Why I Prefer Helicopters Vs Drones?

Kentucky Fly Boy

Kentucky Fly Boy

Member
A lot of non-fly friends have asked why do you prefer Helicopters? Drones are more stable easier to fly. To this I say Yes, drones are so much easier and some can carry a small load. Drones are awesome racers. Helicopters are just so much easier to maintain. Helicopter blades change the broken or bent one 2 screws I am done. My wife`s drone 1-5-19 was a nightmare could not pin point error, User of course why it was not lifting off 1 blade she had replaced last week was out of order. It is an awesome flyer, like my sons drones I have no issues other than ease of maintenance.
 
D.O.G.

D.O.G.

Goblin 380 Supporter
I agree with Tony. There's nothing like the sound of power and the feeling you get when a heli takes off. The increase of blood pressure and euphoria and shaky hand I get once the heli is up and flyin especially with the bigger helis. No less the accomplishment and reward once that bird lands in one piece. Just my opinion. The quads are fun for me because I just found out that the local drug dealers and trouble makers in our area thinks that I'm a retired officer working for the local PD and that I use my quads, to them drones, to spy on them and keep track of their movement LMAO! Now I know why the traffic around us has decline a lot :).
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
lmao, that's awesome Ivan! Maybe I should fly mine around at a higher altitude here at my house lmao.
 
leedude1

leedude1

Member
I going to jump on the band wagon here gents. I have flown and owned both and I know I posted this is another forum the other day, but it begs repeating here. drones in my mind are purpose driven ...photography and FPV or even something like our police man friend (DOG:D) and scoping things out to save the walk and scare our neighbors straight. But this is a question that any heli guy has answer a 100 times.

But just the fact that there is little or no mechanics, and that i can lift it into a hover get a coffee and come back and its still there has little appeal to me.

Like Tony and DOG the actual flight and keeping this thing harnessed so to speak, pushing your personal limits never ends. If you watched me fly (not impressive at all :dejection:) but it is my present limit and the sim flights help me get the confidence to try something new live every time. none of which the drones can do or replace. I feel even though a drone pilot would have a very good handle on the orientations in flight. I feel they would still struggle initially with the reduced stability of a heli and the pucker factor a bigger bird will give you when you lift it off and start to haul it around. Its is always awe inspiring

So each have their place and both are a great hobby in their own right, but just not the same for a 1000 reasons. I love to tinker, upgrade and work on perfect set up, mechanics eg: SOKO HELI tool for the head if you ever want to be anal about zero pitch and head set up that is the baby you want to look at.:thumbsup:

On the other hand the pictures my nephew takes of the Montreal skyline with his DJI are seriously just aw dropping.. maybe ill post one up here.

In short I dont think they can fairly compare, because although flight related they are just completely different machines (no pun intended).
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
Actually Mike, in flight a quad and a helicopter fly exactly the same if you look at it from a control standpoint. You have to use rudder on both of them, if you want smooth turns you still have to bank them, they can both hover and so on. Learning how to fly a helicopter on a quad is actually quite doable but you have to stick with Rate mode and stay out of Horizon or Angle mode. Those two modes will teach people bad habits. Bad habits which I have picked up unfortunately.
 
leedude1

leedude1

Member
Agreed controls are the same.

In rate mode I agree as well Tony, and to be fair i have never flown a racer type drone either.

I guess it may be personal preference running into it but I still feel drones are just so much more stable from the get go.

You say bad habits...like what? Assuming self leveling?
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
Yes, starting to rely on being able to flip a switch and get into self leveling mode. Very bad habit to pick up and very hard to get away from once you do....
 
D.O.G.

D.O.G.

Goblin 380 Supporter
What I like the most about flying a quad, in FPV view, is that I feel like a bird cursing through the woods real fast but not really. I feel like i'm sitting in the quad and I'm going out for a joy ride without a pilot licensee :). There's no real challenge beside manipulating through my course as fast as I can. It's just a change of pace. Don't get me wrong, I rather feel the power and excitement you get from flying a heli anytime vs a quad but while my batteries are charging for my helis I can still have fun flying something else. Scaring the local drug dealers is fun too. Watching them scatter like couch roaches out of site of my quad is hilarious :).
 
Kentucky Fly Boy

Kentucky Fly Boy

Member
Tony said:
Yes, starting to rely on being able to flip a switch and get into self leveling mode. Very bad habit to pick up and very hard to get away from once you do....
Click to expand...
YUP and auto take off and land no challenge Nothing wrong with flying drone My kids love them. I have flown a few different makes and mods YES the cameras are cool and nice, I well no risk? is that what I miss between drone and helicopter? The challenge?
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
Auto take off is more for DJI and other higher end models. Most of the quads that I have, in fact ALL of the quads that I have (because I refuse to do anything with DJI) don't have auto take off.

Put your 250 quad is Rate mode, there is a challenge then lol. I have to force myself to fly in Rate after getting used to Angle and Horizon modes. I need to just turn off the accelerometers in all of my FC's and call it done. Would free up some CPU cycles as well to help with better PID control....
 
Kentucky Fly Boy

Kentucky Fly Boy

Member
3 drones here not one a DJI 2 are kids Drone-osaur and a jetfighter as well as wifes Eachine 52 selfie drone all have auto take-off/land of course these are lower tier drones, For the kids and wife it is perfect less damage.I am a Helicopter fan
 
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Kentucky Fly Boy

Kentucky Fly Boy

Member
leedude1 said:
I going to jump on the band wagon here gents. I have flown and owned both and I know I posted this is another forum the other day, but it begs repeating here. drones in my mind are purpose driven ...photography and FPV or even something like our police man friend (DOG:D) and scoping things out to save the walk and scare our neighbors straight. But this is a question that any heli guy has answer a 100 times.

But just the fact that there is little or no mechanics, and that i can lift it into a hover get a coffee and come back and its still there has little appeal to me.

Like Tony and DOG the actual flight and keeping this thing harnessed so to speak, pushing your personal limits never ends. If you watched me fly (not impressive at all :dejection:) but it is my present limit and the sim flights help me get the confidence to try something new live every time. none of which the drones can do or replace. I feel even though a drone pilot would have a very good handle on the orientations in flight. I feel they would still struggle initially with the reduced stability of a heli and the pucker factor a bigger bird will give you when you lift it off and start to haul it around. Its is always awe inspiring

So each have their place and both are a great hobby in their own right, but just not the same for a 1000 reasons. I love to tinker, upgrade and work on perfect set up, mechanics eg: SOKO HELI tool for the head if you ever want to be anal about zero pitch and head set up that is the baby you want to look at.:thumbsup:

On the other hand the pictures my nephew takes of the Montreal skyline with his DJI are seriously just aw dropping.. maybe ill post one up here.

In short I dont think they can fairly compare, because although flight related they are just completely different machines (no pun intended).
Click to expand...
Yes I can see that Drones are purpose driven, the flight for me flying a drone is like banking and turning a stalled 757 as to a mig fighter which is full operational. Not a thing wrong with drones just a choice.
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
In that case, I guess I do have one of those. Centered throttle stick, not a fan of that lol. I could hardly fly it in the video I made of it.
 
leedude1

leedude1

Member
As promised what my nephew does with his drone and a few of his buds. A little high for my liking.. but the video and photo capture of these things is impressive.
 
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