700 Helis - Spare Parts Cost Comparison

[colcha]

I have often wondered how various 700 sized machines compare to one another when it comes to spare parts costs. To satisfy my curiosity, I have put together a spreadsheet comparing a cross section of parts across various 700 helis which I thought may be of interest to others:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...mc&usp=sharing

When reading this spreadsheet, the following should be kept in mind:

• I have only chosen parts that are common to all helis eg. I have not listed torque tubes, belts, intermediate gears, etc.
• this is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all the parts that are likely to break in a crash
• prices are based upon a single unit eg. items such as shafts are often sold in pairs.
• I have not taken into consideration the fact that the same part in different helis may be less susceptible to damage in a crash eg. boom on a Goblin, upper frames in a 7HV
• whilst this list is not exhaustive, it does give a general idea of spare parts costs for a particular heli relative to other helis
• there are a number of 700 size helis that I have not listed (eg. Whiplash, Faifa, etc). If there is interest, I might add more helis at a later time.

It is interesting to note that spare parts costs for the E720 (the most expensive heli):

• was than 50% higher than the cheapest heli (700DFC); and
• was higher than the TDR (even though the E720 is mass produced whilst the TDR is hand made)

[stevehof]

Very informative, Thanks!

[seefest]

Nice compilation. One correction, the Goblin boom is $70 not $95 as listed.
TDR parts are relatively reasonable.

[colcha]

Originally Posted by seefest

Nice compilation. One correction, the Goblin boom is $70 not $95 as listed.
TDR parts are relatively reasonable.

Good pickup. There appears to be more than one boom available for the Goblin 700! I have now listed the cheapest option.

[Slyster]

Nice work! Another thing, the Goblin booms are designed to crash... tough and break away.. so usually pop off and are usable again. Take that off the chart and the Goblin is actually the cheapest 700 to repair

Can you add Avant? (curious.. a friend of mine just got one)

[Glenn Goodlett]

Some eye opening findings, thanks for posting. I would like to see others like epic, TSA, whippy, etc.

[Colonny5]

If you add more, add AleeS to the list.

[Jeff_Barrett]

Originally Posted by Slyster

Nice work! Another thing, the Goblin booms are designed to crash... tough and break away.. so usually pop off and are usable again. Take that off the chart and the Goblin is actually the cheapest 700 to repair

It's a neat design when it works, the problem I encountered when the boom popped off was that it had a 50/50 chance of being struck by the main blades and getting damaged that way.

Similarly, as the OP pointed out, the 7HV frames are designed that the lower frame will break in most crashes leaving the upper main frame which contains all your components in tact and a smaller repair bill. This doesn't always work out and the upper frames can be damaged as well.

Nicely done on compiling the list!

Slyster made a similar comparison for the 500 class models a few years ago.

[colcha]

I have now added the following helis to the spreadsheet - Aurora, Rush, Whippy, Srimok and the Diabolo.

I should also mention that the parts prices for the Diabolo is inclusive of 19% European tax. This tax is not charged for orders shipped outside of Europe.

Some interesting observations:

• although the Aurora is often seen as a high end machine, parts prices are quite reasonable;
• parts prices for the Whippy are significantly above those for more mainstream helis.

[dankcincy]

Had to

[ronm3313]

Thanks for the info

[Crowbar]

Very interesting indeed. Around here in Germany, goblin parts seem to be about 2x the price of 700DFC parts so flying a Goblin around here makes little sense financially. If you're at a point where you don't really crash anymore, then it makes sense to go for Goblin. I just think they look sweet.

[mkovalcson]

The elephant in the room is that they don't all crash the same.

For example a TREX 550 main gear is pretty cheap and a Synergy E5 main gear is pretty expensive, but the TREX 550 main gear was destroyed in every crash I ever had and most people are reporting that their main gears on the E5 rarely ever break in a crash.

Helis like the 7HV, TDR, Diabolo have upper and lower frames so crashes can be cheaper because of that and more importantly take a lot less rebuild time since the main components don't all need to be remounted, and time is money too!

The e720 may have expensive parts, but it has a 15mm main shaft which also tends to take a lot of pounding without being damaged. Other parts are likewise very durable.

By the time you add in the additional $150 for main and tail blades most 700 series owners use, the prices get even closer.

Information is always good, but personally I don't think a comparison chart like this has enough information to really gauge how much each heli will cost to repair without having crash tests and seeing how much is damaged in each test.

If you see how often a 15mm main shaft fails compared to a 10mm main shaft, or a 10mm feathering shaft vs. an 8mm feathering shaft.

There are the crashes that you can walk away from and spin up on the bench and find all the vibrations look normal in vibration analysis and you know all your bearings are intact and all your shafts are still straight.

Just saying that people tend to look at charts like this and point to part prices that they like or don't like about their favorite model and then try to use the numbers against other makes and it really isn't enough information to do that.

[Rahulgaba]

Went in full throttle on my whippy.. Soft ground but that doesn't save the big ones by that much

My damage was : blades , landing gear , boom, main shaft, (not even torque tube)

That's it

While I appreciate you taking the time to compare prices but the crashability is different ... My repair was a total 190

Whippy survived like a champ!

So yes 700's are expensive .. But not all break everything.


This is not always true (not dissing your work) but .... Not all helis crash and break same

[seefest]

Did you guys read the OP's post? He clearly states its not a crash comparison!

[seefest]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

The elephant in the room is that they don't all crash the same.

For example a TREX 550 main gear is pretty cheap and a Synergy E5 main gear is pretty expensive, but the TREX 550 main gear was destroyed in every crash I ever had and most people are reporting that their main gears on the E5 rarely ever break in a crash.

Helis like the 7HV, TDR, Diabolo have upper and lower frames so crashes can be cheaper because of that and more importantly take a lot less rebuild time since the main components don't all need to be remounted, and time is money too!

The e720 may have expensive parts, but it has a 15mm main shaft which also tends to take a lot of pounding without being damaged. Other parts are likewise very durable.

By the time you add in the additional $150 for main and tail blades most 700 series owners use, the prices get even closer.

Information is always good, but personally I don't think a comparison chart like this has enough information to really gauge how much each heli will cost to repair without having crash tests and seeing how much is damaged in each test.

If you see how often a 15mm main shaft fails compared to a 10mm main shaft, or a 10mm feathering shaft vs. an 8mm feathering shaft.

There are the crashes that you can walk away from and spin up on the bench and find all the vibrations look normal in vibration analysis and you know all your bearings are intact and all your shafts are still straight.

Just saying that people tend to look at charts like this and point to part prices that they like or don't like about their favorite model and then try to use the numbers against other makes and it really isn't enough information to do that.

Your 550 stripped main gears because you're unable to train yourself to hit TH..........you've stated so yourself in several threads.

[mkovalcson]

Originally Posted by seefest

Your 550 stripped main gears because you're unable to train yourself to hit TH..........you've stated so yourself in several threads.

There you go. Not only to helis crash differently, but people crash differently.

FYI, in my last TDR crash I hit TH in time and didn't strip one gear or bend one shaft, but I still toasted my main blades, 3 bearings, the boom and right landing gear.

Hopefully that will be the last ouch for a long time now that it has a flight deck.

Time will tell.

"Did you guys read the OP's post? He clearly states its not a crash comparison! "

That's irrelavant. Look at the posts that turned into a this crashes this way vs. that way, i.e. Goblin tails and Compass bottom frames. Every time a grid like this is created people convert that to crash costs.

What really would be any other purpose for such a grid? You could just post the kit costs side by side and have information that was just as useful.

[flyinghigh450]

Originally Posted by seefest

Your 550 stripped main gears because you're unable to train yourself to hit TH..........you've stated so yourself in several threads.

That of gear mesh isn't correct..Crashed the crap out of my Trex 550 over 10 times and stripped the main gear once,all hard crashes at 2300RPM or 2500RPM and thats with the old 170T main gear.
I stripped the main gear once out of 18 crashes on my 600EFL Pro which was expected because that was a rekit lol...Bunch of hard crashe and thats with the new slant 112T gear..Its the same gear used on the 700E getting 9000-11000 watts put through them with no strip,same gear on the 550...Something isn't right if someone is stripping them,

[perlinauto]

Originally Posted by seefest

Did you guys read the OP's post? He clearly states its not a crash comparison!

+1

[colcha]

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

The elephant in the room is that they don't all crash the same.
...
Information is always good, but personally I don't think a comparison chart like this has enough information to really gauge how much each heli will cost to repair without having crash tests and seeing how much is damaged in each test.

Is this spreadsheet intended to be a definitive comparison of crash costs between different helis? Of course not – there are lots more variables to consider. As you correctly point out, every heli has its own weaknesses and every crash is different. Additionally, I have only listed some of the parts that may need to be replaced in a crash.

The intent of the spreadsheet was to give people a general idea of the spare parts costs of one heli relative to another. For many, this is an important consideration when buying a new machine.

If people wish to use this information as a starting point to undertake their own analysis of the potential running / crash costs for a particular heli, there is nothing wrong with that and people are smart enough to take into consideration other relevant factors eg. sacrificial lower frames, breakaway booms, etc.

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

For example a TREX 550 main gear is pretty cheap and a Synergy E5 main gear is pretty expensive, but the TREX 550 main gear was destroyed in every crash I ever had and most people are reporting that their main gears on the E5 rarely ever break in a crash.

I agree that the Delrin main gear on the E5 is stronger than the plastic moulded gears on the 550e. What you fail to mention is that 1 main gear on the E5 will buy you 6 main gears on the 550e. As strong as E5 main gear is, I am not so sure that it would survive 6 crashes unscathed.

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

The e720 may have expensive parts, but it has a 15mm main shaft which also tends to take a lot of pounding without being damaged. Other parts are likewise very durable.
...
If you see how often a 15mm main shaft fails compared to a 10mm main shaft, or a 10mm feathering shaft vs. an 8mm feathering shaft.

The fact that an e720 uses a 15mm main shaft does not automatically make it better than another heli that uses a 10mm main shaft. There are other considerations including the length of the shaft, the design of the shaft (hollow, solid, etc) and the materials used.

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

By the time you add in the additional $150 for main and tail blades most 700 series owners use, the prices get even closer.

Yes and no. In a decent crash, you may end up breaking a lot more parts than I have listed in my spreadsheet. The cost of those parts on a 700 can add up quickly and form a significant part of the overall repair cost. Take canopies as an example. The cheapest canopy in the comparison was $64.99 whilst the most expensive canopy was $134.99. That is a significant difference.

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

Just saying that people tend to look at charts like this and point to part prices that they like or don't like about their favorite model and then try to use the numbers against other makes and it really isn't enough information to do that.

Two people can look at the same set of data and draw vastly different conclusions – that happens in all facets of life (just look at politics!). However, that does not mean that such data is not helpful so long as its limitations are recognised.

Originally Posted by mkovalcson

What really would be any other purpose for such a grid? You could just post the kit costs side by side and have information that was just as useful.

Not really. The way in which heli kits are priced is similar in one sense to how both razors and computer printers are sold ie. there is far greater margin on parts than there is on the original product itself. Consequently, the price of the kit is not particularly helpful in determining future running costs.