On another thread someone mentioned that RCA will release a 700 size heli.So i sent them email asking about it and this is the reply i got:
Frank

The Chaos 700 will be available end of jan early feb.
We will have a few different versions

nitro and electric

flybarless and flybar

Price will start around $500 on up

Sincerely,
RC Aerodyne / Trade Associates, Inc.


Put me in for 1 FBL heli

$500 and up for just a barebone clone? kinda pricey IMO. if you're looking to spend $500+ on a clone, you might as put a couple hundred and buy the real deal.

or buy a brand new fully loaded T-Rex 600 for around $750-800 or less (RC planet has the Superior combo for $790).

i would figure $500 for clone + align electronic wouldn't be far from just buying a T-Rex 700 combo.. spending $500 for a clone and then buying $20 electronics wouldn't make much sense either.

Much the same conversation took place in the thread about the Chaos 600.

"$300 for a clone??"

This overlooks a couple of points:

1. Unlike most large helis (Trex included), the Chaos 600 comes with excellent quality carbon main and tail rotor blades. The blades alone are conservatively worth $80 to $90. So deducting that from the price, the Chaos 600 is more like $210 to $220 - a pretty good deal.

2. But more than that, the Chaos series are hardly typical clones. The material quality, finish and fit need to be seen to be appreciated. The HK600 may be a workable option for a modeler on a really tight budget, but there are several mfg and design issues that have to be fixed to make it a flyable bird. They had to cut some corners to get the price under $150.

Some of the HK600 builds have gone on for weeks. My Chaos took two days to build, and the only problem I encountered was that I needed to replace the self-threading balls for the servo wheels with M2 balls and nuts. It's my understanding that this has been fixed on subsequent shipments.

I haven't seen any details on the Chaos 700, but assuming it has the same level of quality and ships with CF main and tail rotors, I don't consider $500 at all out of line.

Jim

What's nice too is that you're not stuck with the electronics. You can spec it out any way you want.

if in fact the blades are worth $80-90 then they should perhaps offer an option to reduce the price of the kit without blades or offer a cheaper blade option.

i don't think i would spend $90 on rotors unless i was 100% confident i wouldn't be crashing or banging up the blades

also, shouldn't FBL kits be a little cheaper considering there is less hardware needed?

thats why i like my RC aero 600 esp i was able to put what ever electronics i wanted and alot of the modes the trex 600 guys are doing. They were already done from factory on RC aero. They say there kits are expensive as a clone, when i had some problems i called RC aero and with NO QUESTIONS ASKED they sent me the new part free with no exchange. I know for a fact that wouldnt be teh case with a trex kit,so its better off at times just buying a used trex kit.

Originally Posted by scub

if in fact the blades are worth $80-90 then they should perhaps offer an option to reduce the price of the kit without blades or offer a cheaper blade option.

i don't think i would spend $90 on rotors unless i was 100% confident i wouldn't be crashing or banging up the blades

How about the carbon tail boom? And the torque tube tail? And the airbrushed and clear-coated fiberglass canopy? These are all higher quality features of this heli and would be done differently if they were trying to cut cost at every corner. If I was looking for a "beater" I'd buy something else.

That said, you can certainly save the blades that come with it until you're a little more confident you can fly it without trashing them.

also, shouldn't FBL kits be a little cheaper considering there is less hardware needed?

A good 15 years ago Doug Ingraham, who designed the ESCs, chargers, etc for AstroFlight, predicted that brushless motors would end up being cheaper than high quality brushed motors owing to lower part count and simpler assembly. It took a while, but he ended up being right - particularly with the advent of outrunners, which can be machine-wound and assembled with low-skill labor.

I believe a relatively small percentage of aerobatic pilots will really get something extra out of a FBL setup. IMHO, the majority of heli flyers are going flybarless for the cool factor...not that there's anything wrong with that.

Jim

I recently purchased a Chaos 500 (my wife actually got it for me for Xmas). The quality of the kit overall was very high however, I did have a few issues.

I have held back in saying anything in any user group for several weeks now but with little reply from RC Aerodyne on these issues, I feel it's time to speak up. As I said, the quality is very high in the overall kit. it came with extremely nice CF main blades, tail blades and paddles. The bearings were all working smooth and all screws had lock tight.

Here are my issues.

1) Flybar was threaded wrong on one end and would not allow the paddles to screw on.
2) The main gear assy (one way bearing) was bound up upon arrival and the main gear was the shape of an egg.
3) Torque tube drive shaft was bent.
4) Tail control arm mount did not fit in the pocket of the metal tail side plate (I fixed this on my own).

I know these are somewhat minor issues but I did spend a $100 more than a KH500 and when I purchase something new, I expect it to be free of defects or the defect need to be corrected buy the manufacture or seller.

I am still hoping they take care of these issues, at least the bad main gear. I have straitened the torque tube shaft to where it looks to be working o/k and I have re-threaded the end of the flybar so that the paddle with thread on (threads on a little crooked though). The main gear being the shape of an egg causes some pretty bad vibrations and setting up the pinion lash is almost impossible to get correct and so I will most likely have to go out and purchase a replacement locally.

Not trying to bash anybody, but this has been my real experience.

I've got mine, a 600ProLE, today during my lunch at work, and I don't know how my wife will look when I get home today.

I got the Chaos 600 superior combo and the only flaw I had was one of the blade grips was not threaded, it was smooth as a babies behind. I called talked to their support and the promptly sent me a replacement. When I asked about the 700 they said the end of Feb. Based on my 600 and their service, Im in for one

Eric

I got a response saying they were going to send our replacement parts but nothing was sent and I have not received and replies from them. I will call them tomorrow to see if they will still honor what they told me a few weeks ago.

when mine came with a cracked canopy ,i called them up and they sent me another one asap. when my swash was defective,called up and sent out asap as well. I have nothing good to say about RCA

spoke to Bob this evening. He said he was going to have Cliff call me back tomorrow morning. I am hoping to get this taken care of as soon as possible. The kit (overall) is very high quality and has been a great build.

I'm days away from ordering a 600 from them but the 700 looks damn tempting.

do what im going to do get the 600 from them, when the 700 comes out buy that also