450 Pro...

[Rotorhead]

now THAT is a matter of opinion
For example both the 600 and (reportedly - I don't own one) 500 need quite a bit of work to make them fast enough on cyclic to become serious 3D machines. But that's what they should be out-of-the-box, according to marketing.

I have the 500 and have had it for a long time, and my opinion of it is; no it doesnt need much doing to it, not much at all out of the box, the cyclic has always been quick on them, ofcourse you can upgrade them just like you can with every other helicopter.

The only upgrades mine has had is the black carbon paddles, and the alu tail hub/grips, but I'll be honest about that, that was for nothing more or less than bling bling

The 600N and 700N DO need a header tank or they'll run inconsistently.

Just like with pleanty of other helicopters aswell, and like almost every other helicopter, they are after market items, and you'd be a bit foolish to not fit them if you intend to ever do 3D.

And the 450 SE V2 is best enjoyed with a HDX "superframe" for a symmetrical servo layout that doesn't interfere with the main gear. The tail pulley problem of the V2 was already mentioned earlier, together with the need for a tougher belt. Those are just the "must-have" upgrades I remember right now.

Having flown many examples of all versions of the T-rex over the years aside from the electric 700, either by owning them or setting them up for people, I can't really agree that there was much wrong with the SE V1 or V2, they flew very very well, and the pro is only a bit better imo, prior to those two versions they wheren't bad except for the really early ones.

There where no "must-have" upgrades, there where pleanty of "thats nice" upgrades but no "must-have" ones for the SE V1 and definitely not the V2.

[GravityKills]

well, you call it "after market item", I call it "omission". A matter of expectations, maybe.

Whatever, this one did live up to my expectations out-of-the-box, many older ones did not. The rotten Align LiPos and motors probably didn't exactly help.

[sacko]

I have the 500 and have had it for a long time, and my opinion of it is; no it doesnt need much doing to it, not much at all out of the box, the cyclic has always been quick on them, ofcourse you can upgrade them just like you can with every other helicopter.

The only upgrades mine has had is the black carbon paddles, and the alu tail hub/grips, but I'll be honest about that, that was for nothing more or less than bling bling

Really? Mine sucked.

I now have KBDD paddles, KBDD Dampers, Trex 600 flybar, SAB blades (which made a big difference).

Its pretty good now, but its still going FBL

[Rotorhead]

I converted my 500 over to night flying (torsion nb's, align light strings) infact had a couple of flights tonight on the field near the indoor club, and I am planning on going flybarless at some point, more is better afterall, more effective power can not be a bad thing, but as its set up now it is very very quick, and climbs like a rocket, infact a friend of mine did some night flying with his flybarless heli, and on my second flight (second lipo has a lot less cycles on it) it looked like it was nearly as fast in a climb, not much in it at all

[muscleflex]

'Just curious, where are these adjustment points?

The thought that comes to mind is what about fitting a 450 pro rotorhead including swash to a 450SE airframe.

i've done it!!!
to my 450 XL. i bought a 450 pro head on here and it dropped right in with no problem!
i'm using the original 450 v1 swash tho as i only have a clone v2 and that's not as smooth. i might buy a 450 pro swash

but i'm liking it. it's stable (i dont know why) and it's encouraging me to fly every day whenever i can (i'm only on a hover stage and still learning controlled forward flight)
i'll take a pic of mine tonight and show you

[trillian]

i've done it!!!
to my 450 XL. i bought a 450 pro head on here and it dropped right in with no problem!
i'm using the original 450 v1 swash tho as i only have a clone v2 and that's not as smooth. i might buy a 450 pro swash

but i'm liking it. it's stable (i dont know why) and it's encouraging me to fly every day whenever i can (i'm only on a hover stage and still learning controlled forward flight)
i'll take a pic of mine tonight and show you

That's interesting.

The thing that concerns me about my 450SE is the amount of slop in the rotorhead assembly and a fair amount of it seems to be in the swash.

I can rock the flybar carrier back and forth about a couple millimetres and most of that comes from the swashplate.

Some people were using the Beam E4 swash as an upgrade for the 450 SE.

The stock dampers feel quite mushy as well.

[muscleflex]

i'm away this weekend but i'm taking my heli with me. i'll take a pic and i'll post. the swash i'm using is an SEv1 clone metal that i got from ebay from china which is working ok so far.
now i want to get a complete 450 sport tail kit to replace mine so hopefully it'll be nice and solid with no shakes. (again, i'm using 450 SE v1 clone tail)

[trillian]

i'm away this weekend but i'm taking my heli with me. i'll take a pic and i'll post. the swash i'm using is an SEv1 clone metal that i got from ebay from china which is working ok so far.
now i want to get a complete 450 sport tail kit to replace mine so hopefully it'll be nice and solid with no shakes. (again, i'm using 450 SE v1 clone tail)

I went ahead and got a Beam swashplate and it definitely removed most of the slop. But I was also testing a pair of 350mm blades (I have the Outrage longer boom) so it's hard to say how much difference the swash alone makes. I was going to fly it with the blades I was using before but I forgot and left them at home So at some point soon I'll fly it with the blades I am familiar with so I can tell the difference in feel just from the new swash.

[pgkevet]

To be fair you'ld have to compare a new beam swash with a new align swash or both when old..
My pro clone swash has less play than my V2 swash.

[trillian]

To be fair you'ld have to compare a new beam swash with a new align swash or both when old..
My pro clone swash has less play than my V2 swash.

Yeah this is true. Supposedly you can replace something in the Beam swash if it develops slop over time.

Right now my GL450 with Chinese CNC rotorhead and swash (only got them for the silvery bling factor) is smoother and feels generally better.