Is it worthwhile fbl my trex 500?

[Goshawk]

As title is it worth it, I was gonna give one of those turnigy 3d-h ago but it's a very twitch heli fb so will it be smooth if I go fbl on it?

[GIXERMAN]

There lots of different ways to soften a model. Dir rates expo swash etc.

[GIXERMAN]

Blades paddles all sorts, flybarless can be more stable in the hover and tracking in ff flight etc

[Dan22]

Is it worthwhile fbl my trex 500?

I converted my 500 ESP TO FBL with a DFC head.
I made what i thought was already stable Heli even more so.
It now feels rock solid, locked in and more predictable.
As Gixerman says, it also tracks better in forward flight.
I would say its a worthwhile conversion as the Turnigy 3D-H is excellent value for money and works very well on my 500.
If you go down the DFC route and your 500 isn't a PRO then you will also need new blade grips. I used the same feathering spindle, thrust bearings etc but had to get some different size balls to convert the swash.
I got my DFC bits from align-trex.co.uk, if you give them a call and tell them what you are wanting to do, they Will make sure you get all the bits required.
Hope this helps

Dan.

[iceuk]

Save your money mate, a 500 can be made very stable. Add some flybar weights to the flybar. My mate has 3 on e8ther side
Of his 450, its how he likes it and it really is stable.

[BavarianRob]

Is it worthwhile fbl my trex 500?

Flybar weights will make it more stable as will bigger flybar paddles, but this will also make it less agile and flips/rolls will not be as quick or tight due to the extra weight.

Flybarless is better than flybar in wind as well.

[iceuk]

The OP wants a stable heli not a flip/rolling one as I understand it, weights are a cheap and effective way of making a heli feel very stable. When I went from FB to FBL I found the FBL less stable (My opinion) that was until I put a decent set of blades on. FBL does handle the wind a better though. If your just pottering around stick to FB and get some weights on they will make a massive difference.

[trillian]

Mine started life as a 500 GF, silver frame with metal head. I flew it for about a year with the flybarred head and used the plastic Align paddles but I added a little weight to them. There is a hole in the paddles next to the flybar and I'm not sure exactly what the hole is for but you can fit a 3mm bolt in there, prob 10 to 12mm long. I had to wrap some tape around the bolts for them to fit snug in there. This adds maybe 8-10 grams.

Then you have your TX setup regarding the aileron and elevator rates and expo. I generally use about 15 -18% expo on the elev and ail.

You can also reduce your headspeed if it's geared for a high headspeed now. When mine was flybarred I had a 13 tooth pinion and the 500L motor.

I was pretty pleased with the way mine flew in FB mode but over time the Align flybarred heads can develop some slop in the various moving parts and I thought it was a good opportunity to try the BeastX again. Because I had it seup for stability the change to FBL wasn't that massive a difference but it does track straighter and goes where you point it, the feeling of slop is gone. It's not as smooth in some ways but that was an acceptable trade-off. I bumped down to a 12 tooth pinion after going FBL to try to get a bit more flight time.

[Dan22]

Is it worthwhile fbl my trex 500?

Save your money mate, a 500 can be made very stable. Add some flybar weights to the flybar. My mate has 3 on e8ther side
Of his 450, its how he likes it and it really is stable.

Yeah, good advise.
Nothing at all wrong with a well set up, flybarred Heli.

Dan.

[trillian]

The OP wants a stable heli not a flip/rolling one as I understand it, weights are a cheap and effective way of making a heli feel very stable. When I went from FB to FBL I found the FBL less stable (My opinion) that was until I put a decent set of blades on.

Good points. Blades can make a big difference in stability. On mine when it was flybarred I liked the feel of the Align 425Fs and the white 'Pro 3D' 430s. The Pro 3Ds are slightly heavier and do feel a little more stable but not as quick on the cyclics. I'm using Mavrikk G5s now and they would probably also work very well with a flybar as would the Align 3G blades. Don't be afraid to try FBL blades on a flybarred heli if you want stability, it's basically the same approach as the FAI blades the F3C guys use.

[BavarianRob]

Is it worthwhile fbl my trex 500?

The OP wants a stable heli not a flip/rolling one as I understand it, weights are a cheap and effective way of making a heli feel very stable. When I went from FB to FBL I found the FBL less stable (My opinion) that was until I put a decent set of blades on. FBL does handle the wind a better though. If your just pottering around stick to FB and get some weights on they will make a massive difference.

Sorry, didn't realise was a scale 500!

Flybar weights will be fine!

[Goshawk]

Thankyou advice all taken on board, at the minute it's not in the scale body, it setup for 3d but its to sharp and twitchy for me, I wanted to use this to practice my 3d although not very good at the moment, but I'd rather crash that than a 700

[trillian]

Thankyou advice all taken on board, at the minute it's not in the scale body, it setup for 3d but its to sharp and twitchy for me, I wanted to use this to practice my 3d although not very good at the moment, but I'd rather crash that than a 700

I originally got my 500 to go into a scale fuselage but after I started flying it as a pod and boom it quickly became the perfect heli to try new moves with for the exact same reason, it's very cheap to crash.