General A New Direction In Helis

[Capn Pete]

I have been in the toy grade helis long enough. I would like to branch out into more hobby grade, but am unsure which direction to go. I'm currently flying FP, but would like to get into CP. Have not flown CP (successfully) yet, but think I am ready.
I understand Align are pretty good, but have also looked into XK. Which Protocol (TX) to get into is my next big step. Which one will give me the most versatility. Futaba? DX? I'm not opposed to 'some adult assembly required', but not ready to build from the ground up yet. As for size, I'm thinking the 400 size. I'm looking to stay in the $500 range, give or take some.
One day soon, I would like to build a scale heli, hopefully from a basic frame which is already setup with gyro, ESC, motor, etc.
I know this is a pretty wide open place to start, but I gotta start somewhere. If anyone has some ideas which path to start on, I would be grateful. Or if anyone has something used they want to sell or an unfinished kit...

thanks,
Pete

 

[Tony]

My advice, and I highly suggest you take it, build it from the ground up! Never trust anyone with a collective pitch helicopter, it's just unsafe. Unless you know for a fact that they know what they are doing and you know they are going to thread lock everything and you know how they set the Tx up and so on. Trusting a prebuilt helicopter is the #1 reason they ALWAYS crash. So I highly suggest just getting a kit, and building it up. The Align kits are quite good for the money, SAB is also fantastic as is the Gaui X3 and there are many more that just keep going up in price. For your budget though, you are probably looking at Align though. There are some clones out there that do save money in the beginning, but after a while, you have more in them than you would the actual helicopter.

Don't believe me, below is a link to the playlist where I built the ALZRC helicopter live and the work I had to do on it.

ALZRC Devil 450 - YouTube

 

[Capn Pete]

Very good info as always, Tony. Thanks. How about a source? As you know, I have been burnt with Chinese companies.

 

[Tony]

If you are wanting to go with Align, there is a company on ebay that sells them at a really good price. Something like power hobbies or something. That is where I purchased my Align 450 Pro which I also have a build video series on lol. Give me a little while and I will try to do a search for you and find them. If they are still there. It's been a while. But here is the build on the Align Pro V2. And yes, It's on the wall. Wait, it's actually out side in the studio with a dominator frame on it right now... lol

Align T-Rex 450 Pro V2 3GX Build Guide - YouTube

 

[Geena]

You can`t go wrong with pretty much any of the kits available today. If you are looking at getting into a 450 class helicopter, there are many options. If you want to build on a budget, look into the Assault 450 from Hobby King. I have seen a few of them in person, and they are actually pretty nice little machines.

If you don`t mind spending a little more, You could go with an OXY. They make several different sizes, and I think the OXY 4 is out now, or ready for release. There are also the Gaui X3, and X4. So many options for that size class.

As far as the transmitter goes. If you have little or no experience with computerized transmitter systems, I would suggest Spektrum. Futaba, is a great transmitter, but very complicated in the programming area and not gear toward newer pilots. Spektrum is very user friendly, and the programming is straight forward and easy to understand.

Like Tony mentioned. If you decide to buy a used helicopter, tear it down and check EVERYTHING. It will save you a lot of heartache in the end.

 

[Tony]

Not even with a use Heli Geena, a new one as well if he goes with new or used. The head on most new ones, including SAB are assembled from the factory, but like China, there is no thread lock anywhere to be found. Goblin makes this fact known, but others include nothing to let people know there is noting but friction holding the heli together.

And @Geena, I'm really surprised you didn't push Gaui more than yo did. The X3 is a helicopter that I would LOVE to have in my fleet, I just can't afford it. And being a sponsored pilot, I figured you would be pushing the X3.

The OXY4 from what I hear is way over priced and is in the " I have to have it " price range at this time. Past pricing has shown it will come down, but I definitely would not pay what they are asking for it now, that's for sure.

But I stand behind what I said before and I strongly encourage you to build your own. If you don't think you are ready to build one, we are here to help out every step of the way!

 

[Geena]

When you buy a new kit, the manuals will tell you to disassemble prebuilt parts to grease, loctite, and other steps...that`s why I didn`t go there. Gaui does loctite prebuilt parts, but I still take them apart, to make sure...and to confirm they are assembled correctly.

If you notice. I said "if you want to pay more" go with the OXY. I do realize they are over priced. But there are people who like them, and I was just throwing it out there. Options, right? As far as pushing Gaui more...that`s not why I`m on here. I`m just trying to help, just like everyone else.

 

[liquid1]

I have a co worker that’s building a 700 gasser so he’s selling off some of his fleet, he has a new blade 450 3D and 2 batteries with a DX6i programmed for bigginners new he’s thinking of asking around $400 I would like to get it my self but getting the 500 blade it would be a stiff bill on top here’s a photo

 

[heli-maniac]

People that think Oxy is over price . Has never seen the Quality that they are .
Same people will spend a crap ton on Upgrading their Blade Helis . Oxy is a Heli that dose not need any Up grades
Any new Heli that comes to the plate is priced to pay for for all the work that goes in to the Rnd . Its no diff. than any other thing sold in any market
People pay a 1000. dollars for a phone .

I did some talking with them about selling the Oxy4 with out them junk Blades and Now the are offering the kit with out blades at a better price.

When I bought my Trex 450 Pro DFC 3GX Kit when it first came out it was over 300 for just the kit .

I am a rep for Oxy and rec. the Oxy 3 It is the biggest flying 300 class heli To me it flys as well as my 550 . The Oxy 3 can be built pretty cheep and still fly like a big heli .
All mine has is KST215 servos No big name cool guy stuff .
Will the Oxy 4 step up and fly as well I sure hope so and I will see here in a few weeks .
I sure hope its not a let down like the Oxy 2 was for me .

 

[Smoggie]

There are a lot of choices out there. if you dont object to 'clones' the the ALZRC devil 380 or devil 420 (Goblin clones) are amazing value. You could get the full 'super combo' package for your $500 budget and ALZRC have a US dealer so you don't need to order from overseas. These helis are a lot bigger than your '400' size but as a rule 'bigger flies better' so I'd not let size put you off.

My personal opinion is that Futaba although great kit is a bit behind the curve lately and their receivers are expensive. Also the USA Futaba importer (Hobbico) have just gone bust so supply and service may be problematic until that gets sorted out. There are many good choices but you still cant go far wrong with Spektrum. Probably the biggest pluses for Spektrum IMHO are large dealer network, good Tx pricing, cheap receivers, good manuals and easy user interface, and the massive user base which means lots of support is available.

 

[bigone5500]

Something not mentioned to is get a simulator. It will help you greatly. It helped me. I like realflight. Phoenix is good too.

Vibration is a fastener’s enemy. Loctite is a brand and there are other thread lockers out there. Don’t use the red type or you could strip your threads. It holds really good.

 

[Admiral]

Hi Pete, I agree with all the advise given above, but the reality of the situation is to get a new 400 size CP helicopter and a Transmitter for your budget is not going to happen.
A deal like Liquid1 is suggesting is the way to go, OK the Tx is a bit on the old side but a very reliable unit and the Blade 450 is a great beginners helicopter and parts are readily available still.
You also have a $100 left over to buy batteries and tools like pitch gauges etc.

Stay away from cheap clones that is the path to utter frustration, and have a look around your local Hobby Shops, but go in with a purpose don't get caught up in their hype and buy something that you don't really want.

Not sure where in NC you live but these lists might help.

A list of hobby shops in NC Paul K. Guillow, Inc.

RC flying clubs in NC North Carolina RC Airplane Clubs and Flying Fields

 

[Smoggie]

Fully agree with the advice to avoid 'cheap' clones. However the ALZRC Devil range are not like traditional cheap clones. They are actually top quality, every bit as good as the Goblin helis they are copied from and in some aspects arguably better. You could do the whole lot for not far off your budget with good spec kit:

1. Devil 380 Super Combo ($399.99): ALZRC Devil 380 FAST RC Helicopter Super Combo
2. Spektrum DX6e ($149.99): Spektrum SPMR6650 DX6e 6-Channel DSMX Transmitter Only
3. Lemon diversity sat receiver ($13.10): Lemon Rx DSMX Compatible Diversity Satellite (DSM2 backward compatible but must use DSMX compatible primary receiver)

That would be a very nice setup, all brand new and all good quality. Assuming you have a charger then all you need is batteries. It's probably not a heli for a raw beginner but if you already have some RC heli flying under your belt then you cant really go wrong. If you wait around Banggood will probably have a slightly lower price, it's 15% off right now but they quite often have 25% off sales.

If looking at the used market I'd suggest to shop around and drive a hard bargain. It's very much a buyers market. Rule of thumb with RC stuff is that as soon as the box is opened the retail price is halved, if it's older models then work down from there. This puts some very nice helis within your budget.