Originally Posted by Dejavu*Xion

Out west the heavy hitter is cox cable. For t.v-internet -phone i pay $180 a month. (My first car payment was less then that). ..Crazy what we pay to watch t.v now days considering it used to be free. lol

It is crazy - you could build a 450 a month for that!

Since my better half has just ordered herself a fancy Japanese sewing machine, though, which will be my Xmas present to her, I feel able to go for something bigger than a 450 which will be her present to me.... I'm torn between 500 and 550 size.

Im in the same boat. For x-mas i will be getting a new dx8..Only im torn on the model that will come along with it. The KDS 550 or the new Devil 480. : (Devil swings 360mm blades on 6s, That would be awsome ) Would love it even more if align would put out a 480 size. At this time I can only pick one says my wife and x-mas bonus check So I'm leaning KDS 550 at this time. But not by much. ha

Originally Posted by 2Doggs

It is crazy - you could build a 450 a month for that!

Since my better half has just ordered herself a fancy Japanese sewing machine, though, which will be my Xmas present to her, I feel able to go for something bigger than a 450 which will be her present to me.... I'm torn between 500 and 550 size.

Tough choice there 2Doggs, both fly great but the 550 has the edge.

It's debatable I guess! I have always seen the 550 as nothing more than a 600 with power before the 12 cells came out and cost is just about the same between the 550 and 600 as well as physical size. At the field if it don't say 600 or 550 on the side no buddy right away can tell the difference. Then you have the 520's, but again other than about $20 in blades the cost of electronic and all are equal.

The 500/425/X4 is a true class of it's own with cheaper electronics. Blades from $20 to $59. Battery packs from $22-$40 because the 500 only needs a 20c rating. I use 25c in the pro and 20c in the 500e and have never puffed a pack. The 500 is big enough for respect, but not to big to take with you. I am getting larger because I have fallen to peer pressure lol! and I like the challenge of building something different. I am keeping both my 500's.

Not deriding the 500, I have two of them, one in the Airwolf and the other Scorpion powered and flybarless. Both are excellent and I can't see either being sold any time soon. I also have a 550 and a 600, the 550 FBL from HK and an HK 600GT in an MD500 fuselage. Each serves its own purpose and all great at what they do.

I love em all. And am on a quest to own em all. ( not the 800 Thats just silly money ) Thats what makes this 480 size so appealing to me. As far as batteries i prefer 40c in everything. My 600 will eat a 30c battery within 20-30 flights. Then again those were zippys. lol

Originally Posted by mhills51

It's debatable I guess! I have always seen the 550 as nothing more than a 600 with power before the 12 cells came out and cost is just about the same between the 550 and 600 as well as physical size. At the field if it don't say 600 or 550 on the side no buddy right away can tell the difference. Then you have the 520's, but again other than about $20 in blades the cost of electronic and all are equal.

The 500/425/X4 is a true class of it's own with cheaper electronics. Blades from $20 to $59. Battery packs from $22-$40 because the 500 only needs a 20c rating. I use 25c in the pro and 20c in the 500e and have never puffed a pack. The 500 is big enough for respect, but not to big to take with you. I am getting larger because I have fallen to peer pressure lol! and I like the challenge of building something different. I am keeping both my 500's.

For some reason, I had the impression 500's were hard on packs - so if you can actually fly them with 25c packs, I might go for a 500 as a stepping stone on the way to the eventual 550.

The hardest helicopters on batteries are the 450 and the 6 cell 600. The big selling point of the 500 was you could use two 450 packs and it was much more easier on packs than a 600. Remember the 500 came out when 25c packs were about the highest you could get. I run my 500pro at 3000 hard rpms with the 500mx motor. I use three align 2600 25c packs. Two with over 100 charges each and one smashed but still going strong. On my regular 500 I have the same two 20c packs that I have been using for years. A turnigy over three years old and a blue lipo over two. People talking about the 500 being hard on packs. Most of these people are just getting into the hobby and have most likely been told by some hobby store trying to sell them a $80 battery. I have puffed my share of packs, but all 450 and 250 so I am not doing anything special.

It all comes down to voltage vs amps. If you look the 500 from align comes with a 60amp speedcontrol. The 450 a 35amp, but the 500 used twice the volts. That means basically just going by their numbers the 450 actually pulls 10amps more than the 500. There is more to it than that, but I am just trying to make it simple.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...Lipo_Pack.html This is my first pack and is still going strong with zero puffing. I even killed it once forgetting It was not charged. If you read it even says great for Trex 500

Originally Posted by mhills51

The hardest helicopters on batteries are the 450 and the 6 cell 600. The big selling point of the 500 was you could use two 450 packs and it was much more easier on packs than a 600. Remember the 500 came out when 25c packs were about the highest you could get. I run my 500pro at 3000 hard rpms with the 500mx motor. I use three align 2600 25c packs. Two with over 100 charges each and one smashed but still going strong. On my regular 500 I have the same two 20c packs that I have been using for years. A turnigy over three years old and a blue lipo over two. People talking about the 500 being hard on packs. Most of these people are just getting into the hobby and have most likely been told by some hobby store trying to sell them a $80 battery. I have puffed my share of packs, but all 450 and 250 so I am not doing anything special.

It all comes down to voltage vs amps. If you look the 500 from align comes with a 60amp speedcontrol. The 450 a 35amp, but the 500 used twice the volts. That means basically just going by their numbers the 450 actually pulls 10amps more than the 500. There is more to it than that, but I am just trying to make it simple.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...Lipo_Pack.html This is my first pack and is still going strong with zero puffing. I even killed it once forgetting It was not charged. If you read it even says great for Trex 500

The Turnigy 2x3cell 25c packs I used to run on my 450's come down hot on my 500, and I'm only running 2500-2400RPM with a 70-85-100 throttle curve and the SK3 helidrive motor (14T pinion). What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for that, I know you definitely need to read between the lines with a lot of HK reviews, though you do see the odd sensible person posting, like Beenflying. I'm tending towards the 500 then. Just wish HK would do a belt FBL version, but the only time I do my tail in these days is when I crash, so maybe I could go for the TT one. Any recommendations for cheapish servos and motor? (see, even though she goes for a posh Japanese sewing machine, I still have that ghetto instinct!)

Originally Posted by 2Doggs

Thanks for that, I know you definitely need to read between the lines with a lot of HK reviews, though you do see the odd sensible person posting, like Beenflying. I'm tending towards the 500 then. Just wish HK would do a belt FBL version, but the only time I do my tail in these days is when I crash, so maybe I could go for the TT one. Any recommendations for cheapish servos and motor? (see, even though she goes for a posh Japanese sewing machine, I still have that ghetto instinct!)

Haven't used these but I've heard good things about GWS servos.

EDIT: didn't notice these are too big to fit in a 500. Look like a good option for a 550 or 600 though.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...tal_Servo.html

These are relabeled Henges, again haven't used but their micro servos are good for their price range so I imagine these are too.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...3kg_0_11s.html

These are also decent servos, they are relabeled Towerpros.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...g_0_14sec.html

These are what I'm using on my FBL 500, they've worked flawlessly so far. Beenflying has been using these since last year. They have about 0.3mm play in the output shaft but it's not enough to affect flight performance (Emax servos have this even worse and it doesn't affect them either). Some people have fixed this by putting a little glue or sillicone or similar in the recess for the ball bearing but I'd recommend just leaving it as is because it would be very easy to mess it up. They are relabled Blue Arrow servos. The best thing about them is that they don't have pots that can wear out.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=14828

I've been using this tail servo (the case has been updated, it looks nicer than the picture)

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=14831

And this motor.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=26502



Has anyone ever tried using red locktite to glue in two headless screws into the motor screw holes and then using nylock nuts to secure it on the motor mount from above? I was thinking it would prevent you from accidentally stripping the holes in your motor. I had this happen earlier for no apparent reason, screw wasn't even crossthredded. Thankfully with the orientation I eventually needed the motor in that hole wasn't needed.

I love the 500 size over all my helis (120/400/450/500/600). Like Goldie Locks would say "not too big, not too small, its just right..." Im now buying 3000mah pacs that i can use in my 500 and also run two paralell in the 600 (until i convert it to a 12s setup).

Originally Posted by kdean

I love the 500 size over all my helis (120/400/450/500/600). Like Goldie Locks would say "not too big, not too small, its just right..." Im now buying 3000mah pacs that i can use in my 500 and also run two paralell in the 600 (until i convert it to a 12s setup).

That makes a lot of sense!

@Atomic Skull - will the 500 take a standard sized servo for the tail? The 500TT FBL looks to use a 450 Pro type tail servo position rather than a boom mount. Those Mi ones have a great spec, though.

I also like the look of the Heli Drive motor, and HK have the sense to stock it in the US warehouse too which helps.

Originally Posted by 2Doggs

That makes a lot of sense!

@Atomic Skull - will the 500 take a standard sized servo for the tail? The 500TT FBL looks to use a 450 Pro type tail servo position rather than a boom mount. Those Mi ones have a great spec, though.

Boom mounted yes it will. I don't know about the HK500TT's frame mounted rudder servo though. The hole looks like it's the same size as the cyclic servos.

HK doesn't sell exact replacement frames for that kit and they don't sell exact replacements for the rotor head and tail parts either. Which is a shame because they're higher quality than the Skya parts that HK sells.


GogoRC frame installed. I don't think I like the metal bottom plate as much as the CF one so I'm going to order a second frame set and put that one on the CF bottom plate for my main 500 and use this frame and the metal bottom plate in the FB backup I'm building (it's mostly leftover parts from my main)

Originally Posted by Dejavu*Xion

Out west the heavy hitter is cox cable. For t.v-internet -phone i pay $180 a month. (My first car payment was less then that). ..Crazy what we pay to watch t.v now days considering it used to be free. lol

I dont pay for TV But I only get 15 free to air channles as I dont have much time to watch tv. Foxtel (cable) TV you can have but pay anything from $50-$100 a month here in OZ.