Time to by a Protos?

[evolve92]

I have been eyeing the Protos for a while and I was sure it would be my next heli when the time came. I got out of the hobby for a little over a year due to a new job, new city etc and finally started flying again. Much to my surprise it appears some issues have come up and now I am rethinking my decision. After reading through the threads here it seems there are some QC issues, parts availability concerns and people asking if MSH is on its way out as a company. Just wondering what some of you Protos folks thing about buying a new Protos in the next couple months. Not in big hurry since the wife has a living room full of new parts for the bathroom.

I have also read some people think a new version might be coming but who knows. I think for the price you get a nice heli and I am tired of only having one heli to fly, when I send it into the dirt I have to wait for parts and I would like something else to fly and make my 450 the back up bird of course. Thanks.

[kavic5150]

Might be worth the wait since we're not sure what MSH is planning to do. I havent heard anything official about the Protos 500. But we do know there is a 550 or 600 in the works.

From what I've read those few that have had problems with their kits like missing parts are quickly taken care of by their vendors.

I think its a superbly designed heli. If you take your time with the build, paying close attention to balancing the belt tension fore and aft of the main gear, and carefully assembling the tail, it will eliminate 99 percent of the problems other owners have ran into.

Its an amazing heli and very durable. Apart from crash damage I've only had to replace one belt 2 pinions and 2 sets of dampers. I havent kept count but I know I'm well over 500 flights and still going strong.

[dr dremel]

I don´t get the "MSH dying" threads. From my perspective (and in Germany at least one shop was also dropping MSH last year) the Protos just does not have a large enough user base for that many shops to stock parts. Don´t get me wrong, there are at least 5 vendors I know of that carry parts over here, but MSH certainly is no Align.

Personally I prefer the slowly evolving Protos over the "latest and greatest". QC issues crop up on all brands eventually and admittedly MSH as a company is not always the fastest to respond, but everytime I had a problem (and I only had one) my dealer set me straight.

[Flydynamics]

The MSH dying thread was caused by 2 major US shops stopping to distribute them ... seems perfectly logical to ask the question in my side of the ocean

[BHChieftain]

Best place to buy protos and parts in USA is MSH-direct. Bill has awesome customer service and gets special orders in fast. I've been a Protos fanboy for almost 2 years now and have been completely happy with this bird. I've built out a couple of plastic stocks, a CF stock, and my current bird is a CF-Stretch.

http://www.msh-direct.com/

Chief

[evolve92]

I have always heard msh-direct was good to deal with but I have never had a reason to by from them. My biggest concern has been support after the fact. I am sure my experiences in this hobby are not unique but here is where I am at. I stared with an Esky honeybee king a friend gave me after he got tired of crashing it. I think he flew it 10 times and crashed it 9 times. I put it back together but it was already discontinued when I got. I then bought an Esky belt cp it was also at the end and they came out with their new line right after I bought it and the parts dried up pretty quick. Parts could be available now but I don't have the heli anymore. Bought an EXI clone and all the local support dried up on that and I had to deal with HK's long shipping times and zero customer service. Right now I have a Trex 450 pro and it appears they shelved that with the dominators release, you can only get the plus now but I doubt parts will be a problem. All things considered I realize things change and any hobby is what you make of it. BUT if I spend 700 - 1000 bucks to build a heli just to have the company say thanks for all the support see ya later it will not sit well. I do realize any company can go,out of business and they are not going to come out and say buy our products now because we are failing. On a side note I tried to go their website today and it says the "serve connection has been lost". I am not making any assumptions as it could be updating, maintenance or somebody could have tripped over the electrical cord. Not ruling a Protos out but I think waiting out the winter will likely be the route I take. Thanks for the comments. I did see Coraddo (spelling?) has been on the brain threads so that seems positive.

[MSH-Direct]

All is well in the land of MSH...
As for the 450-500, I doubt they will discontinue a very well established and sound design anytime soon. If the basic design has held up over this much time with nothing but praise from most this would not make much sense.

[crickr1]

Originally Posted by evolve92

I have always heard msh-direct was good to deal with but I have never had a reason to by from them. My biggest concern has been support after the fact. I am sure my experiences in this hobby are not unique but here is where I am at. I stared with an Esky honeybee king a friend gave me after he got tired of crashing it. I think he flew it 10 times and crashed it 9 times. I put it back together but it was already discontinued when I got. I then bought an Esky belt cp it was also at the end and they came out with their new line right after I bought it and the parts dried up pretty quick. Parts could be available now but I don't have the heli anymore. Bought an EXI clone and all the local support dried up on that and I had to deal with HK's long shipping times and zero customer service. Right now I have a Trex 450 pro and it appears they shelved that with the dominators release, you can only get the plus now but I doubt parts will be a problem. All things considered I realize things change and any hobby is what you make of it. BUT if I spend 700 - 1000 bucks to build a heli just to have the company say thanks for all the support see ya later it will not sit well. I do realize any company can go,out of business and they are not going to come out and say buy our products now because we are failing. On a side note I tried to go their website today and it says the "serve connection has been lost". I am not making any assumptions as it could be updating, maintenance or somebody could have tripped over the electrical cord. Not ruling a Protos out but I think waiting out the winter will likely be the route I take. Thanks for the comments. I did see Coraddo (spelling?) has been on the brain threads so that seems positive.

One of the good things about MSH is that the product line has been solid and any updates/or improvements have been compatible with original models. They do not make a new version every 6 months and discontinue their old models after a year like some others do. Not to mention very few and far between upgrades are even required of their helis unlike others that continually need upgrades to get them to fly right. I could only assume the companies that dropped MSH were not turning big profits from their line only because little after sales are required. Basic crash/repair parts. not continual change in product line.

[evolve92]

I agree. Their small product line and minimal changes is what drew me into wanting a Protos. I also think the single belt is a really cool set up. It will be interesting to see what happens with them and any 550-600 size heli's come out. I think the smaller size of the Protos fits my needs and budget verses something like a 500 Goblin since I am starting from scratch on a bigger model and will need to buy batteries etc.

I also didn't think about profit margins and parts costs/supplies but it makes sense. I was looking at the JR Forza deal but I don't really want another 450. When you look at their standard price of 699.00 on the combo an they are pumping them out at 279.00 right now it makes you think about the profit margins. I do realize MSH and JR are two different animals when it comes to products and scale of production. Just thinking out loud I guess.

[HarryR]

I have EIGHT Protos 500. They are all pretty stock and only the servos and the FBL are non MSH because that is how a Protos works. They fly big for a 500 and they fly small when it is time to repair or replace parts. It's somewhat of a fan club and as there are few choices ( after market parts from 2-3 producers round out your options and parts). If you want to personalize them? OK, go ahead and get a special canopy and you are all set. My back up / spares are just a collection of MSH Parts and I am sure I could build at least one complete Protos 500. But heck that is $500.00 dollars worth of spare parts. Easy Peasy.. I made the decision not to go bigger, I am fine with the 6S Lipo that easily runs 5 minutes because the heli is a real light weight!
I am hoping this Protos 500 is going to be around for a long time. Upgrading? Nah . There is no need. A better FBL? nah, an AR7200BX will do nicely. So bottom line, this is one hell of a heli. It is seasoned, mature and an Italian Stallion

[HAV]

Like most other owners, for me the Protos 500 has been outstanding in flight performance, ease of maintenance and cost. A unique, elegantly simple design, which as mentioned, is well proven. Its design has not been changed needlessly. It has only been added to with demand, such as FBL and stretch kits. I thought these were reasonably priced, worked very well and bolted right onto your original kit. Of course now these items have been incorporated on new kits. Bling if you want. There are plenty of aftermarket items, none are needed. I'm looking forward to what's next in the lineup...hopefully a 550. My old Logo14 is getting long in the tooth... HAV

[crickr1]

Harry hit the nail on the head, They fly big and crash small. Another great point is because of there lightweight and simple design, when they go in the repair costs are usually going to be less because of lower parts count and less weight=less inertia. As a beginner, it can be a great tame, trainer and as your skills progress, it will take anything you want to toss at it!
The Protos500 is a very versatile machine with great flight characteristics from slow/mild to fast/wild. No limits, As i started flying bigger more powerful helis and my P5 would sit for a while, I would grab it for a few flights and forget how much I missed it! Never stops amazing me, as my skills progress and flying the 500 keeps getting better and better.
Got a few local guys to fly Protos as there first Bigger heli, and they all love it!
They said it helped them improve and gave them confidence as they learned flight and progressed.

[aterren]

Originally Posted by shotgun34

The MSH dying thread was caused by 2 major US shops stopping to distribute them ... seems perfectly logical to ask the question in my side of the ocean

I have far fewer concerns about MSH now. There was more circumstantial evidence than a couple of shops dropping Protos. That said, things are looking up in my view.

[matthewcornell]

I have a 450 and the protos (non-stretch) and the Protos is a ton of fun. I fly the Ikon, which, while not perfect, really woke the bird up as compared to the Skookum 540 or beastx. I got the Protos because the first '500' I bought, a trex 500 efl pro, was intimidating and not fun for me. The protos swings the same 425mm blades, but has a smaller profile, lower headspeed, and is quieter. That said, when I fly it some people think it's a 450. So if you're wanting something a lot bigger than a 450, you might want to go bigger. However, it's a winner.

[corrosionate]

If I could only afford 1 heli, it'd be a plastic P500. If I could only afford 2, I'd add the mini. They fly awesome and crash cheap. I love my logos too, for the same reasons, but they cost way more to crash, so that's the only reason I'd rule them out if times get tough for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And I hope they don't change them one bit ;-)

[BHChieftain]

Originally Posted by corrosionate

If I could only afford 1 heli, it'd be a plastic P500. If I could only afford 2, I'd add the mini. They fly awesome and crash cheap. I love my logos too, for the same reasons, but they cost way more to crash, so that's the only reason I'd rule them out if times get tough for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And I hope they don't change them one bit ;-)

I even love the flybar design... I REALLY hope they keep this option.
Chief

[babyuh1]

Originally Posted by corrosionate

If I could only afford 1 heli, it'd be a plastic P500. If I could only afford 2, I'd add the mini. They fly awesome and crash cheap. I love my logos too, for the same reasons, but they cost way more to crash, so that's the only reason I'd rule them out if times get tough for me.


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And I hope they don't change them one bit ;-)

I agree one hundred percent of the P500!