I have been following this forum and some other too, and have seen heli lovers and flyers chat and exchange views and suggestions ,been to Rc events in India but have not seen or heard about anyone flying real 3d in India ,i guess simple invert and basic maneuvers comes under  sports flying not 3d ,correct me if iam wrong ,it cannot be lack of talent in this land of prodigies , the only other reason i could gauge is the total  dearth of spares and repair desk available with the local lhs, a simple crash and its one hour fix takes almost a month + in India , may be someday quality spares and aftermarket mods will be available locally 

Define "good"

righteousness to the term 3D flying 

As of now we have to invite 3D flyers from abroad , that's what happening at all the major rc events in India ,after they fly  i have seen some Indian hely flyers trying their luck , that's when i go for my cigarette break    No offense

My intention, after about 6 months of getting into RC, was to become a "respectable" 3D heli flyer.  I practiced for about a year towards this goal.  Crashes and waiting for parts started denting my resolution, but dragged along, until work and the desire to be a driving force at our local field (training others, fixing and testing things or others etc) took over completely.

Then work alone completely took over !

Plan to return some day...

Getting "good" at 3D flying is not easy.  Lots of sim practice, deep pockets and time... all are needed in equal parts. You have to be willing to crash.  If you get to a significant level quickly and attract sponsorship initially itself, then you are set. Otherwise it is an uphill battle, and most people give up for various reasons.

Work is priority i totally agree with what you have to say , but even if i  consider comparing 3d flying to clearing the administrative services exams !! where are the toppers   , and coming back to getting sponsorship to save your and get a triple boost for your guts to go on overdrive, iam sure there a benchmark to evaluate giving sponsorship to any flyer by a company or individual   ... is there anyone who qualifies 

yeah deep pockets is wat u need ....firstly to get a really good set up is very costly if ur even building a 450 size bird with good electronics it will take u 1000$ atleast ...then comes the part to pay for replacements if u crash now the paying may be 40% of the problem but waiting for the damn spares to arrive is a month and to learn 3d u got to be constantly flying u just cant  nap for a month ...another way to solve this problem is having more than one heli ...as far as my calculation goes i have been recently  struggling to find a good 550 bird with really good electronics to progress in 3d but i dont c my cost coming anywhere below 1500$ also maintenance for the very same ...most of us guys like me are still studying and not working so time we can make  but filling the holes in the pockets takes even longer than the spares delivery lol....with good graces hopefully both will happen job and 3d i still haven't given up on 3d and moving slowly but surely ..... >

Since RC is not popular in India, participation is low. Once we have greater participation, then we may see some toppers.
To add to what Anwar/Shannon mentioned, Helis are very delicate machines and need constant maintainence. Even if you crash less, there is still a recurring expense. So cost is definately a major factor.

As per the ALIGN manual, the new thrust bearings need check up every 20 flights!! There are few meet requirement of deep pockets and lots of spare time 

Building, learing, crashing and then fixing - not an easy job at all.

@ Shannon , Raja fully agree   can be a concomitant issue for a heli flyer and anyone who chooses 3D flying , its by will i guess , there are many excuses and reasoning too, but its still not the answer , there are many who can afford and are flying since years , you chose it ..its time to excel now  

I dint say I stopped just tht progress is not tht fast as it should be due to all the above factors and with the $exchange so Hugh it's become even more difficult

Iam not getting personal nor am i trying to defy facts on spare and its costs  ...its just that there is no end to reasoning , its become more like a belief system thus cautioning and stifle the new flyers to try out in full throttle 

Lol nthng like tht encouragement is 100%

+1 Shannon and Raja...Thanks to the dollar price, my plans of putting electronics and engine on x 50 have taken a back seat..

Another reason MAY be that apart from sim practice sometimes you really need a person who has already done a manouevre to help you out... We in India dont have it. My friend from UK says that every third person in his club is into sports or 3d flying. So, i guess it helps a lot.

You should have gone to Pinjore rc meet. Noam is the best 3d pilot in India at the moment. He flies a 800 DFC n he does fly really well.

N u chose ur style when u start flying. I know few guys here who started with plans of 3d but went into scale flying.

Then there are others with Exceptional deep pockets n all i see them is doing figure of 8s and converting nitro s to gasser engines etc.

N u have clearly stated the reason. Even, rotor India hasn't got all the spares. To go Full throttle into 3d flying i guess we need Dedication (sim and real stick time), Deep pockets and a bit of luck..

wow! any videos?

I was waiting for u to show up doc.... I just have to take care of few things this month ordering a bunch of spares and in September am sold out to 3d.... Now if only someone could gift me a bavarian demon with auto leveling feature to get of of nasty situations 

Will try getting some. He is not from my  rc field. But, he does fly beautifully be it piro flips, hurricanes or tictocs. He just came to our field once and flew a Trex 550. If i am lucky enough will record him this weekend.

@Flyjo : Buddy, when i started it was full throttle. I progressed fast. But, in India things are different. Slowly, the main focus of our life here becomes "Roti, kapda aur makaan" and flying takes a back seat like it has for me.

But, like Anwar said i am eager to come back with a bang n start with 3d prac again.

Never seen Harveer from Indore?
Mows his lawn with his heli!
Makes onlookers (flyers) dizzy with his 3d Heli.

Iyer Saab, Harveer hasnt posted his progress video here for quite some time. But, his skills definitely would have grown.

Flyjo wants to see some hard smack 3d stuff like Jamie robertson did in Amby valley

Smack is different from individual 3d maneuver

That's the spirit doc , Back with a Bang  now that's what iam talking abt ,Sorry guys dint mean to question any heli flyers zeal to become a 3d pilot, i do understand  time and money constrains , i wanted to see someone flying a decent 3D crediting the word "hard smack 3d stuff"   , Harveer i had seen him last at the ambi vally event , he crashed his heli within 30 seconds just when i was about to go for my cigarette break   pun intended , And never had any chance to watch Noam in action nor have i heard or read about him in any discussion here , Doc it would be really gr8 if you could try and get a video of him flying iam sure everyone here is so fervent to watch a clip,

I shall say Harveer has had a bad luck at Amby Valley. But, his skills are good and i do believe with time he will improve.

Iam sure he is learning still,  good flying i certainly hope to see him getting close to a spine-tingling or hard smack 3d stuff soon ,not that iam a Pro but when i compare someone flying 3d  to whats in my memory i expect a certain match if not 100% but certainly around it,  iam expressing as a spectator kindly do not mistake my observation as personal remark towards anyone