Great to hear that your efforts are coming along nicely
Depending on your situation (budget, mostly!), there are a few options you can consider.
1) Trex 450: Most people in Doha started with this, from what I have seen so far.
Pros: Stable enough, although not as much as some of the other options below. Crash/parts costs are reasonable, and most parts are available in Qatar. Electric, so no messing with nitro engines/fuel/setup. Does not need large field to fly, many people hover inside their houses (not recommended at all), or in their parking lots. Flight times per battery are reasonable (around 12 minutes). Battery prices are also reasonable.
Cons: Not as stable as the bigger helis. Gets affected by wind easily. People outgrow this one easily, they feel like they need a bigger heli as soon as they are comfortable flying.
2) Trex600 Nitro or Raptor 50 Nitro helis : These are the second most commonly used starter helis in Qatar.
Pros : Very stable (if built and setup right). Handles significant amount of wind. Large flight times (just refuel and go, no need to wait for each battery to get charged). Parts are available locally. Helis that you can keep for a long time, you will most probably never outgrow these. Trex 600 is higher quality (costs more too).
Cons : Nitro engines can be quite an experience for a beginner (but not a big deal if someone else does the initial build/setup). Need to have starter, glow plug ignitor and fuel. Fuel and exhaust are messy. Need a large field to fly. Crash costs are significant.
3) Trex 500 : Ever since this came out, people have repeatedly claimed that this is the right size for a beginner.
Pros: Not too big, not too small. More stable than Trex 450, can handle wind better. This can be a long term heli, since it is big enough to fly in a field, even under a good amount of wind.
Cons: Higher cost of heli, batteries and crash/parts. Flight times are small (around 6 minutes per battery), so you need a few batteries, which adds to the cost. Need a larger area (preferably an open field) to fly. Parts are not readily available in Qatar.
In any case, be sure to make yourself really comfortable on the sim before you try it out on the real thing. Practice different orientations on the sim, like hovering/flying with the nose of the heli pointing towards you. For the first few flights, get the help of an experienced flyer on a buddy/trainer chord. If you come to the field, you will certainly get help from fellow flyers.
Regards,
Anwar.
