Remember – these are just very approximate numbers and you can spend many times more than this if you get top notch everything. Many Hobby shops will give discounts on full packages.

Manufacturers are starting to recognize that people new to the hobby just want to get in and get out - so they are putting together entire starting packages such as Align's Trex 450 Plus RTF (ready to fly) heli kit that will save you time and money by including every component you need to get airborne. There are always sales going on, and don’t over look the used or pre-owned market .

This might seem like a lot of money for a hobby, but when you look at what other hobbies cost – RC Helicopters are actually very reasonable.

Next to cost, these are the three most common questions I get asked while flying radio controlled helicopters. It's kinda funny when you consider the complexity of the bird & equipment, the time and skill involved in learning how to hover and fly close-in which is what RC helicopters are all about; that the distance, speed, and altitude questions are so prevalent...

Let's start with how far and how high... There is no single answer to these "distance" questions because it depends on the type and size of radio controlled helicopter. Size? Yes, size is the limiting factor across the board here since you can only control a RC helicopter if you can see it; so the larger it is, the further out and higher you can fly it. Today's decent hobby grade radio equipment is generally good for up to a 1 KM control range (about 3000 feet) depending on factors such as receiver type/placement (park fliers & micros will have less range), surrounding buildings/power towers, and atmospheric conditions. Even a large RC helicopter starts to become hard to see at 1000 feet away and once you can't make out several critical identifying components on the heli such as the body, the tail boom, the landing skids, and the almost near invisible rotor disc - you will loose control ability since you have to be able to see it if you wish to control it.

Lighting also plays an important roll here as well as the color scheme on your bird. Bright colors are easier to see so that will help extend your range slightly. Late in the day when the sun starts getting closer to the horizon, visual range is reduced substantially since the heli gets darker and is silhouetted against the sky (same can be said for overcast days). This makes it near impossible to figure out which way the bird is flying and is very easy to loose orientation awareness (the number one cause of crashes for beginner to expert). How good your peepers are is obviously a big factor here as well. I know my 45 year old eyes can't see as well as what my 20 year old eyes could and over the years, that has reduced my distance and height flying envelope a little bit.

So the simple answer here is you can fly a radio controlled helicopter as far away or as high up to the point you can't see what you are doing. You will loose practical visual acquisition range long before radio range in other words.

Speed is also dependent on the specific type and size of radio controlled helicopter. A small micro coaxial may only fly with a top speed of about 5 kph (3 mph) where as I have clocked my larger collective pitch helis at over 100 kph (60 mph). The radio controlled helicopter world speed record last time I checked was just over 165 kph (103 mph)!

Not at all. There are very limited similarities in flight controls between helicopters and airplanes.

Experience with an RC airplane won't help you fly a radio controlled helicopter, but will certainly help you with things such as getting your engine running and tuning it. It will also help with the familiarity of RC radios, speed controllers and batteries.

Even RC car and truck experience will help. In fact, our RC car sisters and brothers probably have an advantage when it comes to building the helicopter, there are many similarities between the mechanical workings of RC cars and RC helis and how they are built.

Of course if you have no RC experience, that is okay to, you will just have a longer learning curve.

No sugar coatings here – when you are first starting, single rotor collective pitch are exceedingly difficult. It is said that radio controlled helicopters are harder to fly than real ones. I have talked to a few helicopter pilots who fly both, and most will agree with that statement to an extent. Here is write-up I have done that explains in greater detail just how hard - or easy depending on your point of view.

This is the main reason why I built the How To Fly RC Helicopters section of this web site and am offering these on line lessons for free - I don't want people to give up with RC helis simply because they didn't have someone to guide them through the basics of learning how to fly.

You also have to understand some basic helicopter flight theory before you even attempt to fly a helicopter, although that is the same for RC airplanes.

Like I side before, learning how to skate or ride a bike seemed impossible for many of us, but once you got it, it seemed so easy right. Helis are no different – just more technical.

There are more tools now than ever to help you along the way such as rc flight simulators, and the equipment is much better. Learning from a qualified RC heli instructor is the best way to go, but so many of us have learned on our own.

Any one can figure it out, some catch on quick others take a bit longer – but if you take your time, understand the basics, and learn in small steps, you will succeed!

Setup & Tips For Electric Collective Pitch RC Helicopters is another one of my own e-books that will help people who are starting out on collective pitch helicopters and want to learn how to tame them down into a good trainer platform along with many other tips. Proper setup on a collective pitch heli is crucial - this e-book demystifies the process. Click on the image of the book to learn more about what's inside and how it can help.

information on RC helicopters.

If you would rather watch than

read.

There are several reasons why many people give up or fail with Radio Controlled Helicopters, the most common are:

I built this web site to offer sound advice and guide you along the way. I want people to succeed with radio controlled helicopters and enjoy this rewarding and fun hobby as much as I do - hopefully for a life time.

Good Luck And Have Fun!