well, here is my new basic website i set up. Just some things I have learned over the last few years in the hobby.

http://rcreviews.webs.com/

Looks good so far, although some site admins are offended by links to
other RC sites. Just thought I would pass on some "netiquette".

Pretty cool stuff. I remember building my first website and testing it on my
home network back in the 90's. Boy that brings back memories.

People take computer networking for granted now, but back then it was
cutting edge. I still remember my boss freaking out that I could access
my home music collection through FTP on his desktop at work, bypassing
the Reynolds Aluminum $5000 corporate firewall like it wasn't there.
He didn't understand how firewalls work, and to this day thinks I am some
kind of super elite hacker (I'm not even close).

yes, well this isn't suppose to be a "competitor" site, but people do get scared. The page is non-profit style unlike this, so i feel it should be acceptable. either way, thanks for checking it out, subscribe


also hilarious story

To be honest and frank, 3 channel or lower are toys - nothing more. Now I like toys, don't get me wrong. And if somebody wants to play with a 3 channel more power to 'em (and before somebody points it out, yes, I did start a sentence with a conjunction, and I think I'll do it again). But I would never, ever recommend wasting money on a 3 channel toy as an entry into the hobby. I won't even suggest a 4 channel coax as an entry level, total waste of money.
Which begs the question - why would you suggest that somebody over 65 start with a toy?
Do you have any idea how many people here who have been answering your questions and helping you get started are over, or approaching 65? Do you have any idea how many people over 65 can fly circles around your butt? What in heavens name prompted you to say that people over 65 should start with a 3 or 2 channel heli?

first off, thanks for checking out the website. #2, I 100% agree with the 4ch coax. Personally, the 65 is just a bit of an estimation. The idea means, basically, older people or very young, may have slower reaction speeds, and therefor it may be smarter to start with a 3ch heli. just my 2 cents, anyone can go there own way. Obviously there are some that are well past 65 that are flying great, but, no one can argue that the average 65+ person has a slower reaction speed than a 25+ person.

Remember, the website it just a starter and is not saying that 65+ cannot fly 4ch helps

Ignoring post count and looking at you post history, it appears your only experience is the 9116, and perhaps a few of the toys? How do you figure that makes you qualified?
While it's true our reaction time does slow as we age, you have no idea by how much, or how it affects us in this hobby. What is the average reaction time of a 65 year old male? What reaction time is required for a overstabilized fixed pitch with a 45° flybar that will almost fly it's self? How many people have you successfully trained to fly? How many of those were over 65? How many under 14?
I'll repeat that 3.5 and 2 channel toys are useless as trainers for this hobby. The control assignments aren't even the same so it possible for them to teach bad habits that may be very hard to break.
I'm sorry, but as senior, I'm extremly offended by your narrow minded views.

Guys it's Christmas. Ease up a bit

I agree with karlik and I started when I was 63. There's nothing to be gained by starting with anything below a 4 channel FP heli and even some of those will teach you very little. Starting with anything below that will only teach you things you will need to unlearn, which is harder than learning the right way to start with. Something like the DH9116 is very questionable as a learning tool for those same reasons. It's over-stabilized, has very little movement authority and is prone to blade strikes on quick movement. What is that going to teach you? That flying RC helis is kind of like driving a bus? I have trained at least 50 beginners, including many seniors. The first thing I tell them is put the toys away and don't touch them again until they learn to fly.

Here are good beginner helis that combine durability, reliability, performance range and stability. They will teach you the most for the effort you will put into it and you won't spend 75% of your time trying to get them to perform decently. Remember, if you are spending most of your time tweaking and fixing, you aren't learning to fly and maximum air time is the most important thing for seniors.

Micro-quad (Blade MQx, WL Toys V929, Walkera Ladybird, etc.).
45° offset head micro FP (Blade MSR, 120SR and 9958).
Flybarless micro FP (Walker Super FP, Blade MSRx). They do have some quirks that take some getting used to.
45° offset flybar micro (WL Toys V911). Not as good as any of the others, because it's over-stabilized and has weak movement authority, but at this size it isn't as
easy to notice. On larger 45° offset helis it's very easy to notice.

If you can start with something beyond these choices, more power to you.

I have dealt with several beginners who learned to fly on a DH9116 and they have a terrible time adjusting to the fact that normal helis require compensating moves to stop moving, because they are so used to the over-stabilization.

Guys, come on, take it easy! We're all in this together and all entitled to our opinions. I'm sure no one intends to offend anybody in stating their particular opinion, whether it's right or wrong. By the way, I'll be 65 in April, God willing.

alright, I can see things are getting out of hand. I think people are getting personally effected by the 65 and up question. I won't explain mt view again. #2 balr14 I think we all know you "hatred" of DH products, so i can't take you took seriously.

I did not mean to offend any seniors, I am sure that all of you here can fly an rc heli, and there is no need too prove it.

btw, while I make look like a newbie here, i do have a lot of experience in rc planes and cars. years.

I have to totally disagree on a 4CH coaxial as not being a good entry point or with it being a total waste of money..
I learned a LOT on a 4CH $70 ESKY Hunter (coaxial).
A whole lot.
All orientations, nose-in forward and backward flight.
It flew well and it flew like a helicopter just much slower and mostly indoors..
Outdoors if the wind was calm.
The coax was slow enough that I could use it to practice slow backward flight circuits
I got about a full year of solid training out of my 4CH coaxial
Before I could do it on a collective pitch helicopter.
Now I've moved that training over to a Blade mQx.
Much faster but very stable.
On that (the mQx) I'm now practicing fast circuits on it's side (left or right)
making it fly normal fast circuits but as if either side of the helicopter is the front of the helicopter, this has been my intro to excellent control in funnels & tornados.
Traveling piros, (piro circles & piro figure 8s).
And fast funnels & tornados (of course). :-)

There is a LOT of work & practice for me to do (not 3D) as I'm working my way up to 3D..
The next stage will be to do all of the above comfortably inverted.
:-)

My hatred for DH products is grounded in hard fact and lots of exposure to beginners trying to move on from that junk. You can choose to ignore what I say about DH but you won't find anyone who will say I'm wrong. You can waste your time and money all you want, but it would be nice if you got a bit more diverse experience before you tried to influence others. There is a reason no hobby manufacturers make 45° flybar helis any more. You are stuck on obsolete technology. It's time to move on. Your experience with RC cars and planes means nothing. Half the people here had similar experience before learning to fly helis.

N8LBV - we don't disagree on 4 channel coaxes. I started with a Lama V4 and loved it. It will teach you things. But, we didn't have decent micro FPs and quads to learn on. 4 channel coaxes have all but disappeared; they aren't really needed any more. Think about it. You can spend $200 on a Blade CX2 or 3, or buy a cheaper Blade MQx or $50 V929. The quad will be a bit harder to start with, but you won't break anything while you learn. You won't find an ESky coax any more.

I think It's a pretty nice website Jimmy, well done.

The one thing I would look at is the formatting of the "your first heli" page...for me, it's a bit hard to read with so many line-breaks. I'm more of a fan of the standard paragraph form, but that's just me.

As for the "experience level" argument, I actually find it refreshing to see advice from a younger, less experienced flier. I've noticed a few patterns in this hobby (and in life), and one of them is that young people have far more time than money, and older folks have far more money than time. That discrepancy can really change what you advise someone else to get when it comes to helicopters.

For example, when I was looking at CP 450 helis, the more experienced people would invariably say "clones are crap, spend $500 and get the real deal". As it turns out, this is pretty solid advice...the cost of my $27.99 HK450 continues to rise as I gain experience and find it's shortfalls (though I am still far from the cost of a real align). However, to a new, younger flyer, the advise to spend $500 on a helicopter is totally impractical. If it had been the only way into the hobby, I still wouldn't be flying.

I have plenty of time to sort out a crappy HK450 heli...but I don't have the money for a pre-sorted finely-machined align.

So, although Jimmy's advise to start with some of these toy oriented helis might seem like a waste of time, to a new flier, it is likely the only reasonable path to enter the helicopter world. Some of them will be disappointed with the poor quality, get frustrated and quit...but many more will have enough of a good time to spur further interest, and eventually move up the "nice" hobby grade stuff.

Originally Posted by Chubbs

As for the "experience level" argument, I actually find it refreshing to see advice from a younger, less experienced flier. I've noticed a few patterns in this hobby (and in life), and one of them is that young people have far more time than money, and older folks have far more money than time. That discrepancy can really change what you advise someone else to get when it comes to helicopters.

I am an "old folk", and that means I actually hang out with other "old folk". There are a ton of us trying to survive on a very low limited income because employers think that people over 50 are slow, unreliable, and can't learn new things.
Do you honestly think that a total income of $1200 to $1800 a month social security is "far more money than time"?

Happy Holidays all ! Now we have snow here and I can't wait for
the wind to die down so I can crash into a snowbank

P.S Karlik I'll bet after paying bills, our disposable incomes are very close

I even clean bathrooms at my apartment to make ends meet.
Talk about a humbling experience.
Go from rebuilding TCP-IP stacks on business machines, to scrubbing
toilets within the same 12 hour time-frame.

But, the older I get, the more I could care less what people think.

I'm just glad there are people willing to donate time and expertise to
some bloke they have never, and probably will never meet.
It defies logic, and shows true human nature.

Hope you all have a fun and safe holiday

Steve