didn't make an entry on this heli, bought the airframe from Craigslist for $50 in June 2017.
As a bonus, airframe came with TGY T600 1400KV motor and terrible TGY 1209 servos. Terrible mainly because nowhere near enough torque for cyclic duty on a 600.

moving ahead to Sep 2017, it meet it's demise when cheap TGY rotor blades delaminated around 2000rpm.
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=5041

some relevant links:
purchase:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=4923
epiphany moment blade grip thrust bearing fix:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=4995

rebuilding now, harvesting parts from Align 600:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...lign-600E-Heli
current motor is Turnigy HeliDrive SK3 520KV motor from crashed Frenzy:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...enzy-%28RIP%29
gonna try these motors at some point:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=3346
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-...li-1100kv.html

large heli servo info https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...35&postcount=7

8/30/20 450 Sport with Turnigy TGY-211 DMH cyclics
elevator servo failed in flight, heli reacted like a V911 overpowered by it's flyweights and doing a death spiral. crashed but damage not bad, main GF blades, mainshaft and dented tail boom.



2WD Traxxas Slash, BMS-661dMG+HS steering servo
i provided feedback in this thread, been using these in ground vehicles for years, no servo saver and some pretty decent bashing. no failures to speak of other than broke the ears off one, but that was a full speed hit into a stationary object, hit hard enough to rip the a-arm off and break the center out of the wheel. that servo still works fine, just the case has no ears for mounting.

well yesterday another one failed. car started steering sluggish and then complete failure. the servo arm locked in place. i took it apart to find motor and probably board too was burned. gearset was fine but motor completely locked.
i did notice what looked like corrosion on the motor can, probably from water getting around the oring seals(not very good seals i noticed).

either way, the servo went for many hours before giving up. who knows how much longer it would last if kept dry. I have 3 others in service so will keep evaluating.
also will take the unbroken case from this dead one and fix the other, put it back in service.

Summary- been through some trials with this heli but once dialed in it's really good.
I kind of wish I bought a genuine Align model though, since much time was wasted chasing problems. On the other hand, the learning and eventual success at fixing the problems was very satisfying, along with the continued good feelings of flying this machine to this day, as of now, April2020
one final reason I like HK/Gartt model is because it has a belt tail, which I prefer. This can of course be added to the Align model.

Some issues with the clone HK550 model:

Head was built incorrectly with no grease on thrust bearings, too many shims on one side, even a little stray washer was stuck inside the grips. Chinese superman strength loctite, really, no idea why they used something this strong. took a lot of heat to break the head apart and fix the issues. https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...&postcount=693

the head is ok but the link balls are super soft and break off in some crashes. then you are left with a broken stud in your blade grip. this either requires surgery to extract the piece or buy new grips(only sold in pairs). https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...&postcount=863

Almost unbelievable, but the main blade bolts actually bent too. this was of course unexpected and took me a while to figure out why I could never get consistent blade tightness in the grips. New Align bolts solved that. Geeze Gartt/HK, really?
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....Continue Reading

Vwinrc kit, originally TT, converted to belt.

thrust bearing problem/fix
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=4995

weights/lipos
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=1361
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=1364

NTM Rotor Drive 600 Series 510KV / 5500W motor
Specs:
Model: NTM Rotor Drive Series 4559 510kv
Kv: 510rpm/v
Poles: 10
Max Cont. Current: 75A
Burst Current (5 sec): 125A
Max Power: 5500W @ 44.4V
Shaft: 6mm
Weight: 338g
Cell count: 12s Lipoly
Bolt holes: 25mm x 25mm
Bolt thread: M3
Connection: 4mm Bullet-connector
YEP/Rotorstar 120HV ESC
YEP 20A BEC
Turnigy 625BL swash servos
Turnigy 605BL tail servo
Yellow Kbar
LemonRx receiver
Fusuno tail fin
generic 3D 600mm CF mains/ 95mm CF tails 600mm KBBD main blades
90% TC, 12S, 16T pinion, 170T main
tach: 2000rpm
HS calc: 2090
Tail ratio: 4.5 (180T/40T)

Align upgrades:
Mainshaft H60159T
maingear hub/OWB HN6064BA
note: 6 bolt hub for slant gear H60200
auto gear H60020A(white)
note: black auto gear is H60020AA, same 180T M0.6(180T M0.6)
early Align auto gear is H60020T. still 180t/M0.6, but won't work with V2 radial bearing hub
front tail drive gear H60078 (40T M0.6)
belt H60036
rear plastic tail case H60043
tail shaft H60079
link rods/ ball links
white skids
Align black M0.7 main gear: H60019AA
Main gear: 170T M0.7 Vwinrc
note: early Align radial bearing tail grip H60049
single radial/thrust bearing grip H60109
not...Continue Reading

HK450 Pro kit
Turnigy(Suppo) 3550KV motor
YEP 40A ESC
HK933(Henge) cyclic servos
Turnigy 306 Tail
Tarot FBL head
Yellow kbar
Lemon sat Rx
Align gears 150T/11T
Turnigy blue 2200mah 20C 3S
Tarot 360mm CF blades, plastic tail blades
Tarot 360(or 480?) boom and belt

used heli from CL, cheap....Continue Reading

**update 11/23/19**
only the EXI/HK500 is in flying condition, stealing parts off the Tarot frame model. Keeping 2 of these flying doesn't seem worth it any more.
current config:
EXI/HK CFframes
Align main shaft, gear case
Tarot FBL head
GTC 425mm CF blades
Align plastic tail case and tail shaft
Align tail hub, plastic grips
Scorpion 1900KV motor
14T13T pinion
162T main
YEP 90A ESC
KST DS515MG tail servo
TGY-589MG cyclic https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigytm-tgy-589mg-high-torque-hv-bb-ds-mg-servo-w-alloy-case-8kg-0-09sec-40g.html
Kbar
Lemon Rx with sat
Turnigy 3000mah 6S lipo 70%TC




https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...Thread/page769
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...0#post31293077

The Tale of 2 Helis:**Edit- only plan on keeping 1 airframe flying right now.

Align/Tarot/HK 500**parts heli now**
Tarot CF frames(pretty weave pattern)
Align main shaft, gear case
Tarot FBL head
"3D" 425mm CF blades
Tarot tail case and tail shaft
Align tail hub, grips, pitch slider and control arm
Hobbymate HB3620 1700KV motor
previous: Suppo H3126 1600KV
13T pinion
162T main
YEP 100A ESC
DS520 tail servo
TGY 930 cyclics
Kbar
Orange Rx
Turnigy 2650/3000mah 6S lipo


flight log(starting Feb 1st 2017. probably 20-30 flights previously):
2/1/17 4 park
2/3/17 4 park
2/5/17 4 church
2/7/17 4 park
2/16 4 park
2/17 4 park
2/18 4 park strange noise last flight
3/2 3 park replaced motor...Continue Reading

HK500 kit, frames cut to lower battery tray for larger 6S lipos. .
Align main shaft, gear case
Align FB head
GTC wide chord 430mm CF blades
Align plastic tail case, pitch slider, tail hub and plastic tail grips.
Motors-
Old: Suppo H3126 1300KV
Current: Scorpion HK-3026 1900KV
13T pinion
162T main gear
YEP 90A ESC
DS420 tail servo
TGY 930 cyclics
Kbar full stabilization

1/3/17 changed motor to Scorpion 1900KV, 13T pinion, 4S 5000mah Turnigy hardcase lipo.
8min flight finishing 3.79V
3/17/17 2 flights yard 2nd flight hard landing broke tail boom, replaced with EXI

Align part numbers:
front belt 40T tail gear: H50043
frame bottom plate: H50021 Tarot TL50021

XFX 500 tail specs:
3mm stud
5mm shaft
5.5 nut driver
8mm OD thrust bearing (8mmx3.4mm 7.8mmx3.1mm 3.5mm stack)
single 5x9x3 radial bearing

EXI>Align use 2mm dia blade grip bolt

Got a good deal on an old dinosaur today, now the proud owner of a genuine Align 600 helicopter.
Actually, it's so old I think it may be the first 600 Align ever made.
Belt drive, plastic everything- grips, tail fin, tail case, bearing blocks, etc.
Metal frames too, no CF in sight, except the boom supports.
Check that- did include CF main and tail blades.
Another nice feature is triple bearing blocks, even if they are plastic.

Align electrics, including an ESC with no soft start and a very old looking 2S Rx pack that doesn't even have a balance lead. Also has Spektrum servos. They are newer but I wouldn't call them an upgrade.
Futaba 401 gyro and 9254 tail servo.

The Rx was dead, so I attached an Orange DSMX Rx and it came to life. Glad I pulled the rotor head and tail blades, as mentioned the ESC starts like it's on an airplane. I'll check into stick programming to see if it will calm down.

So far I'm happy with what I see and look forward to getting this old bird back in the air.

Specs:
600mm CF main blades, unknown brand
Align CF tail blades
RCM-BL600L 1620KVmotor approx 70/75A, 1500/1600W max
10T pinion
170T main gear
RCE-BL75G ESC
RCE-B3X BEC
Futaba GY401 tail gyro
Futaba S9254 tail servo
Spektrum DS821 cyclic servos

Align Part numbers for reference:
Main frame parts H60028 -bottom "bracket"(plate) and anti rotation guide.
Bottom plate only- 50B073-1
Plastic tail grips H60109

flight log
12/27/16 4 flights slow/easy, right/left circles...Continue Reading

Century Carbon 550 sport flying (4 min 34 sec)

Current setup:

Generic GF 550mm rotor blades
stock plastic 73mm tail blades
Cyclic servos: Hitec HS-5485HB 6.4 kg/cm 0.17sec at 6V
Tail Servo: Align DS650
Century flybar head(Alum rotor hub, plastic grips)
Kbar (full stabilization)
Motor: Century 650A CNE275 800KV
motor size: 48.5x60mm
possibly Z power re-brand, Z-Power Z50A-800
(smaller Z30A model is 43x60)
Pinion 5mm shaft mod1.0 12T
96T main gear
ESC: YEP 100A
Lipo: Turnigy blue 5000mah 6S 20C
Tx: DX8 Rx: Orange R620 DSM2

Headspeed:
Mr Mel HS: 2357/2170/2095rpm
My numbers with optical tach: 2170rpm@4.15V 2060rpm@3.75V

Mods: Align landing gear

Flight Log: (starting 01/29/17)
01/29 1 Yard
02/02 2 church
02/13 3 park converted to FBL control with stock FB head
02/14 2 park near crash outside loop
03/10 4 park
3/23 1 yard gusty

Not very well known heli, but decent quality. A few quirks, a few things I don't like, but overall a good buy at the sale price paid($73). Purchased during an epic HobbyKing sale, a few of us on RCG participate in a dedicated thread.

Dead https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=2436

My build is currently configured for low head speed, 1100-1300rpm 5S-6S.
Components are:
TIG 600mm CF main rotor blades
Gartt 550 FBL head
Align 600 swash
Turnigy HeliDrive SK3 520KV motor
Specs.
Turns: 12T
Voltage: 10S~12S Lipoly
RPM/V: 520KV
Motor Poles: 10
Internal resistance: 0.0214 Ohm
Max Loading: 70A
Max Power: 3100W
Shaft Diameter: 6mm
Shaft Length: 31mm
Screw Mounting Spacing: 25mm/30mm (M4)
Weight: 394g
Motor Plug: 4mm Bullet Connector
YEP 100A LV ESC
Turnigy 625BL swash servos
Turnigy 605BL tail servo
Yellow Kbar
Orange 615X Rx
lipos(all Turnigy):
6S 5000mah 20C
5S 5000mah 20C
6S 3000mah 40C

Future setup will be 8S with 2 Turnigy 4S hardpack lipos in series and Rotorstar 120A HV ESC. Head speed around 1800rpm.

Frenzy 600E 5S hover (6 min 20 sec)

Frenzy 600E Flight 4 Inverted (6 min 11 sec)

...Continue Reading

HK450 Pro kit
Turnigy(Suppo) 3550KV motor
YEP 40A ESC
HK933(Henge) cyclic servos
Turnigy 306 Tail
Tarot belt tail
Tarot FBL head
Yellow kbar
Flysky Rx
Align gears and boom
Turnigy blue 2200mah 20C 3S
Tarot 325mm wood main blades, plastic tail blades

06/2016
Got the NX back in flying shape and gave it some exercise today.
Specs:
Pro 3D rotor blades 550mm 50mm chord
Main blade root 12mm Bolt hole 4mm
stock plastic 73mm tail blades
2/19/17 Gartt 550/600 FBL head, Align dampers
Cyclic servos: Hitec HS-5485HB 6.4 kg/cm 0.17sec at 6V
2/25/17 tail servo BlueBird 661
Motor: Century Lighting 600 CNE272 715KV
Motor info: RCG Century Swift thread post #2148
Lightning Outrunner 600
Specifications:
RPM/Volt (KV): 715
Max Voltage: 30.1 (8C)
Max Amps: (A) 55 (20 Sec)
Max Watts: (W) 1,000 (Cont.)
Max Watts: (W) 1,200 (20 Sec)
Efficiency: 85%
Max RPM: 20,000
Weight: 295g
Length: 80mm
Diameter: 43mm
Shaft Diameter: 5mm
Shaft Length: 15mm
Cooling System: Turbine Style Included
ESC: Turnigy 85A Product ID: Tz85A
Pinion 5mm shaft mod1.0 14T
Main Gear: Swift 96T
Lipo: Turnigy blue 6S 20C 5000mah
Tx: DX8 Rx: lemon DSMX sat
4S:
Mr Mel HS: approx.1500rpm
Optical tach HS: 1700rpm@4.1V 1585rpm@3.75V
6S:
6.6lbs with 5000mah 6S 20C

Mods: Align/HK550 landing gear, Align 700 skid pipes
old parts replaced:
Tail Servo: Turnigy 1209HP
NX flybar head(plastic rotor hub and grips)
TGZ380 FBL tail-only mode
Spectrum AR6110E

2/19/17
repaired crash damage, removed NX FB head, fitted Gartt FBL head,new black main gear, tail case, tail shaft, removed TGZ380 and fitted kbar gyro and lemon sat.

2/20/17
flew this dino again today, but with a little extra caffeine. went from 4S to 6S, much better.
For...Continue Reading

I will try to share some random thoughts on electric bicycles below. Please visit endless sphere for more info.

Why an ebike?
1) Being an RC guy and knowing the power of lipo batteries, no more dark ages of lead acid or nicad batteries..
2)needing a secondary streamlined form of transportation.
3)love for bicycles since an early age and somewhat avid cyclist anyway.

recommendations for ebike users: (not comprehensive, just a few things I can think of)
Lighting: you want to be seen. my biggest challenge is cars mis-judging my speed and pulling out in front of me. these are my recommendations:
headlight
taillight
check the reviews, they are effective products at a reasonable price.
Clothing: safety green, actually a yellow looking t-shirt. this has been a huge help being seen and staying safe. wal-mart sells them cheap.
Brakes: consider a bike with disc brakes. it is much easier to buy a bike already set up than trying to retrofit discs on a rim brake bike. however rim brakes are adequate in dry conditions if properly maintained.
Flat protection: tire liners- these work best for me.
The nuts and bolts: You can buy a purpose built ebike with a special battery pack for thousands of dollars or you can build your own.
Various power systems are out there but I'm focusing on hub motors. Even those can be geared or direct-drive. DD motors are bulkier and heavier but require almost no maintenance.
Steel bicycle frames work best since the hub motor applies torque...Continue Reading

current 450 specs
flybar Sport:
cyclic servo Turnigy™ TGY-211DMH Coreless w/ Heat Sink DS/MG 2.3kg / 0.10sec / 16g
tail Turnigy™ TGY-212DMH Coreless DS/MG Servo w/ Heat Sink 1.4kg / 0.05sec / 16g


**older info below**
recently been trying some low head speed testing on a few 450 heli's.
unfortunately I don't have a tach yet so not sure of exact numbers. Setups are:
1) 150T main gear, 11T pinion, 3550kv motor on 2S lipo.
2) 150T, 13T, 4400KV, 2S.
Oddly, I have experienced 2 episodes of ejected main blades due to feathering shaft bolts backing out. Both setups had this happen once.
This is unusual since the bolts were secured with Loctite. I have logged at least 50 flights with the same build techniques at higher head speeds without this problem. I'm wondering if the blades at low HS are operating at a frequency that could possibly attribute to the bolts loosening. either that or my Loctite is going bad..

My thoughts on HobbyKing/Gartt 450 Pro FB/belt kit-
I have much experience with Gartt/HK450 helis. The heads and tails are sloppy, the motor mount plate is so thin it bends or cracks in a crash, and the Pro tail servo frame mount flexes like crazy. These problems can be fixed with Tarot FBL head, Tarot integrative tail, Tarot motor mount and plastic Tarot tail servo mount.
So you have:
HK450 kit $60
Tarot head $30
Tarot tail $15
Servo mount $5
Tarot motor mount $5
Approx. $115. maybe more for individual shipping charges depending on where you buy.
Or get the Tarot 450 pro FBL kit for $125 shipped. But it's TT and the gears suck IMO. So more money for Align gears, maybe $15-25? I didn't price them.

links
Forza: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...3&postcount=32