Almost ready to fly RC helicopters are designed for more advanced pilots, who will want to tweak and trim the components to their own specifications before final assembly. However, it is also possible to buy basic “body” kits for some better known electric helicopters.
Here, the fuselage and canopy are provided (the fuselage quite often already assembled) and usually the blades as well. By the way, these are not the same as body canopy upgrades, which are designed to fit over existing electric helicopters.
You then purchase the electronic components and install them as and when you can afford to. Some people buy crashed RC helicopters at shows and dismantle them – a good way to get spare parts, and make another pilot happy at the same time.
You may already have upgraded some of the components with your previous electric helicopters (for example, by purchasing a 2.4Ghz transmitter, or installing a brushless motor). It’s important these are viable for your new body build, taking into account the load factor, electronics compatibility, and amount of room “under the bonnet.” Even seasoned pilots have been known to come unstuck when building their RC helicopters from scratch.
It is best to start with a fresh battery pack, as unless your batteries are really new they won’t hold the charge the way you’ll want them to, and brand new components take a lot of juice till they’re bedded in. All RC electric helicopters have different battery requirements – remember, it’s the size of the pack and the way it’s wired together, as well as its final voltage, that’s important.
Have the batteries fully charged before you start installing the electronics, as they’ll be essential for many of the adjustments you do. Remember that LiPo batteries self-discharge over time.