I wouldn’t recommend you purchase a remote control gasoline powered helicopter unless you are really an experienced helicopter flyer and have a bit of daredevil quality to you. Basically, these machines are dangerous, dirty, and difficult to fly, and you can really get hurt if you don’t know what you’re doing with them.
My recommendation is to stick with the lower priced electric models, and only fly them in good weather, unless you find yourself really growing bored with them. It might be all right to purchase one of these gasoline powered models, but you should keep in mind that you need to get a permit to operate them, and they can only be operated during a specific time of day and a specific weather pattern.
These restrictions are placed on helicopter flyers because there have been reports of accidents with remote control gasoline powered helicopters crashing and burning because a spark ignited the gasoline. As in any case, when you are working with a machine that runs on gasoline, you really need to be cautious, and the problem is that most people that are naturally cautious are just not as likely to want to purchase a remote control gasoline powered helicopter. So you end up with these daredevils that are out flying their gasoline powered helicopters, and when one of them crashes, everyone has to look out because the person that crashed it would probably just think it was funny. It can really grow to be a dangerous situation if not controlled. I know about this personally, not because I was the daredevil in the situation, but rather because I was one of the people standing nearby when a daredevil crashed his remote control gasoline powered helicopters into each other one fall day.
Not only did they both burst into flames, but there were dried leaves nearby, and these leaves also ignited. Ultimately, it turned into quite a scary conflagration, and I really am happy that I happened to be playing in the sand near a water source with my son, because I was able to grab one of the pails we were using for sand castles and fill it with water to put out the fire. That was one of the very few instances in which I saw the dark side of helicopter flying, but I’m so glad I was there to prevent anyone else from getting hurt. Of course, the person flying it didn’t care whether he had almost hurt someone, nor did he care about all the money he had lost by destroying two very nice remote control gasoline powered helicopters. Al he cared about was that he was able to get the humongous crash on video and use it on his website showing that he was the ultimate champion in helicopter flying.
If you are interested in that side of remote control gasoline powered helicopters, then I just hope that you will fly your helicopters in an isolated area, specifically away from children. I would never want little, innocent children to be hurt by a daredevils carelessness.