I started with the smaller (400-450) size helicopters. Kept crashing, kept rebuilding. I got to the point where I was flying more than crashing and bought a used flybarred Trex 500. THAT was the breakthrough! I converted it to a DFC head and a flybarless controller. I freaking LOVE this hobby. I enjoy building, programming, tweaking, perfecting these machines, as much as flying them. The problem, as I see it, is that the learning curve is VERY steep. It gets very frustrating when you keep crashing, spending money, waiting for parts, only to crash again! It is the survivors of this induction torture that will continue our hobby. Don’t give up! You can do it!
That about sums it up buddy ,a sim will save you tons of money buddy.i practice 20 mins every night I have not crashed a helicopter in so long I can't even remember, but at first with out a sim when I started yes there were crashes lol
Great common sense video, bravo. One thing that hit me the hardest, is what a huge difference it was flying a helicopter on the simulator vs the real thing. Airplanes not so much, but helicopters, very much so. Enjoy!
Good advice and very informative. Thank you. I have just started learning to fly helis. I started, exactly like you say, with a Blade 120 to see if it peaked my interest. Now I know I’m hooked I bought a flight sim, practised on that and recently upgraded my heli to a Blade 230, which I’m now progressing nicely on.
When I got into helicopters about 15 years ago. Had to teach myself after many crashes and burns. But I wouldn't let it stop me, just like falling off the horse. Picked myself up and remounted. Finally met some guys who helped and taught me. Got to be so good now, am building from scratch a FBL 450 size Sikorsky 64 helicopter with a 5 blade main rotor head. And I'm 74 years old. Having so much FUN in the hobby.
I still fly my helis. 8 years now. Use to have a group of heli people I fly with, now I'm the only one. I fly with a group of people that fly planes now. I'm the ONLY heli guy in the group. 😔
Good advice. I've been in this hobby for 20 years. It's always changing. I could never get into small machines. The 550/600 size is a good start point for price and performance. If money was not a factor I'd only fly 700 machines. If I was to have only one machine I recommend a 700.
I started with a Trex450 fly bar. Lasted forever. Tried everything else and now only have a 470LP. Safer easier cheaper and very happy. Simple is better.
I have really missed theses videos. I got into the hobby in 2011 and i am like the 15 buddies you mentioned. I spent thousands of dollars, have a room dedicated to it and got burned out. I'm trying to make a come back though.
Very good video Ray, I am building my first 700 size heli right now. I have several 450's, 250's and some smaller ones. I have been flying almost 7 years and like you said the cost of building and maintaining the bigger helis is something that you have to consider.
Listen to my good friend here. I started out with Blade Heli’s. MCPX BL was the one that really thought me how to do some good 3d flying. Can’t go wrong with Blade Heli’s, MCPX can take a good beating and can be a money pit also depending on how interested new pilots is. I would mix it up spending more time in Simulators, AccuRc is pretty good too. When your confidence build up and not crashing as much anymore, get your self 550-580 class Heli’s, stay on it get familiar with setups, you will crash everybody does but that’s part of this hobby. Learn how to fix and setup your machine. Move to 700 class machine when you’re ready. Fly responsibly, it’s a big machine fun to fly very stable but can hurt anyone if you’re not careful. Crash is not the end of the world, you can learn so much from it. Listen to someone with good experience in this hobby including my good friend Rey here. Subscribe to his channel and you’ll learn so much in here. He’s very helpful and not selfish. Happy flying let’s get this hobby going.
I would say, start out with 500 size Trex with speed fuselage. If you tune it perfect, you get stable heli and you really enjoy flights. On top of that, parts nowadays are cheap for 500 size: blades - 10 - 15 bucks, other stuff like plastic gears (which usually brake) cost around 4 - 6 bucks per item to replace. I said "get speed fuselage" because it helps a lot to see how heli is oriented in the air and u spot all its moves and behavior visually better. And plus, you can fly it in small areas while for 700 you really need a field, and 500 fits your trunk without problem).
I've flown 450s, I'm OK not bad can move around without crashing. So I picked up a 550x, goblin 630, and a Trex 700x, I haven't flown any of them, one of these days I'll get around to it.
I was 4 years from starting to getting a 700. 3 years to getting a 600. I started with 450 fly bars and a tiny micro Walkera 4#3. I've had pretty much every size except a 380mm. The last couple of years I sold all my small helicopters, leaving me with 3x 700s and a 600. I've no plans for anything 325mm to 550mm blades at any point in the future. I might buy a new micro (100mm to 200mm blades) that I can fly safely in the park, but that's it.
Feel the pain of losing your flying partners. When I used to do nitro buggy there was a local track and much interest. That track is still there but most of it gone. Also HPI went broke but I still have interest in nitro buggy.
A "450" today is what we used to call a 500, a "500" today is almost a 550. HOTA D6+ can charge two 5000mah 6S packs without an external power supply and costs around $120. It's a good option if you just want a charger that you can plug in the wall and doesn't suck. (it can also handle up to 325W per channel with an external supply)
Watched many of your videos over the years Nitro, and they are among the best out there IMO. I mainly fly helicopters and fpv quads pretty much at this point. I've been flying from micros to a 500 size, mostly flybarless. Someone has offered me an old Blade 400 in excellent shape, is it something that is worthwhile?
Thanks so much for making yet another excellent video! These are a truly priceless source of information and have proven to be a ton of help as I've moved ever deeper into the hobby. I'm currently setting up my first 600-sized helicopter and was wondering if you might be willing to share your thoughts on whether it's best to power the electronics on a heli of that size through an ESC's BEC, through a BEC that's separate from the ESC, or from a separate battery such as a 2S LiFe battery? Any help that you could offer me would be hugely appreciated. :-)
Thanks for watching and supporting my channel ,I Always use a 2 cell battery on my 700 size I trust them more than a bec they have not failed me yet plus I use a scorpion back up guard 500 mah 2 cell
Thanks for this Ray, been following your channel since I started flying. I fly an Oxy 4 360 size and the Oxy 5 570 size. they fit my budget and fly very well. May I suggest AccuRc Flight sim? I'm using this and it works well and the physics are realistic. It's helped my inverted skills substantially. It's only $49.99 😎
Think I got my Trex 800 just because it was big and I wanted to be cool and I rarely fly the damn thing. Spend most of my time flying my Synergy 516 which I like alot more. I'll honestly would just stick with something around that size and fight the temptation to get something bigger. Honestly no real difference in my eyes.
Well said Ray👍🏽 thanks. In my opinion another factor that people leaving this hobby is that they want to fly 3D in short period of time ending up heaps of crashes. To be honest I don’t like hard 3Ds instead I prefer sport flying and soft low rpm 3Ds. Another factor is age of learning. People who learned flying helis when they were very young can fly 3Ds like a pro just see all the big champions. Don’t try to be one of them if you’re in my age (35+) they were flying since they were teens. Just know and keep to your capabilities when flying in real world and try to practice new tricks in sim. Don’t waste your money on bigger than 420 size helis unless you’re confident and capable.
Well said my friend ,the key is the helicopter simulator I practice 20 mins a day 7 days a week another factor is people start trying to do 3d to early and try to skip the learning process of regular sport flying you need to learn to crawl before you walk. That's mainly where all the crashing comes from
Great video. Landed on the channel as I am starting into rc helicopters and I am really loving it. Currently learning on an OMPHobby M2 V2 but would like to jump to a mid sized helicopter - main reason it easier to see it when flying and when maintenance comes I struggle with such tiny parts. What mid size would recommend? It is also important to me how smooth building the the kit and tuning it as well as maintaining it over time. It would be great to have your opinion. Thanks
I believe the goblin 420 is the heli in that size. I got the tail speed up gear from anythingheli.com and it can fly 3d at 1700rpm easy. The logo 550se swings 610mm blades on 6s and is the best size to price helicopter out there.
The nano s2 or mcpx are my go to helis for learning. The nano is very durable. I practice fundamentals on those. Where you can fly is important also. 550 is about as big as I feel comforted at my current field. 700 is just too big for the field.
Amazing video ray I feel I have to pass the midsize first before going to 700 the problem is I have the 700 built but don’t feel to fly it yet ,thanks again for the great video do you have any kind of social media account or email I want show you my birds
I was once a great rc helicopter pilot a decade ago for 25 seconds and my Blade heli crashed. Now the rc heli is somewhere in the recycle field…lol! I’ve never done the drone thing yet but I’m back in the rc heli. I started playing with the absolute rc heli app. Then the Heli 101. Next was the OMP M1 and now the M2. I’m gradually learning and it’s a blast! Any recommendations on a 3rd helicopter kit or RTF?
The omp is a great choice I have a video on it check it out.parts are dirt cheap It can fly regular or 3-D It has special features when you're in regular sport mode flying upright that you can't tilt it too much to roll it over.
How many flights are on your 700x? Are still happy with the 700x? I was considering the blade and motor combo on HeliDirect. I already have a HW130 and full size MKS cyclic and a tail servo. I have 6s 5000’s that I run on my 550size bird
Not sure but I love the heli very well built and tough ,all nice electronics and Flys like a beast out of the box no need for any motor or servo upgrades
I’m in collage rn and thinking about this hobby. Iv been into airplanes since I was like 9 and want to get into helis more now. I. Think a blade 230s to start and than we’ll see from there. I try to fly a lot on the sim. Iv got a Blade 130x that’s a red bull my little brother had but never used and I’m just afraid to break it because it looks so nice and I don’t know if I can even get parts. The finding parts is what worries me with the older helis. I wanna get into the big scale bellies they are what really interest me. Any tips? I do have a problem when flying in the sim even where I cannot get the flybarless system to not smack the ground with the blades when just sitting on the ground. What am I doing?
Nice video. Im thinking about getting back into Heli’s. Im shocked that companies and communities have disappeared since i was doing helis. I only ever had a Trex450 when they were little flybarless jitter bugs that I spent 5 gazzillion hours trying to set it up well then stuff it into the ground and start over. I had no idea a 420 is about the size of what used to be a 500 I guess. I only ever wanted to sport fly one. Im not into the spastic high on meth 3D stuff. Its just not appealing to me. I always wanted to buy a Raptor 30 or Century Hawk to just buzz around the sky. I see those are now extinct.
I think people should start with the 450 size Helis (380s now) and jump to either a 500 or 550, then go 700. Stay away from anything smaller. They get away from you to fast get out of control to easily.
Got a basement-sitting Rappy 50, a Nano s3 that i abuse hard indoors, a belted raw 420 and a cheap 450 Clone-rex Kit in the basement… what Route should i Go and generally is my line up good? Beginner with some heli-x sim under the belt and my real sim is the Nano… poor masochistic dwarf it is What Route should i Go with my line up?😊
It sounds like you have a good lineup and you're on the right path. I wouldn't go buy anything else until you increase your skills, Bigger machines are more money to fix if something goes wrong
My advice would be to find a small hobby grade helicopter like one made by eflite that is cheap that you could fly around in the house and see if you enjoy it and then go to the next step after that but definitely don't spend tons of money when you're not sure if you're gonna like the hobby
I started with the smaller (400-450) size helicopters. Kept crashing, kept rebuilding. I got to the point where I was flying more than crashing and bought a used flybarred Trex 500. THAT was the breakthrough! I converted it to a DFC head and a flybarless controller. I freaking LOVE this hobby. I enjoy building, programming, tweaking, perfecting these machines, as much as flying them. The problem, as I see it, is that the learning curve is VERY steep. It gets very frustrating when you keep crashing, spending money, waiting for parts, only to crash again! It is the survivors of this induction torture that will continue our hobby. Don’t give up! You can do it!
That about sums it up buddy ,a sim will save you tons of money buddy.i practice 20 mins every night I have not crashed a helicopter in so long I can't even remember, but at first with out a sim when I started yes there were crashes lol
Great common sense video, bravo. One thing that hit me the hardest, is what a huge difference it was flying a helicopter on the simulator vs the real thing. Airplanes not so much, but helicopters, very much so. Enjoy!
Good advice and very informative. Thank you. I have just started learning to fly helis. I started, exactly like you say, with a Blade 120 to see if it peaked my interest. Now I know I’m hooked I bought a flight sim, practised on that and recently upgraded my heli to a Blade 230, which I’m now progressing nicely on.
Thank you my friend
great video, keep rc helis alive!!!
Thank you friend
Wow what a great advice video . Brilliant ..thanks
Glad to help my friend
When I got into helicopters about 15 years ago. Had to teach myself after many crashes and burns. But I wouldn't let it stop me, just like falling off the horse. Picked myself up and remounted. Finally met some guys who helped and taught me. Got to be so good now, am building from scratch a FBL 450 size Sikorsky 64 helicopter with a 5 blade main rotor head. And I'm 74 years old. Having so much FUN in the hobby.
That's awesome to here my friend, never give is a good spirit to have
started with a blade 330s now I have a goblin raw 420 and a kraken 580! best hobby around
That's awesome my friend
I still fly my helis. 8 years now. Use to have a group of heli people I fly with, now I'm the only one. I fly with a group of people that fly planes now. I'm the ONLY heli guy in the group. 😔
Good advice. I've been in this hobby for 20 years. It's always changing. I could never get into small machines. The 550/600 size is a good start point for price and performance. If money was not a factor I'd only fly 700 machines. If I was to have only one machine I recommend a 700.
I started with a Trex450 fly bar. Lasted forever. Tried everything else and now only have a 470LP. Safer easier cheaper and very happy. Simple is better.
Stay well, Stay Safe and Stay Healthy Ray! 🚁❤🙏❤🚁
You to my friend
I have really missed theses videos. I got into the hobby in 2011 and i am like the 15 buddies you mentioned. I spent thousands of dollars, have a room dedicated to it and got burned out. I'm trying to make a come back though.
Get back to flying buddy don't give up its a fun hobby
Knowledge is King
Very good video Ray, I am building my first 700 size heli right now. I have several 450's, 250's and some smaller ones. I have been flying almost 7 years and like you said the cost of building and maintaining the bigger helis is something that you have to consider.
Thank you my friend
Listen to my good friend here. I started out with Blade Heli’s. MCPX BL was the one that really thought me how to do some good 3d flying. Can’t go wrong with Blade Heli’s, MCPX can take a good beating and can be a money pit also depending on how interested new pilots is. I would mix it up spending more time in Simulators, AccuRc is pretty good too. When your confidence build up and not crashing as much anymore, get your self 550-580 class Heli’s, stay on it get familiar with setups, you will crash everybody does but that’s part of this hobby. Learn how to fix and setup your machine. Move to 700 class machine when you’re ready. Fly responsibly, it’s a big machine fun to fly very stable but can hurt anyone if you’re not careful. Crash is not the end of the world, you can learn so much from it. Listen to someone with good experience in this hobby including my good friend Rey here. Subscribe to his channel and you’ll learn so much in here. He’s very helpful and not selfish. Happy flying let’s get this hobby going.
Thank you my friend for all your kind words 🙏 I appreciate it very much.
Good advice even for the veterans.
Thanks for the nice comment my friend
I would say, start out with 500 size Trex with speed fuselage. If you tune it perfect, you get stable heli and you really enjoy flights. On top of that, parts nowadays are cheap for 500 size: blades - 10 - 15 bucks, other stuff like plastic gears (which usually brake) cost around 4 - 6 bucks per item to replace. I said "get speed fuselage" because it helps a lot to see how heli is oriented in the air and u spot all its moves and behavior visually better. And plus, you can fly it in small areas while for 700 you really need a field, and 500 fits your trunk without problem).
Good
I've flown 450s, I'm OK not bad can move around without crashing. So I picked up a 550x, goblin 630, and a Trex 700x, I haven't flown any of them, one of these days I'll get around to it.
Man ray couldn’t said the truth 💯💯💯the truth
I was 4 years from starting to getting a 700. 3 years to getting a 600. I started with 450 fly bars and a tiny micro Walkera 4#3.
I've had pretty much every size except a 380mm. The last couple of years I sold all my small helicopters, leaving me with 3x 700s and a 600.
I've no plans for anything 325mm to 550mm blades at any point in the future. I might buy a new micro (100mm to 200mm blades) that I can fly safely in the park, but that's it.
Don’t loose hope, I’ve always been interested I just never had the money to spend. Now I’m looking into this hobby again
I'm heret to stay my friend I got it all worked out and kept our flying field thanks for watching my friend
Feel the pain of losing your flying partners. When I used to do nitro buggy there was a local track and much interest. That track is still there but most of it gone. Also HPI went broke but I still have interest in nitro buggy.
A "450" today is what we used to call a 500, a "500" today is almost a 550.
HOTA D6+ can charge two 5000mah 6S packs without an external power supply and costs around $120. It's a good option if you just want a charger that you can plug in the wall and doesn't suck. (it can also handle up to 325W per channel with an external supply)
Watched many of your videos over the years Nitro, and they are among the best out there IMO. I mainly fly helicopters and fpv quads pretty much at this point. I've been flying from micros to a 500 size, mostly flybarless. Someone has offered me an old Blade 400 in excellent shape, is it something that is worthwhile?
Thanks so much for making yet another excellent video! These are a truly priceless source of information and have proven to be a ton of help as I've moved ever deeper into the hobby. I'm currently setting up my first 600-sized helicopter and was wondering if you might be willing to share your thoughts on whether it's best to power the electronics on a heli of that size through an ESC's BEC, through a BEC that's separate from the ESC, or from a separate battery such as a 2S LiFe battery? Any help that you could offer me would be hugely appreciated. :-)
Thanks for watching and supporting my channel ,I Always use a 2 cell battery on my 700 size I trust them more than a bec they have not failed me yet plus I use a scorpion back up guard 500 mah 2 cell
Nice helicopters
Thanks my friend
Thanks for this Ray, been following your channel since I started flying. I fly an Oxy 4 360 size and the Oxy 5 570 size. they fit my budget and fly very well. May I suggest AccuRc Flight sim? I'm using this and it works well and the physics are realistic. It's helped my inverted skills substantially. It's only $49.99 😎
Glad to help buddy
Think I got my Trex 800 just because it was big and I wanted to be cool and I rarely fly the damn thing. Spend most of my time flying my Synergy 516 which I like alot more. I'll honestly would just stick with something around that size and fight the temptation to get something bigger. Honestly no real difference in my eyes.
Ya you really have to what makes the most sense and makes you happy
Well said Ray👍🏽 thanks.
In my opinion another factor that people leaving this hobby is that they want to fly 3D in short period of time ending up heaps of crashes. To be honest I don’t like hard 3Ds instead I prefer sport flying and soft low rpm 3Ds.
Another factor is age of learning. People who learned flying helis when they were very young can fly 3Ds like a pro just see all the big champions. Don’t try to be one of them if you’re in my age (35+) they were flying since they were teens. Just know and keep to your capabilities when flying in real world and try to practice new tricks in sim. Don’t waste your money on bigger than 420 size helis unless you’re confident and capable.
Well said my friend ,the key is the helicopter simulator I practice 20 mins a day 7 days a week another factor is people start trying to do 3d to early and try to skip the learning process of regular sport flying you need to learn to crawl before you walk. That's mainly where all the crashing comes from
@@nitrokyosho So true. I also fly RC airplanes but I like the challenge of flying RC helis. It's not everyone's cup of tea ;)
Wooow.....a lot of rc hely
Thanks. My friend
14 birds, 11 of which are 380 and up, I’m still interested. Want to pull the trigger on a 700, after 5 yrs in the hobby.
Great video.
Landed on the channel as I am starting into rc helicopters and I am really loving it. Currently learning on an OMPHobby M2 V2 but would like to jump to a mid sized helicopter - main reason it easier to see it when flying and when maintenance comes I struggle with such tiny parts.
What mid size would recommend?
It is also important to me how smooth building the the kit and tuning it as well as maintaining it over time.
It would be great to have your opinion.
Thanks
Maybe a align trex 500
I believe the goblin 420 is the heli in that size. I got the tail speed up gear from anythingheli.com and it can fly 3d at 1700rpm easy. The logo 550se swings 610mm blades on 6s and is the best size to price helicopter out there.
The nano s2 or mcpx are my go to helis for learning. The nano is very durable. I practice fundamentals on those. Where you can fly is important also. 550 is about as big as I feel comforted at my current field. 700 is just too big for the field.
Fly what ever is in your budget and you feel comfortable flying my friend
Amazing video ray I feel I have to pass the midsize first before going to 700 the problem is I have the 700 built but don’t feel to fly it yet ,thanks again for the great video do you have any kind of social media account or email I want show you my birds
Thank you for the nice comment, Yes I have a Facebook account nitrokyosho community page.you'll know when the time is right to fly the 700
Still flying my Blade 700x 550x 360cfx 180cfx can't ever crash...no parts available...talk about pressure...lol..Thumbs Up!
I was once a great rc helicopter pilot a decade ago for 25 seconds and my Blade heli crashed. Now the rc heli is somewhere in the recycle field…lol! I’ve never done the drone thing yet but I’m back in the rc heli. I started playing with the absolute rc heli app. Then the Heli 101. Next was the OMP M1 and now the M2. I’m gradually learning and it’s a blast! Any recommendations on a 3rd helicopter kit or RTF?
The omp is a great choice I have a video on it check it out.parts are dirt cheap It can fly regular or 3-D It has special features when you're in regular sport mode flying upright that you can't tilt it too much to roll it over.
How many flights are on your 700x? Are still happy with the 700x? I was considering the blade and motor combo on HeliDirect. I already have a HW130 and full size MKS cyclic and a tail servo. I have 6s 5000’s that I run on my 550size bird
Not sure but I love the heli very well built and tough ,all nice electronics and Flys like a beast out of the box no need for any motor or servo upgrades
I’m in collage rn and thinking about this hobby. Iv been into airplanes since I was like 9 and want to get into helis more now. I. Think a blade 230s to start and than we’ll see from there. I try to fly a lot on the sim. Iv got a Blade 130x that’s a red bull my little brother had but never used and I’m just afraid to break it because it looks so nice and I don’t know if I can even get parts. The finding parts is what worries me with the older helis. I wanna get into the big scale bellies they are what really interest me. Any tips? I do have a problem when flying in the sim even where I cannot get the flybarless system to not smack the ground with the blades when just sitting on the ground. What am I doing?
When you're getting into the hobby don't spend tons of money until you're sure you like it, Start off small and go from there
Nice video. Im thinking about getting back into Heli’s. Im shocked that companies and communities have disappeared since i was doing helis. I only ever had a Trex450 when they were little flybarless jitter bugs that I spent 5 gazzillion hours trying to set it up well then stuff it into the ground and start over. I had no idea a 420 is about the size of what used to be a 500 I guess. I only ever wanted to sport fly one. Im not into the spastic high on meth 3D stuff. Its just not appealing to me. I always wanted to buy a Raptor 30 or Century Hawk to just buzz around the sky. I see those are now extinct.
Thanks my friend
I think people should start with the 450 size Helis (380s now) and jump to either a 500 or 550, then go 700. Stay away from anything smaller. They get away from you to fast get out of control to easily.
Sir please make a beginner series video on rc nitro buggy please
I already have several videos on that ,search my channel
@@nitrokyosho but those are outdated sir
Like the advice. Does he sell helicopters/w remotes. Preferably RTF.? How do I contact this gentleman.?
I do both sell helicopters my friend. Try helidirect or amain hobbies
@@nitrokyosho Thank you so very much for your help. Do you highly recommend these people. Honestly I'd rather purchase one from you.
Ray, are you still flying at the middle school on Sundays? What time?
No I have not flown there in years after every one quit I found a new place to fly.
Nitrokyosho where is your new place? When are there?
Got a basement-sitting Rappy 50, a Nano s3 that i abuse hard indoors, a belted raw 420 and a cheap 450 Clone-rex Kit in the basement… what Route should i Go and generally is my line up good?
Beginner with some heli-x sim under the belt and my real sim is the Nano… poor masochistic dwarf it is
What Route should i Go with my line up?😊
It sounds like you have a good lineup and you're on the right path. I wouldn't go buy anything else until you increase your skills, Bigger machines are more money to fix if something goes wrong
What should be my Batting Order here? Which should i Spin up in spring? After abusing my Nano s3?
My Nano s3 was nose in after lets say 4 weeks of many Rotor Blades and postal orders😊
That 90-Size Nano s3 will get 710 radix for christmas 🤣😊 in his dreams
@@nitrokyosho😎
I.m buying a helicopter
What advice would you give to a complete novice, I have never even flown one before lol
My advice would be to find a small hobby grade helicopter like one made by eflite that is cheap that you could fly around in the house and see if you enjoy it and then go to the next step after that but definitely don't spend tons of money when you're not sure if you're gonna like the hobby