450 Beginner Needs Advice

[Hirobo.61]

Well guys, I'm at my wit's end! The LMH heli, given to me by a friend turned out to be a money pit along with the Spectrum DX6i RX. I won't go into detail other than I've replaced a gyro, a ESC and tried to trim the heli out today and found that the servos aren't returning to center pos. when the gimbals are in neutral pos.. On top of that the trim lever for the rudder has a broken leg and doesn't activate the micro switches (this is after I repaired the elevator trim lever for the same problem on the elevator trim lever. ;the radio is probably 20+ years old.
Anyway, I'm done with this antiquated stuff and want to buy a new updated 450 with a new radio. I'm looking for a heli that I can learn to fly that is a proven machine for a 70 yer old beginner. Align and Blade seem to be highly regarded but I don't know which model of these brands to buy. As you probably guessed, I'm alone with my wife far from any of the flyng field, and will have to teach myself. Acquisition and cost of parts for the new heli has to be part of the package. I'd like to "keep it simple stupid" and I'm needing your input regarding my potential upcoming purchase. I would also need to know who would be a trustworthy seller. Please have patience with my lack of knowledge; thank you for any helpful input.

 

[murankar]

Go look in the for sale section. I am possibly selling a Guai X3 with motor. I will including enough spares to keep you going for a short while.

A you would need to supply your own electronics for the kit. Except the motor. a brand new 3S scorpion motor with less than 50 flights on it. I have it setup as a 360 but it came stock with 325mm blades. I also will be including a extra set of main blades which are also 360mm.

Yes its been crashed a few times and every time I fixed it. If your interested in this kit PM and we can work out a price. I have a low limit I can't go below.

Your getting a frame that sold for 250ish, a motor that sold for 75ish and 175ish in spare parts. Plus your getting the boom cover which makes goblin like.

I also did a build video series on this kit that is on YouTube. I have a photo album of the kit in my signature. Oh those photos are really old. I dont have the K-bar on there any more, I no longer own the KST servos or the castle esc.

My current setup is BK servos all around, 3 cyclic and tail, a Mikado V-Bar Neo, Hobbywing ESC and still a Scorpion motor. I bought this kit as a V1 sometime within the first three months of it releasing to the market.

 

[Tony]

The DX6i, the original one, is only about 8 years old now. Yes, it is pretty old by electronics standards, but this is still a fantastic Tx for a beginner. Those trim switches are a very common part to have to be replaced along with the roller if you push on the bottom and not the top to click it.

With that said though, I have had the DX6i, DX8 and DX9 and the DX9 is by far the best Tx I have had. However, since I have owned the DX8 they have come out with the DX8 G2 which has the exact same firmware as the DX9, it's just missing a channel. So my vote for a Tx that you will never have to upgrade again would be the DX8 G2.

As for a helicopter, I have to start out by saying, Get A Simulator! Trust me on this! You may already have one, I just have a horrible memory lol. The simulator will teach you way more in less time than a real helicopter that you have to keep repairing after crashes. I know this from experience. If you want the best bang for your buck for single user flight simulators, check out AccuRc. It is absolutely fantastic even though it is still in the early days of development. It will only get better! Second would be RealFlight 8 which is the best version yet from them. The downside here is when RF9 comes out, you will have to purchase it if you want to upgrade. AccuRc has free lifetime upgrades.

If you can find Phoenix Flight Sim used (or even NOS (New Old Stock)), you can upgrade to V5.5.l which is the latest version. However, all work on this sim has halted after Horizon purchased another company. Not sure if they are going to come back and update this sim again.

Once you get good on the sim and you can fly around and land without crashing, My suggestion is a 450 size. The Gaui that URI has for sale is a good kit, just not as popular as Align or Blade. Speaking of Blade, I would stay away from them. Too many plastic parts and you never know when they are going to move on to the next model and stop making parts. Align will always have parts out there since they are the #1 cloned helicopter in the world.

Now comes the time when you have to decide what you want. There are a metric ton of helicopters out there to choose from. My latest helicopter is the Align Pro V2, but I have put a Dominator frame on it so that I can put the battery on a slide in tray. But the head and tail are still 325 rather than 360.

 

[Hirobo.61]

The DX6i, the original one, is only about 8 years old now. Yes, it is pretty old by electronics standards, but this is still a fantastic Tx for a beginner. Those trim switches are a very common part to have to be replaced along with the roller if you push on the bottom and not the top to click it.

With that said though, I have had the DX6i, DX8 and DX9 and the DX9 is by far the best Tx I have had. However, since I have owned the DX8 they have come out with the DX8 G2 which has the exact same firmware as the DX9, it's just missing a channel. So my vote for a Tx that you will never have to upgrade again would be the DX8 G2.

As for a helicopter, I have to start out by saying, Get A Simulator! Trust me on this! You may already have one, I just have a horrible memory lol. The simulator will teach you way more in less time than a real helicopter that you have to keep repairing after crashes. I know this from experience. If you want the best bang for your buck for single user flight simulators, check out AccuRc. It is absolutely fantastic even though it is still in the early days of development. It will only get better! Second would be RealFlight 8 which is the best version yet from them. The downside here is when RF9 comes out, you will have to purchase it if you want to upgrade. AccuRc has free lifetime upgrades.

If you can find Phoenix Flight Sim used (or even NOS (New Old Stock)), you can upgrade to V5.5.l which is the latest version. However, all work on this sim has halted after Horizon purchased another company. Not sure if they are going to come back and update this sim again.

Once you get good on the sim and you can fly around and land without crashing, My suggestion is a 450 size. The Gaui that URI has for sale is a good kit, just not as popular as Align or Blade. Speaking of Blade, I would stay away from them. Too many plastic parts and you never know when they are going to move on to the next model and stop making parts. Align will always have parts out there since they are the #1 cloned helicopter in the world.

Now comes the time when you have to decide what you want. There are a metric ton of helicopters out there to choose from. My latest helicopter is the Align Pro V2, but I have put a Dominator frame on it so that I can put the battery on a slide in tray. But the head and tail are still 325 rather than 360.

Thank you for all of helpful information; I’ve decided to wait until I’ve spent some time on a simulator before I purchase a new heli. Simulator is ordered and I’ve “beefed up” my Dx6i trim tabs in the meantime. ThAnk you for all of your helpful input; maybe between you, the forum and myself, I’ll will ably fly RC helos one day.

 

[Tony]

That is quite honestly the best option. And good deal on beefing up the Tx. Keep us posted on how things are progressing.