Beginners Setup
Next Level Setup
Basic Budget Beginner – Fixed Pitch – Cannot hover upside down
Here are two of the most budget and beginner friendly RC helicopters that are currently on the market. Both models have widely available spare parts from UK retailers that offer full support should you need it. These models are not capable of acrobatics as the pitch of the main rotor blades are static known as “Fixed Pitch”. The initial challengers faced when you first start to fly an RC helicopter are around take off, hovering (ideally in the same spot) and safely landing again. Trust me when we tell you that acrobatics will be the last thing on your mind.
The following models both come as a complete ready to fly (RTF), fully configured packages that include RC helicopter, transmitter (controller), battery and battery charger. You might want to consider buying some extra batteries which are dirt cheap and will give you around 6-8 minutes flight time per battery. 6 minutes doesn’t sound like a long time but tell us it’s not a long time after you’ve spent 6 minutes flying one!
Ninja RC Helicopter – Average price £60
Main rotor diameter : 250mm
Length: 268mm
Height: 80mm
Flying weight : 52.7g
E-Flight Blade 120 SR S2 RC Helicopter – Average price £150
Main rotor diameter : 330mm
Length : 320mm
Height : 108mm
Flying weight : 106g
Both the helicopters above can be purchased from a number of UK RC helicopter retailers. We would encourage anybody interested in either model to simply pop the names into google and read up on them. Both models have the ability to level themselves out at the touch of a button (Rescue Mode) on your controller should or rather when you get into trouble during flight. The Ninja can even take off and land by itself. Both helciopters also have a stability mode, think of stability mode as like a ball bearing in a bowl. As soon as you stop moving them around and center your control stick, the helicopter will settle into a nice stable hover the same way the ball bearing will settle to the bottom of the bowl.
The great thing about both these helicopters is their low cost of entry to allow you to learn and master basic fight. Both are cheap as chips for replacement parts especially the main suspects such as main rotor blades, main shafts, landing skids and tail booms. They both have excellent resale value once you are ready to move on to something with a bit more poke.
We would always encourage beginners to purchase new where possible and build a fundamental understanding of RC helicopters and how to maintain them. A second-hand purchase may require additional setup, configuration, or even repair to function normally.
If you are interested in learning to fly RC helicopters, please visit our learn to fly page.