Here's my RC Bell 206

She’s getting ready to get a new facelift though. She’s getting converted to an Military version soon. Rotor blade span/diameter is 65"

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That looks awesome and I bet it’s not as easy to fly as you make it look. :slight_smile:

Well I’ve been flying RC aircraft since 1981 and got into the heli’s around 89 and my first heli was a job to fly. You start by only a few inches off the ground learning to hover and gradually working your way up to forward flight. I mean this is within weeks not hours… Then you have to learn how to stop forward flight and get back to an hover. Back then we had nitro burning engines which heli’s ran a 35% nitro and the rest was oil. They still fly them today but the battery style had just about taken over the RC heli industry because the large electric motors today produce a lot more power for heli’s then the nitro’s did so more power is good because sometimes you just need it to get out of trouble where as the nitro’s tend to bogg down if too much power is added at one time. Now for planes or fixed wing i always run gas because I only build and fly scale planes. I build my own and use to build years ago for customers. That was my living and it was pretty lucrative back then. I’ve built and flown just about every type of plane out there, everything from the old ducted fans and prop trainer planes to 60% scale Edge 540’s running twin engine gas monsters swinging 38" propellers. This heli is a T-REX 550X and the fuselage is a “Roban” 206, 700 size. I custom fitted this heli and stretched it out with a 700 size tail boom to make it work. The electric motor has a huge amount of power because this machine is designed for 3D flying which I never done anyway but again having the power on a small sized heli has a lot of advantages especially when it comes to “Room” inside the fuse for additional items like an interior or other gadgets, maybe a camera or whatever. The fuselages are very light and very strong so it was a win win with this combination plus I only fly “Scale” so a fuse to me is the way to go unless your into 3D Flying. This setup with Radio gear and helicopter and battery is around 1500 USD, Fuselage is around 550 and then all your ground support stuff like a charger and spare parts if needed. Anyway, If you ever get into RC helicopters please don’t try and fly yourself if you have never flown one at all because you will crash it. It’s a whole different world and will seem totally un-natural the very first time and you will get disoriented, freak out and crash. Have someone at a club or an experienced RC Heli pilot check it out for you and get training. One you learn how to hover, it only gets better. You actually get tuned into the heli as “one” with the machine and when you get good you can actually almost feel what it’s doing just by watching it and anticipating it through the controls. It’s very weird and hard to explain but it’s true. A lot of people say flying one of these is like standing on a beach ball, close your eyes and try to touch your nose with your finger tips!.. AND, these are not drones, lets make that clear. These will not sit there guided by some computer… you have to “Fly” an RC heli at all times making fine adjustments on the sticks just like a real one. You do have a tail gyro that helps out because you have to, Not too many people could control the tail without one because there is so much torques on the tail a human being isn’t fast enough to make the correct amount of rudder throw to keep it strait and that’s because the tail wants to instantly whip around so you just wouldn’t be fast enough on the sticks so we use a tail gyro that takes care of the torque and gives the right amount of anti torque to keep the tail strait but you still have to control the tail when you want to rotate the heli one way or the other. The gyro just makes it easier and tolerable in a hover so you don’t crash it from torque alone. It’s about impossible to fly one of these without an tail gyro. If you ever have any questions about this hobby or if anyone else has any questions for that matter then just ask. I’m like the old man teaching grasshopper when it comes to this stuff. Been there done that! that’s for sure.

~A~

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Currently building and working an an 1/4 scale super cub float plane. (click on the pics)

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Nice, i had a nitro heli in the 90’s. I fly fpv drones now.

Cool! I’ve had a couple of nice size drones…one was made by Align, the 470 I think it was but never got into the FPV drones.

~A~