Did I just see two guys squeeze into this tiny helicopter?

CH-7 Kompress on flight school (7 min 8 sec)

Wow, definitely the "250" of real helicopters. Looks scary, but you guys would all give your left *** to fly it just once. My wife got me a discovery airplane flight for Christmas, I have to admit I am a bit scared of it... Some old 30 year old beater in the air...

Originally Posted by efx

I don't like watching the lower resolution videos much any more.

I know what you mean!!

Originally Posted by efx

Did I just see two guys squeeze into this tiny helicopter?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw1Cy...ture=endscreen

it flies just like our helis! except the controls are inside, that is kool!

Hey Guys. Im wondering if anybody has 2 cents to share...

I currently fly a trex500 and an MCPX. Im too scared to beat on the 500, and the MCPX tail blows out way too easily when inverted, so I need a 3D trainer. Id like to be able to fly in a soccer field or baseball diamond since thats about all I have close by, so Im thinking of trying a 250. So my question is how is the HK250GT these days? Does it actually fly? Ive had HORRIBLE experiences with clones in the past to the point where I just ditch them. Last one I had was an exi450pro and the tail shaft bent in mid flight and caused me to crash. Stupid things like that would ALWAYS happen when I had clones. So once I bought a trex, I haven't had a single problem since. I dont really want to pay for a trex for a trainer, but I REALLY dont want to deal with all the issues of a clone. So have they made these things any better these days? Can you actually fly a clone out of the box now without upgrading all the shafts/bearings/various parts etc? Id like to know that worst case to replace an airframe is only a $40 experience (vs $65 for blades alone on my 500).

So if anyone would like to share their 2 cents, Id be very appreciative.

Originally Posted by helivsFMX

Can you actually fly a clone out of the box now without upgrading all the shafts/bearings/various parts etc? Id like to know that worst case to replace an airframe is only a $40 experience (vs $65 for blades alone on my 500).

So if anyone would like to share their 2 cents, Id be very appreciative.

You can - but not an HK250. My suggestion would be to go for a Tarot 450. The HK250s still have some challenges around the shafts / belts / belt drive and tail drive pulleys coming loose. They can be made to fly great - but if you hated the experience last time you will still hate it.

What has emerged is a hierarchy of the quality of clones has emerged, with some of the "cloners" actually improving the breed with better ideas than the original (e.g. Tarot has brought out different FBL heads and tail boxes that are very innovative and argueably better than the Trex equivalents).

IMHO opinion the current ranking for quality is (for 450s)
Align
very closely followed by Tarot
very closely followed by ALZRC
Copterx
then a long way to ....
HK / Skya / ebay no-name clones

There is still some rubbish out there, but new entrants such as RCWIN, VCTRC seem to have some nice quality kit coming out (I haven't tried it personally yet).

The only other thing that I would add is that there are some very good low-end FBL controllers out now, but personally I would stay clear of cheap servos and ESCs still

Mike

I've been looking to build one just to putt around and I decided that I cannot risk it blowing up so I am going to use Align feathering shaft and maybe the belt. My time is worth more than the few bucks. My stock swash was defective and had lots of resistance but hobbyking gave me a credit for that part. Now I just need to figure out if I can use my ga 250 gyro on it or if I have to buy something else.

Mike, that was worth far more than 2 cents! Thanks very much for the response! I guess Im not surprised to hear that clones are still crap out of the box, but I was hopefull that they would have improved on it in the few years I have had between my 450 clones and my genuine align. Sounds like I'll be best off buying a used trex250se with align electronics. I can do that for $200ish so its only about 2X the price of a clone. Not the end of the world. Otherwise the 300x is still a consideration...

Again, thanks for the help! It is much appreciated!

Originally Posted by shahram72

I've been looking to build one just to putt around and I decided that I cannot risk it blowing up so I am going to use Align feathering shaft and maybe the belt. My time is worth more than the few bucks. My stock swash was defective and had lots of resistance but hobbyking gave me a credit for that part. Now I just need to figure out if I can use my ga 250 gyro on it or if I have to buy something else.

Good idea upgrading those two parts. As far as the GA-250 goes, I would recommend something (almost anything) else. I could not get mine to work well, and it often developed a wag of death. If you like to tinker, there is a community firmware that has been developed and you can re-flash it, but don't use it stock on a 250.

What else is small that I can use? Isn't there a tiny hobby mate? I have a used Futaba gy401 on the way, but it's huge on the 250. I also have a spare hk401b gyro, but so far I can't get the other one I have to work on my 450.

Originally Posted by shahram72

What else is small that I can use? Isn't there a tiny hobby mate? I have a used Futaba gy401 on the way, but it's huge on the 250. I also have a spare hk401b gyro, but so far I can't get the other one I have to work on my 450.

Use the Futaba if you can. I used an HK401B on mine for a while with good success - the trick is a fair amount of delay (I would imagine the Futaba would be the same thing). Unfortunately the quality of the HK401B dropped considerably after the Japan Tsunami, apparently some of the key components were manufactured in Japan and the parts sourced afterwards were not as good.

I mounted my HK401B inverted on the tray, it wasn't too bad that way. The key to building the 250 is accepting the fact that components are going to stick out everywhere!

Wow, an HK401B recommended over the GA-250. Is that gyro good for anything? Maybe a 450? Honestly, I'm not looking forward to programming it with the sticks. Can see that getting messed up. And I see the yellow kevlar belt at Infinity hobby, and they appear to have genuine Align parts too. Wonder if I can order the feathering shafts from there as well. Would rather order from amainhobbies, but they only have stock belts.

Originally Posted by shahram72

Wow, an HK401B recommended over the GA-250. Is that gyro good for anything? Maybe a 450?

It would probably work "well" in a 450. I've heard of acceptable results in a 500 for sure. I just think that the 250's fussy tail is too much for the GA250.

The Tarot GY550 gyro works great for me. It's small and it handles the 250's high vibration, plus it's only $20.00.

I like it! Nice and small and cheap! So I still need to know if anyone knows about the Align parts from Infinity Hobby before I order the kevlar belt and Align feathering shafts from them. Hopefull that should be all I need to get a reliable bird. I really hate to waste and not use stuff, but I lose so much time to faulty stuff, sounds like this is cheap insurance. I don't mind upgrading the belt or shafts to align, but once you start having to upgrade the head and tail, you're wasting your time with clones.