CCCToad on 7/2/2010 at 02:55
Yeah, this actually is a bit of a childhood memory. My dad was pretty big on RC stuff of all kinds for a few years, and among those we have a couple of RC choppers; some pretty fancy electric-engine AH-64s. (Real RC choppers, not wal-mart toys). Only got em working a few times though, because the area we lived in at the time was basically suburbs cut out of the swamps. There wasn't a large enough piece of public land to fly them on.
PeeperStorm on 7/2/2010 at 17:20
I fiddled around with a friend's RC plane on a couple of occasions, but it didn't interest me that much. Instead I got into (
http://www.estesrockets.com/store/rockets.html) model rocketry. Less fiddly, cheap, and with the slight potential for fires or explosions. What's not to love?
I see that they still sell the Der Red Max kit. A true classic.
CCCToad on 7/2/2010 at 17:48
Quote Posted by PeeperStorm
I fiddled around with a friend's RC plane on a couple of occasions, but it didn't interest me that much. Instead I got into (
http://www.estesrockets.com/store/rockets.html) model rocketry. Less fiddly, cheap, and with the slight potential for fires or explosions. What's not to love?
I see that they still sell the Der Red Max kit. A true classic.
Used to love doing that back in the day, but never saw one blow up. We did lose a few of the smaller rockets.
Thanks for reminding me of that, its something that I'd forgotten about almost entirely. Its just a pity they don't sell the kits in stores anymore(just pre-made ones). Almost like they think kids these days are too dumb to figure out how to put one together.
PeeperStorm on 7/2/2010 at 18:37
If you want to talk about kids being stupid, how about the hand held launcher that I made? :cool: Had to go to the barber the first time I used it to even out my scorched hair. At least I had enough brains to wear a pair of goggles. And yes, I said "the first time." As in "I used it again", but only after making the blast deflector bigger and wearing a hat.
We did our launching in an open landfill area where it was really easy to lose a rocket, not least because a medium wind could carry it right out into the bay. Eventually I started packing a bunch of "disposable" rockets in my kit, consisting of cardboard fins and soda straw guides glued directly to 1/4A engines, for days when the wind was blowing.
The Alchemist on 8/2/2010 at 06:42
Quote Posted by Ulukai
Coincidentally my Dad casually mentioned that he nearly bought himself an RC Helicopter for Christmas, but then didn't. It's his birthday this month so I was toying (no pun intended) with the idea of buying him a (
http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/bladz-3d-helicopter/index.html) Bladez, but are they really that fragile, Alch?
As he's never flown one before I'm guessing it's going to do more crashing than flying.
Also, haha, "DO NOT FLY THIS ANYWHERE NEAR OTHER PEOPLE, PETS OR ANYTHING YOU DON'T WANT TRASHED."
That reminded me of (
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2084973582041454459#) this (Some poor bloke crashing his gas turbine powered B-52), but with a happier ending.
Anything with two rotors, hitherto known as "coaxial" helis are very very stable. They don't require the sort of skill to fly that the blade mSR (entry level) and Axe CPv (if you can fly this, you can fly anything) type helis do. I was originally going to get myself a coaxial because I just wanted to fly the damn thing, and not take a course in airmanship. But the guy at the store showed me how boring the coaxials are. He literally flew it to the middle of the store, let go of the controls, and let it hover there throughout our conversation. Someone even squatted it and it slid along a little and then just stabilized again. They are great for really really eager beginners. But honestly, the one I got (Blade mSR) is so light that I can't manage to break it. Despite having crashed it say 30 times now, it still hasnt broken a single piece. You just need to learn the reflex of killing the throttle when you're going down.
So yeah, a coaxial wouldn't be bad for a beginner but I think they're dreadfully boring. I mean. They do exactly what it says on the tin. They fly. But it requires no skill or practice what so ever, our of the box you turn up the throttle and it goes up. You press left and it goes left. You don't get the satisfaction of learning to fly one of these damn things, and you don't get the speed or maneuverability of the regular ones. Basically, it might become a mantle piece after a while. The thing about these other helis is that the challenge, and the task of tuning them and repairing parts and upgrading parts and getting nicer helis and learning to fly -those-, that's the whole fun really. There are $35 dollar coaxial helis you can get at Brookstone, for that.
It depends on if your dad wants a hobby, or if he wants a toy. Also depends on if he's patient enough to take the first few baby steps into flying. I can give good advice on that part.
I've now flown the Blade mSR so much that I can fly it through the entire house and back and land it on someones hand. I'm trying to get the motor on my Axe CPv fixed so I can start flying that, which can easily probably remove a finger a two.
(
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2298546&id=18705319&l=ac260339a3)
This is supposedly a "public" link so that anyone can see this album, but I hear it makes you log in. In the album you can see the size difference between the Blade mSR and the Axe CP (the incomplete on on the floor).
Inline Image:
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs232.snc3/21950_708033238738_18705319_40217840_4454960_n.jpgIt's so easy, I taught my friend to fly it. Granted he's an engineering major so it wasn't too out of his league. I took this shot, you can see him in the background. :)
Eventually, I want to get a nice Trex, maybe not one as big as this 600: (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8t41avFuCc)
It can almost defy gravity thanks to its complex rotary system, pivoting blades, active gyros, etc.
Anywho, to answer your question:Yes, they can be pretty fragile on the cheaper end, but that's a GOOD thing, because if you're buying entry level you expect to crash, and crashes mean replacing parts. The parts on coaxial and otherwise entry level helis are very cheap. This is a very DIY hobby and if you're uncomfy with with rebuilding your broken craft, exit stage left. Speaking of which, the one you're buying probably wouldn't have readily available replacement parts. If you want a coaxial heli that you can fix if it breaks, get this one: (
http://www.e-fliterc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=EFLH2200) Price tag goes way up but when he crashes it (and he will, despite being coaxial and all), he can go get replacement parts for under a dollar a piece. They're more around the $80 USD at the stores. Either that or risk the cheaper one that needs to be replaced entirely. I may be wrong though, maybe there are replacement parts for the one you listed. It just not a brand I've ever heard of.
I highly suggest you go with the
Blade mSR though. He'll learn to fly it and love it. And it's damn near indestructible somehow. I seriously dropped mine 20 feet (a wind gust took it up above my roof so I had to kill the engine, note to self dont fly a heli that weighs less than an ounce outdoors) and it sustained no damage.
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
Friends over the years have had these things. I don't see the appeal tbh. If you had a camera in it and a screen and HUD then yeah.
This is actually something I want to do. There's already a set made just for RC planes where you were a set of glasses that has a screen on one side which shows you the transmitted signal from the plane. I definitely want to do this but with heli's it's not all that useful because if you don't have line of sight chances are the heli's gonna crash and burn. Well at least crash, dunno about the burn part unless you're running nitro.
Adding a long sentence at the end of my post makes the formatting fit properly instead of being awkwardly narrow. This is very strange. Stranger still is that after editing my post this sentence hax/fix disappeared. vB4 bug? Compare this post to my first post, I'm almost positive I don't hit enter at the end of the input box, I've never done that. Yet with this long sentence here it fixes the formatting, yet the first post is narrow for some reason. If I add this same sentence to the end of it, the formatting gets fixed. Either the drugs have just started taking effect or I don't know what. Ok, the "fix" went away. Now I definitely think there's acid in my cup.
37637598 on 8/2/2010 at 07:36
The formatting looks fine to me, I'm running IE8 @ 1680x1050.
I just got the newest rc helo from my boss's boss's friend who makes these things. I don't have it with me, but it's completely metal except for some small cosmetic parts. It runs off of the same miniature motors, but the rear rotar's thrust is horizontal just like the main rotar, as opposed to the standard vertical rear rotars which counter the centrifugal force from the main rotars rotation. I'm not really sure the exact benefit to this design, but I can tell you, turning this thing is easier than any other helo out there. There's absolutely no slop in the turn. As soon as you push left or right, it begins turning left or right. As soon as you let go, it stops turning.
The main problem with these things is they decelerate way too rapidly. It makes them very hard to control. When I want to fly up to a specific height and hold my altitude, I shouldn't have to go up and down a thousand times before it stops where I want it to. It should be much more precise than that, but there aren't any choppers capable of that kind of precision yet because none of them use accelerometer or variable tilt sensing technology. They're all engineered to be cheap for the average consumer. If any of you are into modding your toys, place a PIC and accelerometer in any chopper and program it to self-level and have guided control of its acceleration/deceleration. You can make even the cheapest ones fly only how you tell them to. It's much more fun that way.
The Alchemist on 9/2/2010 at 00:11
Ok so, I took it to my dads to show him, and he flew it around a little. He gave me credit, apparently this one aint that easy to fly. He blamed it on the "fixed pitch" system. It's made for indoor flight so it has a fixed pitch, thus it's not -as- maneuverable as collective pitch versions, and can't do barrel rolls or fly upside down.
Why I want to do barrel rolls and fly upside down at this stage of learning I don't know, but he insisted this is what I focus on next. So as a result, he went online today and ordered me a Novus CP, with red aluminum rotary system.
Inline Image:
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs212.snc3/21950_708553311508_18705319_40239124_6325918_n.jpgMy dad gets cool points today.
Quote Posted by 37637598
The main problem with these things is they decelerate way too rapidly.
Just be gentler on the throttle, dude. :)
Edit: Found (
http://video1.hobbico.com/gallery/hmx/hmxe0804-flying.mpg) a vid that shows it flying upside down. Rad.
SubJeff on 9/2/2010 at 00:28
What happened to the fueled RC helicopters and planes? Used to see them back in the day but now it seems to be these lightweight electric things.
Namdrol on 9/2/2010 at 00:46
Battery technology happened.
Lithium Ion and Lithium Polymer.
And not forgetting brushless motors and carbon fibre props.
A really good mate of mine is mad keen on (
http://www.zagi.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1&zenid=366cd0e096221ca3c455f4ca33f87ccb) Zagi's
They're such fun to fly. You can hammer them into the ground at ridiculous speeds and break not much more than the engine mount and props.
He's got a couple and when I'm down South we take 'em out to Badbury Rings and go crazy.
When I've got some spare dosh I'm thinking of getting one up here.
