RadioHelicopter.com

If you answered YES to the question above, you have come to the right place !

The world of Radio Control helicopters can be both frightening and exciting all at the same time. Your eagerness when you first crack the seal on your brand new purchase can be exhilarating but also come with some uneasy feelings of crashing.

Which helicopter is right for me?

The world of radio control can be an exciting and stress relieving activity once you master the basic controls of radio control. Knowing where to begin is most of the time a deal breaker when it comes to getting into the world of RC. Many people are hesitant about trying out their first RC helicopter even though they may have wanted to get into this leisure activity for many years.

What if I crash and break a part on my new helicopter ?

Where can I find parts for my new helicopter and how much will those parts cost to either buy and/or install. This is probably one of the most common questions. And the store where you bought your new helicopter is probably the best place to turn to for parts too. They will even suggest potential upgrades if the plastic parts that you get with your new helicopter have aluminum upgrades.

What if I practice inside and run into something?

These questions are common when deciding on whether or not you should get into radio control.  The best advice anyone we can give you is to do your research. Find a reliable site such as ours that will guide you from the very beginning to more advanced stages of radio control flying.

Where do I begin?

Your first step in deciding on whether or not to get into radio control helicopters is passion. Do you have the passion to master a new skill? In the beginning, radio control flying will no doubt be frustrating as crash rates among newbies are often high, you will need to realize that once you master some simple controls and practice, practice, practice, flying will be more enjoyable and relaxing.

Once you have gotten over your fears of flying you will need to decide on what helicopter is the best for you.  Always start with an electric helicopter, this battery powered machine is safer than its gas powered counterpart and much cheaper. You do not want to start out with a huge, powerful, extremely expensive helicopter when you have not mastered take off and landing.

The Micro category is a great start !

Two helicopters that we recommend for beginners are:

1.  Blade mCX RTF Helicopter

2.  Blade CX2 RTF coaxial Micro Helicopter

These two helicopters are user friendly right out of the box. All you have to do is open the package, install the batteries and you are ready to fly. We recommend using all of the battery power that comes pre-packaged prior to recharging so that you will have a full, strong charge once you do your initial charge.

We also suggest purchasing training guides, they make look a little awkward at first but these will help you to master the art of landing right side up! They are inexpensive and act the same way as training wheels on a bicycle.  As soon as you learn to land properly, your “training wheels” come off and you are ready to fly. The training guides can be picked up anywhere you buy your radio control helicopters, your salesperson may even suggest them if you let them know you are a first time buyer.

You may require some help setting the “trim” once you begin. Trimming is simply adjusting your surface controls so that your helicopter will hover is steady position without veering off in one particular direction.  As soon as you have your trim set to the proper settings your helicopter should be able to hover in one position, we recommend getting used to just hovering for at least 5 to 10 minutes (It may seem boring I know, but trust us it will be worth it !)

After you feel comfortable with hovering, you can begin to move your helicopter forwards and backwards.

Ooops I crashed ! What do I do now ?

So, you have been slowly flying around for a few minutes when BAM! you smack into the wall, your helicopter falls to the floor and you panic. Don’t worry, everything will be ok !  Crashing your helicopter is the most common thing to do, even professional flyers experience this, and just imagine that their helicopters are quite expensive and replacing parts is NOT cheap.

Luckily, with your model any of the parts of your helicopter can be replaced cheaply and easily ! All of the parts of your helicopter are either plastic or metal. The shell of your helicopter can very cheaply be replaced at your local hobby store or online. These individual parts normally get snapped or screwed together and you are off to fly some more very quickly.

The most common part that breaks on helicopters, when it comes to new radio control flyers are the blades. We recommend buying a couple of extra packages of blades (usually 2-4 blades per package) when you purchase your helicopter because you are almost guaranteed to snap a blade very quickly. Your helicopter will still fly if the blade is not too damaged but if you have taken a huge chunk off of it, it is definately time to replace them.

These parts are easily removed and replaced, (please click here for a short How-To guide to replacing your blades)
Another common part that may get broken if you are practicing inside is breaking or snapping your swashplate or lower rotor head. These come standard plastic on your new helicopter, but it may be wise to upgrade to metal pieces. If you break these in a crash you will be out of commission until you replace these parts and although it isn’t terribly complicated, it will take more time than simply replacing your blades.

Crashing into objects is also an inevitable result of new helicopter flying, having a wide open room with little or few obstacles is your best bet in mastering your basic commands. Once you have practiced you can upgrade to trying to maneuver around objects, but to start, stick with wide open rooms or your backyard (just ensure you pick a calm, windless day or you may have trouble)

Learning to fly a radio control helicopter can be a rewarding and relaxing activity. It is fun for the whole family and once your initial frustration wears off and you are comfortable and relaxed you will have many hours of flying fun.