Just have gotten mine (GT) together and trimmed out in the last week. In hover it is as steady as a 450 size; but really quick in forward flight, which is what you would expect from such a small bird.

Mostly stock with cheap HK components here:

Turnigy 2627-3800 motor
HK G401B Gyro
HK SS 25A ESC
HXT 900 Servos all around

My tail belt was very fragile (it kept stretching), and has been replaced with the Align 250 belt after initial test flights.

Carbon fiber blades (Align 205mm) added to make collective inputs more crisp. Pretty sweet.

I have it up an flying well with all components for about 50 dollars less than a Trex kit with only motor and ESC (total minus receiver around $160 including carbon fiber blades). It puzzles me how some guys on the thread claim that by the time it flies good you could have gotten a Trex.

Wow thanks guys for the response.

Originally Posted by thrustboy

It puzzles me how some guys on the thread claim that by the time it flies good you could have gotten a Trex.

Perception and prejudices

Originally Posted by thrustboy

Just have gotten mine (GT) together and trimmed out in the last week. In hover it is as steady as a 450 size; but really quick in forward flight, which is what you would expect from such a small bird.

Mostly stock with cheap HK components here:

Turnigy 2627-3800 motor
HK G401B Gyro
HK SS 25A ESC
HXT 900 Servos all around

How is the G401B? I have one coming if HK ever catches up on orders.

I have a Kevlar tail belt coming from Infinity also.

Brian Bland
Claremore, OK

Brian -

The 401B works great for me - check out my blog page (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...69&postcount=8 ), a professional photographer in my club took some photos of my 250GT flying around in a high school gym that my club uses for indoor flying.

Only real problems I had with the 250GT was the tail - it had a bit too much slop in it and the tail shaft was just a tad bent, causing some binding problems. Otherwise, it's a great heli, and the 205D carbon blades combined with a Scorpion 2206-3900Kv motor and a number of Align upgrade parts (belt, main shaft, tail assembly, main gear, feathering shaft) made it a fantastic little machine. Couldn't be happier with it, really prefer it indoors to the 450, which was just a hair on the large side for indoor flying.

Originally Posted by clicky

Perception and prejudices

I've no doubt this accounts for most of it, many "drink the kool-aid" (if you know the expression).

Originally Posted by thrustboy

I've no doubt this accounts for most of it, many "drink the kool-aid" (if you know the expression).

Agree there - others are clouded by brand loyalty and price also, it's hard to break the general assumption that expensive is always that much better. Is a $300 T-Rex 250 really $230 better than a 250GT? No way. I'll fly my 250GT side-by-side with any T-Rex 250 out there and to both the trained and untrained audience (admittedly I did throw several Align parts on my HK-250GT, but I still spent at least $180 less than the cost of a T-Rex 250 kit), there would not be a noticeable difference. I would also say the same would be true for overall reliability and durability over time after dozens of flights.

Originally Posted by Sonex128

How is the G401B?

I have to agree with rcnewb that the tail mechanism is more suspect than the super-cheap gyro. I have been able to work mine out to my satisfaction with the stock setup, but I'm sure better tail blades, tail slider and a good digital servo would improve it more.

Originally Posted by rcnewb

Agree there - others are clouded by brand loyalty and price also, it's hard to break the general assumption that expensive is always that much better. Is a $300 T-Rex 250 really $230 better than a 250GT? No way. I'll fly my 250GT side-by-side with any T-Rex 250 out there and to both the trained and untrained audience (admittedly I did throw several Align parts on my HK-250GT, but I still spent at least $180 less than the cost of a T-Rex 250 kit), there would not be a noticeable difference. I would also say the same would be true for overall reliability and durability over time after dozens of flights.

There's a small difference that makes all the difference and that is the fact that the $300 Align kit comes with a motor, esc, digital servos and CF blades, the $70 HK-250GT does not. So if you buy the same electronics as you get with the original T-Rex 250 the difference in price isn't that big.. Sure the Align is more "expensive" but it's not $230 more expensive, and comparing the two kits in that way is misleading.. I have two Align T-Rex 250 and three 250 clones and none of the clones were flyable without replacing/modifying some parts, the Align helis flew "perfectly out of the box".. Don't get me wrong, I love these cheap clones and I have, as I wrote before, three 250:s, one HK-450TT Pro, a CopterX SE V2 and I recently ordered a HK-600GT.. All I'm saying is that when comparing prices you need to compare apples with apples, if you know what I mean..

Just my two cents

If I recall, the $250 kit doesn't include servos or a Gyro, just ESC/motor, and I'd just assume buy a better ESC and motor and slap it into one of the clones anyway (and I'd still be better off financially by adding a Scorpion motor and Castle ESC, rather than the overpriced Align brand stuff). The T-Rex 250 SE "Super combo" includes the motor, servos, Gyro, pretty much everything you need except for the Rx and battery, but that will set you back $430. I've read a lot of poor feedback regarding the Align digital servos, and based on that feedback record, I would steer clear of them considering they cost upwards of $40 each.

Originally Posted by rcnewb

If I recall, the $250 kit doesn't include servos or a Gyro, just ESC/motor, and I'd just assume buy a better ESC and motor and slap it into one of the clones anyway (and I'd still be better off financially by adding a Scorpion motor and Castle ESC, rather than the overpriced Align brand stuff). The T-Rex 250 SE "Super combo" includes the motor, servos, Gyro, pretty much everything you need except for the Rx and battery, but that will set you back $430. I've read a lot of poor feedback regarding the Align digital servos, and based on that feedback record, I would steer clear of them considering they cost upwards of $40 each.

I see where you're coming from but my point is that you can't compare the price of an empty chassis with the price of a kit that comes with a motor, ESC and servos, even if some ppl have reported problems with the elecs.. I fly my T-Rex 250's with the stock electronics and I haven't had any problems at all.. The stock motor spins silky smooth, the ESC has one of the best soft starts I've seen and the servos center well and they move smoothly.. If you take into account the vast amount of servos Align puts out I'd be surprised if all of them worked perfectly.. I've had Futaba and JR servos die on me in the air so nothing is to be taken for granted..

Having said that I really would like for Align to start selling their kits witout electronics so you don't have to pile up on Align elecs if you want something else in the machine, like you do.
Oh, btw.. You can get the Align 250SE Super combo for $335 + shipping at flyinghobby.com and I bought my 250 (non SE) for $169 with servos

I agree, and as soon as Align is marketing bare bones kits and selling them at reasonable prices, I'll consider buying. There are also plenty of cases where the 250GT flew fine on the stock parts without incident, we don't always see the whole picture here, and complaints are much more likely to be posted than comments of praise.

Originally Posted by rcnewb

If I recall, the $250 kit doesn't include servos or a Gyro, just ESC/motor, and I'd just assume buy a better ESC and motor and slap it into one of the clones anyway (and I'd still be better off financially by adding a Scorpion motor and Castle ESC, rather than the overpriced Align brand stuff). The T-Rex 250 SE "Super combo" includes the motor, servos, Gyro, pretty much everything you need except for the Rx and battery, but that will set you back $430. I've read a lot of poor feedback regarding the Align digital servos, and based on that feedback record, I would steer clear of them considering they cost upwards of $40 each.

I got my T250 kit with motor and ESC for $160 shipped.

After all the fiddling with my HK250GT's I gave one to my son and swapped the motor and ESC between the T250 and GT so the hotter Turnigy motor and ESC are now in my T250 and I sold the GT. It flew well but was never anywhere near as slop free as the Trex.

They cost about the same to build to an acceptable level for me.

I do have to say the GT has more aluminum and carbon fiber and has better carbon fiber than the Trex. I bought all the little extras to one day get rid of the plastic bits on the Trex and I also have a complete GT still hanging around. The GT was the only HK that rivaled the original for quality until the new 600 came out. The only thing is these are clones of discontinued Trex's and they need to clone the newer versions.

Originally Posted by rcnewb

I agree, and as soon as Align is marketing bare bones kits and selling them at reasonable prices, I'll consider buying. There are also plenty of cases where the 250GT flew fine on the stock parts without incident, we don't always see the whole picture here, and complaints are much more likely to be posted than comments of praise.

I totally agree there, the complaints are usually louder than the praise, and as with the Align servos the clone manufacturers puts out a fair amount of helis on the market and the QC isn't that good so it's bound to be a bunch that are worse than acceptable.. I guess I got a few of the bad ones.. However I still think the overall quality of the Align kits are better than the clones but even so, the Align kits are, imo, way overrated when it comes to quality.

Where are you guys finding these cheap T-Rex kits for $160? Ebay? I know my local hobby shop sells the basic T-Rex SE kit (no servos/Gyro) for nearly $270, and a lot of the popular online vendors are asking about the same price.