Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Which Syma RC Helicopter Is Best?

Radio Controlled Helicopters - What is Best Electric Or Nitro?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Robert_A_Phillips]Robert A Phillips

RC (radio controlled) helicopters are quickly becoming one of the most popular hobbies for "boys." By "boys" of course we mean adults. We have all gone through Christmas when we were all envious of the toys that the kids were getting and have all been guilty of buying things so that we could actually play with them ourselves. Now, we finally don't have to make excuses anymore as RC helicopters are the perfect toy for us that we don't have to be ashamed of buying.

The fact is RC helicopters are more of an adult hobby than they are toys. After you start to look into the hobby, you will quickly realize it is quite complex and thoroughly enjoyable. There are so many varieties of helicopters available in both style and type. One of the first decisions you are going to have to make is if you want to purchase an electric or nitro powered RC helicopter. They both have great features and in the end, it all comes down to a matter of preference, exactly how much time you have to devote to the hobby, and how much you want to spend on your new hobby.

Before you actually go out and make a purchase, you should really make sure that this hobby is for you. Ideally, you have a friend or relative that owns one and will let you check it out and educate you all about it. If not, you can of course pay a visit to your local hobby shop that carries both types and do your research there. Then of course once you decide what you want you should always start your training with a flight simulator. Regardless of the route you go, this will give you a general idea of what this hobby is about and everything that you are looking for. In most cases, you will find that you are searching the internet or running out to the closest hobby shop and pricing out all the helicopter kits!

Electric Radio Controlled Helicopters present a great option for novice RC helicopter pilots. In general you will usually find that they are a little less expensive and require less maintenance than their counterparts. There is much less of an aspect of maintenance required with them also, therefore electric RC helicopters will take up less of your time. Another feature of electric RC helicopters is that they run much quieter than the nitro helicopters, but this may be a negative to some people. All in all, electric RC helicopters are a great way to start out in the hobby.

Pros of Electric RC Helicopters

o Cheaper start up costs
o Not a lot of maintenance
o Quicker power up
o You do not have to buy expensive gasoline for the engine
o Quieter operation
o Easier to operate
o Will generally be more powerful than a nitro RC helicopter

Cons of Electric RC Helicopters

o Shorter flying times
o Crashes can result in battery breakage which can be very expensive to replace
o Must charge battery between flights

Nitro Radio Controlled Helicopters tend to be a popular choice for the more experienced RC Helicopter pilots. Once you get into the hobby, you will find out why the nitro models can be absolutely addicting. Nitro models are more like flying the real thing. They operate on a petroleum mixture known as Nitro which creates an authentic sound that is actually quite exciting to a lot of enthusiasts. It is almost as though you are flying a real helicopter!

Nitro helicopters will also require a bit of maintenance after their flights, you will have to clean and maintain the parts and engine of the helicopter so that it won't break down on future flights. While this may be considered a negative for the casual hobbyist, this is part of the lure of the people who like nitro RC Helicopters.

Now they obviously run on nitro and there is no way to get around the cost of this. If you fly them on a steady basis, you could realistically spend well over $1500 a year on gasoline. Compare that to the cost of about $800 for of a few good batteries for an electric RC helicopter and you can see how some people may find this reason enough to stay away from nitro RC helicopters. For the purist though, this is just a cost to be justified in order to have a more realistic flying experience.

Pros of a Nitro PC Helicopter

o More realistic flying experience
o Shorter time between flights
o Less damage usually incurred during a crash
o Longer flight times

Cons of a Nitro PC Helicopter

o Nitro can be very expensive
o Helicopters require more maintenance (enthusiasts find this is a lure to nitro helicopters)
o Power up time can be longer
o Most not as powerful as electric
o Require a little more knowledge to fly (i.e. combustion engine tune ups, etc)

When you initially look at all of the pros and cons of each type of RC helicopter, on the surface it may seem that an electric one would be much more attractive, but the more involved you become in the hobby, you will find that a lot of the features that may be considered as cons for the novice, are actually pros for the veteran pilot.

An honest recommendation would be to start out with a lower cost electric radio controlled helicopter until you get the hang of the hobby. As you get more involved, you will find that you will naturally purchase a variety of helicopters to fly and during that expansion, you can start to experiment with the nitro helicopters and get a feel for what is required in owning one of them.

You may find that you, like many enthusiasts, get hooked on the upkeep of the nitro helicopter just as much as the actual flying of it. As we stated earlier though, in the end, it is simply a matter of preference. Once you get involved in the hobby, you are more than likely going to make plenty of friends that are also involved in the hobby and you will have ample opportunity to try out more expensive electric helicopters and plenty of nitro helicopters to give you a better idea of what you will enjoy more.

By: Robert Phillips [http://www.trphobbyshop.com]

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Radio-Controlled-Helicopters---What-is-Best-Electric-Or-Nitro?&id=2035398] Radio Controlled Helicopters - What is Best Electric Or Nitro?

2 comments:

  1. Its interesting to see one time
    Now the time of enjoy the fun moment with Radio Remote Control Helicopter on Enjoyhobbies.biz.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Its nice to see one time
    kids must be like this
    Online source for Indoor RC Helicopter, Radio Remote Controlled toys, Indoor RC Helicopter, Esky RC helicopter, RC cars, and airplanes.

    ReplyDelete