Heli Newbie

[Cncguy]

Went to the LHS with the kids to look around and came back with G3.
I want to get my kids into the RC world.
I've been flying planes for 25 years so it only took about ten minutes of flying on the G3 before boredom directed toward trying on a Heli.

After about five minutes I decided that something must be wrong with my Sim because I wrecked out every time I got off the ground.

A few hours of unlearning Airplanes I started to get the hang of hovering.

Went to the LHS again, I am now the proud owner of a Raptor 50!

This is what I have:
Raptor 50 kit with engine
Airtronics RD 6000
Airtronics Receiver

This is what I was told I need to get:
401 Gyro with a 9254 Servo
4 50 oz Servos
Battery Pack

Is this a good GYRO/SERVO combo?
Which servos should I purchase for the other 4?
What is the best Battery pack to purchase?

[Felony44]

The 401 Gyro you can buy as a combo with the 9254 that seems to be what everyone is using and i havent had any problems with it. As for servos i use JR 811s all the way around with exception of the tail which has the 9254 on it. You want to look for something in the 50oz range for servos i have a raptor 50 and these servos work very good they are 54oz. As for battery anything over 800 MaH would work great. Also you may want to pick up a hobbico VoltWatch 2 cost like $12 will tell you the status of your battery pack.

[Cncguy]

Thanks for the info.
As soon as some of my customers ante up I can go buy the rest of my parts.
I think I'll nick name my my Heli "MONEY EATER" :)

[heli-fan]

Went to the LHS again, I am now the proud owner of a Rapture 50!
h

Its a Raptor 50

The JR DS 811 will work fine on everything except the TR use the recomended 9254 w 401 gy
an JR DS 8411a would work better for collective but there about $115 and might be discontinued, not sure. I would step up in battery, use a higher MAh 2700 Nimh or 3000 sub c cell Nicd.

[tdswan]

Agreed on the battery, 800 Mah will only get you a couple flights maybe 3. go with at least 2000 Mah. I'm running a 2400.

[Felony44]

Yea i cheat and use a quick field charger.I need to invest in a better battery

[Cncguy]

I Googled the DS 811 and it says its a digital servo. What is the advantages of a digital verses a standard?

[tdswan]

Digitals are more precise, have higher channel resolution, and generally ceter better than analog servos. They are not necessary if you don't want to shell out for them. They also suck a lot more power and batter life needs to be monitored more closely.

[Cncguy]

Is $47.99 reasonable for the DS 811

[heli-fan]

The $47.99 price on DS811 is MSRP you should be able to find them cheaper at HeliProz here is a link.

http://www4.mailordercentral.com/heliproz/prodinfo.asp?number=101961

[Cncguy]

I went to the LHS and bought the rest of my parts today.
I bought DS 811 Servos($40.00 each), GY401 w/9254 Servo ($209.99), 2700 MaH battery($27.00) and some other odds and ends.

The store owner also recommended the DS 811.

I appreciate all of the help yall have given me.
Hopefully I will be in the air in a couple days.

This is a great forum!

[heli-fan]

Good Luck w the new heli !!! :D Don't forget the training gear when you go to the field, it will
save you a few bucks in the end.

[Cncguy]

I just delayed the maiden voyage of my new Heli.
I bought a new transmitter battery pack for my Airtronics radio, pulled out the old battery and plugged in the new one. I turned on the radio and it did nothing. I thought maybe the battery didn't get plugged in well, so I pulled the cover only to find it was.
After a 10 seconds of research of the connector I found that the wires are reversed in the new plug.

Everything appears to be fine except for the fact the servos no longer respond to commands.
All of the menu functions still work.

So I have two question.
Can it be fixed?
and...
If an over anxious person was to want to fly real soon what would be a good radio to buy?

[Jorgecajiao]

Hi CNC,

Rc Helicopters are a very exciting and challenging part of this wonderfull hobby. :p
Thats why when dealing with electronics it`s allways good to take it easy, take a deep breath and check everything before you start pluging things in, it`s also good to read the instructiones that come with the new gadgets we buy. I use Futaba and Jr radios so I couldn`t tell you much about airtronics all I know is that between manufacturers somtimes the prongs are reversed between radios, thats so you have to use dedicated chargers and batteries for one or the other, in the case of JR and Futaba this is true.
The radio is still good just send it out to get fixed, look at the owners manual and it will tell you where it can be repaired, if your lucky and use your wits it might fall under somekind of warranty. :D
A good radio to start with is a JR 6102 very simple and straight forward, you can get it for $120.= radio only so check it out at Heliproz or one of the other mail order stores
on the net. :rolleyes:
I also recomend finding someone who`s been flying heli`s for a while that can help you with the set up, it`s allways good to have somebody with expierience do a final check on the bird before your maiden.
It can get expensive when your starting out so take it easy and enjoy every minute of it-
cause it`s a long ride from here :) ............

Enjoy .........................................................

[Cncguy]

I used your advice. Its on its way back to Airtronics. They told me to repair their radio that has been plugged in in reverse will cost $40.00.
I borrowed my brothers Futaba and did my first flight about 20 minutes ago. After a few minutes of adjusting in normal mode I switched to AVCS and went through a couple of tanks.

It was a lot easier to fly than I thought it was going to be.
It feels just like the simulator except I was very nervous.

[tdswan]

That's an awfully tight practice area! Good to see another one of those beautiful machines gracing the sky!
Congrats!

[Jorgecajiao]

That`s a beautifull bird man.
That sim really helps hey.

Enjoy.............................................. :D

[ErichF]

Good job on getting airborne...

but DUDE! find a field to fly at, for Christ's Sake. We have enough Darwin Award winners around the heli community.


Erich

[Cncguy]

That picture is a little misleading. Here is another view of my back yard flying field.

[ErichF]

Well, I'm glad you have plenty of room to fly out back, so USE IT. Watch the video in the link below and imagine if your heli did that when you were that close to the tail...

http://www.linknety.com/modevideos/demo/zoom.php?id=27


I have been in this for nearly 20 years and have seen every failure (except a total main blade failure) these things can come up with.

20 feet toe to tail, my rule. I also tend to not stand in line with any singe axis of the helicopter. A single servo failure would send the heli in the respective direction and hopefully past me off to the side. A tail blade failure would also miss me, hopefully.

Of course, when I am competing in contests, the rules of the game dictate I break some of my own rules regarding this, but they also require you to hover no lower than skids at eye level except during landing and takeoff.

Have fun, Love it, care for it...but respect it.

Erich