Hi. I'm new to RC helicopters. I got my Double Horse 9053 coaxial a week ago and it's virtually uncontrolable with even the slightest breeze. The catch 22 is that it's size make it hard for me to fly indoors.

I understand wind lift is a drawback to coaxial designs. But, if I go to a fixed pitch single blade copter (say a with a rotor diameter of 15 inches and I'm think of the Double Horse 9100) would I still have as much of a problem? Or, would I really need to go to the 450 class? Thank you.

I know this may be a bit premature but how well does the Walkera Creata handle windy conditions? I'm also living on a hill (about 1500 feet above sea level) and am surrounded by other hills which does cause some windy conditions in my area.

The creata 400 is a collective pitch helicopter. It would certainly handle the wind well but it's not a beginners helicopter, at all. It would be difficult to fly and set up.

Fixed pitch helicopters (single rotor) do handle the wind better than a coaxial, but not by much.

I would suggest looking into a flybarless fixed pitch. It won't handle a storm, but it will be the best compromise between difficulty to fly and wind handling ability. I.e. it won't be too difficult to learn to fly and it will handle more wind than a coaxial.

The Walkera V200D01 may suit your needs.



A collective pitch helicopter certainly has the best wind handling capabilities, but they take a lot of money, discipline, time and practice to learn to fly. The mCP-X is a tamed down micro CP helicopter, it may be worth a look into as well.

You probably want to forget about the Creata models. They aren't very durable or reliable, are not compatible with anything else, hard to get parts for and nobody carries them. There are only a few FP helis that handle wind fairly well and only in the hands of an experienced pilot.

Probably not what you wanted to hear but I have a friend of a friend with a HUGE (~700) CP and it's often too windy here for HIM. He's an airline pilot besides so unquestionably knows how to control flying machines. Even a 747 can't land in a crosswind above 35mph and airlines typically set their limits lower than that.

120SR handles "breeze" adequately; piloting in those conditions can get quite busy. The smaller MCPx does better. It's CP and triax gyro which takes some of the random attitude perturbations out for you.

FPs have no downward authority at all except gravity and at the expense of cyclic. They can be blown into the next county and there's not always anything you can do about it. Pritmuch like coax without the blade strikes.

CP as a class does best in wind but as we've seen there are still limits.

.....

Fi you want something which can "handle" (ie. not get bounced around like mad) some wind (15 mp with gusts), you need a 550 size collective pitch helicopter or larger. Anything smaller will be a constant struggle with the wind, not flying.
Blade MCPX will fly in about 5-7 mph, but it will be very handful.
No FP heli can handle any wind at all, so don't bother with these, waste of time, unless you enjoy controlling a kite without a rope.
Also, people often exaggerate wind speed they are able to fly in. Usually divide what people tell you by 2 and it will be accurate.

I'm not an expert like these guys giving some good advice here, but from my own experience, I would say that it's more about a helicopter that can handle breeze rather than wind.

If there is wind, I simply don't try and fly. If there are light breezes, or less, then that is the time really. If you love outdoor flying like me - you do have to have some patience and accept that there will be times that are just not suitable to fly.

Like Frank, I like the V200D01, and wish I could have got something a bit more like that. Or you can modify your helicopter (9053), there are modifications that enable ot to fight a breeze, on YouTube.

Maybe a flybarless CP would be a little easier to tame as a first CP ?

I love the looks and spec of the Walkera V450D01

HeliPal.com - Walkera V450D01 Test Flight 01 (4 min 20 sec)

I'm guessing that due to the 3D Gyro keeping it upright it won't roll left/right unless you tell it to ?

Originally Posted by Cupid Stunt

Maybe a flybarless CP would be a little easier to tame as a first CP ?

I love the looks and spec of the Walkera V450D01

I'm guessing that due to the 3D Gyro keeping it upright it won't roll left/right unless you tell it to ?

Yes, but not that one. A flybarless CP heli with a well designed "soft-mount" head and flybarless control system is very stable and a reasonable first CP heli. But, Walkera flybarless heads are just conventional heads with no flybar and the the 3 axis gyro is pretty basic. Response and handling characteristics take some getting used to and previous CP experience is highly recommended. What do you expect for $300? You get what you pay for.

Thanks for all your response. And, I should clarify, I meant a low to moderate breeze and not wind. Until I got into RC helicopters (three weeks ago), the breeze would be unnoticeable to me.

Clarification acceptable in my sight.

(Fogot to tell you, the more up the scale you go to 4ch co-ax then FP then CP, the more it costs as parts seem to break more as you go up.)

Stay with the cheap 450 heli kits and parts until you are proficient pilot unless you are wealthy and money is not an object.

Originally Posted by Cupid Stunt

Maybe a flybarless CP would be a little easier to tame as a first CP ?

I love the looks and spec of the Walkera V450D01

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbrSb6ZfWzU

I'm guessing that due to the 3D Gyro keeping it upright it won't roll left/right unless you tell it to ?

I would be wary of buying a Walkera CP as a first CP because of quality problems, although the V450 seems to be bit better than others. You need to watch the V450 thread very carefully before you decide. Another one you can think about is this.

http://www.rc711.com/shop/alzrc-450-...?cPath=165_223

It is a high quality 450 clone with a flybarless head and a genuine Align 3G flybarless system. However, it does not come with servos and you will need high quality digital servos.

Originally Posted by Balr14

Yes, but not that one. A flybarless CP heli with a well designed "soft-mount" head and flybarless control system is very stable and a reasonable first CP heli. But, Walkera flybarless heads are just conventional heads with no flybar and the the 3 axis gyro is pretty basic. Response and handling characteristics take some getting used to and previous CP experience is highly recommended. What do you expect for $300? You get what you pay for.

I wonder who makes "soft mount" FBL heads at the moment?

I wouldn't dismiss the Walkera 2702V receiver out of hand. It is head and shoulders above the other Walkera 3 axis gyros. You have to set it in a similar way to the Align 3G system and it can be quite complicated. What it lacks is the ability to connect to your computer for fine tuning and firmware updates. But it performs quite well for general flying. It is certainly better than the Gaui 365 and I am sure lots of modellers would be willing to pay up to $100 if it were available as an independent. But of course, if you compare to the really expensive German systems, then it is certainly basic. However, the Align 3G has also been castigated by users of German systems the cost of which is beyond most flyers. Also, the tuning is also much more complicated as well.

I'm at about the same place you are, did the small Syma/DoubleHorse and tried the 9100 and 9053. Well both of them are now gone...... I went with a local hobby shop rec. Blade MCX2 to learn 4 channel and 3 weeks ago got the Blade 120SR. I flew the 120SR outside about a week ago did good in a 2 - 5 mile breaze and parts stayed on when I burried it a couple of times. Still got a ways to go before I'm ready for anything more $$$$$. Parts for me are a big issue, did not like waiting for stuff in the mail, Blade parts avail locally for me. I have been through 2 sets of rotar blades. Spending a lot more time in the air with a lot less running after then I did with the double horse toys