You don’t need to spend a fortune to get a great budget flight simulator these days. They can prove to be an excellent introduction into how to fly a radio control helicopter or plane, and work directly from your PC.

With flight simulators you do not need to worry about the weather outside to learn how to fly your craft. This modern way of simulating the flight of RC models is great as it just plugs into the USB port of your PC. This saves on the need for batteries.

You will feel like you are really flying as the experience from your PC is very realistic. It feels like you are in control of a real transmitter.

There are many different simulators to choose from and you can fly your chopper using a number of different backdrops and landscapes through the software. There are many effects and options to try. These simulators will generally not take up much of your computer’s memory (depending on your hardware) to run, and are great ways of getting to know the RC helicopter and its flight.

The flight simulators are offered by some of the biggest brands in the industry such as E-SKY and RealFlight. As they are easily affordable and provide hours of fun, you should consider their fantastic benefits.

Once you have decided upon services to use in order to fix or set-up your RC helicopter, you can now consider the costs.

Most of these companies will have structured pricing so you can email them to find out how much it will generally cost to fix or set-up your craft. Once you have accepted the basic costs for the repair you will need to send the chopper to the shipping address. You usually will have to pay all postage costs.

If there are additional labour or parts charges, then these can be discussed once the helicopter is received by the repairer. They will usually contact you upon receipt of the helicopter and give you a full quotation for the work that needs doing to get it flying.

If the helicopter is in a very bad condition then it is best to expect the worst. You can always hunt round to find some quotes for the labour costs. If your model does require some replacement parts to fix it, these are generally charged at the going rate for these prices as found on the hobby websites.

Once you have approved the repair or services, they can go ahead and do the job. Hopefully your helicopter will be back flying again soon. With the many options to choose from these days, there are many value services to make use of.

Even those who have been flying RC helicopters for many years may find that they cannot fix all breakages and problems themselves without outside help. You may need help with the set up of the craft in the first place. Sometimes this is a simple case of a person requiring an outside opinion to suggest how they might get their copter flying again. On other occasions when online forums and help pages cannot do the trick, it’s time to call in the experts.

Many radio control retailers and hobby stockists now offer full repair, set-up, upgrade and testing services for all helicopter models. If you have one of the more popular E-SKY or Walkera models then this repair can be done in no time.

If you find yourself struggling with the repair or initial set-up of your chopper then you will first need to get in contact with a company offering helicopter repairs and set-up services. You will need to give a description of the problem or request.

The company should get back to you within a reasonable time period and give you all the information you need in order to decide whether the service is right for you.

In the next article we will look at this further and advise you on what you might need to do in the next stage.

If you are new to the world of RC helicopters you might be a little confused regarding all the terminology and acronyms that RC helicopter enthusiasts talk about (and we mention on this site). Here are a few terms we sometimes mention and brief descriptions on what they mean.

Brushless motors – some RC helicopters come with motors that have brushes, these wear out due to the constant contact on the motor commutator, so brushless is always the way to go. If your copter has a separate tail rotor make sure it is the brushless variety.

ESC - This is the Electronic Speed Controller and is the gizmo that lets you control the speed of the chopper.

2.4GHz Transmitter - This is now the way to go for all RC helicopter. If your RC helicopter runs on this frequency you can fly with anyone, anywhere. The previous method meant people who flew copters together had to use different frequencies so had to change the crystal in their sets all the time.

Gyro – Normal gyros just dampen the yaw of the copter but the heading can be affected. Heading hold gyros store the heading of the copter so it is not affected by inputs to the controller.

In the previous article we looked at how RC hobbyists now have an abundance of free information to choose from in order to get the most out of their experience.

You can sign up to newsletters and take advantage of special offers and discounts on RC helicopter products in online stores. There is a lot of competition, so the hobbyist will always find great deals on the latest products.

There are also community forums to put you in touch with other hobbyists who may be able to offer help and advice on general or specific issues. Maybe you just want to hook up with likeminded individuals and talk about your flying experiences? No matter what you go on to do, rest assured these forums are heavily regulated to stop timewasters and those who are there to cause trouble.

A great proportion of these websites which offer all this information are run by hobbyists themselves who run online model shops. You can be assured these trusted sellers can help you to select the right model of helicopter for you. They also offer all the equipment you would need such as spares and upgrades.

So, now you know where you can go to get clued up on your favourite pastime.

The internet is a trove of information for RC helicopters as well as sources to cover any RC hobby many times over. These days all RC enthusiasts are spoilt for choice to get answers to all their questions and to interact with other users online. This has opened up a world of opportunities; but where do you start?

If you go on any search engine and type in “RC Helicopters” there will be a number of websites of interest, devoted to the subject. Most of these sites will be able to provide you with tons and tons of free advice. But, how can they be of use to you?

For starters who are new to the hobby, there are buyer’s guides and articles as well as recent news on the latest models in radio control helicopters. As soon as a new model comes out you will be able to find out its specifications in addition to its capabilities. You can check out reviews on these models to determine whether it is the right RC helicopter for you.

In the next article we will look at other things you can do to make the most out of your hobby.