james nicholson

I'm gonna vote for the mcpX. I love my 130x and it is the better heli...... but if the tail touches anything the gears will strip & they are fiddly and relatively expensive to replace. If you crash the mcpX usually all that will need doing is the main gear clicking back in to place. Then you're good to go. Avoid the SR like the plague. I haven't had one ... mainly because it is almost impossible to find a good review of it. It's far too big for a direct drive motor tail ... conseqently it doesn't hold and the motor burns out frequently.

I blame a pico-z toy heli that a friend bought me for christmas a few years ago. It opened my eyes to the fact that rc flight had become more affordable.Obviously since then I've spent a fortune Edited By james nicholson on 21/11/2012 22:14:00

I agree mainly with Barryorbik. The mcp-x is brilliant and I reckon is the best way to get into collective pitch helis. Do not go for the RTF package though .. the transmitter supplied is not really suitable for a beginner CP heli pilot. The mcp-x is fast and twitchy so you will need a radio capable of reducing control throws and with expo and possibly blade pitch reduction ... or you will quickly become frustrated and give up. Most of the breakages to my mcp-x occurred when I was using the supplied transmitter ... I didn't make any real progress until I got a dx6i. The blade 130x is actually easier to fly because it is less affected by wind and the tail certainly holds better. I have quite a few flights on mine (sports flying) and have only had to replace bits because of 'user error'. This is now my favorite heli .. it feels like my Blade 450 to fly (perhaps even crisper control) but because of it's size it is easy to fly in the garden and is less scary. That is also another issue which is worth thinking about ... CP heli blades tend to rotate at approx 2500 to 3500 rpm .. far faster than a coaxial or fixed pitch heli. Because of this I find the Blade 450 terrifying to fly ( I have permanent scars on my arm from a dumb thumb moment ) and whilst the 130x is far less intimidating it is still scarier than the mcp-x . Even the mcpx will draw blood if someone comes into contact with the rotors. In a very round about way I am recommending an mcpx as it take knocks, bumps and unexpected landings better than any other CP heli ... but with a computer radio (dx6i or dx8). A decent radio is invaluable in this hobby and arguably more important that the model you are flying. I also reccommend getting a bunch of batteries for your mcpx so you can prolong the fun .. just don't buy the official ones because they are underpowered and extremely over priced. I have been very pleased with the hobbyking turnigy ones ... but other (possibly better still ones) are avaliable.