If your goal is a full blown heli, don't waste your time with the Quark or any coaxial heli. Go ahead and get the T-Rex and pick yourself up a simulator (like realflight g4).
The Coax helis and most of the small helis are a waste of time, especially if your looking to move up. You need to just jump in with both feet and a big wallet.
I understand your point and basically agree. However, for some, the small Hirobo XRB and SRB (Quark) helicopters are fun to fly as well.
These smaller helicopters can be easily flown around the inside your home/office. The Hirobo XRB can do things you can't do with a traditional TR type helicopter because it does not have a TR. Plus it's user friendly, in that the blades won't hurt anything if you strike something.
I've used my Hirobo XRB, since it is so stable, to demonstrate real helicopter characteristics such as IGE and OGE hovering effects.
On a side note, I am not sure how far I will go with this hobby. I have a friend who builds large scale RC aircraft, both fixed and rotary wing. The other night I held a turbine engine at his shop. That thing was so cool.
My dream helicopter would be a Cobra scale type since I used to fly the real ones. Not sure if i would go with a turbine like the video I linked to above. Probably just get a nice electric model. Still the turbine does sound sweet!
I haven't flown much in the past year, but here's one of my heli's ( I have a few).
Nice collection.
Which is your favorite?
The Align T-Rex and the Honey Bee King 2 are very popular around where I live and fly. One friend has his T-Rex decked out with lights including the main rotor. Fun to watch him fly at night. Another fellow has his with all the position lights which is nice too. The strobes have a nice effect even in daylight.
One fellow really likes the smaller helicopters such as the Wink type. He can really put them through their paces. Those things move so dang fast. I call them his "Bees" because that's what they resemble when he really gets them going.
Does anyone know if mini RC Helicopters are safe for cats? I want to get one to fly inside of my house...however, I want to make sure that if my cat should see it and attack it, while it's airborne, that doing so wouldn't hurt him.
That's why those light, styrofoam ones seem a bit more safe. It's not like I'm ever going to fly it toward him...but I want to be safe just in case he surprises me. Or if this is just a case where I should always put him in another room while I fly it. Have people had issues where pets got hurt before?
The nice thing about the Hirobo XRB and SRB (Quark) is that the blades break before the helicopter in most cases. Usually there is no damage caused by the blades which is nice. The blades can be replaced fairly quickly and cheaply.
Not sure if they are cat friendly, but would think they would be. Unfortunately, both of these are expensive so you might just want to put the cat in a different room before you go flying.
Funny. I wouldn't do this with a XRB or SRB. Way too expensive!
Here in Japan, the Quark has really become popular. Its small size combined with being able to fly it both inside and outside contribute to its popularity.
One things for sure, the RC hobby can be very expensive.