Beginner - T Rex 450 V2 Sport or Pro & Kit or RTF, pros and cons

[Sannan75]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to RC helicopters, will be buying my first one next week after ages of looking and reading and would just like a few opinions from experienced flyers if possible on a couple of points.

Fyi, my only experience so far has been 20 hours in Aerofly RC 7 Ultimate, I've gone from uncontrolled carnage to being able to fly the Align T-Rex 450 in a controlled manner with good smooth take offs and landings, hovers and general flight (I know it's a whole different ball game in real life though).

1) I was set on getting the Align T-Rex 450 V2 Sport but right now the T-Rex 450 V2 Pro can be bought for only £10 more so I'm tempted. Reading around would suggest the Pro is a marginally better flyer and requires less maintenance but is also harder to work on and the tail is less resistant to ham fisted landings (I'll be flying on grass). Which one would you recommend and why?

2) I want to buy the kit rather than RTF because I love that sort of thing and it will be a great way to understand the helicopter for maintenance and repair. I've looked at the manuals and nothing looks too scary but where my understanding struggles is around correct flight setup both for the helicopter and programming the controller, simply because I've never done it. Is it fairly straightforward with good instructions to at least get something stable and controllable that I can then fine tune or is it hell?

3) Wildcard question, anyone reckon going for the T-Rex 500e is a better option?

Thanks in advance for your time and opinions

[tourerjim]

Welcome to the forum, your get plenty of replies here as the 450 as got to be the most popular heli, My old 450pro I upgraded to fbl with the 3G then 3GX & now the Gpro so what ever one you decide on your pretty sure there's upgrades for it.

[Cagey]

Welcome indeed. Your suppositions of the 450 are entirely correct regarding maintenance and cost of repair, which is one of the 450 genres strong points. They are relatively inexpensive for spares, not difficult to work on and can be made to fly gently once set up to do so. Now comes the "BUT". How big is your wallet ? How good is your eyesight ? Can you join a club with experienced heli drivers that can help you ? Are you going to go it alone? This forum is terrific if you're determined, but nothing beats help to be had from experienced hands.The 450 breed are capable of disappearing with alacrity with a consequential "Splat !", They can become a drain on your resources if you're unlucky enough to continually carry out soil hardness trials like I've done. I've lost count of the wallops my two 450s have had. Old age, not so sharp reflexes don't help, also boredom with the same old 8s,circuits and tail in hovering meant "Bo**ox!" again for me.
So to go to the 500 or 550 size is often recommended from the easier to see, capable of more sedate flying than 450s, the 500 being not greatly more costly, not so a 550, you can get half a dozen prangs on a 450 for one on a 550, with a 500 in between. LOL if you like !
No matter who you ask, you'll get different answers, it can be very person specific. But be assured it's a terrific hobby, with a high buzz factor involved and whichever route you go, be prepared for a high learning curve. Luck whichever buddy.

[Sannan75]

Cheers Cagey, great reply, made me smile.

I'm expecting significant wallet damage to be honest and lots of creative swearing as my briefly pleasant flight heads south for the hundredth time at the start. Initially I'll be going it alone but will seriously consider joining a club in the area.

[Cagey]

Hate to be a bore, BUT, you really must join a club. Going it alone is a recipe for disaster. You will crash, guaranteed ! Consider an estimate of £20 per repair for a 450, using quality spares. Builds up my friend. Being in a club won't prevent "boings", but will lessen the odds. Cheers

[Holst]

Definitely go with the kit you will learn a lot building and repairs will be less daunting.

Even if you don't want to join a club please try and get somebody experienced to fly your new heli.
This will make initial setup much easier and you will know your heli is built properly.

As a beginner you might make a mistake in building and not spot it.

Just be sensible where you fly as even a 450 is dangerous.

[Sannan75]

Thanks Holst, the kit definitely appeals more.

I'm lucky enough to have a private garden space that's well over a hundred ft in each direction (albeit with a sodding great tree in the middle) so I have no one around to endanger. I've seen enough reckless YouTube video's in the last few weeks to realise not everyone is sensible with these things though!

[electricsceadu]

owning a v1 450 se and a 450 pro both flybared models the pro flies so much better that the old v1 se
i've not flown a sport but the newer the model is the better they seam to fly
the old v1 se was the dogs danglies when it was new compaired to the 450x and xl

flight performance i'd go with the pro
if you don't want to be grounded awaiting tail gears after a heavy knock on the tail when landing go with the belt driven tail on the sport

[Holst]

I learnt on a fixed pitch micro and then moved onto a 450 and managed ok on my own .
Setting up the flybarless system might be harder.
You will need to read a bit and do things methodically if your going it alone.

[Mike Sanders]

Welcome to the forum. Good advice above.

I bought the sport for the same reason as you. Looking back on it three years later I don't think that I saved very much in repair costs. The pro will be more efficient because the torque tube doesn't have as much friction as the belt. Whatever you choose, don't worry about it. You will have tremendous fun.

[kenny d]

Welcome sannan , Everybody's opion will be different , after advice I started with a sport v2 thinking that being belt driven to the tail would be cheaper to maintain , it wasn't for me ,when you get a blade strike the seesaw holder often breaks £10 inc bearings , the pro flybar or dfc Is far better to maintain , the biggest problem with any 450's is servo gears especially if it's dfc , I now use breakable servo horns , check this thread http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/main-d...5m-ds416m.html. , I started flying myself at home , I am now a member of a club & wished I had joined one right away , the advice and help would have saved me a small fortune , which ever way you go you'll have fun PS Ive had a 250 and hated it

[Sannan75]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, it's all really helpful to me. I'm going to be cheeky now and ask another question on something I thought would be really straightforward but appears not...

Battery chargers.

I'm going to buy everything from Midland Helicopters and one of the things I want is a mains powered battery charger for the batteries they recommended to me for the kit (Align LiPo Battery 11.1V 3S1P 2200mah 30C) but can I make sense of the charger section of their site to see what my options are? Nope.

If any of you 450 owners could point in the direction of a good mains charger (if it can charge more than one battery at a time great not overly fussed about that), ideally for sale by Midland too so I'm only placing one order with one supplier but I'm sure I'll live if not

Thanks

[kenny d]

The three guys I fly with Use one of these , O-FS-LX60BP | FUSION LX60B PRO ELYSIUM AC/DC. , I also have one , it's so good that when I upgraded to a power lab I kept it as well , it will Charge more than one battery depending on the size of them , I used to charge up to 6 batries (11v 2200mah).

[Sannan75]

Cheers Kenny, is that mains powered out of the box or would I need to buy a power supply too?

(Also, any slightly cheaper options that would do the same thing or is that as cheap as it gets for something half decent?)

[GIXERMAN]

Welcome Sannan, charger is main or from power supply.