Beam, the forgotten brand

[trillian]

This is one of those brands that has faded from view to the point that it is rarely seen in the UK. There was a time when a few of the shops stocked the E4 kits and all the spares. Now I think FastLads still has some limited spares for the E4 and the Avantgarde but as the brand has not been promoted here at all, the new 500 'Archon' came out some time ago with no UK stockists.

I have had the original E4 flybarred version for about 4 years and I still remember how stunningly good I thought it was when I first got it and was flying 450s a lot at the time.

Then I drifted away from 450s in general and only recently thought about trying one again. Earlier this year I got a beautiful Beam E4 SE airframe from a forum member and gathered the bits for it and built it up. I have flown it about 5 times now and it's a bit of a shock flying something so small so I am still undecided but it's a lovely example of the brand.

The layout is very similar to the Trex 450 Pro in terms of the servo placement (it does not share any parts with the Aligns but I think some Align booms will fit). I am casually toying with the idea of seeing if I can mod one of the Fusuno speed fuselages to fit as it would improve visibility.

Here's what it looks like now:

[Boggy]

What head is that Sheryl? I still have Eddie's here sadly its now considered obsolete,so I may convert it.

[GIXERMAN]

think it says beam, can't quite make out in zooming

[trillian]

What head is that Sheryl? I still have Eddie's here sadly its now considered obsolete,so I may convert it.

It's the Beam head, DFC style. They also make a non-DFC type head. In a thread on HF someone converted an E4 using a Tarot FBL head.

Some Align compatible heads might fit but the Beam main shaft sticks up a bit higher above the upper Jesus bolt compared to the Trex main shaft so not all Trex compatible heads will fit straight on without modding. (actually now that I write this I'm pretty sure the guy that used the Tarot head said that he ground the Beam main shaft down a bit at the top).

I still have the original E4 as well and an Avantgarde that I fitted a JR three blade head onto. I should take both E4s out next time and see how the flybarred one compares.

[Boggy]

yep! just googled it Brian

[Planehazza]

Won't be long before ElyQ and Outrage join this list...

[waveydavey]

they already have Harry. Shame as the Fusion was a nice flying heli, shot in a crash though

[Planehazza]

they already have Harry. Shame as the Fusion was a nice flying heli, shot in a crash though

I've yet to find out thankfully. Two of my three models are extinct :/

[trillian]

Ely.Q seems completely extinct. I had a .50 Ultimate and actually still have an entire airframe I think. Beam is still alive and well it's just that they don't do any promotion and don't seem to be widely distributed but you can get the kits and parts from them in Korea. http://hatzs.co.kr

[mahbouni]

Wasn't the Beam a re-branded MA Furion? Or was it the other way round?

[trillian]

Wasn't the Beam a re-branded MA Furion? Or was it the other way round?

Beam and MA are totally separate companies, they have never had any rebranding in either direction that I am aware of.

[mahbouni]

I see