Soo... I got picked up an SR today.I was really on the fence about this helicopter, but I figured what the hell.

First impressions:


- The frame feels pretty solid and generally well made, but the all plastic construction, with all plastic tail and main shaft blocks, plastic servo mounts etc. just lacks the Solid feel of the CNC and carbon fiber frame of the CoptorX 250. I definately feel like the SR frame will get the job done, but I think think the CoptorX 250 wins hands down in the frame department.

- The SR head is pretty nice. It has all fixed links sans the one set on each blade grip to adjust tracking; just like the CoptorX 250SE. The SR's head does have some flex, play, and slop that is just not present in the CoptorX 250SE's head; I would say it even has a little more slop and play than my metal Walkera 4G6 head. Overall I think the CoptorX 250SE has a much nicer head, but the I give the best blade grips to the SR; They are very nice, solid, and I like them alot.

- Tail.. Well.. this is a no brainer as the SR tail is just an electric tail motor. The 250's belt drive tail, CNC blade grips, and CNC tail box just trumps in both basic design, and quality of contruction. My only real compaint in terms of quality with the SR is the vertical fin.. It is just cheap, flimsey and generally a crappy part. It is so soft and flimsey that till will not provide any protection to the tail rotor in a hard novice landing... A carbon fiber fin like that found on the TREX 250 is much needed. This is honestly the worst of the overly cheap parts I was talking about..

- Flight:

With tamed down settings on the TREX 250, flying back to back with the SR, I can honstly say it was pretty close. The 250 had a much better tail, was smoother, and much much crisper in it's response to inputs. It was docile, but it kept that solid feel. It hovers very well, and other than a bad set gyro gain by yours truely it flys very well. It is easy to hover and even hand off it just wanders for about 15 seconds before it slowly and minorly rolls in any pitch.

The SR was also docile, and smooth. With the rates on low it was overly docile, and like water in a bucket, it just felt like it was sloushing back and forth. The faster rates were much better but they were a little too quick for a real beginner. I found the best compramise was low rate in idle up. the increased head speed is well needed, even for a novice. The SR's tail wags. It is the same wag that was present in some of the pre-release videos, and it is present on all three SR's I saw flying today, to include my own. No matter how you set it up.. It wags. You just adjust it as best you can minimise it, but it never goes away, even in just basic hovers. I think the head slop explains the helicopters small, but unexplained changes in attitude while in an otherwise stable hover. Moving the flybar weights to the paddles helped overcome this effect some, but it was still there; and definately attributes to the "always on the sticks" feel of the SR. Perhaps a metal head will come out that will be much tighter. The head dampers in the SR are VERY soft. I will definately put some stiffer dampers in the head ASAP.

Overall I did not find this helicopter to be any more stable, any more docile, or any easier to fly than a blade 400, or a Trex 250 with similar noobie settings on the transmitter; In fact it was more "on the sticks" than the 250; and the tail wag definetly does not help. The SR overall is not as nice a helicopter as an align/coptorX 250; and in the end today both my daughter and I prefered the 250 over the SR (My daughter made her first ever un-assisted CP flights today; She is 10 and coming from mCX, and mSR). All that said, I do like the SR, it is fun, pretty inexpensive, and will make a nice out door flyer for my daughter when we fly outside. I feel the SR will handle the wind a bit better than the 250 (This appearently is debateable, as others disagreed with me today while disscussing the subject....)

Final summary: The SR is a nice, decent quality, docile helicopter. It has room to grow, and is a good value for the money. It makes a good trainer, and is fun to fly. Frankly it is not any better of a trainer than the options that were already on the market. (Trex250, B400, TREX450 etc. etc.). I honestly think it the SR will also require alot of mods to be on par with the TREX 250 in terms of performance potential; but for the money you pay it is a very viable option for the those looking to take the next step up from a Fixed pitched heli; in my very humble novice opinion.


Some other observations from today:

- SR RTF is cheaper than a TREX 250 clone RTF by about $20 with equal quality radios; (Worth mentioning the CoptorX 250 6ch. radio is computerized and can be programmed; and support multiple models where the SR's RTF trans can not.)

- The SR's parts are about twice the cost of the CoptorX 250 parts (whole helicopter kit, 100% complete is only $60); but if you have to buy an instock Align part, vs. ordering the coptorX the parts cost will be the same.

- The SR does not crash well. I saw a crash of an SR today.. The head, frame, shafts, tail boom & tail motor were damaged and it was not that bad of a crash...

- The SR's factory setup appears to be pretty good, but not perfect:

At center stick in idle up there is +3' pitch.
The total pitch range is +13 -11.
In Normal mode, bottom stick is +1'
Swash is not completely level.

(I think the swash is too high; and needs to be lowered, then I need to adjust the ball links on the blade grips to level the wash-out mixer arms at 0' pitch; that should fix the pitch curve problems)

Very interesting comparison... a looser head than even the 4g6 doesn't sound good. Otherwise it sounds like it fits the market it was designed for. I am surprised however that it doesn't take crashes well... the msr does and I figured the all plastic construction would help it in this regard (flex vs bend)

The tail motor is a shame... it really should have been brushless or shaft / belt driven. They know this heli is capable of 3d, however, they put in a tail motor that is "barely" adequate for hovering/basic flight.

So far my impression is ehhh for this one. I love my msr and will hopefully grow into my 4g6, however, I doubt this will be my next purchase if I'm looking for a larger model.

-Derek

I should have my CX 450 Pro's here next week, and next weekend I will get a better compairison with the blade 400.

So hopefully that will round up all the most popular trainer options:

SR, trex250, 450, and B400.

Oh wow... you will have quite a collection then :-)

I will be looking forward to it as I will want something more stable / easier to see outside after I get better with the 4G6.

so far..

mCX, mSR, 4g6, 2 CoptorX 250's, SR, and 2 CoptorX 450 Pros on the way.. that should do me for a bit

Originally Posted by Gadflyii

Overall I did not find this helicopter to be any more stable, any more docile, or any easier to fly than a blade 400, or a Trex 250 with similar noobie settings on the transmitter

I find this statement to be one of the most interesting and revealing of everything you've posted. Now my mind is in dilemma once more.

Originally Posted by xviper

I find this statement to be one of the most interesting and revealing of everything you've posted. Now my mind is in dilemma once more.

Same here!

Thanks for an honest review GF, shame about that tail . Very cool that you fly with your daughter now that is priceless

So GF do you think it would be a waste of money for me to buy the SR cuz I have a TRex 250se otw? And if so what dumbed down settings are you using?

I would think so... isn't the TRex 250SE superior in almost every way? I'd take one of those before two of these after reading this unbiased review

-Derek

Originally Posted by lamrith

Same here!

I think I can help a little here; I think it is my 400 he is referring to. Running a 400 with the stock gyro and servos I've found it to be a good machine to learn on. I got it as a beginner coming off of an mSR, and I've found the 400 to be a solid platform to learn on.

It flies well stock, and after setting up the DX6i correctly it is docile enough to inspire confidence without being slow to respond so you feel like are are fighting to catch up. The PDF for setting it up at http://www.rchelicopterfun.com/ distilled forum knowledge down to a few pages, and made all the difference for me.

I've only had 1 blade strike on the 400 (my first experience in the wind), and flew for the first time without training gear today. After upgrading the tail servo and gyro I have a lot of confidence that I can fly the machine at my current skill level, and that it will grow with me.

I observed the SR in flight, and it seemed like it would be a good option for a beginner who isn't willing to spend more that $200, and isn't sure if they will stick with the hobby. If you want something easier to set up with than the 250 (older guys with big fingers or bad eyes would like the SR better), and don't want to spend the extra time and money to get a 400 and tune it down, the SR would be a safe bet.

Someone at the shop today mentioned that it is getting pretty crazy (in both good and bad ways) with the many people the mSR has brought into the hobby. After watching 3 indoor crashes at the shop today, I'd tend to agree.

I have the feeling that at this price point the SR will keep a lot of the semi-casual people who started with the mSR moving up the ladder. I'm glad I started with the 400, and had a blast today building out a CX 250

Originally Posted by xviper

I find this statement to be one of the most interesting and revealing of everything you've posted. Now my mind is in dilemma once more.

dont let it confuse you .. with most popular heli kits its 90% how well they are set up, checked for smooth operation and tolerance, and dialed in that affects how well they fly for the pilot .. size of the heli and rotor diameter are the main factors outside of setup that will affect the overall handling characteristics, and that said, the drawback to most clones are tolerances and bearing quality, chiefly in my experience, if you plan on flying a clone alot bearings and other tolerance issues will cause problems in short order that may not be noticed by a noob starting out with a clone, they'll just fight it and throw money at it or replace it with another junk clone type without ever fingering the actual problems.. but pick up an align thats been setup well and the difference and feel will be night and day. Again, its all experience and knowing what to look for and how to set up that will affect a helis performance and stability. Its possible to go cheap and make it work very well, but dont kid yourself that you can hack a heli together out of a clone and bargain electrics and just have it magically be better than quality namebrand heli 'x' ...

What is the issue with the tail motor tail?

I believe most issues with tail motors are in relation to esc's not being appropriate for the application or poor mismatched gyros or 4in1 etc rate gyros. From the vids I have seen the tail on this heli behaves pretty well.

The gyro could be a good candidate for hybrid builds or to improve existing rtf helis with poor factory electronics.

Amp

Nice writeup Gadflyii!

I am deciding between a copterx250 or an SR for a backyard beater. For the guys that don't know me, I am a 3D pilot and fly larger machines, but want to get something small to fly at home and replace my aging CP Pro. Your review is helpful.

Some points to add to your readup: Two pluses I would add to the SR are, HH support and the fact that it comes RTF, that is something a total newbie will appreciate if he/she does not has help or knowledge on how to build and setup a heli and radio.

The tail wag is normal for a DD tail, all the DD helis do that since the tail motor can't change speed fast enough to keep up with the torque changes. The only way to eliminate it completely is to run at iddle up on a 100% throttle curve, but that would make a beginner nervous .



Gadflyii one question, what headspeed/pinion are you using on that 250?

Gadflyii, you are hardly what I would call the typical beginner. You have learned to fly a lot faster than most. But, even more significant is you are a real "student" of the heli. I'll be coming to you for explanations of stuff in another few months.