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e-Century Hummingbird - Swift > Beginners and Swifts? Price?
 
 
Planehazza
Veteran
Location: Newcastle, England

Do Beginners and Swifts mix? lol

I have experience with Ve hummers and would like to progress to a Swift or Trex eventually.

SO from scratch (I have no Heli radios), how much will it cost to get a Swift airborne?

Cheers

As far as they know, I already had it!
T-Rex 450 XL HDE with metal upgrades
03-28-2006 Over year old.
 
 
coolice
Key Veteran
Location: Northamptonshire, England

Hey,

Swifts & beginners I think is an excellent mix, the model itself flies very well and handles a stiff breeze much better than anticipated. While with any electric duration is the downfall, with 2 battery packs you can have a good days flying.

As for price, I feel the Swift is better value when compared to the Trex. While you pay more for the Swift's larger LiPo packs compared to the Trex's, you can use standard size flight gear and hence save valueable pennies there.
Spares prices to are very comparable, in some instances matching the smaller machine if memory serves correct.

While the Trex could be used indoors, most indoor events are not big enough for Trexs to really shine and then outside the Swift comes into it's own. Especially if there is a good breeze, the Swift would be less effected compared to the Rexy.

I have been fortunate to have flown both models, Trex CDE & SE variants and they do indeed fly well. But compared to the Swift there is no real comparison as the Swift is bigger and hence more stable with it. Of course the setup of the machine dictates how docile or wild the controls are and overall what it will be capable of. It is with this expeience I have been able to compare the two models and find out their strong points and weaknesses.

Overall price, I am sure that on a budget you could have a Swift flying for £625~£700 with one battery, possibly even less using a budget gyro & servo combination. Most basic computer radios have 3 servo eCCPM so thats all catered for as well.

A lot of the decision will come down to personal taste and also how easy it is for you to get spares quickly.
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Ian Contessa
Team Robbe SchluterUK
03-28-2006 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
Planehazza
Veteran
Location: Newcastle, England

Thanks for the really good response coolice!

Damn, I was hoping for an answer of about £400 I really should learn to not underestimate the price of this hobby!

PMF's sig is very true!!

Thanks all

As far as they know, I already had it!
T-Rex 450 XL HDE with metal upgrades
03-28-2006 Over year old.
 
 
coolice
Key Veteran
Location: Northamptonshire, England

Hey Mate,

No worries, your welcome for the response.
I'm glad to pass on what I pick up from my own findings for people such as yourself to make decisions they will enjoy afterwards.

I am sure if you keep a look out for a second hand Swift you could grab yourself a nice bargain. I have seen a couple for instance on the BMFA site recently, this maybe a good option to pursue.

Unfortunately anything electric of this sort of size isn't cheap, this I am learning myself recently to But the models do fly well with the right equipment and give a lot of enjoyment.
Their power is excellent to.
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Ian Contessa
Team Robbe SchluterUK
03-28-2006 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
Rob_T
Elite Veteran
Location: ..

There's no doubt that the bigger model will fly better, but Trexes fly quite well too.

For a beginner something you need to look at is the price and avilability of spares in your area. Where I live I have 2 shops within 15 minutes drive that carry Trex spares, neither carries Century spares. So if I crash my 'rex on Saturday I can still fly Sunday. Not the same if I crash my HB Elite- then I need to wait a week for parts if I dont have them all in stock. Do check the prices too.

Big electrics will cost you more for the motor, ESC and batteries. This will more than offset the price difference of a HS56 servo over something bigger, so the entry price of the Swift will be higher unless you compare a low spec Swift with a high spec Trex where things will start to even out. Unless you intend to charge at the flying field also price out the price of batteries for 60 minutes of duration- I'm sure Ian will tell you his duration from his battery packs (and what battery configuartion he's using at the moment). A Trex will give you about 12 minutes (only) from a 3S battery of about 2100 capacity- that's not a great number, but the batteries are cheap.

If you do plan to charge at the field, figure out how many and what kind of charger you need, considering a lipo takes almost 90 minutes to charge.

I nearly bought a Swift- my wife placed the order for the kit version a month before christmas, but when it still hadn't shipped by christmas we cancelled the order and I bought a TRex 450 XL at my LHS a few days later. I'm not against the Swift it's a nice bird, I'm just trying to answer if it's the right choice for where you are now or not.
03-28-2006 Over year old.
 
 
Planehazza
Veteran
Location: Newcastle, England

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately both the Swift and the Trex are waaay out my budget. Im scint and I need to buy a car lol.

As far as they know, I already had it!
T-Rex 450 XL HDE with metal upgrades
03-28-2006 Over year old.
 
 
Pistol_Pete
Elite Veteran
Location: Tampa Bay non-Buccaneer

get the car first...you will need it to get parts for any heli you get afterwards as crashes, in the beginning are unfortunately unavoidable...in the meantime do a search using

flight model simulator (FMS for short)

it a free bottom of the barrel flight simmm that will get your feet wet until you can afford to get a heli.

cheers

<><>...the lunatic is in my head...<><>
03-29-2006 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
coolice
Key Veteran
Location: Northamptonshire, England

Hey,

For an allround bit of fun and cheap flying you cannot beat a HummingBird V3. Ok so it's no Swift, but the amount of fun I and others have with them at the local indoor meetings is great.

As has been said, you need a car first to get you mobile and they do cost money. Been there done that with souped-up cars, stereos etc. and still like my cars even today and tart them up a little.
Once you have you'll soon settle into what it's going to cost you every month and be able to budget what you can spend on your hobby.

That is of course as long as you keep away from the girls once you have the wheels
.

Ian Contessa
Team Robbe SchluterUK
03-29-2006 Over year old.
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
Planehazza
Veteran
Location: Newcastle, England

Hey guys,
Yeh I've got FMS 8 and I use my skysport 6 to practice with. i hav about 500+ models on it lol.

As far as they know, I already had it!
T-Rex 450 XL HDE with metal upgrades
03-29-2006 Over year old.
 
 
helijohn
Senior Heliman
Location: UK - Birmingham

My comments are more anecdotal. I liked building the Swift because I could use parts/bits that I had as a result of IC flying, it's more of a regular size heli.
However, the amount of flying time because of the battery aspect would make me say a beginner might do better to start with IC. See, to my mind, because the Swift is a bigger heli you would be more than likely possibly flying at a field as opposed to at home and the charging consideration becomes paramount.
03-29-2006 Over year old.
 
 
Planehazza
Veteran
Location: Newcastle, England

Thanks but IC is a no go I cannot afford to buy the heli, radio AND starting equipment etc.

How much does it cost to get into IC helis compared to EP? My impression was that IC is more expensive.

As far as they know, I already had it!
T-Rex 450 XL HDE with metal upgrades
03-29-2006 Over year old.
 
 
helijohn
Senior Heliman
Location: UK - Birmingham

That's an interesting question. Short answer is I don't know. It's all bloomin expensive, specially on a like for like comparison. I mean you could buy a hoverfly, nowt like a Raptor, for little cash. Since "going" electric I have had to buy in equipment that is somewhat unique to electric helis and this maybe equivalent to starting equipment. To be honest, I wouldn't like to guess as to which is more costly. Some body will no doubt be able to work it out for us. As far as radio and such goes most of it is common to both and the blessing of the Swift is that the things like servos, gyros. Rxs etc. do apply to both. The main cost difference, initially, is possibly the fuel but that's what gets you in the air for longer to learn.
03-29-2006 Over year old.
 
 
SRH990
Key Veteran
Location: Birmingham, UK

I think a full IC setup is usually quoted around the £800 mark including all starting gear ready to go for a Raptor, you could do it for less with maybe a cheaper heli (although there aren't many cheaper about). The Swift deal is £400 alone, without radio gear but including heli, speed controller, motor & battery - a Trex SE is £350 without battery. If you want really cheap a fixed pitch electric micro like the Hummingbird or Twister would give you the basics and if you can fly a FP heli well then a CP heli would be a piece of cake (relatively )

Steve -Trex 700N, Trex 600N, Raptor 550E, 450SE, Mini Titan, Logo 5003D, Beam E4
03-29-2006 Over year old.
 
 
helijohn
Senior Heliman
Location: UK - Birmingham

So are the two about the same or is one twice the other? I think there isn't much in it on a like for like basis.
03-29-2006 Over year old.
 
 
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e-Century Hummingbird - Swift > Beginners and Swifts? Price?
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