Simulator transition to Real

[medicus]

I've flown a ton on clearview with a controller. I fly airplanes now, but I am looking at transition to a helicopter. On the sim, I primarily fly heli's because I've gotten a little bored with the planes. What kind of heli could I transition to and be okay? I can fly just about any heli on the sim just fine and do stunts and everything with no worries of wrecking, but since it's not real life flying, I'm unsure of how much I should push getting a nice heli to start with... but if it's a beginner heli, I am almost sure that I'll be so bored with it after about 20 minutes.

[John 3D]

Get a 400 size helicopter like the Blade 400 or the T-Rex 450. They are smaller and cheaper than the glow-powered helis but can do everything that the larger ones can. Ohh yea, and they are cheaper to fix!

[miket]

I've flown a ton on clearview with a controller. I fly airplanes now, but I am looking at transition to a helicopter. On the sim, I primarily fly heli's because I've gotten a little bored with the planes. What kind of heli could I transition to and be okay? I can fly just about any heli on the sim just fine and do stunts and everything with no worries of wrecking, but since it's not real life flying, I'm unsure of how much I should push getting a nice heli to start with... but if it's a beginner heli, I am almost sure that I'll be so bored with it after about 20 minutes.

Sims and real world are 2 different things. One thing that really helps is if you fly your planks with rudder ALL THE TIME.Helicopters require you fly the rudder all the time. Sims are nice for control inputs but it just isn't the real deal. As far as helicopter choice get the best you can afford. I wish I would have gone for the 500 instead of the 450. Seems like bigger flies better. Mike

[nybbler]

Bigger is definitely easier to fly. You can see that in the RealFlight sim (say, Furion 450 versus Raptor 30), I don't know about Clearview. A 425mm-blade heli in real life is much less twitchy than a 450. I haven't flown 500mm or 600mm but I'd bet the pattern holds. The disadvantages of the bigger electric helis are

1) Need more room to fly
2) More expensive batteries (6S lipo rather than 3S)
3) More expensive blades (A 450 does very nicely on $12-$15 wood blades, and some people run them with even cheaper ones)
4) Often shorter flight times on the bigger helis, though this depends a lot on how you set the helis up.
5) More expensive initial cost (airframe, servo, ESC, and motor).

[John 3D]

Yea bigger is always more stable and that goes for airplanes too. My T-Rex 600 flys like a dream compared to my T-Rex 450. However on RealFlight, the 450 size helis are way more squirrely than they are in real life.

[luv2fly2]

Yea bigger is always more stable and that goes for airplanes too. My T-Rex 600 flys like a dream compared to my T-Rex 450. However on RealFlight, the 450 size helis are way more squirrely than they are in real life.



My 500esp flys like a dream compared to my 450. :eek: I could not belive the diff. it was I have made huge jumps with my flying and my 500. I am now building a 600esp, can't wait.:clap:

[DALEPABAJO69]

i also flew planes for many years and did the sim thing for a long , long time,bought a t-rex 450sa gave it to a buddy of mine to set it up for me, took it to the field no cable no training gear what so ever,just set it on the ground throttled up slowly and bam! I was hovering, just keep in mind you got to stay ahead of the stick's all the time.

[John 3D]

i also flew planes for many years and did the sim thing for a long , long time,bought a t-rex 450sa gave it to a buddy of mine to set it up for me, took it to the field no cable no training gear what so ever,just set it on the ground throttled up slowly and bam! I was hovering, just keep in mind you got to stay ahead of the stick's all the time.

ditto except I only needed help setting up the gyro and curves with a friend at the field which took about 10 min. He test flew it for the first flight and trimmed it out. Later that day I started with some hovering and then did a couple flips. But keep in mind I had been playing with helis on the sim for 6 years prior.

[Hawkman]

The Trex 450 can be a bit nervy to fly but they can be tamed down a little. I have a guy here who is flying the 450SE and is getting on ok with it.

For stick time I would say get a nitro 30 size, but if space is an issue then the 450 series is the better bet. For one thing the 450 size are quiet, which is an important point in built up areas.

Do fit training gear, I reckon a hoop is the best. You can fly circuits with training gear and it will give you some peace of mind when you are starting to fly...it will save a spill or two. I use just such a device for checking out a gyro or after a rebuild....or even for going through some nose towards me moves..I then remove the gear once I get confident.

If you go for a 450 then do make sure to get one or two extra battery packs, and a decent charger is a good idea. Once you start flying its very addictive.

Get good on that sim, in reality just take it easy. The trick is to get to a standard on the sim, and then introduce that into your real flying.

[DALEPABAJO69]

I'LL SECOND THAT IT IS VERY ADDICTIVE,I LOVE MY PLANE'S BUT DAME HELIS GOT ME HOOKED STARTED OUT WITH A 450 MOVED TO A 500 AND ALREADY SENT FOR A 700:clap: