I'm a veteran to glow and especially electric planes and rather new to helis. I've learned alot about them in my experiences with my past helis. Now, I was starting to get into glow helis because I wanted to go bigger. I have a beat up used Kyosho Concept I can't seem to find parts for and was thinking of getting a raptor 30 or 50. I'm not interested in crazy 3d flying, I just love watching a heli zip around.

I've sort of looked into Logo's for electric, but most of these other names I haven't heard of. Are there many 30 to 50 sized Electric helis available?

The logos I've seen have very expensive Lipo packs (which I understand they need) and costly brushless motors and esc as well. Does a full size Electric heli cost close to the same as getting into a raptor 30?
I love electrics and would like to try a larger heli. But I'm not made of money and I can get into a 30 sized glow heli for around $500 (I have my own servos and rx/tx already).

Plus, I only have Triton charger, so charging a 6S or 8S Lipo pack could be tough if not impossible.

Is it possible to get into a large heli for under $1000?
Any thoughts from the pros here with large helis?

My suggestion would be a Raptor 30/50 conversion or the new Raptor 600EP. The 600EP should be available in a week or so. With the current technology EP helicopters now have better performance than IC helicopters of the same size – and things are only going to get better.

It might be possible to do a Raptor 30 for $1000. Read the Low Cost Raptor thread.

For a 30/50 size EP helicopter the cost is about that of an IC helicopter plus a years supply of fuel. The initial cost is higher but it’s less expensive over the long run. The second year you are flying for free!

If you are on a real tight budget you might consider the new Century Swift. Although it appears that it has a few problems that Century needs to work out so that would not be a good choice until probably next spring.

I started out with only a Triton and was using two 3s or 4s packs in series, that way they can be charged by a Triton. The problem with that is it takes 3 hours to charge both packs (the Triton has a 2.5a LiPo limit that slows charging). A lot of folks are waiting for the new TP1010 charger so there may be a few good used Astro 109 chargers on the market shortly.


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What exactly is a raptor 30/50 conversion? Is it a conversion kit to make it electric?

I just looked up the century swift and it's only $200 bucks for the kit. It looks rather promissing. What kinds of problems do they have with it?

Like I said before too, I'm not real concerned with outstanding aerobatic performance. I'm still learing to do much more than circles and figure eights. I just love watching a helicopter hover around. And I want to go bigger. I think it will be an even more exilerating experience to see a 4 foot heli flying around than a 2 or 3 foot one.

Are there any good places to pick up a barebones raptor and the convertion kit?

hi dogfisher...btw, thanks for the compliment on my 'eco-corona'...you got some good advice from rcman, imho...have you checked the combo deals at http://www.espritmodel.com/ ? i'm not endorsing them, but their website is very user-friendly for logo prices and parts...here's some pics of my almost-finished logo 10-3d with 13-cell nimh sticks...

I check it out right now. Quick question. What size NiMh pack are you running? Looks like 14 or 15 cells.

Do you find that using NiMh is more cost effective than Lipos in this type of setup?

Nice site. I have been there before. $299 bucks for a logo 10 kit seems in my price range. And they have a combo with the cheaper $90 hacker and esc with lipo for $689. I guess that's closer to $800 CD for me. But the size (45" blade diameter, 40" length) is exactly what I'm looking for. Woinder what I could get a used logo 10 with motor and esc for?

hmmmm....

Seeing as you live in Saskabush, I'd look for something that can handle a little wind. You know, a light breeze gusting to 90 type of thing like we usually get around here.

Oh, the lat and long in your profile have you living in the middle of nowhere somewhere west of Ile a la Crosse. Condolences if that's the case.

Originally Posted by Harv

Seeing as you live in Saskabush, I'd look for something that can handle a little wind. You know, a light breeze gusting to 90 type of thing like we usually get around here.

Oh, the lat and long in your profile have you living in the middle of nowhere somewhere west of Ile a la Crosse. Condolences if that's the case.

Well, another heli guy close by. I don't know why my lat and lon would be messed up. I live on the east side of Saskatoon. And yes, the wind sucks here. My foam planes hate it. Do you come to Saskatoon much?

Well the Logo 10 loo9s promissing, Nice size and not a bad price tag either. Question though, will a 4120 Axi Outrunner power a logo 10? I don't have any experience in hacker motors and have no way of comparing them to other brands by the model numbers, just because I've never used them.

I have an excellent cheap source for Axi outrunners all the way up to the 5300 series twin. My 4120/14 has a 5mm shaft and runs on 10 to 14 cells. Could this work?

post retracted....

Just looking over your thread. I have a newb heli video that you can check (I am a newb... toronto area). It should give you an idea of a 30 size nitro heli hovering around in windy conditions (it's an old hirobo shuttle original with os28 and I was testing my new pitch adjustment) and hopefully help you decide between electric and nitro.

http://www.echodesign.ca/video/newb_heli_video.wmv

BTW, I am up in the air again in less than 2 minutes... just add fuel.

30 size EP helicopters are a bit heavier and probably have more than twice as much power as that old OS28. For wind you need a powerful helicopter with a good head design and lots of control power. I was flying my Raptor 50 EP the other day in a good wind and it handled it extremely well. A well designed head with the proper paddles will automatically compensate for wind gusts.

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Originally Posted by dgfisher2004

Well, another heli guy close by. I don't know why my lat and lon would be messed up. I live on the east side of Saskatoon. And yes, the wind sucks here. My foam planes hate it. Do you come to Saskatoon much?

I make it to the Big City every month or so, if only to see if the overall level of driving proficiency by the locals has declined even more from my last visit. Also have some friends over on Kingsmere by Lakeview park (nice Corona flying area there) that we freeload off of...errr...visit a few times over the summer too.

Have you looked into joining the HCRCC? I've been in touch with one of the helo instructors, and he mentioned they might be getting an indoor venue for -40 degree winter flying. I might join just for that, although watching and learning from some other vets in the flesh would be cool too.

The lat and long for 8th and McKercher is N52 06.903 W106 35.233, so that should be closer to you than Lac du Far Away.

I set my long and lat to saskatoon so now it shows you're 158 km away. Better.

I am a member of the HCRCC. There's only like 9 people in the city here with heli's in the club. That I know of anyway. And yes, they are working on an indoor gym rental of somekind for the winter. For helis and indoor fliers.

I live by market mall so I drive out to lakeveiw by the new Extra foods all the time. Take my smaller planes out there for fun.

If you're ever heding into town let me know. I'll meet you someplace and we'll do some flying. Maybe you can teach me how to do circles slow enough I don't make myself dizzy. I've definitely got hovering and nose in cased. I'm just working on some patterns and circuits without gaining too much speed.