Align Tails! GRRRR!

[vinny155]

this is what i put on mine,its a whole new tail minus the grips
KDE Direct Performance Tail Control T-REX 700 AT700-PTC-PTU

[maderdog_1024]

this is what i put on mine,its a whole new tail minus the grips
KDE Direct Performance Tail Control T-REX 700 AT700-PTC-PTU

wow, over £100 for my two helicopters!

why cant they just build it right first time around!

[electricsceadu]

why cant they just build it right first time around!

because the kit price would go up and profit margin would go down
and they also couldn't sell the v1.1 replacement followed shortly by the v1.2 then the v1.3 etc

[waveydavey]

I haven't had any issues since replacing the main slider with the updated one and I still use plastic grips. A tiny bit of loctite on the brass slider as it screws into the pitch slider arms and don't over tighten the grip bolts if you've got metal grips. This stretches the bolts and leads to failure.

[cjcj1949]

I was not impressed with the tail on my HK450. Admittedly I had to rpalce it when the metal disintegrated. The basic Align part does appear to have some play, although it does fly ok. I've replaced mine with a Blade400 metal upgrade part that seems good quality (I already had it lying around). Is there a cheap 450 alternative that works? I'm also wondering if replacing plastic parts on a regular basis is better than the cheaper allegedly CNC parts. Perhaps CNC means Computer Not Controlled. At least there should be better consistency with the plastic parts. They all tend to end up in bits. I am still impressed with the Align Head on the 450 Sport.

[maderdog_1024]

because the kit price would go up and profit margin would go down
and they also couldn't sell the v1.1 replacement followed shortly by the v1.2 then the v1.3 etc

makes me want to sell my align stuff and buy an N5 and N9! lol

[waveydavey]

I look at it with a slightly different view, the Align range is what it is, a well designed, well priced mass market product. When you think about it the amount of them out there compared to say N5's the amount of failures pales into insignificance. Yes, I've been on the receiving end of Align manufacturing but following the upgraded components haven't had similar failures. I check my model well and the first sign of anything untoward and the offending part is replaced (cheaply). I can't criticise Align at all, gets up my nose that I had 2 repairs due to tail failure but I've had similar with my N5, I know I prefer the crash cost of a 600 to my N5.

But when all is said and done you pay your money and take your chance.

[maderdog_1024]

the part that failed on my 600 was new and had never flown before! was a metal tail slider rather than stock plastic

[waveydavey]

Was it the bush, this was the problem I had which had been over tightened into the slider arm. It cracked in use where it entered the arm. Not too much damage from this one as I realised and managed to hit hold.

[maderdog_1024]

Was it the bush, this was the problem I had which had been over tightened into the slider arm. It cracked in use where it entered the arm. Not too much damage from this one as I realised and managed to hit hold.

Yup bush sheared