More 700N Photos!

[Brewber]

Aha, that is a nice heli, with a really nice paintjob

MA = Miniature Aircraft = Quality helis from USA otherwise known as Xcell - there's one at our club - the red 90 with the lady on it!

[trvo]

More photos: http://www.trextuning.com/blog/?p=361

Trev

[Tim Procter]

Well if looks are anything to go by (and yes they sell helicopters) this is going to attract a lot of attention.

Not that its a bad thing but it looks like a copy of the 600n but nice to see metal frame bearing blocks as standard too besides the torque tube tail.

[LipolyGone]

Very nice Trev is there a possibility of a belt driven tail maybe?
I only ask as the thought of the expense of the torque tube scares me & I can be a little brutal still putting my helis down on the tail.
Also has there been any mention of prices yet for this new 90 size align?
Martin

[Tim Procter]

Very nice Trev is there a possibility of a belt driven tail maybe?
I only ask as the thought of the expense of the torque tube scares me & I can be a little brutal still putting my helis down on the tail.
Also has there been any mention of prices yet for this new 90 size align?
Martin

Never had a torque tube myself Martin, Other than the loss of static (which is good) why do people not like them.

I have read they are difficult to fit but as quoted why have they never taken off.

[LipolyGone]

They are very unforgiving mate no matter what align try to tell you about them cutting through tree trunks etc if you touch the tail slightly hard you will strip the gears & cost yourself money.
Our patch doesnt get the attention it deserves & the grass can be quite lon before it gets cut so torque tube tails are a big no no.
Martin

[Ade_Law]

a well designed torque tube is more accurate and free running than a belt.

however as stated a belt is more durable in terms of touching the tail on the ground and also less likely to break it in a crash where as on a tube if you damage the boom chances are you will damage the tube too.

I dont understand why they have carried on with the 2 stage tail drive. with the counter shaft setup it saps energy so isnt in my experience actually any more efficient than a single stage belt like on the knight and the gyro does a good job in keeping the tail accurate.

if your going to do a TT it should be a single stage with a crown gear as on the synergy, vibe 90 etc.

Ade

[raptorheli2]

maybe it's just me but i'm not that impressed with the 700n. no 3rd bearing block imo is fubar. especially as it has a 12mm main mast, pointless with little support. also the boom housing is held in with 4 bolts each side, that will flex i'm sure of it. they have put a 10mm feathering spindle in it but i would trade that for a 3rd block any day.

as others have said the torque tubes are fragile and i doubt this one will be much better but we shall see.

lastly, a carbon boom, wonder if there will be failures with that....ummmm. not to mention it'll cost about 50 quid to replace it because you need to buy 2 of them. i'm not saying carbon isn't upto the job but with aligns usual quality you have to be a little dubious. i for one hope they replace that for alum. that said i don't care as my synergys are not being sold to fund them :-)

cheers

[Ashley Davis]

I dont understand why they have carried on with the 2 stage tail drive.

Because it's dead easy to fit, where as the vibe crown gear style requires fine adjustment or you wreck it......... this is where the 'hard to fit torque tube' opinion comes from that was mentioned earlier. Align TT are dead easy to fit, easier than belts. Also if you do smack the tail it's cheaper to replace small gears than a torn up main gear.......main gears with bevel gears built into them are expensive.

[BobJ]

Hi

I am not a big fan of the updrive type tail take off used on the 600 etc but crown gears are simply not strong or reilable enough for modern 90 sized models.
"If" you mesh the crown gear really tight on the better designs like the Synergy then is will probably hold up but it's too hit or miss for most to get it meshed right, too tight will rob a lot of power especailly on a auto.
I spoke with Jason about this months ago and we both think the crown gear set up is technically nicer but not as practical as the updrive which is simply plug and play so I think it is by far the best and most practical option.
I have not "yet" managed to break the 600 tail drive in the air, I have broken the tail drive on every other heli though so that tells me something.

Cheers
Bob J

[moyesboy]

Have you really broken a raptor 50 tail belt in the air Bob?

I don't understand the use of the step down gear and belt setup on the belt tail align helis. The system on the raptor and knight just seems simpler to me. not that I have had any trouble at all with the gear step down grear and belt on my 450 where autos are limited to flare and dump anyway.

I guess if you make belt and torque tube versions then you do have more interchangeable parts the way align do it.

I found so far that align protected the TT gears by putting extremely fragile tail blades in the 600n kit.

[BobJ]

Hi Gordon

Yep Rappy 50 belts used to last about 20 flights before teeth started peeling off, if you ignored the horrible noises it then made, shortly afterwards all teeth would be lost with the resulting interesting auto.
I do all my piro stuff to the right which puts extra strain on things!

Regarding the up drive for the belt drive tails, yes it is not as pure as the Rappy 30/50 way but makes it easy to switch to tube drive, you think how long the Rappy was out and how many upgrade options there were but no one did a tube drive kit as it would be complicated.
If your flying is good enough to notice the difference in auto performance between the belt drive on shaft drive 600 then you should be flying the shaft drive Pro anyway which you are:-)

Cheers
Bob

[moyesboy]

If your flying is good enough to notice the difference in auto performance between the belt drive on shaft drive 600 then you should be flying the shaft drive Pro anyway

Provided I can still tell which way it is going, and everything is still attached to the heli, and all the servos are still working, then I can usually put the heli down without grounding the tail blades too hard.