Helicopter Resources

[Vincent LaPorte]

02/25/10

Model Helicopter Resources

• Donovan's Hobby Shop– Sioux Falls, SD - http://www.donovanshsc.com/

• Hobby Town– Sioux Falls, SD - http://www.hobbytown.com/

• Hobby Wharehouse – Richfield, MN - http://www.myhobbywarehouse.com/

• Hub Hobby– Richfield, MN and St Paul, MN - http://www.hubhobby.com/

• Big Sky Hobby 3402 Federal Drive, Eagan, MN 55122-1301

http://www.bigskyhobby.com

• Xheli.com – on line California– cheap helicopters of all kinds

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• Helidirect.com – online Boston, MA – fast deflivery, excellent tech support – good for parts

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• Hobbypartz.com - good prices for parts
• HobbyKing.com – online – Hong Kong – cheap but be carefull shipping cost – good for parts
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To learn to fly model helicopters, start simple with a coaxial helicopter like a Esky Lama or a Esky Big Lama for about $100 and fly indoors. Get a few extra batteries.

Only after you are confidently flying this heli then move up to a “fixed pitch” single rotor heli like a Esky HoneyBee FP - $100 and fly
outdoors on total calm days (wind less than 3mph).

Finally when skilled with the above helis get a “collective pitch” heli like a Trex-450 and learn to fly out doors and do stunts.

Best book - “The Basics of RC Helis” by Paul Tradelius - $25.

A great clone of the famous Trex450 is EXI-450 (plastic version) from xheli.com. The price ($29) and quality is impressive. It is almost an exact clone of the Trex450 version 2. So you can find parts at local hobby shops or on Ebay. Most ESCs include so called linear mode BEC and can "brown out" under the load of 4 digital servos, so I suggest a ESC with switching BEC like the Turnigy Sentry 40amp - $22 from hobbyking.com or the Hobbywing 30amp with external BEC - $28 from helidirect.com. For servos, I chose the EXI D213f ($8) for the three cyclic servos and a faster Corona DS919MG for the tail. I use a Telebee gyro ($45) for my tail control with good results.