continuation of spares,

[honwal]

Do the the seasoned heli flyers stick with a brand knowing they will be able to get hold of spares,

if so what is a good brand so you will get spares with not too much problem,

I needed a blade grip for msr which I had trouble getting hold of, managed eventually to track one down on ebay, (I know the msr has been discontinued)

[electricsceadu]

at the moment align is the make to have for spares
as most model shops stock them

[Leigh Beaumont]

+1 on align

[trexamanic]

i have to agree with align as well.

[trillian]

The thing is it depends on how much you like a particular heli or brand and just how scarce the parts are. Align are one of, if not THE most widely distributed and stocked brand so you can usually get spares everywhere.

But plenty of people fly helis made by smaller companies that may only have a very few sources of parts and some of those brands are highly respected and have a loyal following.

Then some discontinued helis are still being flown even though parts are no longer manufactured and for those you have to either buy parts when they come up for sale (even if you don't need the part just then) or ask around the forums and wait till something comes along.

It's a bit like cars in that you can probably get parts for modern Fords everywhere but if you want to own something rare or vintage etc. you'll have less dealers and may have to wait longer for a part but you don't mind because that just goes with the territory.

[Holst]

I think any of the popular models from the large manufacturers should be fine.
Even once discontinued you should be able to eBay bits.

Align probably have a bit of an edge as they are so popular, also the Chinese clones should keep spares available even if align stop making them.

I don't plan on changing my helis often (had my 450 pro for years) so sticking with align has worked for me.

Other people like to change helis more often so spares shouldn't be a problem.

The manufacturers make plenty of money from spares so it's in there interest to keep them available, your only likely to run into problems with smaller manufacturers who might not exist in 5 years.

[tomatwalden]

For 450 helis and bigger, ALign are the most common
for smaller (micro) helis, Blade and the leaders.

[electricsceadu]

The thing is it depends on how much you like a particular heli or brand and just how scarce the parts are. Align are one of, if not THE most widely distributed and stocked brand so you can usually get spares everywhere.

But plenty of people fly helis made by smaller companies that may only have a very few sources of parts and some of those brands are highly respected and have a loyal following.

Then some discontinued helis are still being flown even though parts are no longer manufactured and for those you have to either buy parts when they come up for sale (even if you don't need the part just then) or ask around the forums and wait till something comes along.

It's a bit like cars in that you can probably get parts for modern Fords everywhere but if you want to own something rare or vintage etc. you'll have less dealers and may have to wait longer for a part but you don't mind because that just goes with the territory.

align my not be my flavour but they are one if not the best make to get spares for

as for car spares
i can get parts for my 1935 morris quicker than my modern ford

[hedge]

Got to be Align. As they release new models they make use of existing parts so the new heli is probably 40% new 60% existing. This keeps development costs low, allows existing owners to upgrade and keeps the spares relevant across many model versions. As an example the parts from a new released 2008 Align 700n can still be fitted to the latest 2012 DFC, or to put it another way if you flew a 2008 align then as parts wear out or crash then you replace them with parts from the latest release and keep your purchase relevant.

[kenny d]

Align & blade are all good , I see your flying a msr so I asume your a beginner , although allign probably have the best stock of spare's they make few true beginner heli's (Imo,trex 100 was not good) where blade make many first stage ,transitional , and pro level heli's , for me the mcpx bl & the discontinued 130x helped me from beginner to intermediate , Kd

[honwal]

thanks for replies,
seems align is the way to go, I have been looking at some of the dealer websites, and going by what I see they do seem to be good quality,

when I get some good air time under my belt I think i'll be after one, in all honesty I would rather be flying, than trying to hunt down spares,

all part of the learning curve

[Chrisrw]

If you don't have any luck with the msr blade grips let me know - I have a spare msr (flies but not wonderfully) maybe you can have that for a nominal fee and use it for spares?
Let me know I could always bring it down to the club tonight if you are going.
Chris.

[tomatwalden]

.

I needed a blade grip for msr which I had trouble getting hold of, managed eventually to track one down on ebay, (I know the msr has been discontinued)

Two seconds on RCFerret : Search all your favourite RC stores in one go ... I searched for "msr blade grip"

Howes Models, Radio control model Boats, Cars, Helicopters, Planes, Bait Boats, Model Railway, Heljan and Sound decoders | Radio Control | Radio Control Helicopters | E-Flite Helicopter Spares | Blade MSR Main Blade Grips w/ Hardware
E-Flite Blade mSR Main Blade Grips with/Hardware : EFLH3014

Also, it seems that the "msrx" blade grips are compatible with the older msr - hence why specific msr grips are possibly less common?

[honwal]

If you don't have any luck with the msr blade grips let me know - I have a spare msr (flies but not wonderfully) maybe you can have that for a nominal fee and use it for spares?
Let me know I could always bring it down to the club tonight if you are going.
Chris.

thanks chris I would be interested, couldn't make it tonight, i'll send you a pm mate.

[honwal]

Two seconds on RCFerret : Search all your favourite RC stores in one go ... I searched for "msr blade grip"

Howes Models, Radio control model Boats, Cars, Helicopters, Planes, Bait Boats, Model Railway, Heljan and Sound decoders | Radio Control | Radio Control Helicopters | E-Flite Helicopter Spares | Blade MSR Main Blade Grips w/ Hardware
E-Flite Blade mSR Main Blade Grips with/Hardware : EFLH3014

Also, it seems that the "msrx" blade grips are compatible with the older msr - hence why specific msr grips are possibly less common?

thanks tom this will be my first port of call for spares in future, in all honesty I didn't think of using them,