T-Rex 450 / 500. Some advice please

[Gate88]

Hi,

You will have to forgive my ignorance here but I have only ever flown nitro, and am not a member of any clubs so rarely come into contact with anyone that can give me impartial advice.

I'm thinking about getting a little electric heli, just so I can leave it in the boot of the car and whip it out lunchtimes and whenever else the opportunity for a quick thrash arises.

Most of my queries relate to the batteries, how long does it take to charge them? How long do they last? How do you know when they are about to go flat?

Also whenever I've looked into a 450 I'm always getting pushed into a 500. I was told by one chap that the 450 is more of a toy and doesnt go exactly where you want it & is rather unstable, having watched videos of people flying them that doesnt seem to be the case. Now I realise that being small they're going to be particularly vulnerable to wind but as the 450 seems cheaper is there a great difference between the two bearing in mind I'm only at the hovering, simple circuits & fig 8's stage?


Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[dw45]

I have a trex 450 and find it good fun to fly, it is not a toy and a bit harder to fly than my nitro T600, the spares are a lot cheaper and easy to buy (online) the batteries are reasonably priced and with the type of flying you are doing last about 8 mins, you don't run them flat as this shortins there life, take about 1hour to charge, there is a few strings about lipo batteries and how to take care of them worth reading.

[Gate88]

When you say harder to fly is that just due to the size & them being a bit skittish?

[dw45]

Yes due to the size there not as stable as the larger heli's.

[chopperaddict]

Hi

Over the years I have flown all sorts of helis, from large nitro's and even gassers, and now I fly mostly electrics.

The 450 size is, as others have said, a little skittish, but using a decent TX such as Spektrum or futaba, you can smooth them down very nicely using the expo settings.

The most attractive part about the 450 size is the "relatively" low cost of replacement parts to fix them up after the inevitable hard return to the earth occurs..

The Blade 400 and Belt CP are two good examples of low cost electric helis that fly nicely. The Trex 450 is further up the cost scale, but is a very nice heli.

HTH

[sacko]

I have a 450 and love it, repairs are cheap, cheap to buy, nice to fly etc...

...Saying that, I now want a 500, and I would happily sack off the 450 to get one

The thing you will find, is that what ever you have, you will always want what the barsteward next to you at the field has got.

[Gate88]

MMMMmmmm, I'm getting tempted here, I was rather hoping you'd all slag off the idea & I could put my card back in my pocket.

I'm figuring that if I can get to grips with a skittish little 450 then it's going to improve my learning curve on the Rap 50.

It's just the 8 minutes thing, I'm gonna need a whole bunch of batteries to satisfy my heli lust!

[sacko]

Yup.. Have that problem too...

..but dependant on your skill level, you can buy either the mystery batteries for £10 each or the Zippy Flightmax packs for £20 each.

[J-S-Q]

Yes, getting a 450 could definitely help with flying the Rap 50 -after the 450, the raptor will feel really nice and easy to control. I found it really helpful to alternate between flying a 600N and a TRex 450 when I first started learning.

If you set up a 450 well then they are surprisingly stable -they're just not so great if the wind gets a bit gusty. As far as batteries go, yes I'd agree about the Zippy's if you want to go cheap and cheerful -they'll take somewhere approaching an hour to charge and will last in the region of 5 minutes each depending on your flying style/setup etc. -generally you would set a timer on your transmitter to let you know when it's time to land.

[Farmer Giles]

I've got a Trex 500 and I get about 10 mins flight time. That's using standard motor and ESC and 3700mah 5S packs. But that's hovering around with the occasion bust of forward flight as I am still learning.

I think the main difference in cost between the 450 and 500 is the lipos. 3 cell packs for the 450 are around £30 to £40 where as 5 or 6 cell lipos for the 500 cost anywhere between £80 to £120 a pop....

I've just bought a Raptor 30. Heres a piccy next to my 500 so you get an idea of size..



hth

[Si Goodchild]

If you really want to learn to fly helis stick with the Raptor. When considering an electric look at the overall cost. You'll find that a well appointed 450 (such as an SE V2) will cost about the same to build as a similarly appointed TREX 500 as it's the servos and gyro that cost the real money. Spares are very similar in price too. The only real difference in cost is replacement main blades and the batteries, but you can get cheapo ones from Hong Kong if you know where to look.

For my money a 500 is the better option, but if you are set on low cost TREX 450 SE in a case so that you can leave it in the boot of the car drop me a PM and I have a cracking deal ready to go...

Si G

[Gate88]

Oh I'll be sticking with the Raptor, I love it!
But you know what it's like, while the wife's at home watching Big Brother in her dressing gown, you might fancy nipping down the pub & having a a bit of fun with a 19 year old, frisky barmaid. She doesnt cost too much, you can get it overwith in 8 minutes, gets the heart racing, and she could teach you a few tricks that you can take back to keep the wife happy!

Well that's my take on it anyway!!

[sacko]

Thats what they are good for. The 450 stays in the car at all times, if it a nice day and im on the way home from work, I will take it out.

The only drawback of the 500, is that it cant be used at the indoor club. So if I did sell the 450 to get a 500, I wouldn't be flying much in the winter.

[Gav]

yeah flying the 450 sized really helps with flying a bigger chopper for sure! 450 in the boot of the car - stop and fly!

[cambs flyer]

Hi,

You will have to forgive my ignorance here but I have only ever flown nitro, and am not a member of any clubs so rarely come into contact with anyone that can give me impartial advice.

I'm thinking about getting a little electric heli, just so I can leave it in the boot of the car and whip it out lunchtimes and whenever else the opportunity for a quick thrash arises.

Most of my queries relate to the batteries, how long does it take to charge them? How long do they last? How do you know when they are about to go flat?

Also whenever I've looked into a 450 I'm always getting pushed into a 500. I was told by one chap that the 450 is more of a toy and doesnt go exactly where you want it & is rather unstable, having watched videos of people flying them that doesnt seem to be the case. Now I realise that being small they're going to be particularly vulnerable to wind but as the 450 seems cheaper is there a great difference between the two bearing in mind I'm only at the hovering, simple circuits & fig 8's stage?


Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

I haven't read the other replies I'm just giving you my pennies worth for what it counts.

I'd say the person you've spoken to is unable to fly 400 class Heli's with a crass statement saying there basically a pile of shit.

A T450 is a cheap runner to maintain and power, I have 335 Pro blades on my SE V2 and its totally stable even in windy conditions, experience flying is what counts, and biggest isn't always the best, whats best is the machine you fly happily the most, and can comfortably afford to maintain.

Any Trex 450 will offer "at a moments notice" great fun to fly, yes they are less stable then larger machines, but there far from unstable so far as a machine goes.

Blades, Battery's, motors, Li Po's, Canopy's, are far cheaper on a 450 then a Trex 500 machine, plus as for size there the perfect take anywhere machine.

I learned to fly on a 450 and found it a joy to master, and for a seasoned flyer will be a piece of cake.

Battery's are the main factor to take note of, one single batt for the T500 will set you back £100 without a sweat, a single batt for the Trex 450 can be brought as cheap as £20 for a half decent one.

(Not to mention the more expensive charger needed for five to six cell Li Po's for the T500)

Using a good charger like the Cellpros which in my humble opinion are the very best out there will make your batts last much longer, example my first batch of 2100mah's are now approaching 200 flights, OK there not like they were when I first had them but 6 minutes is still a decent flight.

Blades £34 cheapest for the T500, £8 for the Trex 450, say no more, this is where you can get crippled if you have a few crashes within a short time frame.

Alternatively the Blade 400 RTF is a superb package, I've helped set up two so far and when adjusted via the controller and mechanical settings will fly like a Trex 450 while doing simple circuits, 8's etc, of course with 3D flying it will be totally out classed by a T450, however you seem far from that arena so it doesn't matter.

Don't get me wrong I love flying my 500, and if I was forced to only have one machine that would be the bird I'd keep out of all my collection, as I have all the gear and spares to support flying my 500.

Had I not then I'd keep my SE V2 without a doubt.

If you have a change of heart regard this issue I hope the above has offered some food for thought.