KDS Helicopters - UK Popularity

[Budgy]

What's the general opinion of KDS Helicopters in the UK?

My general opinion is that they are superbly engineered, well priced and are rock solid fliers.

Other manufacturers do have a firm hold in the UK. Now there is a very good supply of spares in the UK surely KDS has to be worth a consideration

Ian

[waveydavey]

Nice looking machines but they're up against Align. Haven't seen much promotion and the main retailers don't stock them, they're onto a loser I'm afraid

[Rob Barnes]

On the whole I think there very good with little or no issues. Both the 700 and 550 flew really well and both kits went together without any problems. A very good helicopter and money well spent. I haven't looked into the spares availability but I would imagine this has been taken care of.
I know there are 2 sponsored pilots in the UK and I believe they are continuing with the brand, I wish them both good luck for the upcoming season.

[Budgy]

There is always room for a new product and there was a time the Raptor was all the rage.

Without doubt Align are very good heli's but being different, and only time will tell better, surely will give pilots an edge and make all the difference between success or failure

[PeteStewardson]

My only experience of owning KDS has been with the Chase 360. After the few teething issues in the first run were sorted I think it's a great Heli. It's my most flown heli at the moment, well when I get out to fly.

The quality of the Agile and Chase Helis is great IMO, and I've no complaints about any of the parts quality wise.

What does hold me back is a couple of things. They're only available from maybe 3 vendors ( was 2 until you started stocking them ) and not the big names. This means they miss out on marketing and also on impulse buying. Things like the recent sales from FL and Midlands etc, they make buying an Align or similar cheaper and so you consider just buying one. I find most of my Heli purchases are made on impulse because there's been a big sale.

The other thing is weight. I like light helis, and the one KDS I've been very tempted to try is an Agile 7.2. But I believe it's a lot heavier than the Rave Ballistic I currently fly in that size. I'd love to have both to compare them, but my budget doesn't stretch to that so I'm not going to take the risk on selling the Ballistic to try one.

Having said that I have been tempted by the 5.5 as it's a size I don't currently own. But again it's fighting against the Align 550 working out cheaper.

[bigpops]

I have an Agile 5.5, and after seeing it, a guy at my club bought a 7.2.

They're fabulous looking machines, parts quality is very good, spares prices are very reasonable to say the kits themselves aren't budget machines.

But, they aren't without their flaws. I had 3x swash plates for my 5.5, all with a dodgy spherical plain bearing in the middle causing the swash not to spin true. I ended up buying my own bearing for about £8 which fixed the problem. My one way bearing was locking up when I put the jesus bolt in. Sanding down the shim supplied in the kit helped a lot, but in an expensive kit (I paid £470!) I shouldn't be having to do that.
My 5.5 developed a noise somewhere in the tail drive system after a couple of flights which I still haven't tracked down. Over the winter I think I'll check all the bearings.

Currently I'm converting it to 12S, with a view to stretching it to a 600/6.2 if the kit to do so ever hits the market. It seems to be all Chase 360 at KDS for now.

[ChrisB]

I have the 7.2 and had a 5.5 but sold it as i bought a Logo 550 and there was no competition after that.

I do like the 7.2 though,its pretty heavy but flies well,like the design layout but have experienced questionable parts quality here and there on both.

I have no immediate plans to sell my 7.2 but if it gets crashed badly i would not fix it and doubt i would buy another Agile,my interest being with Thunder Tiger and Mikado airframes currently.

[Grumpy]

I think that the problem a brand like KDS has is that there are already so many very good helis on the market with established distrubutors good aftersales and a loyal cutomer base. A relative newcommer like KDS without the existing loyal customers and limited reputation really needs to offer something that's clearly 'better' in some very tangeable way to tempt buyers and get a presence in the market.

It would be pretty hard to beat some of the existing players on sheer quality or performance, and these things can be a bit subjective anyway. IMHO that really only leaves price. If they were significantly cheaper than other helis of similar spec then I'm sure people would seriously consider, but based on current web site prices i dont think buyers will be tempted in their droves.

For instance:
Agile 7.2 Combo is £999 (no ESC)
The similar spec Trex 700E PRO DFC HV Super Combo £924 (includes an ESC retail value £200)

The price might seem quite good if compared to the SAB Goblin or similar but I think your going to struggle tempting those guys away from their brands.

[PeteStewardson]

I think that the problem a brand like KDS has is that there are already so many very good helis on the market with established distrubutors good aftersales and a loyal cutomer base. A relative newcommer like KDS without the existing loyal customers and limited reputation really needs to offer something that's clearly 'better' in some very tangeable way to tempt buyers and get a presence in the market.

It would be pretty hard to beat some of the existing players on sheer quality or performance, and these things can be a bit subjective anyway. IMHO that really only leaves price. If they were significantly cheaper than other helis of similar spec then I'm sure people would seriously consider, but based on current web site prices i dont think buyers will be tempted in their droves.

For instance:
Agile 7.2 Combo is £999 (no ESC)
The similar spec Trex 700E PRO DFC HV Super Combo £924 (includes an ESC retail value £200)

The price might seem quite good if compared to the SAB Goblin or similar but I think your going to struggle tempting those guys away from their brands.

I'd say this, and the fact that nobody is flying them to talk about them is the bigger issue. There's also a reputation issue as well, they're seen as a clone manufacturer by many. Not helped that they named their FBL ebar lol

I'm really in the market for a 550 sized heli, but the 5.5 is priced higher if you consider the options, and that will probably be the thing that decides it for me in the end.