The unique, monocoque frames:



Parts Trays:



Internal Frames:

75 chassis on that cart?

imagine packing a thousand?

nice. i like the drive pulley, it's a work of art.

They are due to be shipped to the distributors next week!

I am really looking forward to getting my hands on one (actually, two)!

I'd like to see a 700 designed like that but little helis just don't interest me anymore.

+1

ba

Originally Posted by atomic skull

i'd like to see a 700 designed like that but little helis just don't interest me anymore.

I like that it's called the Exo 500 and it can run 480 - 520 blades.

Looking at the pdf manual, it really does have some innovative features - and surely the lowest-profile DFC head to date! I like this 3D pdf of the frames.

I reckon the spare parts prices might give a clue to how many of us can afford to consider one. The boom uses a custom teardrop section, rather than being circular, which allows the tail pitch control rod to run internally. Very elegant, and no boom stays needed, but how much for a new boom?

Likewise the three-dimensional main frame. I'd expect that to result in some weight saving, but the quoted weight range of 2400 - 2600g doesn't seem super light.

When I saw the canopy stand-offs, I expected them to be using neodymium magnets, as per the Protos Max, rather than plastic inserts. Maybe MSH have a patent on magnets.

I'm a big fan of the two-belt transmission, which will make it a super-quiet heli. Odd that the tail drive pulley is as large (diameter) as the main pulley, but maybe there's some advantage in having a larger tail rotor pulley. I'm sure the Compass designers had a reason.

What I'd like to see is a well designed belt-drive plastic heli in the 500 size. I'm about to rebuild my lawn-darted carbon Protos as a plastic one, in which form it will weigh 1600g running 430 blades.

Originally Posted by 2Doggs

I like that it's called the Exo 500 and it can run 480 - 520 blades.

Looking at the pdf manual, it really does have some innovative features - and surely the lowest-profile DFC head to date! I like this 3D pdf of the frames.

I reckon the spare parts prices might give a clue to how many of us can afford to consider one. The boom uses a custom teardrop section, rather than being circular, which allows the tail pitch control rod to run internally. Very elegant, and no boom stays needed, but how much for a new boom?

Likewise the three-dimensional main frame. I'd expect that to result in some weight saving, but the quoted weight range of 2400 - 2600g doesn't seem super light.

When I saw the canopy stand-offs, I expected them to be using neodymium magnets, as per the Protos Max, rather than plastic inserts. Maybe MSH have a patent on magnets.

The eXo replacement tail boom is $9.99... Relatively cheap.

There usually is a weight penalty with dual belted (belted main and tail drives)... However, the eXos AUW weight is comparable to a G500 Sport with the same electronics and similar sized lipo.

The stand-offs are not plastic but aluminum along with the quick release buttons. The buttons are secured to the canopy via rubber grommets. I have have had very good experience with these canopy quick releasers on my Compass Chronos and 550U... Allows for very easy canopy insertion and removal. Also very secure. The Compass quick release buttons are bigger versions of RC Booyahs which I also have on my Compass Atoms.

$10 for a replacement, presumably carbon, boom is cheap indeed! If they can do the same for the main frame, that would really be something.

Originally Posted by 2Doggs

The boom uses a custom teardrop section, rather than being circular, which allows the tail pitch control rod to run internally. Very elegant, and no boom stays needed, but how much for a new boom?

Elliptical carbon fiber tubes are a commodity product.

The thing that bothers me about that design is the potential for the rod to flex up into the running belt. They could use an eliptical rod with two cavities but then they'd have to use pultruded carbon fiber because that is the only reasonably affordable way to manufacture such tube.

EDIT: Another possibility is to use an small diameter aluminum tube with a plastic sheath inside it (basically a plastic tube glued inside an aluminum tube) inside the eliptical boom and fixed to the bottom at either end (either mechanically or simply glued). Then use a simple wire pushrod running inside this guide tube. The outer aluminum tube could be eliminated if the plastic center tube were epoxied to the bottom of the elliptical tube it's entire lenght.

EDIT: Alternatively, drill holes for small zip ties in the CF boom and then fix the plastic guide tube inside the bottom of the boom that way. For a 500 size heli one in the center would be adequate. The ends of the tube could be fixed in place by the boom mount and tail box.

or use the next size up cf rod if you have to be anal about it. You can use 5mm hollow rod like the 5 to 700 ones to keep it light too. The belt rubbing on the cf rod won't do much for a long time and you can slip a tube of heat shrink over it to prevent the cf fibers from fraying should the issue of rubbing ever be a concern.

The boom at that price is aluminum which suppliers do make as a commonly offered profile for any industry willing to utilize it. I have a piece of a larger diameter and heavier wall, 1mm, of the same profile used in paddle board broom handles by one manufacturer.

The tail boom is an aluminum extrusion.

I have used the type of canopy mount used on the eXo for years now, with no issues. They are very reliable and easy to use.

The battery on the eXo is mounted to a small tray, and is designed to be removed WITHOUT removing the canopy anyway.

When my eXo's arrive, I will post photographs of them (I will be assembling two of them). Might be this week or next-not sure at the moment.

More to follow...

Looking forward to your pics and build notes!

I just got word that eXo #1 has shipped from Prostar!

I will post photographs when it arrives!