Admiral Helicopters?

[Valkpilot]

Read about over on the fixed wing side. Anybody have the scoop on them?

[F106DeltaDart]

See here:

And here:

That is all the information available at the moment, but hoping for the formal announcement and release soon.

[TiredIronGRB]

These are really cool, the Huey is a must have for me.

[Valkpilot]

This is GREAT. Kind of got turned off of looking at the helis here because there were only three choices, the XK toys, Blade, and Roban. I've got several of the Blades but wanted a scale heli, but the Robans are WAY
out of my pocketbook and the only thing else I could find was expensive Chinese toys. Now it's just a matter of time before they start selling. I hope they placed a BIG order on the Airwolf, because those will fly out the door.

[RCjetdude]

They are pretty cool for sure. The fuselages are not flimsy plastic jobs. They are actually fiberglass. The Agusta and Air Wolf even have retracts which are a nice feature in heli's this size.

[JFandL]

Bigger, Much Bigger Please!!!!!

[Valkpilot]

Bigger, Much Bigger Please!!!!!

Isn't that what the Robans are for?

[James]

Isn't that what the Robans are for?

Yes and technically speaking, you could take the PNP system we are using in the 450's and apply it to a larger heli too.

[JFandL]

UH-1 and OH6 please , ROFL

[Valkpilot]

What would be a great promotional and kill two birds with one stone would be to get everyone at Motion who can fly a helo to test a bunch of the Hueys at the same time and have like the scene in
"Apocalypse Now" BTW, A CH-47 would be nice(rode in one while I was in the Navy) and a Sea King with a mini winch, hook, and "space capsule" to pick up.:)

[JFandL]

A CH-47 would be the best but no one has had any luck making a small version of it yet. Starting back with the Hirobo line. A 500 or 600 size would be cool!

[F106DeltaDart]

A CH-47 would be the best but no one has had any luck making a small version of it yet. Starting back with the Hirobo line. A 500 or 600 size would be cool!

That would be awesome! Especially a 160th MH-47. I’ve got a long list of Helis I’d love to see Roban produce. I think a big Superscale Chinook or CH-53 would be an instant hit. Same for an OH-58D, AH-1Z (should be a fairly easy change to their W molds), SH-3 Sea King, and of course a correct UH-1H, and OH-6.

[JFandL]

LOL, That is a very nice list. If they were to do a CH-47 I would do it up in my old unit colors .

[Grady.c]

I might have to get the Huey and recreate the scene from apocalypse now.

[Grady.c]

I was a big fan of Airwolf when I was younger so that might be a steal.

[Grady.c]

Also, I have only flown a 130 scale heli anyone know if i would have trouble with one of these?

[Valkpilot]

Also, I have only flown a 130 scale heli anyone know if i would have trouble with one of these?

Is it the Blade 130S? If you can fly in "Agility" mode, and remember there's no panic button, probably. But it's a bigger aircraft and you might want to go with a 400 class helo on a sim for practice.

[JFandL]

Also, I have only flown a 130 scale heli anyone know if i would have trouble with one of these?

As we have never seen you fly your question is a tuff one. I would say if you can fly something the size of the Blade 330x( 450 size with collective) You would be fine.

[Alpha]

Also, I have only flown a 130 scale heli anyone know if i would have trouble with one of these?

It's a good question, Grady, and one we anticipate many people will ask. To help answer that question as best we reasonably can, or at least provide as much information to allow people to make an informed decision they're comfortable with, we've prepared several videos showing setup, settings, flight, and other aspects of safely operating these fiberglass bodied 450 sized collective pitch helicopters. Stay tuned for those videos in the next couple of weeks when the info-mill spools up in advance of the product arrivals. We'll post the links in this thread.

In the meantime, JFandL's guesstimate is a fair estimate. Prior experience with a collective pitch helicopter is optimal, although not absolutely required. At the very least, we'd expect pilots to have prior experience confidently and competently operating an RC fixed pitch or collective pitch helicopter, period. Even the WL Toys helicopters we sell, while much smaller and lighter than the fiberglass 450s, will teach pilots how to orient and control a helicopter in preparation to fly the Admiral 450s. The Admiral 450's onboard flight controller helps to limit bank angles and helps to return the rotor disk to level, but it is not an auto-pilot or GPS position lock-enabled model, so pilots are still fully responsible for orienting and correctly controlling the model. We've tuned the flight controller to a good balance between stability and agility.

Off the top of my head, having flown these Admiral 450s no fewer than 1,000 times (yes, LOTS of testing!), I would say a brief checklist of skills you should be comfortable executing include:

Tail-in hover, nose-in hover, side-in hover
Basic forward flight,
Basic scale patterns like figure-8s using coordinated turns
Proper energy management (i.e., how to slowly descend a model from higher altitudes using forward flight and banked turns instead of yanking back on the elevator and cutting power)
Understanding of helicopter care and maintenance (i.e. blade grip tension, which is covered in our Setup video)
Vigilant battery care and monitoring (because helicopters don't glide)

[Grady.c]

It's a good question, Grady, and one we anticipate many people will ask. To help answer that question as best we reasonably can, or at least provide as much information to allow people to make an informed decision they're comfortable with, we've prepared several videos showing setup, settings, flight, and other aspects of safely operating these fiberglass bodied 450 sized collective pitch helicopters. Stay tuned for those videos in the next couple of weeks when the info-mill spools up in advance of the product arrivals. We'll post the links in this thread.

In the meantime, JFandL's guesstimate is a fair estimate. Prior experience with a collective pitch helicopter is optimal, although not absolutely required. At the very least, we'd expect pilots to have prior experience confidently and competently operating an RC fixed pitch or collective pitch helicopter, period. Even the WL Toys helicopters we sell, while much smaller and lighter than the fiberglass 450s, will teach pilots how to orient and control a helicopter in preparation to fly the Admiral 450s. The Admiral 450's onboard flight controller helps to limit bank angles and helps to return the rotor disk to level, but it is not an auto-pilot or GPS position lock-enabled model, so pilots are still fully responsible for orienting and correctly controlling the model. We've tuned the flight controller to a good balance between stability and agility.

Off the top of my head, having flown these Admiral 450s no fewer than 1,000 times (yes, LOTS of testing!), I would say a brief checklist of skills you should be comfortable executing include:

Tail-in hover, nose-in hover, side-in hover
Basic forward flight,
Basic scale patterns like figure-8s using coordinated turns
Proper energy management (i.e., how to slowly descend a model from higher altitudes using forward flight and banked turns instead of yanking back on the elevator and cutting power)
Understanding of helicopter care and maintenance (i.e. blade grip tension, which is covered in our Setup video)
Vigilant battery care and monitoring (because helicopters don't glide)

Ok thanks for the help Alpha, I am a prop Jockey so I have little experience with choppers.