MarkVP

Thanks so much for the advice everyone. I prefer the idea of a larger heli so I'm going to look for a second hand Trex 500.. might have to stretch my budget a little. Does anyone have any experience with the Trex 450? Bit smaller obviously but there appears to be quite a few around on the second hand market and they are much cheaper than the 500? Cheers!

Hi all, I'm looking for a heli recommend... After well over a decade I recently got back into RC after dragging an almost forgotten glider out of my loft and electrifying it. Its been great fun and I've been amazed by how electric power has moved on. Anyway nearly 20 years ago I used to fly a Nexus IC helicopter and also had one of the first generation of small, fixed pitch electric helis (I forget what it was called). I'd like to get an electric helicopter but the choice is bewildering so I'd rather go on the recommendation of knowledgeable people here (as I did with electrifying the glider I mentioned above and that worked out great). Can anyone recommend me something based on the following: Electric heli. Budget sub £500 (happy with new or second hand) My transmitter is a Spectrum DX8. Easy to fly (I'm not a complete novice as above but will need something forgiving at first. Going forward I'm just interested in gently cruising around) Easy to set up. Really appreciate anyone taking the time to steer me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!

Yep took a significant amount of loitering on facebook marketplace but eventually acquired a second hand Spektrum DX8. Amazing bit of kit. and PS- after a bit of practicing this afternoon I can now manage to get this thing to climb away vertically 😁. The last time I flew an electrically powered model they could barely climb!

Probably the slowest project ever but its done. I originally bought a 500mAh battery but it was tiny in the fuselage and too light! With a 1000mAh batt no lead is required to make the c of g work. It flies brilliantly and I'm amazed by the power! It climbs almost vertically and a 5-10 second burst of power is enough to get high enough to glide around for what seems like ages. Now all I need are some thermals. Great fun!

Went with the Armsoar powertrain suggested above and some 3s batteries. I'm very impressed with how small and light the motor and batts are! I think the batt and motor combined might actually be lighter than the old receiver battery I was using in it 15 years ago! I chopped the nose off, the fuselage is oval in section not round, so I experimented shoving different size penny washers into the nose until I found one that was the right size to "persuade" the front of the fuselage into a perfectly round section to match the spinner. I then used that washer as a basis to set about making a bulkhead from some surplus carbon which I must have laid up about 10 years ago (knew that would come in handy). Lots of in and out to get it to the required shape, but its dry fit now and looking pretty good. The spinner isn't a bad match for the shape of the fuselage. The motor power cables can be persuaded to fit under the canopy and the canopy itself is almost there, just needs slight modification... The tolerances are, shall we say, "toight". There must be all of 0.5mm around the front of the motor. Drilling the motor mount holes in the right place in the bulkhead to achieve clearance was an absolute torment! Been a while since I've worked with something this small and delicate- good for the soul. Next step is to tack in the bulkhead with some epoxy, remove the motor and then glass in the bulkhead properly... Ps- Can anyone recommend a transmitter which would work for this and a selection of other stuff- flying wings, helicopters etc? Ideally less than 200?

Thanks for the info guys. Much appreciated. I've removed all the old gear and opened up as big a hole as I dare under the wing. Having looked at the access and googled the sizes of batteries my plan is to relocate the servos under the wing, and have the batt/Rx speed controller up front. Its hard to convey how clueless I am with the electric side of things! I have no idea what size motor is compatible with what battery, what mAh I should go with, what the compatible connectors are etc etc. I like the look of the F5F powertrain suggested above but it has an XT30 connector and I can't seem to find any batteries with XT30 connectors? Most seem to have XT60U-F? 🤷‍♂️. Its a lot of googling! I'm toying with the idea of making a removable/interchangeable nose cone/motor so that I can fly it as a pure glider if required! See how I get on. Yes it has a solid wing! I remember it used to fly beautifully for a rudder/elevator model. As soon as you touch the rudder it would quickly roll into a nicely balanced turn with hardly any perceptible yaw. I always assumed it was down to the very sharp dihedral on the wing tips (the original kit showed the tip panels heavily radiused on the leading edge but I left them square to preserve the wing area). Can't wait to fly it again... although I'm probably about to ruin it with all the extra weight!

oops try again-

Hi there, I'm returning to RC after about 15 years... I'm bewildered by how things have moved on! I've rescued the glider below from the loft, and I wonder if anyone can help with the following questions- 1- What is it? (Its 2 channel rudder/elevator with solid balsa wing and GRP fuselage). 2- Can someone recommend me a suitable transmitter and receiver + battery setup for this (and ideally one which would also be suitable for my ancient Zagi which has yet to be rescued from aforementioned loft). 3- Could I electrify this? I'm thinking some kind of tiny brushless motor in the nose, folding prop and just enough power/endurance to get up to a couple of hundred feet a few times in order to start thermalling. I suspect it is too small but I have no idea what is possible with modern tech. If it is possible can anyone recommend me a battery/motor combo which would likely work? It is 147cm span, 10cm chord. fuselage is 3cm wide and 4cm deep under the wing, about 5 cm deep in the cockpit area. Thanks in advance, I'm grateful for any help!