GALTECH MODELS - R/C Planes, Helicopters, Cars, Boats & more

P O Box 1267, 28-30 Sutton Place, Palmerston North. Ph: 06-355-5747 Fax: 06-359-4501
Email: rene@galtechmodels.com Menu by OpenCube CSS Menu

We recommend you start with a 30 to 50 size kit for which you can easily get parts and service. Some suggestions include the JR Venture or Voyager which have proven to be very reliable and have the ability to perform past the training phase.

We recommend using the best engine you can afford. For the beginner this is very important because the better engines are very easy to tune, reliable and durable. You want to spend your time at the flying field practicing, not tuning your engine. We recommend O.S. engines that are made in Japan and are of superb quality and performance.

Helicopter engines do not come with mufflers and some helicopter manufacturers do not include a muffler in their kits. The correct unit can vary from engine to engine and heli to heli but Yusa, Hatori and KSJ (amoungst others) make high-quality mufflers and tune pipes.

We recommend that you start with at least a basic computerized 6 channel helicopter radio such as the JR378 or Futaba 7CHP. If your budget can go higher, get a good 7 or 8 channel heli radio with dual ball bearing servos such as the Futaba 9CHP, JR PCM9X or Hitech Eclipse 7; the Eclipse is especially good value being not much dearer than the entry level 6 channels. As your flying skills progress, these better radios will keep you from being limited by the basic features provided in the entry level units.

You want to choose a pieso type gyro, just about any brand works well, prices for any worthwhile unit range from $200 up to $800. We do not recommend you start with the high cost complicated heading lock gyro. Why? Because, when training, you may have the odd "hard" landing, and you can damage an expensive high end gyro just as easily as the low priced basic one. And at the beginning stage, the difference in performance will not be that detectable. Save your money for fuel to practice. The JR G410T gyros are good, inexpensive units that will allow you good performance at a reasonable price

You need a 12 volt starter, 12 volt sealed battery, 12 volt battery charger, 2 or more glow plugs, glow plug igniter (with meter preferably) and charger, electric or hand crank fuel pump, 3 feet of fuel line, fuel filter, air filter, and some models will need an extra starter extension. Try to get at least 15% nitro methane helicopter fuel, usually with synthetic oil, stay away from castor oil type of fuel.

A set of training gear will save you a lot of money and skid stops reduce wearing on your skids later when you remove the training gear. Although many have learned how to fly helicopters before the introduction of computer simulators, the modern trainee can take advantage of this new development. We highly recommend the "AeroFly Professional" computer simulator or something similar. These electronic devices have the ability to very closely simulate r/c helicopter & airplane flight. In the initial learning stages and as you progress to aerobatics, you will find them an invaluable teaching aid, well worth the cost.

A glow plug remote adapter to facilitate hook up to the glow plug when starting the engine. An on board battery monitor to check your receiver battery condition. Foam rubber and rubber bands to cover and mount the radio receiver and battery. A thread locking compound is a must, you use it on every bolt and nut that does not use a locknut. JB Weld or epoxy for gluing anything in high stress areas. Tri-Flow Teflon lubricant for all metal to metal sliding parts, and some small size wire ties to help keep all the servo wires together.

A set of (1.5mm/2.0mm/2.5mm & 3.0mm) hardened hex drivers will help greatly in the assembly and last forever. To save money here you can use a Bondus metric allen key set. Also add a metric ruler, hobby knife, ball link pliers for installing and removing ball links, cross wrenches for engine nut & glow plug. A pitch gauge and fly bar paddle gauge will be handy for setting up the main rotor pitch angles. Main blade balancer, piston locking tool and a ball link driver are also considered relatively necessary tools if one is to continue in this hobby.

We recommend you get as much information as possible. There are many of these items available that are of great assistance in setting up your heli, for learning how everything works together, for explaining different flight exercises etc. Two books we recommend are "Rays Authoritive Helicopter Manual" by Ray Hostetler and for the more advanced the "R/C Helicopter Book of Questions & Answers" by Curtis Youngblood. Recommended magazines, in the order of recommendation are "Model Helicopter Technique" edited by Michael Humic, "Model Helicopter World" edited by Jon Tanner, and "Rotory Modeler" edited by Mike Mas. Videos of consequence are the Curtis Youngblood series and the "R/C Basic Hover Flight Training" tape.