RC helicopters

[ABNAK]

I am "gunned-out" for the time being. AR's and other stuff out the wazoo. Thinking of another [hopefully] less costly hobby to fulfill the kid in me. On Facebook I saw an ad for an RC Chinook and an RC Blackhawk. Kinda looked cool.

I have never owned or played with an RC aircraft. Couple of questions:

Is it hard to learn to fly these things?

How far away/high can they fly from the controller?

How long can they fly on a charge?

[OH58D]

I can't address an RC CH-47 or UH-60, but I have played around with DJI drones that belong to my son. The one I flew was the DJI Mavic 2 Pro. We used it to hunt down some cattle in an area not accessible by vehicle. I think we took the thing out almost two miles and it has a 30 minute flight time. His controller has the built in screen, with data readout of distance, altitude, battery power, etc. It also has a return to home feature. It was a fabulous tool for live viewing and recording from an aerial point of view. For chasing cattle in the ranching business, I can see frequent use in just locating parts of your herd on bigger operations than mine.

I think just the drone was around $1800 and the control unit was fairly pricey. I can tell you these things can become addicting. Even my old unit of the 160th has a specialized company dedicated to drone flight.

[ABNAK]

Yeah, I was thinking one with a camera would be even better. I called my brother after the OP and he has a drone. It is one that has the four mini-props and also has a camera. He said the choppers might look cool but without a camera they didn't have much practicality. His was about $1K (including the controller) and has an automatic return-to-base if it flies outside of the allowable range.

[TexHill]

I have the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum, and I can tell you that there is a huge difference between a RC helicopter and a drone. My drone has built in GPS, computer assisted controls, collision avoidance, and a 4K camera that can record 9 hours of video. The typical RC helicopter doesn't have these features.

I chose the Mavic Pro Platinum because of it's run time, (45 minute max, 20-30 minute avg.), range (4.5 miles, trees can affect range), and altitude, (16,000 ft, by law you are limited to 400 ft agl). I also have the DJI Goggles with mine which are really cool. They make it seem like you're flying in the drone.

Here's a short video that I made using my drone.

[ABNAK]

I have the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum, and I can tell you that there is a huge difference between a RC helicopter and a drone. My drone has built in GPS, computer assisted controls, collision avoidance, and a 4K camera that can record 9 hours of video. The typical RC helicopter doesn't have these features.

I chose the Mavic Pro Platinum because of it's run time, (45 minute max, 20-30 minute avg.), range (4.5 miles, trees can affect range), and altitude, (16,000 ft, by law you are limited to 400 ft agl). I also have the DJI Goggles with mine which are really cool. They make it seem like you're flying in the drone.

Here's a short video that I made using my drone.

What did that whole setup cost you? (including the goggles, which I think would be cool as hell)

[TexHill]

What did that whole setup cost you? (including the goggles, which I think would be cool as hell)

$1,800 for the entire package. I purchased the "Fly More Combo" which was $1,200. The goggles were $350. An extra battery for $90 - the combo came with three. I also bought the Care Refresh insurance and some other smaller accessories.

[Bulletdog]

I've been into RC stuff since the mid 80's. I used to race on road and off road cars of all types and sizes, and I used to fly all sorts of different planes. Both gas and electric. I dabbled in helos, but back in those old days, they were very challenging to fly at all without crashing. Hovering a few inches off the ground for a few seconds and putting it down safely was a huge accomplishment. When the opposing dual rotor systems came out, it got much easier. Even little 35 dollar toy choppers were flyable at that point. When the first computer assisted "quad" copters started coming out, it was a HUGE leap forward. Today's drones are the evolution of that latest advancement, and the level we are at for the price point is astounding to someone like me whose been around it all since the early days. They fly themselves now. Literally. Push button take off. Push button return to home and landing. With "waypoint" flying you set a bunch of points by tapping your device's screen, set your speed and parameters and push a button, and the drone flies itself through your programmed course without any further input from the pilot. Today's flying machines will automatically follow your subject, or position themselves in the middle of a field and follow the subject from a fixed position, or perform any number of special camera trick shots, all automatically. Further, the newer models are just about crash proof. They have sensors all around and even if you try to crash into something, they won't let you. They automatically ascend to your pre-programmed height, return to the point where you took off, and land themselves within an inch of the take off point when the battery reaches a pre-set level. They are infinitely programmable for anyone's preferences, but yet still easy to program and fly even for someone like me who isn't all that tech or computer savvy.

I let people who have never flown anything before fly my drone with no worry whatsoever ever. As I said, they couldn't crash it even if they tried. The drones orient themselves to the GPS satellites, so you could literally put it up in the sky on a windy day, go inside and have a tall glass of sweet tea, and 25-30 minutes later the drone will land itself right where you took off from and be waiting for your return. I haven't even started on the cameras... Even without the cameras, the abilities and plain old-fashioned fun of these flying machines makes them worth it. Its a computer controlled, automated flying machine!!! With a super cool super advance super stabilized camera attached to it! I can sit in a chair, fly off to distant hills and inspect the tops of the local water towers. Or chase the coyotes away. The practical applications like what OH58D mentioned are limitless too. They can fly super slow, smooth and precise, or with the toggle of a switch on the remote, they can go into "sport" mode and rip through the skies at 45 miles per hour. A third flight mode gives you "normal" flight control.

Here's something else I just learned. I suppose this has good and bad points. The government now has control over the app that flies the drone. You simply cannot fly in "no fly" zones no matter how stupid or ignorant you are. During the recent fires here I tried to put the drone up to get a better look at the fires that were over yonder and spreading rapidly. Mind you, I was well over 5 miles away from where the emergency aircraft were operating, and I would in no way get anywhere near them or their flight paths. My house is on a big hill and even 100 feet over my house gives a great vantage point of what's going on over yonder. I assessed the situation, intended to launch the drone directly over my house to a low altitude, and no sooner did it get off the ground than an emergency warning came through and they forced my drone straight down and landed it. I had very little control. I could only make slow adjustments laterally to keep the drone from landing in a tree or something, but it was coming down one way or another no matter how I tired to stop it and control it. I don't like the government having this power, BUT it does completely solve the argument/problem that dummies are going to get these things and do dumb things with them. You simply can't fly them in areas where you are not supposed to anymore, and the no fly zones are updated in real time every day.

Today's drones have gotten much more complex and capable, yet safer, easier, and more "fool" proof at the same time. Frankly, I don't know why everyone doesn't have one. But then I don't understand why everyone doesn't have an assortment of practical guns either... I don't know the chopper models you mentioned, but if they have some computer assisted stability and GPS capability built into them, they should be infinitely easier and more fun to fly than the helicopters we used to attempt to fly years ago.

[GH41]

Knew a guy years ago who almost went broke fooling with RC choppers. Not sure he ever survived one flight. Maybe times have changed.

[kerplode]

An actual RC helicopter (single main and a tail rotor - not some semi-autonomous DJI drone or counter-rotating mains deal) is very difficult to fly. I tried for a while, but I spent 10x more time fixing it than "flying". I had the opportunity to take a short demo lesson in a real helo. It was much easier to control than the model because you could sort of "feel" what it was doing. The model doesn't give you that seat of the pants, and they're super responsive, so it's easy to get it all out of shape and before you realize it's going wrong, you're picking up the pieces.

It's
VERY
Difficult

Bring money and patience...

[Bulletdog]

An actual RC helicopter (single main and a tail rotor - not some semi-autonomous DJI drone or counter-rotating mains deal) is very difficult to fly. I tried for a while, but I spent 10x more time fixing it than "flying". I had the opportunity to take a short demo lesson in a real helo. It was much easier to control than the model because you could sort of "feel" what it was doing. The model doesn't give you that seat of the pants, and they're super responsive, so it's easy to get it all out of shape and before you realize it's going wrong, you're picking up the pieces.

It's
VERY
Difficult

Bring money and patience...

Well said. I agree.