Trex 450 clones yes or no ????

[konceppt]

Bottom line is that if you are learning then any cp heli will do.You arent going to notice servo/gyro difference.Just by a blade 400 and fly it.When you improve,decide if you want to upgrade the b400 or buy a larger heli.Then you dont have to worry about buying metal head upgrades etc.The blade 400 will see you right for a while mate.Even if you do decide to upgrade it with a better gyro/servos you can always return it to standard and sell it when you are finished and keep the gyro/servos for your next heli

[LaurenceGough]

No....

[Boggy]

FFS this comes up every 2 weeks!

Usual comments from knowledgeable flyers and ones from people who really ain't got a clue.

There ought to be some sort of competence rating system Stuart for members on here so that you could see who actually knew what they are on about and those who just regurgitate what they heard in the pub (or read last week).

How on earth a Blade 400 can be a better heli than say an all CNC Flasher is beyond me. Forget the servos, there's not much good to say about Align 410s anyway and certainly nothing good to say about Eflite ones. A decent metal/CF clone anyday for me over a plastic Blade 400 then fit the best servos and gyro you can afford

wow! proved your own point there dave!!

[Sy76]

No....

No what ?

[sacko]

No what ?

Re-read the title

[Si_B]

Plenty of bun fights to read on this subject. Blade 400 over Trex, Trex wins each time personally. Secondhand Trex over a clone, possibly a better buy if you know what you are doing, but buy wrong and it will cost you a small fortune.

I owned a Flasher 450, which was perfectly fine for everything apart from hard 3D flying. I wouldn't possibly go for a complete outfit, maybe a kit then fit out with reasonably decent gear.

[del19_82]

Mate its your wedge so buy whatever heli you want and enjoy it, that's what the hobby is about after all

[cjcj1949]

I'm not sure what DaveW was complaining about. When I started the main problem was knowing whether or not the heli was in trim or had been put back together after an arrival. I was talking about the GiantCod £40 clone which is very cheap but all metal and flies very well for me. That certainly doesn't include 3D. The Flasher 450s look interesting and the basic plastic one for about £130 looks a good alternative to the Blade400 provided it is checked out by the shop or someone who knows enough to set one up.

I was told to buy a Trex when I started and didnt because it was too expensive. I would now advise anyone to spend as much as they can afford unless they are prepared to waste a lot of time and confidence on problems that can be avoided. How best to spend that money is very difficult. An active flybarless sytem is what I use on Phoenix at the moment for practising inverted. It might be a good investment for a beginner. The way things go in Electronics (according to someone who is qualified in that subject and has worked on INS ie me) is that these systems will become cheaper and probably as common as a heading hold gyro.

Perhaps the real problem is that it is difficult to justify spending more until you know what you are getting. On the other hand people can fly the plastic helis very well and do 3D. They perhaps make things look a little too easy.

Chris

[waveydavey]

I owned a Flasher 450, which was perfectly fine for everything apart from hard 3D flying. I wouldn't possibly go for a complete outfit, maybe a kit then fit out with reasonably decent gear.

It still doesn't do hard 3D but I reckon it is more capable than I am. It's a lovely little heli

[LaurenceGough]

No what ?

You made the thread title .

[Sy76]

im not looking to do full 3d flying yet just want to have collective pitch 6ch instead of my fixed pitch ... think it gona take alot of hrs practise on phoenix sim before i even think ubout rolls or upside down .. i just want to have a larger heli that i can progress on and then maybe upgrade or if i get good then obviously i'd go for a trex !!!

[davew]

OK so it was a grumpy response! It's to do with age

Problem I have with all forums of whatever speciality, is that people post on them genuinely seeking advice and usually do not get that clear concise advice they are after.

To be fair there have been some sensible responses this time round, particularly with regard to comments about the clones. The biggest problem, IMO, with clones is the moral and emotive issue about cloning, rather than the engineering.

There are knowledgeable people on here who will say a Trex is crap, never mind a copy of it. The basic issue is one of "fitness for purpose". A cheap horrible plastic clone can be OK for one person and not for another.

Recently I have set up a number of clone helis for learner flyers (they have been mainly Flashers and that's why I mentioned them) and whilst there are some issues with "slop" in some of the plastic mechanicals the metal stuff doesn't seem too bad at all. The big issue for me with them all has been the quality of the electrics that come in "combo" packages - servos (including an SG90 tail servo on one combo package I have had to set up) and p1ss poor gyros.

I have a pal with a CNC Flasher 450 fitted with all Align electrics (DS410 and DS520), an Align motor, ESC etc and I'd challenge you to tell the difference from the real thing - but he would probably have been as well to buy a genuine TRex 450 combo.

Coming back to the original point I was trying to make was that in the interests of helping new flyers, maybe the RCHA could issue some sort of accreditation to some members that could be displayed within their avatar, that indicated a degree of competence in the RC heli world such that we could actually take some notice of their views? - Before anyone says it, no, I wouldn't qualify and maybe only 10% here would. At least when we asked a question we would have confidence in at least some of the answers given.

Off you go ........