All About RC Helicopters
Lets Go Vertical...

RC Helicopters, Tips on
Buying, Building and Flying Them

Flying RC Helicopters is more challenging than planes and will require some practice on your part, but the rewards are well worth it. Most pilots start out with an instructor or, at the very least, a good simulator to help them learn to fly. Due to the initial costs involved with the purchase of a helicopter, You don't want to crash that baby on your first flight.

RC Helicopter Kits or ARTF?

R/C helicopter kits are available as "full kit" (very few parts assembled) and 85%+ assembled, excluding the radio or the engine, basically assembled with engine, or complete (Nearly) RTF with engine, gyro and radio. Package deals which should include the engine, gyro and radio are usually the best beginner's setups. To learn the basic helicopter controls and terminology, Check out the helicopter ground school page.

Electric or Nitro?

I personally prefer the nitro gas powered remote control helicopters because I think they sound more like the real thing than the electric models. Also, I like the fact that for the nitro powered helicopter, you can fly as long as you want. Just add more gas. However, with the electric model, you fly it for about 7 to 8 minutes and you either have to have extra battery packs (expensive) or a battery charger to charge the batteries.

One good thing about the electric model is that it is super quiet, so if you're planning on flying a lot where there's noise restrictions, then the electric model would be best, otherwise, stick with the gas model. Check out the Mini electric RC helicopters for indoor and year round flying.

More RC Helicopters

RC Plane Talk - Remote Control Planes, Jets, Helicopters, Tips, RC Hobby Shops... Check out our home page for more on electric rc planes, jets and helicopters.