550 SE Pinion Choice

[Triple-D TJ]

I plan on picking up a 550 SE Kit but need some advice on pinion choice.

I Have a 4025-1100kV Scorpion Motor that I plan on using. My question is what are some good head speeds & pinion combinations for the SE?

I'm looking more for a smooth 3D machine if that helps..

[goldnhelis]

I was kinda hoping you'd draw more traffic, because I'm a little ahead of you, but wondering if I should make some changes...

I have a 550se, running 13T pinion.

For sport flying, I'd say that's fine, but as you want to get more aggressive, say tic-tocs or pop-and-lock flips, punch-outs and such, you'll want to run headspeeds of 2200, right at the recommended limit. But, as battery voltage declines during the flight, I find the headspeed drops too much to for my tastes. So I'm looking to run 14 T and then use the 2 idle up speeds to manage headspeed through the flight. I'm not running governed, but I think most who do run a taller pinion and govern-back. I think 600 size blades on 6s is stressful on batteries for anything other than tame flying, so we're near the limit of what 6s can do.

The nice thing about the 550 se is that it's so light, that with moderate flying, you only pull 35 amps or so, so can fly relatively long flights. But, as soon as you start pulling more power with more aggressive flying, you are going to tax the power system, especially the batteries, pretty hard. At least that's my experience... my castle logs show peak draw in the high 70's to 80 amps if I hit it hard. Probably no need to say that good batteries are important, I run the pulse 65C 5000's. Would love to hear if anyone has had better experience with something else, say like TP 70 C batteries...

[KevinB]

If you want consistent rpm from start to end of the flight, I have found the 15t pinion works best.... Along with a 65C battery. I'm using 1600/1800/2000 head speed for my flight modes and 13-14 degrees of collective each way. Using a 45c battery, you'll notice just a little rpm drop at the end of the flight. At 2000-2100, the 550se is very capable. I run my 550sx on a 16t pinion.

I use Pulse 65c for the best results. I tried the TP 70c battery. Let's just say that's the last TP battery I will ever purchase.

KevinB