How hard would it have been for hirobo?

[clever]

To have a wide array of pinions available from the lauch of this heli?

Maybe I'm overlooking something, is there any logical or valid reason why they thought 2 sizes would be just fine? Gear ratios are the only way to fine tune electric powertrains.

It's just such a well thought out and high quality machine it doesn't make much sense. Man its frustrating. Just wanted some other o"pinions"...

[CRAZYKEV]

I agree! They could have at least offered 20 and 22 tooth pinions.

[hung]

and decent tail blades
and vertical fin

sheesh what were they thinking

[Finless]

No arguement here guys.... That fact that it takes 3rd parties to come out with these improvements (an the LOW 3rd party involvement to begin with) AND it has been THIS LONG since release of this heli makes me wonder if Hirobo seriously wants to compete in this market?
6 months later and we dont have Hirobo CF tail blades or optional pinions... I mean COME ON.... I am sure I will catch hell for this but I am only speaking the truth as I see it. You are NOT going to compete with companies like Align with this kind of SLOW customer response.

Bob

[Jafa]

On the other side of the coin the Lepton appears to be very well thought out
and it does work well
The mods we are doing (tail blades and pinion) are so we can run it
outside it's intended envelope

At the other extreme is the Align Trex 450 which had updates and upgrades
every three months that were certainly needed!
The original plastic version was an absolute dog

And what on earth were thinking releasing a 50 class electric heli
with no thrust washers in the tail?

[Finless]

The mods we are doing (tail blades and pinion) are so we can run it
outside it's intended envelope

BULL.... the tail just doesnt not hold as well as it should! With all carbon and "well thought out" into this heli it should have had at least CF blades!

At the other extreme is the Align Trex 450 which had updates and upgrades
every three months that were certainly needed!
The original plastic version was an absolute dog

No arguement! Cant agree more but at least they DID LISTEN to users and made changes to the heli for the better! AND they did them quickly... Considering Align was NEW to helis you cant expect them to come out with a first heli that is great... Hirobo has been making helis for a LONG TIME... NO EXCUSE here. BUT again Align did well and you certainly CANT argue with that.

And what on earth were thinking releasing a 50 class electric heli
with no thrust washers in the tail?

No arguement AGAIN! BUT the Trex600 came out at EXACTLY the same time the Lepton did... ASK me how I know! Now look what Align has done since then..... YET NOTHING, NADA, ZIPPO from Hirobo on the Lepton WHY?

My point here is if Hirobo wants to compete in this market they need to respond faster LIKE thier competition does. In my 20+ years in helis I have yet to see a PERFECT heli come out that did not need some changes... I dont expect that... BUT Align has set a bench mark in responding to customer feedback and making changes FAST... If a company isnt going to compete with these bencharks... Well... They wont compete!
Align is planning a 500 sized heli and I hate to say it... it will be the last nail in the Leptons coffen if they cant operate in this competitve mode.

Dont get me wrong... I love my Lepton and fly it all the time! Every time I do I get a lot of interest from people that have not seen one before BUT.... SORRY... it needs better support to make it REALLY successful.

Bob

[Jafa]

Yup Bob, the tail is a shocker, accept that.
My flying buddy got a terrible fright the 1st time he flipped the Lepton
with standard blades - I never used them

I still think that 3k head speeds are outside Hirobo's intended envelope however,
and you can't supply pinions for every possible KV and battery combo
(although it would have been a good idea to use a size and mod that is more commonly available)

[Gscott]

Sorry Bob but why would Hirobo make carbon tail blades for the Lepton when they don't make them for any of their helis? Other than the tail blades the Lepton doesn't need anything. How many people fly Freyas, Evos, Raptors, etc... and do hard 3D with the stock tail blades? Not many if any at all. Thunder Tiger is the only company that offers their own carbon tail blades and I would be willing to bet almost no one uses them. I know of more than one person who replaced the tail blades that came with the 600 at first opportunity because they weren't as good as the V-Blades or Radix tail blades.

The only issue that is Hirobo's problem are the pinions. They should have had more pinions available since they made the decision to go with a "non-standard" gear pitch.

[clever]

I mean the tail blades didn't have to be carbon. Plastic is ok if it's the right size and rigidity. I am flying mine with viper 70 blades which are a little bit bigger and alot stiffer. I ordered a set of helidirect tail blades, and although I haven't flown them, even they are alot stiffer then the hirobo blades. The hirobo blades are so incredibly flimsy, I haven't heard anyone who has flown with them and decided "these sufficiently do the job." I ran with the plastic tail blades on my raptor 50 and they worked fine.

[avatar71]

has anyone from Hirobo chimed in on this yet? i am very concerned since i just plunked down over 1500 on a lepton setup. I would be quite dissapointed if the lepton was left behind by them. I cannot imagine that hirobo would not see electrics as the future (and I don't mean the XRB)

[TMoore]

has anyone from Hirobo chimed in on this yet? i am very concerned since i just plunked down over 1500 on a lepton setup. I would be quite dissapointed if the lepton was left behind by them. I cannot imagine that hirobo would not see electrics as the future (and I don't mean the XRB)

Why would anyone from MRC or Hirobo give this any effort? The machine flys fine and y'all are quibbling over plastic tail blades. I don't fly stock plastic tail blades on any machine I own so why would this be any different? As far as the pinions are concerned the stock pinions do just fine. You have to remember, Hirobo designed this for a world market, not a US market only. So, what they offer in Japan was an all inclusive system that you could buy with a battery, motor, ESC, Charger and the works. MRC chose not to import that equipment from an exchange standpoint and it is what it is.

The machine flies fine. I just got a set of Century Swift blades that I'm going to cut off and put little brass bushings in for the tail, BTW, these are less than 4 bucks. The Voyager E blades work well and they are only 8 bucks. If you want CF blades they are selling for around 30 bucks and IMHO, are bling. The 720 gyro with 9251 is holding the tail fine with the plastic. The MAH main blades, the MS main blades and the stock blades are great for this model and SAB just came out with a set which I want to try as well.

Bottom line is that if you use the 4s pack, a 3025-10 motor with a fan (which it comes with now) and a CC 60 or 80, the machine is ballistic. I've just ordered some TP Extremes to go with my Hyperions and I'm sure they will be even better than the old blue batteries I've been using.

I just don't understand why this stuff keeps getting stirred up when the information is out there for the searching.

avatar71, you will enjoy the machine, it will fly superbly. Get a lift kit for the back of the frames, play around with different tail blades and mains, just like you would with a nitro bird and have some fun. This little machine rocks.

TM

[clever]

The machine flys fine and y'all are quibbling over plastic tail blades

I'm just voicing how I feel about it, just as you are Tmoore. Please don't cast our views into a negative light by labeling our dialouge as quibbling. There is a collective displeasure with these blades and the lack of pinion variety, if it's being re-hashed by people who haven't disscussed it yet then just leave the thread to us. You obviously feel the same way b/c you opted for non-lepton tails. The only difference b/t most people's views and your own is that you don't have any conflicts with experimenting and testing a bunch of "better" options. I dont want to buy 4 sets of various tail blades to research and test to find what works (even though I have no choice). That's hirobo's job. If there are 4 dollar tail blades that work well then that looks even worse for hirobo b/c it shows they could have very affordably put something adequate with the kit.

I don't fly stock plastic tail blades on any machine I own so why would this be any different?

Well aren't the voyager e tail blades stock tail blades? So we should not be expected to use the stock plastic tail blades that come with the lepton, but instead the stock plastic tail blades that come with another heli. That is really a poor execution on hirobo's part no matter how you look at it.

Just b/c the Lepton is an awesome heli in ALMOST every aspect, doesn't mean it's few short comings should be ignored or willingly overlooked. This is how positive change comes about.

[buster1]

I agree with you Clever - a few shortcomings should be discussed, and I also agree with TM about the Lepton. I own both - so, I can't really say I don't like either, but I will make a few comments about both helis.
I have been flying for R/C Helis. for 20yrs. and here is my objective opinion about both helis.
1. They both fly well when set up properly
2. The Lepton requires less fiddling to get it right then the TREX 450.
3. The only reason people took all that bull from Align was because they were the only company around that was responding and had a good decent quality airframe in that size. If Hirobo stated with a 450 size that worked, align would have been out of business. they found a niche and got their first, which worked better then the Piccolo or hornet.
But I will say this and not because one is better then the other - I will never buy align again because they don't get it close to being good enough out of the box, where the Lepton flew from the beginning with only changing my tail-rotor blades and vertifcal fin,
When I am spending that amount of money - that is a big deal to me,
I am not bashing them, but just telling the truth and many can state the same. I almost pulled my hair out trying to get the 450SE going the way I wanted to,
So, if you have problems with the Lepton - thats cool - but I can tell you this - it will fly very, very well with the available setups. In addition - there are only like 10 guys here on this board looking for more pinions - most guys just want to fly and don't tinker all the time. Hirobo is thinking the total market - they will get to us soon, when they have the time with more pinions - but they know their heli. flys well out of the box - almost.
Comparing Align and Hirobo is a joke! no comparison.

[clever]

Thanks for the input buster. Very vaild points, but I think you wanted to post this in the other thread. This thread was not about the trex vs lepton. Those two helis should not even be compared.

[buster1]

Finless posted this above in this thread,


No arguement AGAIN! BUT the Trex600 came out at EXACTLY the same time the Lepton did... ASK me how I know! Now look what Align has done since then..... YET NOTHING, NADA, ZIPPO from Hirobo on the Lepton WHY?

My point here is if Hirobo wants to compete in this market they need to respond faster LIKE thier competition does. In my 20+ years in helis I have yet to see a PERFECT heli come out that did not need some changes... I dont expect that... BUT Align has set a bench mark in responding to customer feedback and making changes FAST... If a company isnt going to compete with these bencharks... Well... They wont compete!
Align is planning a 500 sized heli and I hate to say it... it will be the last nail in the Leptons coffen if they cant operate in this competitve mode.

Dont get me wrong... I love my Lepton and fly it all the time! Every time I do I get a lot of interest from people that have not seen one before BUT.... SORRY... it needs better support to make it REALLY successful.

Bob


That is why I added in some align comments,
Jeff

[clever]

oops, sorry I didnt see that.

[TMoore]

Well aren't the voyager e tail blades stock tail blades? So we should not be expected to use the stock plastic tail blades that come with the lepton, but instead the stock plastic tail blades that come with another heli. That is really a poor execution on hirobo's part no matter how you look at it.

They are stock-for the Voyager but not for the Lepton and they are longer too.

Man its frustrating. Just wanted some other o"pinions"...

I think you got some o' pinions.

I know it's frustrating but this is how the Japanese mindset works. I'm not saying it's right, it's how it is. We can bitch all we want and at the end of the day, Jeff voices his opinion to Hirobo and they do what they need to do.

The Japanese aren't butt nutts over 3D like we are and they don't understand our obsession with making different motors, esc and batteries work so, you do what you can.

TM

[buster1]

good point!

[Finless]

The Japanese aren't butt nutts over 3D like we are and they don't understand our obsession with making different motors, esc and batteries work so, you do what you can.

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

[eheliflyer]

Originally Posted by TMoore

Why would anyone from MRC or Hirobo give this any effort? The machine flys fine and y'all are quibbling over plastic tail blades. I don't fly stock plastic tail blades on any machine I own so why would this be any different? As far as the pinions are concerned the stock pinions do just fine. You have to remember, Hirobo designed this for a world market, not a US market only. So, what they offer in Japan was an all inclusive system that you could buy with a battery, motor, ESC, Charger and the works. MRC chose not to import that equipment from an exchange standpoint and it is what it is.

The machine flies fine. I just got a set of Century Swift blades that I'm going to cut off and put little brass bushings in for the tail, BTW, these are less than 4 bucks. The Voyager E blades work well and they are only 8 bucks. If you want CF blades they are selling for around 30 bucks and IMHO, are bling. The 720 gyro with 9251 is holding the tail fine with the plastic. The MAH main blades, the MS main blades and the stock blades are great for this model and SAB just came out with a set which I want to try as well.

Bottom line is that if you use the 4s pack, a 3025-10 motor with a fan (which it comes with now) and a CC 60 or 80, the machine is ballistic. I've just ordered some TP Extremes to go with my Hyperions and I'm sure they will be even better than the old blue batteries I've been using.

I just don't understand why this stuff keeps getting stirred up when the information is out there for the searching.

avatar71, you will enjoy the machine, it will fly superbly. Get a lift kit for the back of the frames, play around with different tail blades and mains, just like you would with a nitro bird and have some fun. This little machine rocks.

TM

I agree fully. The only upgrade I did was change the tail blades to the 68mm CF blades and the tail is a non issue and did the Bell-Hiller mod and that is it. Everything about the Lepton is perfect. It is a rock solid, smooth flying and still extremely agile heli. Power and Grace all in one package. :glasses2: