How hard would it have been for hirobo?

[TMoore]

That is SOOOO true... But recently I have seen a lot of 3D flying out of Japan so I bet this may change slowly.

Bob, I thought that too but sometimes I wonder. It's like the old Robbe days. They introduce things in their time frame, they have a schedule and we don't know what it is. Nothing we do can change their timing. From a company standpoint, Hirobo is fairly large and slow moving while companies like Align are more nimble and hungry. The Japanese companies weren't always like this.

TM

[docjoe]

The only thing I really want is a head button. It looks freakish without one.

[avatar71]

i am in the middle of my build and from my experiences (TT, align and now hirobo) the fit and finish is way better than my other experiences (eventhough the align 600 is way better than my hde).

I really like how the kit is going together and hope my kora/jazz/fp combo rocks!!!

[Helder22]

I just finished building my kit yesterday. LOVE IT!
Except for a the fact that the kit came missing a part (tailrotor hub) I have no complaints about it whatsoever. A head button would have been nice now that I think about it though. But hey, thats a detail.

[ckoelliker]

Landing gear doesn't do it for me. It kind of seems like they took one off of a Wal-mart helicopter and stuck it on there. Is there any reason they use that soft metal for the fly-bar? It is the same on the evo. I sneezed on it one time and bent it a little. I guess to answer the question of the thread. It would not have been hard to fix they just did not bother. It does fly nice. I think the size is perfect for the lipos they are making. You get decent flight time, lots of power, and the helicopter does feel larger.

[jeffg]

All of your opinions are noted and will be brought up again when I meet with Hirobo in Nurnberg. Optional pinions would have been nice, but other motors with lower KV's could have been used as well in place of the motors we even suggested in our early testing.

Carbon fins would have been nice and with the EX designation, could have been in there, but who knows what that would have done to the cost that most here think is already out of the question. I too run a longer carbon fin as well for 68 mm tail blades but my tail blades are trimmed up shuttle blades. Cheap and they work. A taller plastic harder vertical fing would be nicer than the stock one. But it is what it is right now.

It is not a perfect kit, none of them are. Maybe mistakes in kit components have been made, who knows, but the heli does fly, does fly well, can be made to fly better with changing an item or two. I have had other helis that never would fly, were crap when being built and I do not see them offering any sort of "support" either and one of them is a big player today. I will say this about "support", once the proper items are offered that do address serious deficiencies, we will error on the side of the pilots like we have done in the past. If the tail blades did not work at all and the heli did not control the tail at all, you can bet you would have had replacements at n/c. But that is not the case, the tail will basically hold in its stock configuration. Maybe the tail blades will not hold in an Extreme 3D environment, but they will get by until higher performance ones came available. Believe me, if Hirobo made carbon tail blades, then you would complain about that cost.

All of this feedback does lead to improvements and there is room. If Hirobo does not do it, then someone else will. That simple.

Nurnberg is two weeks away, lets see what is new coming down the pike.

I too hope more pinion choices and new plastic tail blades from Hirobo are available soon. Till then, I will make do with what is out there and there is stuff out there.

jeff

[Pinecone]

Just for a data point, Quick of Japan has pinions from 9t to 25t for the EP8. That about covers what anyone might need.

25t will allow you to fly a 3S 890K motor with reasonable head speed.

[CRAZYKEV]

The EP8 pinions are .6 mod? Where can I purchase them from?

[mudbogger2]

EP8 pinions are .8 mod according to their website.

[tday]

Hey Jeff,

You're quite right, it's all a tradeoff and I personally think Hirobo has done a great job. They have used the best possible materials and top grade fabrication. The kit is expensive because the fabrication of top materials is expensive regardless of size. Personally I like the tradeoffs, but did raise the tail, put a longer vertical fin, and put hard plastic 68mm tail blades on which are perfect for the ship.

I'm having an Align like case made for mine so that I can take it on airplanes when I go on vacations or whatnot. It's a little pricey---the pick and pluck foam (which i'll pluck most out of) is a big cost. I'd love to have bought a Lepton case with a big logo on it as I'm proud to fly this thing. Hope Nurenberg has good Lepton goodies.

Tom

[Finless]

Well as I have said MANY times I really like my Lepton. It is one of my favorite electric helis! BUT..... I feel it will die as a platform because crashing one is expensive and is like crashing a Hirobo Evo 50 or worse (because of the carbon frames)! I think cost and size should be somewhat related no? I finally crashed mine pretty good and WOA.... $300 all up all in including blades!

No arguement the Hirobo quaslity is there man! NICE parts and everything works great.

Anyway if Align comes out with a 500 heli at the quality level of the 600... Well no bad feelings against Hirobo but I wouldnt expect to sell many more Leptons!

I think what is going on in the electric market is you dont need to be at the same level of quality Hirobo puts into nitros AT LEAST NOT YET! People want CHEAPER stuff and they are not willing to spend what others would on a Hirobo nitro!
This is a HIGH end electric for sure but the electric market is not ready for that yet. Most are coming from freakin cheap arse Blade CP's or something and the cost to get into a Lepton is way too much for them to swollow! Even people that have $1000 in a Trex SE are really not ready for this heli.

WIth out a doubt it is a awesome quality electric heli.. I have not had ONE thing fail on mine yet and I cant even count how many flight si have in it. JUST like my Evo 50, Freya 90, etc.. they just flew and flew and flew with very little maintanance! BUT until the market goes more electric than nitro (which i think it will in time), this heli is actually too high end right now.

Again... Align I know is working on a 500 class and you know darn well it will be cheap yet will fly well.... Hirobo will either have to compete and do something or sorry to say this heli will dissapear and not long you wont be able to give one away....... Sorry but I really think this will happen this way

Bob

[tday]

Bob,

On the question of cost and size---I'm not a manufacturer, but it's not completely obvious that cost and size are related. What part of the value added is drilling and cutting carbon versus the material cost---and that's only the frames, of course. Machining a precise small alum head may be harder than a bigger one since tolerances must be tighter (1/8" play is a much bigger deal in a ship this small)---and the alum material requirements may be tighter. And hardened alum mainshaft? who's even heard of that---very cool and incredibly light. machined delrin maingear? link balls with cutout for screw caps? And all for $500. I find it good value personally because I think one buys the Lepton to have a big flying machine in a smaller package.

It does help to have less expensive replacement parts out there--(or a less expensive version). But I'd put carbon blades on any 500 machine and that's going to be 25% of your crash total. I'd want carbon frames and that's not likely to be cheaper with align versus hirobo---so how much different will it be? If hirobo is overcharging for an equal quality part---then that's their mistake and it will hurt/kill them. Tail boom, landing gear, links, etc.

So then one question is---what would keep the flying attributes but cost less. I don't know. Carbon frames would be a requirement for me, anyway. Machined alum head---that's key to this thing it seems. Hardened Alum main shaft, delrin main gear, etc definitely less so---not sure what the alternatives are---but I'm sure align will be there and if it flies well, people will like it. And it will certainly hurt and possibly kill the Lepton.

It will be too bad---but us Lepton lovers are probably not the main stream. Big heli performance, unbelieveable smoothness and precision---small package. Kind of like the vario laptop--desktop performance, tiny package.

Tom

[Gscott]

If you don't like the cost of replacements then there are alternatives. Helidirect now has most of the spares for the HDX500 that are cheaper and should work. They are most likeley as good as anything you will get from Align in the future. There are also cheaper frames available as well. Blades aren't going to get any cheaper. Quality blades (Radix, V-blades) for a T-Rex 450 are already over $50 so the $60 Ready Heli sells the MAH's for is not out of line.

[tday]

I'm with you on the cheaper alternatives. I'll use them on "non-essential" parts---those that don't affect the flying attributes, but personally I think hirobo has done a good job with this heli and the kit costs are understandable. Can't say I know about replacement prices---but there are alternatives as you note. Great ship for sure. Tom

[lockheed]

Not counting the radius block not having a reasonnable play