Advice for another Helicopter - addition to fleet

[Granpappy]

If battery cost is a consideration then a pair of Zippy Compact 6S 3300mah 35c from hobbyking will set you back £36 each plus shipping from UK warehouse. This limits you to a 600 size heli on 12s. To me that's pretty close to flying a 550. The only thing you can share the batterys with on 6s would be a heli running 425 to 460 blades like a Trex 500.

If battery cost isn't a huge consideration then I would go for a 700 size. The only helis I could possibly recommend from experience is a Compass 7HV or a MSH Protos Max V2. Spares availability for the Protos are as good as anything else in the UK and plentiful in EU. I don't know about Compass spares in UK but always plentiful in EU. I recently picked up a new Protos Max V2 for £499 from Midland. I admittedly built it as an 800 size, but its dead easy to build and flies really well. This particular model has now been replaced with a more expensive Leggero model. But spares should be available for a long time to come.

There is also plenty of 700's on 2nd hand market and your choice is pretty varied. It's a buyers market for used.

If it was me, I would personally go for a 700 size for all the reasons stated by previous posters. Much better on a windy field. My Compass is pretty much rock steady in a 15 mph wind.

[Pabs]

I've been thinking about a Goblin 570 - 1 of them at the club that looks and flies great.
Is the Goblin 630 discontinued now? Are spares still plentiful?

[Pabs]

I use Turnigy 6s 5000mah batteries on my 550 which are great, but cannot get hold of them anywhere anymore which is a pain, otherwise I could share those with a 700-size model.

[Coxy]

EU and UK warehouse recently had them in stock, 5000mah heavy duty 60c £53.00 plus delivery... There is also a decent looking protos in the classifieds section, rtf depending on your budget...

[Pabs]

I'm stuck in a decision at the moment. Looking at second hand market, and can't make my mind up. I've worked out that I cannot afford new, but the used market seems great value.

i like the idea of a Goblin 570 on smaller Lipo capacities (3700-4000mah) on a 12s setup.
I like the idea of a Trex 700L on 12s but batteries seem expensive given I cannot get a source of Turnigy 5000's (although I'll keep an eye on hobbyking as always)

A Goblin 630 is available second hand which seems like a mid-size compromise but obviously they are discontinued so worried about spares.

not convinced on Protos to be honest, at least with the above models there are similar at the club already.

[trillian]

I'm stuck in a decision at the moment. Looking at second hand market, and can't make my mind up. I've worked out that I cannot afford new, but the used market seems great value.

i like the idea of a Goblin 570 on smaller Lipo capacities (3700-4000mah) on a 12s setup.

You can certainly fly the 700 on 4000mah packs. I started flying more on the smaller packs simply because of the weight and bulk of the 5000s and that I was having to carry a bunch of them. I can even fly two of my 700s of 2600mah packs, obviously at shorter flight times.

[Pabs]

You can certainly fly the 700 on 4000mah packs. I started flying more on the smaller packs simply because of the weight and bulk of the 5000s and that I was having to carry a bunch of them. I can even fly two of my 700s of 2600mah packs, obviously at shorter flight times.

That I didn't know!! What sort of flight time do you get from the 4000 packs?

[crash-test-tomo]

i like the idea of a Goblin 570 on smaller Lipo capacities (3700-4000mah) on a 12s setup.
I like the idea of a Trex 700L on 12s but batteries seem expensive given I cannot get a source of Turnigy 5000's (although I'll keep an eye on hobbyking as always)

A Goblin 630 is available second hand which seems like a mid-size compromise but obviously they are discontinued so worried about spares.

For me the beauty of my 570 is that its runs 6s packs! Its rock solid stable and does everything my 700 does just minus a fraction of 12s grunt, if you are going to go with 12s I wouldnt bother with the 570.
Also keep in mind that yes smaller packs for 12s are cheaper.. But you need twice as many! I like to go with the buy quality buy once option. I bought zippys and optis at the same time and after about 30 flights on each set the zippys had visibly grown slightly, IR had increased and they get considerably warmer! The optis still look brand new, IR all below 2.5 and barely break sweat after the hardest flights I can manage! I agree that cost is ridiculous though, its by far my least favourite part of the hobby.

As far as I can tell the 630, 700, 770, black thunder, thunder t (lol) etc etc are all basically the same heli with the exception of gear ratios and overall size, so theres nothing to stop you just fitting a 700 boom if you cant get a 630 one.
Id just look harder for a competition model rather than the original so you have at least a half decent battery tray and the hps head!

[trillian]

That I didn't know!! What sort of flight time do you get from the 4000 packs?

I get 8-9 minutes with a very comfortable margin left. This is with the TDR and the Faifa, the Triabolo is a bit heavier so I stay on the safe side and usually fly 7.30 but I could prob do 8, I'm sure I could get ten minutes with the TDR. I can fly the Faifa 6 minutes on a pair of 2600mah packs! Partly because it's light anyway but then with 2600s it's super light. The TDR will run on those small packs as well but the Faifa is easier to get a good C of G. I can fly the Triabolo 5 or 6 minutes on a pair of Opti 3500s.

All three fly very well on 4000s and I tend to just get the cheapest I can find, Turnigy, Zippy Compact, some other odd brand I don't remember, all work great.

I run the bigger helis at medium / low headspeeds, around 1300-1400 and hovering at 1100.

[Pabs]

For me the beauty of my 570 is that its runs 6s packs! Its rock solid stable and does everything my 700 does just minus a fraction of 12s grunt, if you are going to go with 12s I wouldnt bother with the 570.
Also keep in mind that yes smaller packs for 12s are cheaper.. But you need twice as many! I like to go with the buy quality buy once option. I bought zippys and optis at the same time and after about 30 flights on each set the zippys had visibly grown slightly, IR had increased and they get considerably warmer! The optis still look brand new, IR all below 2.5 and barely break sweat after the hardest flights I can manage! I agree that cost is ridiculous though, its by far my least favourite part of the hobby.

As far as I can tell the 630, 700, 770, black thunder, thunder t (lol) etc etc are all basically the same heli with the exception of gear ratios and overall size, so theres nothing to stop you just fitting a 700 boom if you cant get a 630 one.
Id just look harder for a competition model rather than the original so you have at least a half decent battery tray and the hps head!

Fair point about batteries, but I know my flying has never caused any of my turnigys to puff so far (30 cycles in). My flying ability won't warm any batteries just yet lol.

The 630 I saw (BMfA) is a competition model which is why I was considering it. But then I have the option of a 700L for slightly less money too. Just selling some other bits to fund the new model now.

[Pabs]

I get 8-9 minutes with a very comfortable margin left. This is with the TDR and the Faifa, the Triabolo is a bit heavier so I stay on the safe side and usually fly 7.30 but I could prob do 8, I'm sure I could get ten minutes with the TDR. I can fly the Faifa 6 minutes on a pair of 2600mah packs! Partly because it's light anyway but then with 2600s it's super light. The TDR will run on those small packs as well but the Faifa is easier to get a good C of G. I can fly the Triabolo 5 or 6 minutes on a pair of Opti 3500s.

All three fly very well on 4000s and I tend to just get the cheapest I can find, Turnigy, Zippy Compact, some other odd brand I don't remember, all work great.

I run the bigger helis at medium / low headspeeds, around 1300-1400 and hovering at 1100.

wow that's plenty then, I was only looking for 6-7 mins max because by then I'm losing focus anyway. I usually only take packs down to about 30% as well.

[trillian]

wow that's plenty then, I was only looking for 6-7 mins max because by then I'm losing focus anyway. I usually only take packs down to about 30% as well.

Yeah quite often I'll just put 7 minutes on the timer, especially if I think someone else is waiting to fly. The gasser can probably go 16-17 minutes on a tank and I have never even come close to wanting to fly that long.