Well it's worth noting, after about 4 months of flying...... I still suck.
I've had some spectacular crashes tho!

Learning hover is one thing, forward and lateral flight is quite another.

I now have more $ in parts than my heli (Venom Night Ranger 3D) cost originally, it is becoming more natural on the controls..slowly ;-)

I've been in this long enough now to make some suggestions for someone who just wants to spend a few bucks and have some fun- the Silverlit PiccoZ, here- http://www.flyingadgets.com/x-rotor.htm

Yeah, I'm gettin' one-
I'd have one already but they are on backorder everywhere......

That is the smallest one available- Check out some of the turbine heli videos- for the biggest and MOST expensive ones-

http://www.v-eastonline.com/movie.html
this page has a video of a turbine start-up also. Incredible!
                                                            J

By the by, for some awesome videos of nitro- powered Helis, go to http://www.ericlarsonrc.com, click on videos.

There are 3 classes, electric, nitromethane piston engine, and turbine (yes turbine)

There are 3 types, cx, fp, and cp.

cx: coaxial, uses 2 main sets of blades which spin opposite each other, eliminating the need for a tail rotor for yaw stability. These steer by slowing down one blade or another to use the torque to turn left or right.

fp: fixed pitch mainblades, these use a tail rotor like a real heli, however the main blades are not a true airfoil, and rely on varying the throttle to produce lift, the blades just act like a fan. The Micron fp falls in this category.

cp: collective pitch, uses a tail rotor same as fp, but the mainblades can either be a flat bottomed or  symmetrical airfoil, a true lifting surface, like an airplane wing.

A coaxial and a fixed pitch cannot be flown 3D. 3D means inverted flight capable, only a collective pitch heli can do this because the pitch of the mainblades can be made to move in positive (lift) or negative (push) direction.

I'll give a little warning here, many of the good pilots have trained using a computer simulator, a crash costs them nothing. I highly recommend one. It will save many dollars and hours repairing. Re-kitting sucks!

(re-kitting is rc jargon for turning a finished model back into a kit, as in
CRASHED) lol

Also, in unskilled hands these helis can be extremely dangerous, not so much the micros, but still you can hurt yourself or others, and cause property damage.

If control is lost with a larger heli, they can easily kill someone.

And, the larger the heli, the more stable and predictable they are, believe it or not the little ones can be harder to learn on.

The newest electric versions use state-of-the-art electronics, lithium polymer battery packs, piezo gyros (tail stabilizer) and brushless motors.

I'd definetely recommend electric because they are clean and quiet, and some smaller ones may be flown indoors.

Nitro helis are a completely different animal, a different style of flying is needed. Same controls, different technique.

I'll just say, do your homework before you get into it too deep, it is NOT an easy thing to learn, helis are THE most difficult of rc "toys" to learn.

And go here-
http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html
for information on how to begin to fly.

In experienced hands, these things will defy like 14 laws of physics, and you will be stretching your mental limits when it comes to concentration!

                                                         J

http://www.helihobby.com/html/precision_heli.html

I WANT one !!

disclaimer: this is a link to a retail site, I am not soliciting anything, this is for entertainment only.

The link: http://www.rchover.com

Scroll down just a bit 'til you see
T rex 600, video 1, there are other vids, but this one is the most impressive....enjoy!                       J

PS the T rex 600 is NOT a beginner's bird, it has around a 4 foot rotorspan, and the total cost for everything required can be between $1000-1500 USD.