standard SE or Rotorworkz G4?

[skwarwheels]

I'm ready to get my first T-rex. After much pondering, I'm pretty clear that I want to go 4 cells, Neu 2Y motor, Jazz controller, 401 with the 9650 on the tail, etc.

My question is about the G4 frames. They seem to be a big improvement over the standard Trex frames. If this is so, then I'm thinking that I'd be better off just buying the G4 frame, and then putting the SE head and tail on it, rather than buying the SE kit and modding it later.

Will I see a big improvement with the G4 frames. Supposedly the are guaranteed against breakage, which is good since I will probably be testing that theory a few times :D

What chu think?

Michael

BTW, thank you to Mr. Less for helping me decide on the Trex!

[gagi]

I personally dont like the G4 stying and low profile landing gear. The Trex is small enough and close enought to the ground where even short grass can be a hassle.

I have crashed my SE stock frame once pretty badly when my tail broke. I was very pleased with how it held up. THe frame is solid. If you are a pro pilot and need to fly over asfault inverted at 20 mph than maybe you need the G4. I would save the $ and spend it on blades nice electronics or anythin else because the SE fraim is great.

I meen the fraim is ment to fly through the air and not through the ground.

[ukgroucho]

I've never tried a stock Align CF frame.

I DID go thru a number of the Align plastic frames when I started out so I can offer this advice (picking up on gagis comments).

Teh G4 is NOT low profile... the LG is CF and attached to the frame. It is MUCH (MUCHH) stronger and longer lived than any of the stock Align stuff - I also went thru a couple of ets of after market alu LG sets so I know what I'm talking about. The Gorilla gear for the Align frames may be very good. I HAVE NEVER TRIED THIS STUFF! If I was running Align frames I would try it.

The other nice thing about the Rotorworkz CF LG is that you can repair it. Simple cracks etc. you reinforce with CA. More substantial stuff you can splint with a spare piece of CF - and some is included in the kit.

One other thing to note about the G4 is that the heli sits with a 'forwards' attitude... tail sweps up away from the body. This can be disconcerting for learners. I really have no problem with it - I have two G4s, a 4S and a 5S with Neu motors and Kontronik Jazz in both. I really like them. They fly very nicely.

[skwarwheels]

Thanks for your comments.

UKgroucho, would you recommend the 4s or the 5s. I'm a fair pilot, but I'm hoping that the trex will give me the time to become great! (cant seem to get the the flying field...) Is the 5s cool just for the oddity and high geewizz factor, or would you recommend it over the 4s.

The few that I know that have the rex's fly 3s. If I want 4s and all the fixings, we are getting into Lepton prices, which is what they are pushing me into. They are all mostly forward flight, so they don't crash. I KNOW I'm going to crash, so I'm more inclined toward the rex and it's cheap crashiness.



Thanks for the help!

Michael

[KamikaziRcPilot]

Check out the SuperFrame STK from HeliDirect. It's a simplistic, open, easy to work on design. Extremely durable too.

[BoneDoc]

The only thing I break on my SE frame is the lower battery / esc compartment on nose dives. That easily epoxy back together. SE + Gorilla gear = nearly indestructible frame.

[gagi]

+1 to BoneDoc! :wink:

However if you really feel that style trex you are building will be much more rigid with a G4 go for it. The stock body is strong light and stylish! :mrgreen:

[BoneDoc]

another push for a stock body is ease and cost of replacement parts. So unless you're beyond the frequent crashing stages... (which most of us aren't yet), you're better off saving your money and spending it on extra shaft, spindle, and blades :D.

[skwarwheels]

while the crash worthy-ness of the frame is a factor, I'm mostly curious if the G4 frame, the helidirect frame, or any other frame that was offered as a suggestion flies any better?

I saw some posts that the G4 was more stable, just wondering if this is truely the issue.

Thank you all for the input!

Michael

[ukgroucho]

UKgroucho, would you recommend the 4s or the 5s. I'm a fair pilot, but I'm hoping that the trex will give me the time to become great! (cant seem to get the the flying field...) Is the 5s cool just for the oddity and high geewizz factor, or would you recommend it over the 4s.

Michael

For the record.. Michael and I exchanged email on this. My opinion is that 4S is the sweet spot for performance on a Trex with current packs. You can build a rig that runs 2800- 3000 HS for LONG flights of sport flying and mild 3D (10 mins on 1800MaH, 12 on 2100) and has loads of power and very little bogging.

5S is nice for sure but you are much more limited on pack choice unless you want to roll you own and combine 2S and 3S in parallel. I run TP 1320MaHs on my 5S and they provide good duration running an 11t on a Neu1107/6D and 2600rpm HS... but I know that I want to push this up (pinion change time) and I think the reduction in pack life may start to bug me. I dislike the 6 - 7 minutes I see on my 3S rig if I run 2900- 3000

Go 4S... cooler motors and packs and great performance.

[ukgroucho]

while the crash worthy-ness of the frame is a factor, I'm mostly curious if the G4 frame, the helidirect frame, or any other frame that was offered as a suggestion flies any better?

I saw some posts that the G4 was more stable, just wondering if this is truely the issue.

Thank you all for the input!

Michael

OK... so I've never tried an Align SE / CF frame. I used the early plastic 450 V2 frames (non eCCPM) and then transitioned to a Rotorworkz G3 CF frame to get something more robust - this was pre Align CF frames - as I was busting frames in crashes and that's just a LOT of rebuild work.

Anyhow... G3 versus Align plastic 450 V2 no comparison, G3 wins. But this was a change to CCPM also and maybe not a fair comparison. So the G3 flies great. The G4 flies even better.. REALLY well. Strangely it also feels 'bigger' in the air.. has more presence. I had a number of folks at the club field comment that it looked much bigger in flight.
I flew witha couple of guys with an XL and an SE CF frame today. The SE looks nice. But the G4 was the show stealer :)

[skwarwheels]

Sooo...

Say I was to go with an aftermarket frame. Would you guys suggest sticking with the Align head and tail, or are there other parts that out perform the align SE stuff?

Thanks again for the great info!

Michael

[BoneDoc]

I'd say stick with align. for the price, it can't be beat.