lepton, any advice ?

[swampy]

,,,,so I'm walking down the street to Rossmod to get some spares for the Gaui (again, my wallet now cowers in the corner of my pocket whenever I approach within 50 yards of Rich's place ),,,as I walk past the window, she lept (pun intended) out at me, an absolutely beautiful heli with a deep metallic blue canopy, with a sort of tribal/celtic design up the side, what a loverly piece of engineering, to say I was gobsmacked would be an understatement !
,,,so I had to have her, turns out she's a Hirobo Lepton, hovered once and set back down again on set up, never flown (my wallet now needs de-fib paddles before it will open again, but boy is she ever worth it !) ,,,so now I'm saving up the rest to buy her after sticking a deposit on her, my experience dictates that I won't be flying her for some time, so got a Mini Titan to learn on (still a bit suspicious of the gaui ,,,lol)

,,,so,,any advice, tips ect. ?

[Grant85]

My mate is selling his lepton as the parts are near non existent and really expensive to get hold of.My advice would be to stay away from it especially if your a beginner as crashing happens more often and with parts you will be grounded for a couple of weeks.
Plus i wouldn't buy amodel from a shop that only had 5 different spare parts stocked,i mean that's ridiculous,Why sell a heli when they cant stock parts?
http://www.rossmod.co.uk/store.php?search=1&value=467

[swampy]

Hi Grant, the shop is Rossendale Models, been using them for the last few months, as the service I've found, is second to none, knowledgable and no attitude, really like the place,,,good social sceene too, with a up-to-and-including 450 size flying club in the church behind the shop every tuesday and thursday, again, no attitude and very knowledgable and helpfull, in fact the best thing I've done since getting into heli's, must have saved me a fortune already.

I've read that the Lepton is difficult for spares, but I just had to have her, if and when I bin her, I won't mind waiting a few weeks for spares, as I would deserve the punishment lol ,,,in the meantime I'm quite content flying my Titan around, such a well-planted heli that has brought me on a great deal these last few weeks

[Grant85]

Hi Grant, the shop is Rossendale Models, been using them for the last few months, as the service I've found, is second to none, knowledgable and no attitude, really like the place,,,good social sceene too, with a up-to-and-including 450 size flying club in the church behind the shop every tuesday and thursday, again, no attitude and very knowledgable and helpfull, in fact the best thing I've done since getting into heli's, must have saved me a fortune already.

I've read that the Lepton is difficult for spares, but I just had to have her, if and when I bin her, I won't mind waiting a few weeks for spares, as I would deserve the punishment lol ,,,in the meantime I'm quite content flying my Titan around, such a well-planted heli that has brought me on a great deal these last few weeks

Oh right i didn't read your post right,i thought you was thinking about getting the Lepton,but you have already got her,I do think it is an expensive heli for what it is though TBH but it's your money,Probably going to cost you as much as a trex 600 but never mind eh lol! Good luck with it and go steady

[Andy from Sandy]

I don't know the model but my experience is that Hirobo quality is very high.

If you get stuck for parts you might want to look here RCPowerSupply.com :: Heli Spare Parts :: Electric Heli Spare Parts :: Hirobo :: Lepton EX

The postage is high but you will get a delivery in 3 or 4 days. You just have to maximise your order to justify the delivery charge.

[robgt]

The 3DX 500 is a Lepton clone and parts for that are available at Blink Helicopters - I'm not certain that all parts are interchangeable, but it would be worth checking.

Cheers,
Rob

[swampy]

thanks for that Andy may find that quite usefull, but if Rich at Rossmod is as good as he has been, I dare say my spares won't be a problem,,,,,
,,,,I know what you're saying Grant, but she is just such a piece of engineering art, doubt if I will dare fly her, will just sit and gaze at the shelf and sigh lol

,,,thats usefull Rob, pretty cheap by the looks too, I'm guessing the same parts as the Titan will go in a crash ? flybar spindle/maingear/flybar links ?

[electricsceadu]

the other one to get hirobo spares is www.world-of-heli.de
good serve and no customs to pay
and a free sweet or drink with most orders
you just hope the drink isn't a can of red bull as when the courier treats the parcel with the upmost care the tin splits
yes i found that one out sdx50 spares covered in red bull
but it gave them wings

[andylinney]

Swampy, the clone parts don't fit mate, they're all slightly too small - main shafts rattle in the bearings, tail booms don't fit the tail gearbox, flybar is ok but the quality is shonky.

Ask me how I know...

Buy the genuine bits even though they're a pain to get and cost the earth.

[robgt]

That's interesting Andy!
Point noted!!

Cheers,
Rob

[andylinney]

Rob out of about 10 parts I bought I'd say 2 or 3 actually fitted (fins and a flybar) - the boom, dampers, mainshaft, feathering spindle, and a whole heap of other bits went straight in the bin. Even the threads on the end of the flybar were shallow and uneven. Not great at all.

[swampy]

bugger ! just been checking out the Blink site too, thinking, "'kinell, maybe I can afford to try and fly her after all !"
,,,,cheers for that Andy, will rely on Rich at Rossmod for any bits then,,,,

[swampy]

just taken delivery of my new Lepton yesterday,,,I have to say I am absolutely stunned with the quality of the design and build of the thing



,,,only fly-in-the-ointment though is the canopy, although the paintwork is stunning, it has a consistancy of a bloody eggshell ! reamed the holes for the grommits ok, went to put the grommits in (after soaking the things in boiling water for a few minutes to soften them up, and the canopy just shattered around the hole

,,I found a few Canomod canopys for it, (have a Canomod on the mini T, well impressed) but it appears to be a yank site,,anyone in the UK do canomod canopys for the Lepton ?