Beginners always have questions, so I thought I’d create this section to answer some of the basic queries I’ve come across over the years. Looking through the likes of RunRyder, there are questions that keep coming up time and again, so hopefully this section can be of general use.

If it’s a public field, we're often asked “How fast, how far, how high and how much?” I’ve thought of having a T shirt printed with these questions and the answers!

Most model helis will fly at between fifty and seventy miles an hour, and the speed record is about one hundred and twenty miles an hour!

The effective range of modern radio equipment is about a mile and a half. That said, the heli would be a very small speck in the sky at that range, so you fly as far out as you’re comfortable with. Same answer for how high.

How much is a tricky one. I reckon when I fly my Raptor 90 I have about £1,000 in the air! I have a transmitter that cost £300 and field/starting equipment, that to replace today would probably cost another £300! Fuel costs about £16 per Yankee gallon, and I get six tanks per gallon. This is NOT a cheap hobby to get into but it’s well worth the effort!

The next big issue is what shall I buy? There’s no right or wrong answer to this question, just a matter of personal taste and budget.

A word of advice.

Don’t just go to the local hobby shop and buy what they offer as a starter package, go to the local flying field or club first, and find out what your soon to be new friends fly! This is important because it’s a lot easier for experienced pilots to help newbies if they have similar equipment. Any experienced heli pilot worth his salt, should be able to set up your heli to make it fly. The real difference is in the radio equipment used. If the local field uses JR equipment, go with the flow.

We had a couple of newbies over the last year that turned up with typical starter packs they'd been sold by the LHS. They both had Sanwa radios. That's OK, but they have different programming, and can’t be used with JR for buddy lead training.

Get a simulator for your computer. I use Reflex XTR and like it a lot. There’s the old CSM simulator, that many people say still has the best flight dynamics, and there are others to choose from. A sim will set you back about £120, but it’s worth the money. You can crash to your heart’s content without destroying your bank balance! It will never replace proper flying time but you can get used to stick positions and actions in the comfort of your own home.

Helis come in different sizes, starting with electric micros like the Hornet and TRex. Moving on to internal combustion (IC) glo powered helis that are categorised by engine size, 30, 50, 60 and 90. The bigger the number, the bigger and more powerful the heli. Personally I find the micros more difficult to fly. Don’t think for one moment that electric helicopters are a cheaper option, they are not!

It used to be accepted that beginners started with a 30 sized heli, and moved up the range as their experience and abilities grew. You can start with whatever you want but, as a rule of thumb, the bigger the heli the more expensive it will be to buy, run and crash! It’s your choice. Bigger helis are inherently more stable because they’re heavier, and have a larger rotor disk. But the extra power can get you into trouble real fast, and they’re more intimidating!

These days, many people start with a 50 sized heli because it represents an excellent balance of economy, power and stability. Most modern 50 sized machines will take you from initial hovering all the way through to full blown stick banging 3D flight! I’m not going to get into a debate about which model to choose, again be influenced by your peers at the field.

Another regular topic is, how much should I spend on the avionics, servos, gyro and possibly engine governor. Again the answer is, buy what you can afford but avoid the absolute basic equipment. Many people say go out and buy the best equipment from day one because it will grow with you. A good argument but expensive! You can pay between £15 and £100 for a single servo, and do you think as a newbie you’ll notice the difference? I think not. Almost anything will do to start with, but bear in mind, you have a duty of care to those around you, to make sure your equipment is fit for purpose. The bigger the heli, the better quality the avionics need to be. You will start to notice the difference when you start flying around in circuits, and start basic aerobatics. That could be very soon, or it could take a while, depends on a lot of factors, but THEN is the time to start upgrading.

The other issue is that you may decide helis are'nt for you. Any way you cut it, you won’t recoup your entry price on a second hand sale, which is good news for someone else wanting to get started! There’s nothing wrong with going the second hand route, I did, but again take advice from the locals.

There’s always a lot of talk about what fuel to use. The answer is take a lead from your fellow fliers. The thing about fuel is your engine gets used to what you buy, and changing brands on a regular basis is not to be recommended. Glo fuel is usually about 80% methanol, 20% oil and a variable percentage of nitro methane, usually 5% to 30%. The nitro acts as a power booster so clearly a fuel with 30% nitro will make an engine produce more power than a 5% nitro content fuel.

Again, as a new comer, you don’t need masses of power, so a lower percentage fuel should be OK, also cheaper. That said, some engines, like the OS range, are designed to run best on about 15% nitro, and Webra engines run best on nil or 5% nitro. The other advantage of finding out what others use, is that you can get discounts for bulk purchases. I normally buy fuel in batches of 25 gallons or so, and as most of the people I fly with burn about the same, we all need fuel at the same time, so this is a good option.

Well I think that will do for now, but I’ll add to this section as and when other things come up. If you’re interested, have a go! It’s expensive, you get cold in winter, bitten to death in the summer but it’s addictive!

About as much fun as you can have in a field with your clothes on!