What was your first whirly bird?

[CSpaced]

For me, it was the "Lite Machines LMH 110". This was powered by a Norvel .06, was fixed pitch and had a mechanical gyro built onto the tail blades. It was loud and obnoxious, spewed gas everywhere, and was a blast to fly! Its still available, except they renamed it to the 116.

So what was your first heli?

[Gmoney]

Raptor 30. She has moved on now. Heck it went to Toro. Then after Toro it went to MadMax. Max killed her RIP! Damn I forgot all about that..

G

Sorry Toro, No wonder your wife stays back when I'm around! I always thought it was because I needed another shower..

[Mangoats]

Mine was a Raptor 30 bought from the local Hobby store. Then the list, time and money just go up from there.:)

[DVS]

T-Rex 450 V2 was my first.:D

[Sleepyc]

Hobby Lobby Falcon 3D.

Good helicopter, but maybe not the best "First" helicopter.
The receiver worked with my Futaba Radio so that was nice.
I still have it, flew it a bunch with out killing it. Then I reset the program on my 12Z by accident, didn't notice this,
plugged in the battery and the motor went to full speed... one very sore finger, and one mangled heli later... and its been shelfed for a little while.
:(

[Jonathan Ott]

Nexus 30 for me. I had one of the first production Arcamax PEG-S1 Gyros on it. Kent Stewart was a flying buddy of mine and I did some print ad art for them and the gave me the gyro for my machine.

Jon

[Eric Olsen]

Blade CX2. Now I'm on the Blade 400. Next will be the Beam.

[TomS]

My 1st heli was a Dubro Whirlybird 505 with a K&B 40 engine, and a Proline radio. It actually flew fairly well, but lacked cyclic response when FF got to fast.

[joehelicopter]

Dubro Whirlybird---505----sheesh I feel old...........:D

[zennnnn]

Just started last year November with Lama V4, then got a fixed pitch Saber a month after. Now I have an SJM400 and a Trex V2 450 to add to the collection. Addicting? yes.

[mstram]

Air hogs Havoc :D

Ok, not a "real" heli, I guess, but it was only ~40.00, and I have much more flying on the sim to do before I buy a "real" one :) .... Though I'm getting more confident now and it could be any day when I won't be able to resist any further (Resistance is futile .. you will be assimilated :D

Mike

[Br3tt]

A walkera 60 about a year ago. A major POS, but still enough to get me hooked.

[flightcrazed]

Blade cx2, now I have the HBK2, ordered a HH gyro, should get it in a couple days! I can't wait!

[jaso1]

Mine was a GWS Mini Dragonfly. Gee that must be around four years ago now . Time flys when ya have fun .

[Rush7]

Mine was one of those micro helis from Radio Shack. Wasnt to bad for indoor. Then it was a Hobby Lobby Honey Bee.

[Trickycopter]

My first heli was a the Exceed Eagle 50 what a tough bird to learn on but what can you expect for 99 us dollars the have went up in price since have a fp and belt cp now. Got a EXI airframe on the way going to do a full build.

[anatoly]

Honeybee King 2 was my first, and it definitely accelerated my learning curve since it was so twitchy especially when compared to my second bird, a Trex 450SA with CNC upgrades. I'm happy I bought it though, and I keep it to try new moves on since it's so cheap to fix. :)

[kramer]

Mine was a Shuttle Zxx and a Nexus

[Trex Pilot]

Dynam Hughes 300 FP was my first heli, lasted me a week, never got it off the ground :(

[R.J.]

GMP Cricket with OS .25 and Kraft gyro.

[helical]

Raptor 30 here. Served me well for a few years.

[Flypaper 2]

Can't remember whether it was the Cricket or the Whirlybird. Blades had a weight on the end of a wire pointed down and forward out on the end. Blades pivoted on a wire. Super Tigre 35 mounted on top of the rotor blades and gyros hadn't been invented yet. This would have beed around 70 or 71.

Gord.

[fbattagl01@cox.net]

Mine is a T-REX 600N. Just learning to Fly her.

[ericb]

Venture 30 size.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v433/ericbmgt/heliblue1.jpg

[Hellsiege]

First heli was a picco Z style that took about two days before I decided I wanted a real one. First was Skrytec Wasp V3 from ebay - fp pile of crud.... www.youtube.com/siege22 first vids of trying to hover etc all there... Moved onto a cx2, then blade 400, and now a Hurri-550 about to pull the trigger on a trex 500 as the 550 has been slinging a camera around lately and mount is pain to remove... electric guy if you can't tell but envious of all your gassers and the awesome sounds they make :D

[BertieB]

My first helicopter was a Hirobo Shuttle Z, which I still have. It was powered by an MDS 38H motor, but is to be converted to electric power (I don't fly i.c. anymore).

[A-Track]

First one was a Century Hawk 30 with an os 32. Shoot that was probably like 8 or 9 years ago.

[FredyC]

My first heli was a shuttle ZXX which was the exact same heli my dad learnt on and my brother after me. It has never been crashed before. Powered by an enya 32 with a belt start.

[catfight]

Benson Gyrocopter - really :0) Fullsize (such as it is). First model was a Blade CP about 3 years ago- now have T450 and T600.

[tdearth]

My first one was a Dubro 505. The motor set on the top of the blades and flung
oil on everything within a five foot radius. Boy they have come a long way since then.

Tim

[BigGuyJT]

Blade CX then B400

[mosfet]

My first heli was a second hand (badly crashed !) Piccolo, and then an Hirobo Shuttle !

[ssr]

I got hooked on a well used Venture 50 and had to retire her a year later after a very successfull 1st auto into the middle of a lagoon.

[Skid_Slide]

Mine was a Raptor .30 v2. I loved that damn thing. Hate i got bit by the upgrade bug and sold it.

Nitro was a pain anyway i guess...

[dogdirt]

American RC Super Mantis 1981-82. OS 40 Helli Engine Futaba G Radio No Gyro
The technologies have come a long way.

[friz]

A broken GWS mini dragonfly that a friend gave up on. Came without a working motor and used a johnson motor and a gws direct drive tail motor on it. Flew well. Moved on to a HB 3D Pro. Now I have full bling and a belt drive on it. Still not much of a heli. Selling it and moving onto something else. T-rex 450SE more then likely.

[Mark K]

Schluter Mini Boy- .40 size trainer bought in 1986... still have it, basically never flew it- didnt have a Gyro! then a looooong hiatus and I bought a CX... then a CP and now a blade 400... I really like electric- and RTF cause I dont have the time to build and set up... the RTF birds are the only reason i am back into heli's and planes :-) sorta nice when you have money :)

[TripleDeucer]

My first was also the Dubro 505. Never really got it over a couple feet high and then it would drift off and crash. I remember a few of us jumped in the car and traveled 150 miles to a neiboring big city to watch a guy that we heard could fly a helicopter. Turned out he could hover his homemade Polecat heli quite well. A couple minutes at a time before he would have to land it. As we could see it could be done, we were hooked.

[spawndn72]

Mine was a Kalt Cyclone II in 1991. It had an OS50 engine, JR 120 gyro, and if I remember right JR 507's on everything. I have no idea how those servos managed to work, but they did.

[Sublime Snot]

Blade CX2 was my first. Honeybee King 2 is now. Outrage G5 or Peregrine 450 will be my next. Trex 500 is further down the road ;)

[TDSwan]

Mine was a brand new Raptor 50 V2 and I've still got it as my night ship.

[brian94066]

T-Rex 450 V2 was my first.:D

what landing gear is that?

looks sexy:D

[3dflyer88]

my first heli was a bcx2 it was a blast then an axe cp which i can barely fly lol...i wanna get a blade cp pro they look pretty fun

[Oobly]

Walkera 4#3 and proud of it! Bought it when I gave up trying to mod a PicooZ for cyclic control ;)

[donald107]

Concept 30 se loads of fun trying to learn with no help of simulators or expierienced pilots around

[brandonduley]

Trex 450se, just got it this past saturday

[zeus_zosma]

walkera 36 two years ago

[toro]

Cox BELL 47 with .020 engine... FREE FLIGHT DADDY !

[cobra]

Kalt Baron 30 if i remember correctly.

[lextek]

Blade CX2. Followed by a HBFP and now a Trex 450 SEV2.

[CSpaced]

Cox BELL 47 with .020 engine... FREE FLIGHT DADDY !

Now thats kicking it old school :D

[mhills51]

Concept 30 se loads of fun trying to learn with no help of simulators or expierienced pilots around

Same here and one of my best flights with it was when I had the gyro backwards.:D

[themoth88]

I am not quite sure what it was called but it did come with its own radio. This little stinger was virtually indestructible!

[dan the man]

I scratch built a micro cp as my first heli. Seemed like it was the worst thing to learn on so I got an Esky honeybee fp 3-4 months ago to learn on. It couldn't really handle wind but was SO durable.

[Swashbuckler]

E-Flight CX2 about one year ago. Then, the RC-Tek 450 Diablo last Sept. at "Buzz'n the Border" fun fly. Next, a "500" something.:D

[Shortman]

Raptor 50V2, then moved into the 90s and Trex 450 SE V2 :)

[nexgen]

My first was a Kyosho Concept 30 back in the late 90's. I promptly lost it (no kidding) to a broken throttle linkage. The thing just flew away, I'm sure it kept going until the gas ran out. The last I saw of it, it was a spec in the sky no bigger than a mosquito, and I couldn't hear the motor anymore. I'm sure some kid somewhere found it and took it home to how his dad "Wow look what I found!!!"

I hadnt had a heli for years after that. At the beginning of this year, I got back into the hobby, and started with the Walkera 4#3, and am working my way up from there. Now I have that, a Walkera #52, and an HDX-300

[CSpaced]

I had a throttle link come lose one time, had to sit there at full throttle hovering until it ran out of gas :eek:

[mhills51]

My concept lost one of the screws holding the carb in. It got a quick burst of air shot it up into the sky and right back down. Crash course on auto rotating.:rolleyes:

[konatsu]

I can't imagine starting with a nitro heli.. I mean, unless you were already really knowledgeable about nitro engines, which I'm not :)

My first heli was a Blade CP Pro. I let the little manly voice in my head make me overconfident (I shouldn't listen to him) and thought that, since I'd been flying planes for almost a year, I didn't need the CX or CP to practice with.. GIMME THE PRO!

Bad idea.

[praetorious]

Good old original Eflite Blade CP

[Dutchdude]

Lama coaxial and a esky CP2.
Both flown so much and crashed so much! but what fun!

[NeoGohd]

Walkera 5#10 - The wife flies this one now. :-)