Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Air Models / September 2009

I am guessing that the reason that I have gotten no feedback
on this post is that it was assumed to be mere spam.

I will point out a couple of imperfections with the mSR to
show that this is not true:

(1) It is not nearly as stable as the mCX (like all single
rotor helicopters) so pilots are best off if they have some
single rotor hovering nose out
simulator practice. Ideally one should have mastered
hovering nose out on a simulator before trying the mSR. I
count this lack of stability as an advantage because it
provides much better hands on training with single rotor
helis.

(2) Compared to the mCX it is very unstable at altitudes of
much less than a foot, the heli slips and slides every which
way, greatly resisting staying in one horizontal spot. This
is probably due to the ground effect of the single rotor.

Even though it has stability comparable to other single
rotor helis, it has two key advantages over other non
simulator alternatives for single rotor helicopter practice,
because of its very small size and light weight:
(a) It can be flown within the home
(b) It can withstand relatively significant crashes with
zero damage. I have crashed it at least forty times with
zero damage. I was going to go with the e-flite blade-400,
but with this heli everytime you lose control it costs you
at least $20.00.

The key to avoid damagewith the mSR is to cut the power at
the instant that you lose control. The most expensive thing
to replace is the $60.00 esc, and this can be destroyed very
quickly with the throttle is up, and the rotor blocked from
spinning. Essentially everything on the heli is either soft
plastic and bends without breaking or strong enough that it
will not break even with substantial impact.