Reviews, guides and primers
Reviews of the helicopters we sell, setup and repair guides, and plain-English primers for anyone starting out.
RC helicopter classes and sizes explained: 150 to 800
150, 450, 500, 700, 800 — RC helicopters are sized by class, and the number tells you the rotor size, the power, the skill needed and where you can fly. Here's the whole ladder.
- Guides
RC helicopter gyros and governors explained
Two systems keep a helicopter pointing straight and spinning at a constant speed: the tail gyro and the governor. Here's what each does, and how to spot when one needs adjusting.
2026-07-26 · 7 min read - Guides
The RC helicopter swashplate explained: CCPM, collective and cyclic
The swashplate is how your control inputs reach the spinning blades. Understand collective, cyclic and CCPM mixing and the whole helicopter suddenly makes sense.
2026-07-26 · 7 min read - Guides
Flybarless (FBL) systems explained: what they do and why every modern heli has one
The spinning paddles are gone. Modern RC helicopters use an electronic flybarless unit instead — a three-axis gyro brain that makes them steadier, more precise and lower-maintenance. Here's how it works.
2026-07-26 · 8 min read - Reviews
The best scale RC helicopters under £1,000 (2026)
You don't need to spend four figures for a genuine scale helicopter. Here are the best ready-to-fly scale ships under £1,000 — from £449 Flywings to Roban's 450-class RTF range.
2026-07-26 · 8 min read - Guides
Flywing vs FLISHRC: which scale RC helicopter should you start with?
Two scale brands, the same fly-it-not-build-it idea — but a £900 gap in price and a real gap in size and detail. Where Flywing's affordable ships end and FLISHRC's premium FL500 V2 range begins.
2026-07-26 · 9 min read - Guides
Flywing helicopters: affordable scale that flies itself
Flywing is the most affordable way into scale RC helicopters — ready-to-fly BO-105s, Hueys and Bell 206s with GPS stabilisation, for well under half the price of the premium brands.
2026-07-26 · 8 min read - Guides
Roban scale helicopters: the ARF and RTF range explained
Roban builds the biggest, most detailed scale airframes you can buy on a hobby budget. Here's the full range — the 700/800 ARF kits for builders and the 450/470 RTF ships for everyone else.
2026-07-26 · 9 min read - Guides
FLISHRC helicopters: the FL500 V2 scale range explained
FLISHRC put ready-to-fly scale helicopters with modern GPS electronics within reach. Here's the full FL500 V2 range — the gunships, the civilian ships, the electronics — and who each one is for.
2026-07-26 · 9 min read - Guides
Roban vs FLISHRC: which scale RC helicopter brand should you buy?
Two names dominate affordable scale helicopters — and they share more than buyers realise. The airframes come from the same place; the electronics are where they split, and where FLISHRC pulls ahead.
2026-07-25 · 12 min read - Reviews
FLISHRC BO105 in orange reviewed: the air-ambulance that flies itself into a hover
The MBB Bölkow Orange 'Luftrettung' livery on the 500-class FL500 V2 platform. Four-blade scale head, GPS-locked hover, £1,600 — and the prettiest of the BO105 range. Here is how it flies.
2026-07-25 · 10 min read - Beginners
How to fly an RC helicopter: your first hover, step by step
Sticks, trims, throttle hold, the tail-in hover. The exact sequence that gets a total beginner off the ground safely — and the three mistakes that break blades in the first session.
2026-07-23 · 9 min read - Beginners
RC helicopter vs drone: which should you actually buy?
One hovers itself and shoots 4K video; the other demands months of practice and rewards it forever. An honest comparison of what each is really for — and which suits you.
2026-07-22 · 8 min read - Reviews
Goosky S2 reviewed: the 200-class that grew up
Bigger, calmer and more capable than the S1 that made Goosky's name. After a season of flying, here is whether the S2 is the right first collective-pitch for a UK club pilot.
2026-07-21 · 9 min read - Guides
RC helicopter maintenance: a pre- and post-flight checklist
The five-minute field check before every flight, the ten-minute bench check after every session, and the monthly deep check that stops small problems becoming crashes.
2026-07-20 · 8 min read - Scene
Scale RC helicopters: a UK buyer's guide
Fibreglass fuselages, GPS-stabilised heads, £1,400 price tags. The UK scale-helicopter scene quietly grew up — here is how to pick one that doesn't disappoint.
2026-05-23 · 11 min read - Scene
Where to fly an RC helicopter in the UK
Garden, park, club field, BMFA-affiliated site — what is legal, what is sensible, and what to do before you take the rotors out of the box.
2026-05-22 · 9 min read - Scene
BMFA membership: what it is, what it costs, why you need it
Insurance, Article 16 authorisation, club access, training. Why the £40 annual fee is the single best money you will spend on the hobby.
2026-05-21 · 7 min read - Beginners
PNF, BNF, RTF, ARF: what RC helicopter acronyms actually mean
Four three-letter labels decide what comes in the box, what you need to buy separately, and whether you can fly tonight or next month. Here is what each one really means.
2026-05-20 · 6 min read - Reviews
Best RC helicopters under £150: beginner shortlist 2026
Coaxials, small fixed-pitch trainers, and one collective-pitch surprise. Six helicopters under £150 that are actually worth buying as a first machine.
2026-05-19 · 8 min read - Reviews
FLISHRC FL500 V2 reviewed: the £1,400 scale helicopter that actually flies
Fibreglass fuselage, GPS-stabilised L7 flight controller, six painted liveries. A serious 500-class scale platform at a price that used to buy you a chassis kit.
2026-05-18 · 11 min read - Guides
How to set up pitch and throttle curves on an RC helicopter
Two five-point curves decide how your helicopter actually flies. Here is what each point does, what good values look like, and how to tune without breaking anything.
2026-05-16 · 10 min read - Beginners
Indoor vs outdoor RC helicopters: which to start with
Your room or a club field, two different aircraft, two different learning curves. The right answer depends on where you actually have space to fly.
2026-05-15 · 6 min read - Reviews
Goosky S1 reviewed: a year on, is it still the best £400 collective-pitch?
Five hundred grams of trainable 3D machine. Twelve months and 400 flights later, here is whether the Goosky S1 has held up — and what the competition has done to it.
2026-05-14 · 9 min read - Guides
Tracking RC helicopter blades: a step-by-step guide
Off-tracking blades cost you altitude, eat batteries, and shake the airframe to pieces. Twenty minutes and three coloured strips of tape and you can fix it forever.
2026-05-13 · 6 min read - Beginners
How long does it take to learn to fly an RC helicopter?
Hover in a fortnight, fly competently in three months, fly well in two years. An honest timeline for the patient beginner.
2026-05-12 · 5 min read - Guides
Setting up your transmitter for the first RC helicopter (Spektrum, FrSky, Radiomaster)
Swashplate type, dual rates, expo, throttle hold, failsafe. The five settings that decide whether the helicopter flies well or fights you the whole way.
2026-05-10 · 9 min read - Reviews
OMP M2 Explorer vs Goosky S2: which 200-class to buy
Two near-identical-class collective-pitch helicopters from two of the most active manufacturers in the small-heli segment. Here is which one is actually the better buy for which pilot.
2026-05-08 · 8 min read - Guides
Diagnosing tail wag, drift and bobbing: a flight-controller primer
Three symptoms, ten possible causes, one diagnosis tree. How to read what your helicopter is telling you and fix the underlying setting.
2026-05-07 · 8 min read - Beginners
RC helicopter terminology: a glossary for total beginners
Pitch, gyro, swashplate, FBL, head speed, collective, cyclic — what every term means, in plain English, with no assumed prior knowledge.
2026-05-05 · 8 min read - Reviews
Align T-REX 470L reviewed: still the benchmark mid-class?
A platform that has been in continuous production for nearly a decade, refined into one of the most predictable mid-class machines you can buy. The case for not chasing the new thing.
2026-05-04 · 9 min read - Guides
Replacing an RC helicopter tail rotor: tools, time, what can go wrong
A bent shaft, a snapped belt, a torn blade. Every heli pilot replaces a tail rotor eventually. Here is exactly how, in about 40 minutes, without expensive tools.
2026-05-02 · 7 min read - Scene
The state of UK RC helicopter clubs in 2026
Membership is up, scale flying is back, and the £30 club fee is the best-value access to a runway in the country. Where the UK heli scene actually sits.
2026-05-01 · 8 min read - Beginners
Your first RC helicopter: how to pick one and not quit
Coaxial, fixed-pitch, or collective-pitch — which one to start on, why the internet is often wrong, and how to avoid the £300 mistake.
2026-04-12 · 7 min read - Reviews
Flywing BO-105 reviewed: scale looks, surprisingly easy flight
A universal-fit BO-105 body on a well-sorted 450-class mechanics. Is it a scale curio or a legitimate flyer? Both, it turns out.
2026-04-01 · 8 min read - Guides
Choosing LiPo batteries for RC helicopters
C rating, cell count, capacity, connector choice — how to read a helicopter battery spec and why the cheap 45C pack is often the wrong pack.
2026-03-18 · 6 min read