Trex 500 FBL

[synergyn9]

How are people finding the FBL 500? I've been offered the full airframe and electics kit at a very good price and seriously tempted.

I already have a 500 and it has been my favourite heli now for a couple of years, always seems to be the one that I am most comfortable with and first out of the car every Sunday.

I have dabbled with flybarless before, fitting a VBar V4 onto my 600 and I was less than impressed, couldn't get the tail how I wanted it. Was soon sold on.

So ummhing and aahing really, particularly interested in the view of people who have flown the 500 with and without the flybar.

Also how much more flight time am I likely to see? Getting around 5 mins at present on a 6S 2600 pack

[serpent887]

I have a 500 and flew it for about a year with the stock FB head. Having converted it at the end of last season it has taken some time to get it to feel right but now I wouldn't go back.

As with most things, there is a learning curve and in my opinion one worth persevering with. I have since converted all my helis to FBL

[Malc1]

This is one superb heli - even better now mine has been converted to Flybarless working with a Gyrobot700 and a 500M motor.

Ran about 7 packs though mine today between the other nitro helis and I must say it is so nice to fly

Had mine since UK launch date.

[tourerjim]

My 500 has the 3g FBL kit fitted done it couple months ago now but once you get it setup right she's a little darling with awesome power.

[ChrisB]

My T Rex 500 is long gone now but it was flybar`d for about a year before i converted it to V Bar(v4) with the Mikado head upgrade.

IMHO it flew much better than the flybar head,there was deffo more stability there and a noticable power increase and a slight duration one.I also dropped a pinion also as the headspeed was noticably higher so this may have had some bearing on the duration also.

I know what you mean about V Bar tails,they can be very good but my 600N one holds well but feels mushy and has not got that nice locked stop when you let the rudder go.No adjustments seem to give the locked feel i like.

As far as the 3g goes,my 600LE one is really very good,the tail on this one is very locked with nice hard stops,lack of piro optimisation does show though when piroing compared to V Bar.

The 3g does really have a different feel to the V bar,IMHO it is much more like a flybarred type of feel in a sense.

So in summary i think fbl works well on a 500 size electric bringing worthwhile benefits.

[synergyn9]

Thanks for that ChrisB, yeah never could come to like that mushy tail on my 600

Do you think if I were to fly say a 600 or 700 with the align fbl kit on it would give me a fair reflection of how the 500 is likely to feel. i.e I would be able to tell if I like the system overall in comparison to the vbar?

[ChrisB]

I think it would be very helpful if you could fly a bigger 3g model for sure.

I have not flown my 3g that much on my 600LE but i was instantly happy with the feel after having the flybar on that and compared to my V Bar ones.

I suppose its one of those things thats either going to feel good for you or not,all i can say i feel is that the 3g has a much more normal feel if that makes sense where as the V bar has a somewhat unique feel to it.

[synergyn9]

Yeah I know what you mean about unique feel, definately something you either like or dislike

[Gareth-71]

Hi

Well I have a 500 FB and a 500 FBL (align 3g) and the FBL is great for all the reasons already lists. IMHO it is worth getting the FBL kit. setup is easy BUT I spent ages trying to get the tail good and in the end it was simply a case fitting a really decent tail servo (bls257) and now rock solid!

Go for it!

Gareth

[Vinger]

Have both FB and FBL, flying them back to back. The 3G does take some effort to setup, but once you hit the sweet spot she flies with more power and better tracking than a FB 500. Blade choice makes a huge difference, Radix 430 are the best on the 3G, tried Align D, GCT wide chord, 3D Pro and Edge, but the Radix make determining the gains a breeze and just flies so much better.

Saving to get another 3G for my FB 500.