RC Helicopters and Planes. Anyone Here?

[fdrake]

Hello Everyone,
I was wondering if anyone here enjoys playing with remote control helicopters and air planes?
My wife and I got a cheap 12US dollar one (Helicopter) last month at a local retail store and we didnt expect much from it so cheap. But after getting the hang of flying that one, we decided to get us two more off the internet that were much higher quality and have a built in gyroscope for stability. Well we lucked up and got two off Amazon from less then 30 bucks each for christmas. Been playing with one of them since yesterday and I have to say they are so much fun. Now the ones we got are good construction, but still way to small to use outside. But never the less I have had loads of fun with these. I was wondering if anyone else plays around with them here.

Here is a pic of the one we got. SYMA Gyros S107G:

My nephew (6 years old) bought one of those last month. I tried to play with it since he insisted.......wow they are damn funny... Would be cool if you can costumize your own , bigger, more powerfull, maybe with a camera, like a drone (but without the bombs ). By the way does anyone know if there is a size limit for airplane models (that flies) in the US?

[Bandit]

My nephew (6 years old) bought one of those last month. I try to play with it since he insisted.......wow they are damn funny... Would be cool if you can costumize your own , bigger, more powerfull, maybe with a camera, like a drone (but without the bombs ). By the way does anyone know if there is a size limit for airplane models (that flies) in the US?

Good question. I am sure there is a size and possibly even a range limitation. But from what I have seen its quiet large. Possible a few feet across before you run into those restrictions. And of course larger plans have longer range. FAA's website would prob be the best place and most accurate info on those restrictions.

[chadk5utc]

I am not 100% sure about the size but I do know there are control limitations/drones are discussed a lot. I have personally seen some Incredibly large scale planes the largest Ive ever flown had about an 8' span
have a look at a few of these
https://www.google.com/search?q=Gian...NJPc8AT-roDwCQ

[mips]

I am not 100% sure about the size but I do know there are control limitations/drones are discussed a lot. I have personally seen some Incredibly large scale planes the largest Ive ever flown had about an 8' span
have a look at a few of these
https://www.google.com/search?q=Gian...NJPc8AT-roDwCQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxLuShpaKrQ



18ft Airbus A380

[1clue]

Ahh, I believe all ours are dual main rotors then. There are two motors, turning the lower blades and then another motor turning the upper blade in the opposite direction. Plus a weighted counter throw above the top one. Is this what your referring to?

EDIT:
Here is a photo my wife shot the hell flying.

Yes, exactly. Hold it in your hand, power off, and move that counterweight around to see what it does. Then, still holding it, power it up and spin the rotors not quite fast enough to take off, tilt the heli around and watch what happens to the main rotor.

An electronic gyroscope helps the radio maintain level flight by telling it where the horizon is, much like a full size one in a manned aircraft. The electronics take that into account and adjust the aircraft accordingly so the only movement is what came from the controls. Sorta. It's hard to describe. But you can do anything your heli is capable of, including in some cases loops and flying upside down.

The second rotor is a mechanical equivalent, but rather than moderating the wind gusts or other anomalies of flying it just tries to make the thing hover, no matter what. So your heli is slower and less agile than it would otherwise be.

[1clue]

I think the highest "standard" scale is quarter scale, but then they have giant scale. Some of these models are larger than some manned aircraft. For example that airbus has an 18 foot wingspan, and the world's smallest manned aircraft has a wingspan of either 5.5 feet (it successfully flew but almost killed the pilot on landing) or 6'3" (for several successful flights)

The key here is that you can't fly where manned aircraft are flying, or anywhere that innocent bystanders stand a significant risk of being hurt.

[screaminj3sus]

I got one almost identical to the one in OP for christmas, pretty fun to mess around with. I tried flying it outside too and was suprised at how high it would go, would start shaking pretty bad if you went too high though . They are also suprisingly resilient to crashes, consider how cheap it was i expected to break it lol.

[1clue]

The cheap toys tend to be heavy, slow and durable. The expensive ones tend to be light, fast and fragile.

The other part of the equation is that the cheap ones you buy, run until they break, then throw them away. Stuff you buy at a hobby shop, you can buy every part right there in the hobby shop, and usually there is a selection of premium upgrades for that model as well.

I have a Losi Micro-T with a 3-cell LiPo battery, high-speed steering servo, brushless motor and other performance related upgrades (including a Spektrum receiver) that can catch the cars going down the street in front of my house. This is a 4 inch long car that easily catches 30+ mph cars. I've also raced it against a lower-end nitro 1/10 scale car and blew that away too.

If you buy a high performance machine, you WILL break parts, especially when you're learning to drive it. For the helicopters I had it's the blades, the central hub assembly and the landing gear mostly. Parts are cheap, so people tend to have a few of whatever breaks, one of things that usually don't and tons of batteries. And a really good charger or 3.

[cariboo]

I took mine outside today, just for a little more room, even though the temperature has warmed up to -7°C (19°F) I didn't wear any gloves, and after the about 5 minutes my hands were just to cold to do much of anything. I think I'll stick to flying it inside, until spring.

[Bandit]

@1clue,
Thanks for all the info. I did notice the heli the way it counter through the wings. I assumed thats also how the trim was helping stabilize the spin since it didnt have a horizontal prop on the back like standard helicopters. Cant wait for the 17" ones to come in, but gonna play with those and see how it turns out. Got to teach my wife how to fly them as well.