Outdoor RC

[Shagrat]

Being a total n00b with remote control gubbins, I thought I'd ask on here as I've seen some of you guys chattering about RC kit.

My son's had a little helicopter for a while now that he's got quite good at bombing round the house with recording his flights etc. and I'm looking at getting him something with a bit more oomph that he can fly around outdoors.

Ideally I'd like to spend sub £100 to start with to just get him something he can mess about with and see if he still keeps using it before buying anything better.

so whats best choppers/quadcopters/planes?

and can you get anything decent for sub 100 or is it going to all be crap?

 

[Gumbo]

I've had one of these for a while and can fly it reasonably now. http://www.heliguy.com/Electric-RC-Helicopters/HoneyBee/002435-Honey-Bee-V2/

It's really really really fucking hard to do! You will break it lots, you will need to buy a lot of spares and spend as much time repairing the thing as flying it.

The first time you get it off the ground and into a reasonably stable hover you will wet yourself. You will phone up old friends you haven't spoken to for 10 years just to tell them you have managed to do it. You will think it was better and more exciting than the first time you had sex... With a woman!

It is very challenging, but very rewarding because it is so challenging.

I have a little experience of planes which are also challenging, but much easier. I have no experience of quadcopters, but by all accounts they are far far easier to manage and boring pretty quickly unless you're using them for photography or something like that.

 

[Chilly]

I'm only familiar with the higher end of the quadcopter market (I build and destroy my own routinely) so I can't advise on kit BUT I can advise on safety and other considerations.

If you're flying outdoors you need to be aware that you are in theory extremely liable for any accidents or damage you may cause accidentally. Even with a small plane/copter/multirotor you can cause all sorts of accidents. So: no flying anywhere near roads, especially major roads. UK law states that you need direct line of sight and CONTROL over your RC craft at all times. There are some very specific exemptions for self piloting drones but they will almost certainly not apply to you. When flying you are responsible for the safety of those around you who may be within range of coming into harm. Even a small craft can cause nasty injuries in the worst cases. Those little carbon-poly composite props can spin at thousands of RPM and easily cut deep, even the tiny ones.

Here are the complete rules and regs for the UK: http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1416&pageid=8153

Generally speaking: be well away from other people, roads and property relative to the speed of the craft. Do not let any pets be near you unless very well controlled (tied to something). Be prepared to wreck the craft several times so make you buy something repairable (or indestructible).

Now, most of the regs there would only really apply to models of a certain size and speed capability, the very cheapest and smallest craft are generally safe to fly in small parks and so on, assuming you've got enough space (vertically and horizontally).

 

[Rubber Bullets]

HI Shagrat,

I have got into RC heli's a bit over the last 18 months or so, and the next step for your son is the biggest one there is. Up until now he has been flying fixed pitch toys which will not fly easily or well outdoors, even the quite large ones. The step up is to collective pitch models that are more complex and trickier to fly, and also pricier; or you could go for better (smaller) quadcopters, that are very stable and can fly in low winds. The good news is that the technology has come on a lot since Gumbo's Honeybee (I've never flown one, but I know that they can be a bitch to fly).

Blade make a few models that might suit. The Nano CPx and the mCPx are both small collective pitch helis that will fly well outdoors. The Nano is also well suited to indoor flight once you have a bit of control, it does minimal damage to the furniture, and is very resistant to crashes. Both have blades that will draw blood if they hit you though, and really hurt!

My favourite small quad is also made by Blade, the Nano QX, it is switchable between being very easy to fly, and being extremely manoeuvrable but insanely twitchy, but I have had a great deal of fun with it. You can have fun cheaper, the Hubsan X4 is great fun too, but though much cheaper than the NanoQX it is a bitch to mend. I broke the frame on mine, and bought a new one, not realising that I had to desolder and then resolder all four motors to swap them out! This level of soldering is way beyond my meagre skills and it is still sat in bits

One way for your son to start making the step up might be with a decent sim. You could buy a second hand Spektrum DX6i radio (check eBay etc) and Phoenix RC flight sim for around your £100 if you're lucky (there is currently someone selling the sim for about £52 on eBay) The radio can then be used to fly any of the other models I've mentioned, it is what I currently use up to my Align t-rex 450. I did pretty much have to join a club to fly that one though.

The sim is pricey, but will teach him a huge amount about how to fly a collective pitch heli, and potentially save hundreds of pounds of crash damage down the line. If he doesn't get into the hobby then these things hold their price second hand pretty well.

In the meantime read up on some of the forums. The heliguy ones have a great beginner section, and the RC Heliaddict one is also good. People ask the same questions all the time so you can learn a lot from just reading them, without having to join.

It is late and I'm aware that this is a pretty rambling answer, I hope some of it is useful, but if you have any more specific questions I will try and answer them a bit better

The bottom line is that the next step can be a bit frustrating at times, and is a steep learning curve, but it can also be hugely rewarding in the end.

RB

 

[Shagrat]

Cheers rb, some useful info there. Thanks