550 size "beater"

[AcidDrink]

After long think I came to conclusion that I want a 550 size "everyday" heli in addition to my TDR. 500-1000£ (more like £1000 than £500) crash costs (per crash) are inevitable with TDR (it gets mechanical and electronics problems just like any other heli) and I find hard time justifying the costs - this slows me down, TDR is great, but not a a couple of grands a year great . So, I am going to fly it on Sundays as a glass slipper .

Shortlisted:

Trex 550 with vbar and futaba servos
Gaui X5 new vbar combo (without servos, I'll put futaba ones in)
Logo 500 kontronik/scorpion combo
(potentially) Synergy E5 with futaba servos/vbar

I don't want to have any problems with heli which come from factory, meaning, I don't want to put any upgrades to make it "fly right" or drill holes to make parts fit and it needs to be able to use 6s 4000-4400 mah packs. Average crash cost below £300 would be very helpful as well (I am especially interested in hearing from logo 500 owners about maintenance costs).

Any thoughts?

[johnsandywhite]

I have the Trex 550E FBL which complements my TDR and Goblin because they all use the same Lipos. My son has a Goblin and a 550E FBL V2.1 for the same reason.
I have not flown any other 550, but several people having seen me fly the Trex 550 went onto buy one themselves.

[moonmanflyer]

My son has the trex 550 v2 with dfc head and it is an awesome machine

[AcidDrink]

I have the Trex 550E FBL which complements my TDR and Goblin because they all use the same Lipos. My son has a Goblin and a 550E FBL V2.1 for the same reason.
I have not flown any other 550, but several people having seen me fly the Trex 550 went onto buy one themselves.

How is Trex 550 on 4000 mAh packs? I don't have any 5000 mAh and would prefer to stick to 4000-4400 size for my 700s

[johnsandywhite]

I have one OLD Turnigy 4000mah and it flies as good and almost a long as the OLD Turnigy 5000mah that I bought secondhand with it. They are both 30C, the same as all my Zippy 5000mah and I also have some Rhino 4900mah 25C which are pretty good too. I used to fly 6.5 minutes, bu now try to restrict it to 5 or 5.5 minutes.

[michael_fly_more]

550 is a good size Heli one pack per flight etc take 4 packs out get 4 flights rather than 4 packs get to flights
also a nice size to get in the car
am using 5100mah and also tried 4400mah with 4400 it's a bit tail heavy
only down side to size is auto is rubbish and Heli will drop more when banking etc due to size and power
but that's a minor thing
id rather the 550 over a 500 it's just that bit bigger plus full size servos etc and more easy to work on
you won't be disappointed

[monsul]

I'm waiting for the new Trex 550 DFC to come out, as I heard that it will not only have the upgraded head but also new servos and ESC...

[steve_b]

I've got a 550 and really like it as a beater, but I'm really tempted by the X5 combo to replace it, I've got an X7 and it's an awesome heli which is why I'm liking the look of the X5

[Nick B]

My 500se knocks spots off my old dfc 550 although i have not had it long enough to help with maintainance costs.

Why i like the Logo better???

Quieter
6 mins better than 4 (opti 5000)
More locked in on lower head speeds,550 needs 2450+ rpm,logo sweet at 2100-2200
Logo flies great as low as 1850,any lower it becomes soggy.
Logo is kinder on the pack,comes off on the cooler side of warm.
Tail blades further off the deck
Logo cano better to see.
Logo looks better than 550 imo.
Did i say it's quieter
Hasn't got mikado written on it 50,000 times
It's not made by Align
It's quiet
It will look classier sat next to the TDR
It's quieter,ooooh yeah!

HTH

[Jamin_00]

lol Nick.

I too owned both but did not have either that long

As a result of not having them both long I would sum it up as simple as this.

Want a more balls out orientated machine then get the Trex

but

If you want a machine that is more suited for all around and can balance correctly with less than 5000 packs without them in the nose of the canopy its the Logo 500.


But I do think the Trex 550 looks better so I would prob get that lol even though I would prefer the Logo for its flight characteristics

[liamm =D]

i got my logo 500 super combo a couple of weeks ago and i LOVE IT !!!!!!!! its super smooth flys different but in a good way i did have a trex 550 fly bar and did not really like it so i got rid and then fancied a smaller heli again so i got the logo and didn't look back for 680 the logo is a really good deal as alot of people say tho its worth to upgrade the esc but at the moment i can not afford to but for me its working fine we have 3 at our field and every one of us loves them

[NiceBlades]

Goblin 500 before end of year I hope! Range of packs apparently upto 4000mah.

[Ross Northcott]

Look at my signiture, best heli logo 500se, and that includes all my past heli's, srimoks, aurora E & N, Aligns etc, says it all really.
Maintenance wise its hard to say as i cant stop crashing but probally had over 250 flights and only crash damaged parts i've ever needed to replace, average cost of a decent crash is between £150 -£250 max excluding any electrics, my biggest crash to date was at about £210 inc edge blades main & tails, plus canopy.

[AcidDrink]

Goblin 500 before end of year I hope! Range of packs apparently upto 4000mah.

Yeah, but mini servos. I have two sets of full size servos in my drawer

Thanks everyone for all the info, it's really helpful. The sound of the heli is important to me, so is ability to fly low head speeds.

To be honest I am leaning towards Logo 500, they offer very good value combos (I'd go for kontronik/scorpion one), I also quite like belt and good quality plastic parts (at least I know when to replace them, instead of replacing everything metal ). Crash costs are very reasonable and won't hold me back from flying it without hesitation.

Any news about 500sx?

[Nick B]

I have a shortened 600 boom on mine,only upgrade needed was the motor pinion support bearing and lynx tail case £20 as it enables you to pin the case to the boom.

I got the alloy/carbon tail drive gear to go on,its so damn sexy.....oh,it runs more true than the plastic if you run a slightly tight belt.

If got told 3 out of my 4 heli's were stolen i would pray to god that the 500 was still there,nuff said lol