull the throttle to off by mistake. You will drive the heli into the ground and crash within a second. Best you can do is a stall turn or loop without going into acrobatic mode.

Now you see why you always need a high level of concentration and fast reactions. Don't, and the result is you will shoveling out lots of cash for the high repair bills. Flying helis and competed for many years.

 

[Marzipan]

my grandson is 7 and I'm 42 (he's actually my step-g'son).

for acrobatics I am only thinking rolls and maybe loops and definitely not until I have time and experience and feel comfortable doing something...and I am a wary, cautious sort. sure, I'll jump into something with both feet, but only after I've read and absorbed a lot. and when I make purchases for said interest, I tend to get something that can take some growth before it becomes a bottleneck.

but I will defer to your wisdom and experience and work on using quadcoptes first. as was shared in another thread, get some muscle memory going!

 

[F106DeltaDart]

Just saw your post (thanks Psy!). You’ve got a few different options. For the $100 range, the XK110 would be my recommendation. Small and light enough to take a crash without breaking all the time, and a good flyer for the price.

Going up the price scale quite a bit, the Blade 230S V2 would be my other recommendation. If you already have a Spektrum transmitter around, it’s convenient to download the setup file from Horizon and just go. It’s got a wider flight envelope and a lot more features, but you definitely pay more for it. This is typically were I have suggested people start. The smaller helis tend to be squirrely and very sensitive to wind. The 230 is really the first size big enough to handle decent winds and fly outside all of the time.

I hole this helps! Just got back from a huge scale helicopter event which was a ton of fun.

 

[Marzipan]

Just saw your post (thanks Psy!). You’ve got a few different options. For the $100 range, the XK110 would be my recommendation. Small and light enough to take a crash without breaking all the time, and a good flyer for the price.

Going up the price scale quite a bit, the Blade 230S V2 would be my other recommendation. If you already have a Spektrum transmitter around, it’s convenient to download the setup file from Horizon and just go. It’s got a wider flight envelope and a lot more features, but you definitely pay more for it. This is typically were I have suggested people start. The smaller helis tend to be squirrely and very sensitive to wind. The 230 is really the first size big enough to handle decent winds and fly outside all of the time.

I hole this helps! Just got back from a huge scale helicopter event which was a ton of fun.

the 230S V2 comes up on Great Hobby as discontinued and the same on Horizon Hobby.

what about the Eachine E160?

 

[F106DeltaDart]

the 230S V2 comes up on Great Hobby as discontinued and the same on Horizon Hobby.

what about the Eachine E160?

I see, blade added in the “smart” tech to the airfram, and rebranded it as the Blade 230 S Smart. Same as the V2 outside of the smart ESC. Didn‘t realize the V2 had gone out the door.

I’ve never flown the E160, but from what I’ve seen it looks like a decent machine. As long as the parts are readily available, it looks like a good option too.

 

[PropHeadSteve]

I have had the K100 since 2016, and I HIGHLY recommend it. Although I love flying RC helicopters, I kinda suck at it. So what I needed was a 6-axis CP heli that had a self-correcting angle mode but that also allowed me to change into full-control acro mode and operating in CP mode with 100% head speed...BUT I needed one that would be inexpensive and easy to repair, and MOST IMPORTANTLY it had to be built such that my endless string of "ooops" would be UNLIKELY to damage it in the first place. THAT IS the XK K100.

I've had an Esky Honeybee CP3, a Hisky HCP100S, and an XK K110. The Honeybee was a joke. Somewhat capable flier, but if you so much as looked at it wrong it busted. Very fragile. The HCP100S was an incredible heli capable of things I still won't know how to do 10 years from now, but it had reliability issues and was not particularly robust in crashes...not to mention that the immense power and headspeed made things happen very quickly and made it more likely to be damaged in a crash. The K110 is a good bird, not too dissimilar from the K100, but in my experience the K100 is the MOST durable CP I have personally owned, but also the most durable CP I have seen anyone own (you know, looking at all kinds of reviews and videos and such).

And just by the shear fact that the K100 is still for sale 6 years (give or take) after it was introduced, in a hobby where things have been evolving constantly and every few months there's something new, that alone speaks volumes as to how popular they have been...and for GREAT reason.

I have crashed mine over and over countless times since I bought it in 2016 (actually I also bought a second one in 2017 because I loved it so much and wanted to make sure I had a backup), and they both still fly great. Now to be clear, when I say they crash well and don't damage easily, I'm talking about crashing on a grassy area...not asphalt or telephone poles or running into buildings. Can't speak to that...I stay away from those things. But I have dropped and driven it into the grassy ground countless times and have very rarely had to repair anything...and the repairs aren't overly complex.

My brother also has had one since 2016 and has had exactly the same opinion and crash results (lack of damage) that I have had.

The Achille's heel I suppose is the brushed motor that does wear out after however many hours of run time. But the motors are like $5-$8 or something and can be replaced really easily in just a few minutes. And you might think "why not just bump up a little bit to the K110 that is so similar but also brushless?" and my answer is simply that the K100 flies better and resists damage better, and so to me it's a better choice to stick with the K100.

Disclaimer: Since I haven't bought a new heli in years, I cannot comment on anything newer that's currently available. There might be amazing birds for the same or less money. Look around. Read others' suggestions and experiences.

Good luck!

 

[SSgt Duramax]

Maybe you all have encouraged me to fix my honeybee king.