Getting Started in Scale Heli's

[ndrew3]

I've mostly been interested in rc planes the last year or so, and have been honing my skills and knowledge mostly in that area for that time. I've recently really started looking into CP heli's though, and have started eyeing some of the scale conversion kits on MotionRC. As I'm still pretty new with helis (but do have drone and some previous heli experience), I was looking to pick up an OMPHobby M2 as a starting point, which seems like a nice option.

First question: believe the M2 is around 250 size, are there really almost no scale bodies for that size heli? If I could find a cool one I'd probably just stick with that and be happy, but haven't found much anywhere.

Assuming there aren't many options for bodies in that size, I'd probably eventually work my way up to something 450 - 500 size. Are there many pre-built scale helis that come in that size, or good kits/brands you guys recommend? Feels like an entirely different world of brands and stuff than planes, so not sure where to start. Also seems like a much smaller community from what I can tell.

[F106DeltaDart]

I've mostly been interested in rc planes the last year or so, and have been honing my skills and knowledge mostly in that area for that time. I've recently really started looking into CP heli's though, and have started eyeing some of the scale conversion kits on MotionRC. As I'm still pretty new with helis (but do have drone and some previous heli experience), I was looking to pick up an OMPHobby M2 as a starting point, which seems like a nice option.

First question: believe the M2 is around 250 size, are there really almost no scale bodies for that size heli? If I could find a cool one I'd probably just stick with that and be happy, but haven't found much anywhere.

Assuming there aren't many options for bodies in that size, I'd probably eventually work my way up to something 450 - 500 size. Are there many pre-built scale helis that come in that size, or good kits/brands you guys recommend? Feels like an entirely different world of brands and stuff than planes, so not sure where to start. Also seems like a much smaller community from what I can tell.

Always glad to hear of more interest in helicopters! There are a few options around the 250 size, but I wouldn't call them pre-built. Heli scale quality: https://www.heli-scale-quality.com/ has a great selection of fuselages, but they are basic vacuformed clear plastic kits. It takes a bit of time and patience to build these and paint/finish them. Align used to also make a 250 sized MD500 fuselage: https://www.amainhobbies.com/align-2...nhf2503/p15847. It is discontinued, but can still be found for sale on forums occasionally.

As for the 450s and 500s, the closest to anything "pre-built" are the rotorscale 450s. These have been out of stock for a while, and I don't know when they'll be back. They include the fuselage, mechanics, servos, and power system. Still needs a Flybarless controller of your choice to complete it. Its also worth disassembling the stock mechanics to check for proper loctiting of bolts and lubricating of bearings.

Most everything else in the 450-500 size becomes a sort of treasure hunt to accumulate all the components needed. All of the Roban fuselage kits are designed to fit the discontinued Trex 500ESP and Trex 450 mechanics. I've bought a few of these used from forums and facebook marketplace at pretty good prices. I've also used clone kit such as the Tarot 450 with success. They are old designs, but they fly well and are pretty reliable.

Multiblade rotor heads and blades are also a bit of a treasure hut. I created this page to aggregate the various sources for these components: https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc...s-450-800-size

It's a lot of info, but hopefully this helps a bit.

[ridgerunner]

To start off, here's an excellent resource for heli newbs: RC Helicopter Fun!.

You'll want to learn how to fly in 3D acro mode on a micro before going big because of safety and cost. If you are already flying acro mode with a drone, you're halfway there. If you have only flown in stability mode, then learning CP helis will be a slow process and you *WILL* crash - a LOT and larger helis break very easily. I've been at it for eight years now and have only recently graduated myself to 450 class helis. (I have 550, 600 and 700 class machines waiting in the hangar.) The best micro helis to learn on are the nearly indestructible XK 1S micro helis, (which all use the Futaba S-FHSS protocol) - the K110 is the most popular, (see the monster K110 thread on RCGroups), but is a standard Pod-N-boom design. The K123 is my personal favorite and is a scale AS-350. It is nearly as indestructable as the K110, but looks much better.

Note that MotionRC carries the XK line. Here's my little K123 in the backyard last month...



Here it is on my YouTube channel...

And here is one of my Rotorscale 450s over some scenic terrain here in Utah...

But be forewarned: RC helis are highly addictive!

I hope this helps!

[Gravythe clown]

Do you have any experience with helicopters? I ask because there is a lot to learn with proper set up, and if you're going to get into scale helicopters set up is super important. When I first got into helicopters I did the little micros that come all per-set ready to fly, even up to my 300 wasn't much to do but change parts and blades when needed. However when I made my first attempt to join scale helicopter I jumped in with a Blade 450 and copter-x 3 blade head with blue thunder vacuum formed body. Not understanding about blade phasing, tracking, balancing and pitch setup, I destroyed my first attempt at a scale conversion. I thought just understanding how to fly was good enough as all helicopters I flew previously where two blade PNF or BNF.
My point is if your current experience is similar to what mine was, I suggest get your self a Align 500 or bigger kit and do the full build and setup. You wont get the multi blade phasing experience but everything else is usable.

Gravy

[CM_Aero]

I have the OMP M2. Its a great little helicopter - smooth and enjoyable to fly. Even tho its small, as John Salt has said in his review, I have to agree with him that it flies like a larger helicopter. As for training, I started out on Realflight and then taught myself with an ArtTech 450 falcon on training gear and then bought a used Hirobo Evo 50. Definitely check out RC Helicopter Fun.com as RidgeRunner suggested. His website and ebooks have really helped me over the years building, tuning, and flying.

[CM_Aero]

Always glad to hear of more interest in helicopters! There are a few options around the 250 size, but I wouldn't call them pre-built. Heli scale quality: https://www.heli-scale-quality.com/ has a great selection of fuselages, but they are basic vacuformed clear plastic kits. It takes a bit of time and patience to build these and paint/finish them. Align used to also make a 250 sized MD500 fuselage: https://www.amainhobbies.com/align-2...nhf2503/p15847. It is discontinued, but can still be found for sale on forums occasionally.

As for the 450s and 500s, the closest to anything "pre-built" are the rotorscale 450s. These have been out of stock for a while, and I don't know when they'll be back. They include the fuselage, mechanics, servos, and power system. Still needs a Flybarless controller of your choice to complete it. Its also worth disassembling the stock mechanics to check for proper loctiting of bolts and lubricating of bearings.

Most everything else in the 450-500 size becomes a sort of treasure hunt to accumulate all the components needed. All of the Roban fuselage kits are designed to fit the discontinued Trex 500ESP and Trex 450 mechanics. I've bought a few of these used from forums and facebook marketplace at pretty good prices. I've also used clone kit such as the Tarot 450 with success. They are old designs, but they fly well and are pretty reliable.

Multiblade rotor heads and blades are also a bit of a treasure hut. I created this page to aggregate the various sources for these components: https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc...s-450-800-size

It's a lot of info, but hopefully this helps a bit.

Side note, DetlaDart you mentioned heli-scale-quality and in fact, I just started a build with their Hughes 269 Calypso. I'll have to make a separate thread to track the build. This will be my first time with these kits so its going to take me some time. I just started flying a full-scale 300 for my add-on rating so I had to build scale model!

[ndrew3]

Do you have any experience with helicopters? I ask because there is a lot to learn with proper set up, and if you're going to get into scale helicopters set up is super important. When I first got into helicopters I did the little micros that come all per-set ready to fly, even up to my 300 wasn't much to do but change parts and blades when needed. However when I made my first attempt to join scale helicopter I jumped in with a Blade 450 and copter-x 3 blade head with blue thunder vacuum formed body. Not understanding about blade phasing, tracking, balancing and pitch setup, I destroyed my first attempt at a scale conversion. I thought just understanding how to fly was good enough as all helicopters I flew previously where two blade PNF or BNF.
My point is if your current experience is similar to what mine was, I suggest get your self a Align 500 or bigger kit and do the full build and setup. You wont get the multi blade phasing experience but everything else is usable.

Gravy

I have some experience with acro mode in helis, but definitely not anywhere near being ready for anything 400 size or up. As you say, the setup portion is the part I definitely need to get the best handle on. I bought a blade nano s2 and had literally zero luck getting it setup and working in OpenTX with my Jumper, gave up after a solid 3 straight days of trying different setups and searching for any kind of guide. But I've found many good guides for the OMPHobby M2 for opentx so looks like it should be much easier and a good basis for learning the setup/curves etc.

Honestly I have no desire for a large heli or anything that can do crazy 3D flight, so the site DeltaDart posted seems like an awesome option for just eventually converting the M2 into something more scale. Lots of good info though, appreciate all the help!