Returning to the hobby looking for first large heli

[xCASPERx]

I am looking at getting one of these birds soon. I have a blade mcpx and can toss it around pretty well, no inverted yet. I also have a sim and can hover ok but not great also do a bit of FF. I have a blade 400 and I've hovered it for about ten packs and was getting comfortable with it but I had a cyclic servo fail. Instead of investing money into the 400 I would rather buy a good 500 or 550.

I've been looking at the Blade 500 3d and the Blade 500 x. First of all are these worth buying ore are they a money pit like my old 400 was? Second is it worth it to get the flybarless version? I've been away from the hobby for a long time and I'm sort of out of the loop. And lastly I have a DX6i that came with my Blade 400 from back in the day, I assume it's still compatible with the current rx's.

Lastly, how much more stable is a 550 over a 500? The smarter side of me tells me to not consider a 550 due to my flying skills and repair cost, but I'm still leaving it as an option.

Thanks

[rhodesengr]

do not get the 450 3D. Do consider the 450X and yes the extra cost of the FBL is way worth it. You will crash less and save money in the long run you can use it as a platform to learn the AR7200BX which you can use on larger models going forward. Since the cost is around $400 (ampdraw) and the AR7200BX is about $200, you are getting a full helicopter for about $200. You don't have to learn the setup right away because it will fly out of the box but over time and certaily after you crash you will have to learn the setup which is easy once you learn it.

That said, it is fact that the stabilty of a larger heli is significant but so is the cost. I can't say about the 500 but my Trex 550 cost about $1100 to get in the air. With the blade you don't get the world's best servos and I think the tail hub is weak. It does fly great for a 450 size.

I think a good appraoch is to buy the 450x, fly it for a while, and then buy new servos as mini project. This will force you to learn the setup. Then you will be very confident when you build and setup a larger model.

[flybar_mike]

I can't vouch for the stability of the 500 but my first CP heli was the 550 flybarred. Very scarey initially but turned out to be an excellent trainer and has served me very well. 2 years and 1400+ flights later on the 550 and its getting me through backwards flight and inverted FFF and will shortly be getting in to inverted backwards. It was converted to FBL with BeastX after 1100 flights. I can highly recommend one. Take it easy and fly sensibly and you'll be ok.

Oh and your DX6i will be fine to get you started. You may want to upgrade to a higher quality radio in the future but thats not critical. The big attraction of the Blade 400 package was the DX6i included.

[xCASPERx]

I'm starting to look at the Trex 500 pro DFC combo. Is Align leaps and bounds above e-flite in quality? Will the DX6i and an AR600 Rx work with the 3GX system or the e-flite fbl system?

Helidirect has the Trex 500 pro DFC on sale for $723 right now, I'm finding the e-flite 500 X for $900. It seems like a no brainer to snag the Trex at that price right?

[xCASPERx]

And for $100 more I could get the Trex 550 DFC. That is very tempting.

[wocka_wocka]

Personally I'd check out the secondhand market. You can save yourself an absolute ton of cash.

Its difficult to talk about quality. Align seem to have a huge market penetration and certainly make a very flyable machine. I have two Align 450s at the moment, however I sold my Align 500 as it wasn't what I was looking for.

Side-by-side with my Compass Atom 500 (avatar image), in my opinion the Align 500 was an absolute toy.

Side-by-side with my Beam E4, the Align 450s don't stack up on quality. The Beam is smooth and quiet but guess what, personally I enjoy flying the Align 450s much more than the Beam. I can't figure that one out either.

Never owned and eflite so I can't comment.

[rhodesengr]

Originally Posted by Caveman4684

I'm starting to look at the Trex 500 pro DFC combo. Is Align leaps and bounds above e-flite in quality? Will the DX6i and an AR600 Rx work with the 3GX system or the e-flite fbl system?

Helidirect has the Trex 500 pro DFC on sale for $723 right now, I'm finding the e-flite 500 X for $900. It seems like a no brainer to snag the Trex at that price right?

If by eflite FBL you mean AR7200BX, it has the receiver built in. You would not use and AR600 with it. It really does not need any extra RX but Spektrum recommends adding a remote (Sat) RX for diversity.

Not sure about the AR600 with the 3GX. I would think it would be ok.

AR7200BX would be instead of 3GX.

The DX6i will work with an AR600 and with an AR7200BX. A DX6i will bind to any Spektrum RX. JR also.

As for leaps and bounds better quality... Overall, i would say a definite step up. The servos Align ships are way better in that they are metal gear and more robust. Alot of people don't like the 3GX and prefer the AR7200BX. Consult the specific subforums for further discussion on that topic. I bought my 550 without the 3GX and use an AR7200BX.

I don't have an Align 450 but my Align 550 seems to require almost no work once its built. I think the Blde 450's tail is weak and easily damaged.

[xCASPERx]

Originally Posted by rhodesengr

If by eflite FBL you mean AR7200BX, it has the receiver built in. You would not use and AR600 with it. It really does not need any extra RX but Spektrum recommends adding a remote (Sat) RX for diversity.

Not sure about the AR600 with the 3GX. I would think it would be ok.

AR7200BX would be instead of 3GX.

The DX6i will work with an AR600 and with an AR7200BX. A DX6i will bind to any Spektrum RX. JR also.

As for leaps and bounds better quality... Overall, i would say a definite step up. The servos Align ships are way better in that they are metal gear and more robust. Alot of people don't like the 3GX and prefer the AR7200BX. Consult the specific subforums for further discussion on that topic. I bought my 550 without the 3GX and use an AR7200BX.

I don't have an Align 450 but my Align 550 seems to require almost no work once its built. I think the Blde 450's tail is weak and easily damaged.

Well that's good to know. So if I get the 500 without 3gx and put in an ar7200bx I could bind my dx6i and be good to go? I might go that route.

[rhodesengr]

Originally Posted by Caveman4684

Well that's good to know. So if I get the 500 without 3gx and put in an ar7200bx I could bind my dx6i and be good to go? I might go that route.

exactly and that is just what I did.

If you want to add the extra Sat RX this is it.
http://spektrumrc.com/Products/Defau...ProdID=SPM9645

It comes with a special cable and it plugs into a special port on the AR. It will fly without this. Its just RX redundency.

performanceplusrc.com has a "remove 3gx" option so you get a some off the price and don't have to worry about selling the 3GX.

grandrc.com has a full customization ordering system which includes servos, motors, ESC, FBL, blades, batteries.

There may be others with the no 3GX option or selling bare kits.