What got you started in RC-Heli

[broke-again]

Ok guys, tell everyone how you started in rc and why you choose helicopters!

I started by getting a walkera 22e after mistaking the "Ready To Fly" wording with "Easy To Fly". Ok.Ok...i was niave But at that time i thought it was plug & play. After all it was only a bit of plastic with scary high speed blades, how hard could it be?

Turned out it was plug & break for me, i went through two 22'e and countless spares. My friendship with 22'e ended when the tail motor flew off in mid air on a maiden flight with the second 22e. They are so badly made and use cheap plastic on all key points. Now i am not a bad workman blaming his tools - just stating the truth of my own experience.

This was my first RC experience and almost my last...frustration was getting the better of me. As a late starter in rc - im 42 going on 12, my reflexes arent as good as they used to be.

However i was determined to master this heli thing and so forked out more money for a bigger & better made heli and several credit card bills later i have a really good machine. There is no comparing the 22'e with what i now fly and just wish i had began with the 450se.

I still have my crashes, but at least i know they are down to my own errors and the heli is usually back in the air within a short space of time.

Im hooked, i still have a long way to go - but i have the determination to master this hobby even if it takes another 20 years. Heli's are a constant challenge for me and i dont see myself getting bored, which would probably happen if i had decided to get into planes.

So, how did you start?

[heli-cuzz]

Me and my fiance`{now my wife} were in a hobby shop and I jokingly pointed to a Caliber30 saying, I want that for Christmas! Sure enough, she bought me a Caliber 30 and now I'm a heli-freak. :D I started flying in May 2005 and put a lot of time in to learn helis, especially the building and setting-up. I fly everyday and practice on the sim about an hour before sleepy time.

[tdswan]

Hmmm....ahhh memories..... :rolleyes:

I started on Fixed wing, which is a funny story all in itself. My brother-in-law had an Aerobird Challenger that he offered to let me fly. He had NEVER had a successful landing with it yet. I, being an avid Microsoft Flight Sim player and having a father who was a pilot (who let me fly sometimes) knew how to keep it in the air pretty good and had a succesful flight and landing on my first try. This INFURIATED my brother-in-law who is a very competitive guy. My Planes got bigger and better after that to the point I had to join a club to have a flying site.

That was my first introduction to heli's. I began watching the guys fly them and saying to myself "I could do that". Well, a couple of months later I had saved up for a shiny new Raptor 50. The guys at the club were very helpful and GREAT teachers. After having them help me set it up and borrowing a rotopod, I began burning up fuel at an alarming rate. I probably put 15 gallons through it in my first year. NO CRASHES!!! After 3 months of flying, I had gotten pretty proficient at loops and rolls, so I took to it relatively quickly. Now I'm slowly learning 3D as my pocketbook will allow. If only I could afford to do what I do on the sim!

[heli-cuzz]

If only I could afford to do what I do on the sim!

You can say that again. LoL

[mkoutnik]

I got started beacuse I really needed a hobby and needed something to consume my time other than my house. I used a race 1/10 scale RC touring cars for years and just couldn't afford to stay competitive, so I sold most of my gear. But, within the past few months I started to get the RC itch again. Since I realized no one made a cream for that, and I have always been facinated with heli's; I thought I would buy a heli.

Do to the price, I wound up buying a Blade CP, which I'm starting to believe was a mistake because I have no prior flying experience and the more I read, the more I fnd out this bird is very hard to fly and master. Now, I wish I would have saved more money and bought a T-Rex or Raptor (but I didn't want to start with nitro) just because of their size. I'm havng an extremely hard time learning to fly...gone thru about 4 sets of blades so far. Oh well, I'm on such a restricted budget because of house, 4 year old daughter, and another daughter on the way...due end of Januaury 2007.

I really enjoy the challenge of learning to fly the heli, but it's just so frustrating becuase I want it to happen NOW! I guess I'm too used to cars. In the end, I try to keep my head up and take baby steps...Someday I'll be able to post cool videos of me flying.

[Selim]

I just to race 1/10 gas off road trucks, and I was verry sucselfull, wtih three national champs her, in 95,96,97 after that I told my sponsors that i'm gonna to retire because intead of be a hobby was a sourse of stress, since that time I still want to have some of radio control and in my last trip to the US I buy a Peguasus RTF heli wich is very easy to fly and mantain, so far I replace 3 of the four blades, in accidents learning, I look forward and the plan is to by a t-rex 450 se, but like you, I have a small budget for that proyect, with 3 kids, one in midle school, another one in school, ant the last one in kinder, plus wife $$$$$, dog, kat, fish tank, and my car. It is hard to save the $$$$$ for the heli but like you say step by step some day I will have that heli (soon) defently :D

[JimInnes]

What got me started??? The short answer is a long term desire.

The long answer follows ;)

When I was 12 I started driving RC Trucks - the Blackfoot being my first "real" rc truck. I began to recieve the Tower Hobbies annual catalog shorty after that. In the first catalog I recieved from them there were two pages with helis on them, all Concepts. From the moment I saw those helis in that magazine I KNEW I had to have one. The price put helis out of reach for me for the next 12 years. In 2002 I had a decent job, no wife or kids to worry about, and no debts - so I went for it. A 12 year dream was finally fulfilled when I came home with my Raptor 30 V1, JR 652, GY240, OS 32, and all the tools, fuel line, starter, etc.

I had a BLAST building that first heli (like I do with every one that followed) and those first few hover attempts will never be forgotten. I did take a break when i was married, but after our first kid was born - I got back into it, found the local club, and havent looked back since.

It is a great hobby - and it keeps getting better!!!

[IOWABOY]

I would like some info from you heli-flyers. I want to buy my first bird and learn to fly. I do not want to buy something that is too primative or something too complicated. I can go either a kit or a ready to fly model but I feel building a heli first gives me a better feel on how things work etc.. Any ideas is appreciated.

randy

[tdswan]

Post a new thread for that, Iowa Boy. The topic of this thread is what got your started in heli's. I don't want to be rude or scare you off because all of the guys on here are a friendly bunch, but you've gotta start a new thread for a new question. I hope I didn't offend. Start a new thread in the beginner questions section and we'll be happy to reply :)

[Shinanigans]

What got me started in heli's :rolleyes: well, i guess that would be the day i was down at the flying field with my dad and he was assembling his wings, getting ready to fly. I started to wander over to the other members and see what was going on. Low and behold, one of the other members had a Hirobo (don't know which model) heli that he was fueling up and getting ready to fly.

I walked over, said hi, watched what he was doing and then just sat there with my jaw on the ground as this thing just sat a few inches off the ground, looking all mean and stuff :)

The presence of a chopper just leaves me in awe. The way they sit there and hover and can do everything a plane does and do it in a space no bigger then your mouse pad, i just had to get into it.

So here i am, building my new Raptor Titan. Can't wait to get her airborne! :D

[helidad]

I got started in rc when I was in japan with the military. One of the guys I worked with was into nitro cars so I bought one. The rest is simple progression. I now have 5 cars :eek: then I bought a nitro boat :) and now I have the heli :D which is the best one of them all. I am looking at getting rid of some of the cars since the last couple of months has been all about the heli. My wife swears that if she hears the word servo, trim, heli, or radio ever again that it will be to soon. :eek:

[drawde279]

Oh boy what have i done,at 61years of age you would think i would have more sense. I was asked by some friends to run them to an air display of planes and helis, which i thought was the real ones, only it turned out to be models. Guess what, I watched the display and the more i watched the more i got hooked, needless to say i went out and bought a hirobo shuttle, its like having a new women in my life .

But what really surprised me was out of all the hobbies i have had ,fishing, golf, sport etc i have never found more helpful people than those who are involved in the hobby of flying, and long may you all continue as i need plenty of help.


grandad

[broke-again]

drawde279. But what really surprised me was out of all the hobbies i have had ,fishing, golf, sport etc i have never found more helpful people than those who are involved in the hobby of flying, and long may you all continue as i need plenty of help

I second that "Grandad"!, thats one thing i love about this hobby is that no matter your age, background or experience, your treated as an equal in an often un-equal world.

Fascinating reading you guys, thanks for sharing and if you havent shared your story as yet, please do...your amongst friends here :)

[heliry2]

i mostly got started in it to spend more time with justin.
we bought him a cal 30 for christmas 2 years ago and he
loved it and was flying all the time. until i messed up my
back i played golf 4-5 times a week and hardly seen him
with work and his school. the injury actually turned into
a blessing.so last march i decided i needed another hobby
now it consumes my free time pretty much. it turned out
to be a great thing because jennifer is now into it and it
always us more time together going to shows going up
to the church parking lot or to the field. i spend at least a
couple hours every night tinkering with something on one of
the helicopters.we actually all have copetions in the basement
with a blade cx around the closet under the pool table figure 8
through the poles land on 3rd step you get the idea.any way thats
how and i never thought i would say i am glad i hurt my back.