Looking for an Electric Chopper for my Chopper Gir, Newbie needs advice

Ioanna wants an R/C heli, but she doesn't like the smoke of the IC engines, so electric is what she wants. I don't really know anything about electrics, and even though I know about heli's, I don't know how y'all determine size. Do you measure rotor diameter? Anyway, we're looking for something kind of big, similar to the Raptors from years past (I don't know if they're still around), but electric. Help me out guys. She won't be back in the states until July so I've got time to research this before we pull the trigger.

Century makes a Swift, a 30-size electric helicopter...


Here's the link:
http://www.centuryheli.com/products/heliki...m?currentid=304

I believe Align, whose small T-Rex helicopter really made the electric heli "mainstream," has larger sizes as well, but I'm very little help as far as the pros, cons, or differences between any of them.

Thanks Frits and Mike, that's a good start.

This post has been edited by TJR on May 21 2009, 07:51 AM

I'd get one of those little $125 jobs from Rob that you can fly indoors or out. They would be good to learn the basics on! One of these days I'm going to pick one up just to chase the cats around the house. I'd chase the dogs but I don't think that I'd have it very long if I did! What I thought was cool about them also, was that they have the after market glow in the dark accessories. That would be cool!!!!

Being not familiar with electric powered helicopters and never recommending helicopters to anyone, check out the two linked to below.
The 600 numbers refer to length of main rotor blades, each being 600 MMs long, same size helicopter as my Raptor Titan and Justin's Trex 600 Nitro Pro.
Large enough size to be strictly outdoor helicopters, but big enough to handle most any wind condition.
Larger size electric helis available, but get very pricey with the size LiPo batteries required. Lots of smaller ones available also, but can't handle as much wind and not as stable.
Not sure about your budget, if any, on this helicopter. Initial kit purchase just gets one started with spending money on it. Particular to electrics would be the cost of LiPo batt pacs and chargers. For nitro jobs, would be the cost of fuel.
If yall have a flight simulator, get started on learning helicopter flight with it.

TT Raptor 620E (long time manufacturer)

Align Trex 600E (probably most popular brand currently)


Highly recommended is to do lots of research on the RunRyder Helicopter Forum for all things related to RC helicopters.

And RR sub forums for RR Raptor Electric Helicopters
Align Trex Helicopters

And as Jon recommended, the small less expensive ones are great for getting ones feet wet with RC choppers and to determine if choppers are really addictive enough for the time, money, and effort required for the larger sizes.

Might just be the best way to go, Sam Chest has one of the small electric jobs and was enjoying flying it. Maybe you could get him to bring it out one weekend for a demonstration if wind is calm enough. Would be great for flying in an airport hangar next to the big one or in the house.

You might want to look at the Trex 500 its in between the 450 and 600. The 500 uses two 3s 2500 mah packs which can be purchased reasonably and the parts for them are very reasonable and widely available Plus they fly great.
The 3s 2000ish packs are a good size because they can be connected in different configurations (series, parallel or series/parallel) depending on the voltage/current requirements and can be used in airplanes as well.
There are also numerous "clones" available and the parts are(for the most part) are interchangeable with the Align stuff.
The biggest factor is of course the cost of the batteries. A Trex 600 (6s 5000 mah)pack runs around $300 each . The E Raptor620 uses 8s-10s packs and will run you about $500+ each and you cant forget about a quality balance charger and power supply.


http://www.helihobby.com/html/t_rex_500.html

Hope this helps,
Ken

Well, she is a full size helicopter Pilot, so understanding how they fly isn't an issue. I've tried to get her to use the sim, but she just doesn't care for it (perspective and orientation). The main reason for not going with an itty bitty heli, is that I'm sure she'd rather have something that operates like the real thing she's used to (full collective and cyclic control along with full yaw control), and the fact that the bigger ones can handle some wind (which, by the way, all real helicopters prefer some wind compared to dead calm). We'll also have to get her a radio of her own, mine are all plane radios, preferably 2.4. Budget is an issue, but not a huge issue (for her anyway).

The transition from full scale pilot to RC pilot is also just a matter of perspective and orientation. Unless one only hovers directly in front of themselves and that would be sort of like sitting in the cockpit.

Make sure to get a transmitter with the big red reset button.

I've tried to tell her, but she's a stubborn Greek woman . Maybe if I had it connected to a big flat screen she'd like it better than my 15" flat screen monitor .

I would recommend first the flight simulator. This is your number one money saver with heli's. Then you would want a 500 to 600 size heli. The small cheap ones are not very stable and are hard to hover which is the first thing you will need to learn. You will crash it a lot. The bigger the heli, the more stable and easier to fly. This i speak from experiance. After mastering the simulator i did not even need training gear. Trex being a little more expensive is a great heli. Just start with a 30 size and/or at least a 500 size.

After learning on the simulator and practicing on it on a regular basis, i have not yet crashed a heli due to pilot error and i have been flying for 10 months.

Just my opinion, which I have been told to keep to myself moer than once.