Lepton EX vs TRex 500

[docjoe]

I have both and wanted to know which one you think is the better overall heli.

For me the Lepton is very well made and the specs on it are very tight. It is a solid heli. As far as performance, it is a bit lacking in terms of cyclic performance, tail authority. I have had problems with the tail holding during hard maneuvers and have come very close to crashing several times. I cannot fly this as hard as I can any of my other helis, including the 500. I have tried various setups including 4s, 5s and 6s setups. 6s is by far the best performing. However at the same head speed, about 2900-3000 head speed, the TRex 500 outperforms the Lepton.

I'd like to get your views on it. There are guys on the RR Lepton forum that swear the Lepton has much more aggressive cyclic and outperforms the Lepton but I've never been able to get that kind of performance out of my Lepton.

[Socal500]

It took me all of 1 flight to figure out I did not like the lepton. I flew it more than just once.. I guess trying to convince myself. It took me one flight on the 500 to tell it would be my favorite heli to date. The Lepton was just to slow IMO and I tried lowering the head and higher headspeeds and it just always felt slow.

[Finless]

Having had both myself I am going to have to say the 500 is a better flying with the Lepton having better parts quality. Also as you well know Align will continue to improve the 500 where as the Lepton has sat for well over a year without much in the way of fixes... e.g. like the tail holding issue.

They are both very Nice heli's but my vote is on the 500 now.

Bob

[rotodingo]

As always everything is about settings. Put some Gorilla paddles and remove the weights and the Lepton is very agressive. You may also try MS-420 carbob blades. The heli is then extremely fast on cyclic. Only for extreme 3D. But it remains stable on hover and fast forward flight.
Some guys did made anotheh hole on the upper levers to have a different flybar ratio. The Lepton was a lot more maneuverable.
Tail problems? Just put some longer blades on the tail. I'm using the Voyager E tail blades with success. With MJP carbon lift-kit. You may also use Gaaui landing gear without Lift-kit.
You will still have a far better quality heli. A lot more quiet too.

You also have new JR Vibe 500E to compare to the T500. Very good Heli, a lot more sophisticated than the T500. Even parts are cheaper than Align ones! Not released by now but you can order it in Japan as the Super Voyager E. As far as i know the only difference is the canopy. The Vibe 500 has a canopy looking very close to the Vibe 50 one.

Nicolas

[Jaso]

Same here guys . My Lepton doesn't really have the sparkling performance that the 500 has .
The Lepton is a high quality kit but down here in Australia parts for them are non existant which is a minus straight away .

I've been flying my lepton for about 6 months and thought it was great to fly until I got my 500 going then I thought it flys well but not as well as the 500 .
I too have a few guys here saying that their lepton flys better than their 500 . Main thing I can think of is set-up's are different , differences in the stock motor quality ? , and batteries that are not up to the task ? .
I have found my 500 performs better on a 6s 2500mah pack than on two 2170 3s FP linked together in series but the difference isn't huge . I could imagine that poor quality packs or packs that are out of ballance (being used in series) will make the 500 feel a bit sluggy .

Actually I have good evidence of this . The other day I flew two FP 2170 packs linked, one is a newer pack with say 6-7 cycles and the other is a 30 cycle pack that has had a fair hiding on my 450 with out being bed in properly . Well straight away I knew those batteries were not up to the task , the headspeed was down around 200 rpm on spool up , performance was ok for sport flying only and only just at that .
So I feel you really have to ensure that a pair of packs to be used on this in series need to be closley matched for max performance , other wise you may thing this heli flys ok and thats it .
sorry for waffling on .



Jason.

[docjoe]

As always everything is about settings. Put some Gorilla paddles and remove the weights and the Lepton is very agressive. You may also try MS-420 carbob blades. The heli is then extremely fast on cyclic. Only for extreme 3D. But it remains stable on hover and fast forward flight.
Some guys did made anotheh hole on the upper levers to have a different flybar ratio. The Lepton was a lot more maneuverable.
Tail problems? Just put some longer blades on the tail. I'm using the Voyager E tail blades with success. With MJP carbon lift-kit. You may also use Gaaui landing gear without Lift-kit.
You will still have a far better quality heli. A lot more quiet too.

You also have new JR Vibe 500E to compare to the T500. Very good Heli, a lot more sophisticated than the T500. Even parts are cheaper than Align ones! Not released by now but you can order it in Japan as the Super Voyager E. As far as i know the only difference is the canopy. The Vibe 500 has a canopy looking very close to the Vibe 50 one.

Nicolas

Nicolas,

I've done most of the mods to my Lepton including moving the main gear to the top hole to give a more aggressive settings as well as using gorilla paddles and no weights. Still does not compaire. The JR 500E sounds interesting.

[Jafa]

Hmm, my experience to date is the opposite of Socal500

When I first flew my Lepton it scared the living daylights out of me
Sounded mean and was very quick - it took me a while to get used to it

I do rolling circuits with my Lepton,
I use a dual rate on the cyclics to make it slower and easier to time
the dual rate setting is 75% !

I have yet to see a TRex500 that has a faster roll rate than my Lepton
and I can out climb the TRex500 - there's not a great deal in it however

I'm using the black/yellow Funkey Carbon main blades
Main mast in what ever hole the manual said to put it in
Stock paddles

I can't help wondering if you've got enough swash deflection

[fireup]

I would have to go with Bob. I had a lepton for a while also. To get it to perform as good as a T500, the headspeed had to be dialed up to 3000 RPM. And mechanical, it was harder to work with.
- Adjusting pinion backlash was a ***** (motor mount screws in the way).
- Didn't like how the battery need to be inserted.
- Only limited to one or two battery configurations.
- Hard to get a clean wiring job.
- Landing skid too low.
- Tail blades too small
- Canopy butt ulgly:)
- Parts hard to get
- Parts big $$

[Jafa]

There are four battery configuratons for the Lepton,
from the Hirobo 3S right the way up to 6S

Nothing hard about wiring the Lepton

The Landing skids are too low and were soft, the Gaui 550 skids fix that problem

The ReadyHeli 68mm tails or Eolo tails are essential

[Socal500]

The Lepton was not crap but it was no Trex 500 either :) Bottom line, out of the box, the 500 impressed me.
The leption is limited on battery configuration simply because of where they go. With the 500 you have more options right off and with just a slight mod you increase those options.

[fireup]

There are four battery configuratons for the Lepton,
from the Hirobo 3S right the way up to 6S

Nothing hard about wiring the Lepton

The Landing skids are too low and were soft, the Gaui 550 skids fix that problem

The ReadyHeli 68mm tails or Eolo tails are essential

Ok, there's four. Try to fit A123 or a Trex600 pack (6s5000). A guy is actually flying with that and get 10+ mins.:)

The Lepton was not crap but it was no Trex 500 either :) Bottom line, out of the box, the 500 impressed me.
The leption is limited on battery configuration simply because of where they go. With the 500 you have more options right off and with just a slight mod you increase those options.

You're starting to sound like Bob now.:YeaBaby:

[Socal500]

You're starting to sound like Bob now.:YeaBaby:

DOH!!! Well it actually was Bobs Lepton I had, or so I was told.

[Jafa]

Try to fit A123 or a Trex600 pack (6s5000). A guy is actually flying with that and get 10+ mins.:)


Heh - a Trex600 pack weight an extra ~400 odd grams over the normal TRex500 pack
will increase the wing loading and turn the TRex500 into a flying pig ;-)
10 min of hovering and sport flying around is likely to be very boring

[Socal500]

Heh - a Trex600 pack weight an extra ~400 odd grams over the normal TRex500 pack
will increase the wing loading and turn the TRex500 into a flying pig ;-)
10 min of hovering and sport flying around is likely to be very boring


Thats for sure.! Hey then you basically have a Lepton :happyd jk

[fireup]

Heh - a Trex600 pack weight an extra ~400 odd grams over the normal TRex500 pack
will increase the wing loading and turn the TRex500 into a flying pig ;-)
10 min of hovering and sport flying around is likely to be very boring

I'm not saying that's what I'm doing, but that's an option for people who just want to sport fly and mild 3D.

[Jafa]

Tee hee - are you two the ants pants in the comedy scene?
Do you really think people are repect the dribble you've posted?

[oteskate]

Well, I think that they are two different machines for two different styles of flying. I've personally never owned a Lepton, but I have flow one and I currently own a 500. There is no doubt that Hirobo makes great helis, but IMO they're not 3D helis. I think if you were doing FAI flying, they'd be great, whereas the 500 is more designed for agile flight and that "snap". I believe it's more in the overall design of the head between the two that separates their flying characteristics.

Also, the Lepton is going to cost more in the event of any crash, so in that case, right away I'm more for the 500. We're in an expensive enough hobby and not all of us have the luxury to spend high dollars when we do "dumb thumb" it. That's where I feel that Align has really done well across the board in all of their models.

So... overall, my vote goes for the 500. :)

[Jafa]

The crash index of the Lepton is higher for sure

Hirobo machines being more for FAI flying is correct for their nitro machines,
the Lepton is the odd one out - it's very capable for 3D

Look back at the Lepton flight reviews when it came out
With the exception of the tail (which was easily solved)
the view was that it rocks

I think that what's happening right now is the sheep are flocking to the latest heli
and making it out to be the greatest - overstating it's case in the process

They are both great helis - they both rock

[Socal500]

I think that what's happening right now is the sheep are flocking to the latest heli
and making it out to be the greatest - overstating it's case in the process


Dont know about that. Definitely not in my case because at the time, as far as I knew, the Lepton was the latest and greatest thing out. Not a hard title to be labeled with because I think it was the only heli out in that size that was available local also with local parts availability. I sold it and went back to the 450 so it was not a flock of any sort. The 500 came into the picture later and proved better.. to me anyway :)

[owde]

If parts are easier to buy then you can fly harder with more confidence and for that Align should be commended. Hirobo quality is as good as any so that sort of high end quality lends to precision that lasts, anyhow thats why I ended up forking out for the Lepton.

[docjoe]

Well, I think that they are two different machines for two different styles of flying. I've personally never owned a Lepton, but I have flow one and I currently own a 500. There is no doubt that Hirobo makes great helis, but IMO they're not 3D helis. I think if you were doing FAI flying, they'd be great, whereas the 500 is more designed for agile flight and that "snap". I believe it's more in the overall design of the head between the two that separates their flying characteristics.



This has been my general feeling about the 2 except I have both helis. Trying to increase the cyclic and collective pitch on the Lepton will only aggravate the bogging. I had to decrease the collective to about 10 degrees to get it to stop bogging.

I've flown 4s, 5s and 6s setups using 2 different motors and I thought using a better motor would help.

I still haven't given up on my Lepton and when the new Scorpion motor for the Lepton comes out (I was told by Lucien at Innov8tivedesigns.com that it will hopefully be available in March), I'll get that for the Lepton.

Jafa, what's your setup on your Lepton because it seems you've got the only Lepton that's balls to the wall. Oh, your mates that are running the 500 with 13T pinion on 6s need to use a higher pinion. I agree with you that at their setup right now, it's definitely not as responsive as your Lepton. Put a 14T pinion or 15T pinion and I think you'll see what most of us are talking about.

[Jafa]

My Lepton is what I would describe as a competent and fun setup
It's typical of all the Leptons around me (4 of them in my city)

My best setup is:
Kora 15-12 920kv on a 21T pinion
Jazz 55 ESC
4S 3700mah Hyperion or FlightPower 25C
Funky blades - black/yellow
~2800 headspeed

The Kora is 30 grams lighter than the other motors I've tried and never gets hot
I run 11 degrees of collective and don't have a bogging problem
But note the 21T pinion - I think that is a factor
Others are running 22T to get better headspeed
but then when you use the collective it will struggle

I am not sure if my batteries are getting tired or if I am flying harder these days
(I've done over 150 flights on the Lepton - easy)
but my flight times are down to 5:30
Another factor is running 2800+ headspeed with the Kora 15-12
(I only had 2600 on the head in earlier configurations)

I've been messing around with various options looking for a balls to the wall setup
It's taken me a while to realise that the 4S setup is actually very compelling
The power to weight ratio is pretty good
The Leptons weight in at 1650 to 1700 grams on 4S
(mine is 1670 and I have a cyclock onboard)

I'm about to try a 5S 3300mah battery (add 40 grams)
That and the 920kw of the Kora should give even more headspeed
I will start with 18T gearing and see how it goes

I watch the weight fairly closely cos the smaller the heli the more important it is

I'll see if any of my TRex500 flying buddies are up to trying a bigger pinion

[docjoe]

I'm currently running the Kora 15-14 on 6s and a 20T pinion, with a lower throttle curve. I'm going to get smaller pinions so I can run 2800 HS at 100% in idle up. I've used the Kora 15-14 with 4s and 5s as well. I have the 5s 3700 evo 20s and that setup is just a little too heavy. I was also running 4s evo 20 which was good. But I always felt I needed to be extra gentle on the sticks with it. I am using 68mm tail blades. I am going to try Swift tail blades because I think they're bigger (A recommendation from Ed at GrandRC).

I have heard of the bogging issue with MAH blades so I'm going to try switching them out. I may try the MAHs on the 500. We'll see if it makes a difference.

I still haven't given up on the Lepton and am hoping to try a Scorpion motor on it.

Oh what servos are you running. I am running the 3150s and they're a little slow. I may have to swap them out for 9650s or the like.

[Jafa]

What capacity is your 6S pack?
Are you running a governor in your ESC?

18T would give you ~2855rpm and much less likely to bog

The 5S 3300 is a better weight and still more flight time than 4S

I had to smile at your comment that 5S 3700 felt a tad heavy,
given FireUp was complaining that you can't put a 6S 5000mah pack into a Lepton
(It's just nonsense of course)

I will be interested to see what Scorpion comes out with

I'm keen to get the longer boom onto the Lepton

I am running the S3150's also - they are slow but they feel ok in flight (piro flips work fine)
I obviously can't do crack moves with them however - no biggie
S3155 or the Aitronics servo would be quicker/better
S9650 needs a little butchering of the frames

[rotodingo]

What i can say is that at the beginning i asked some friends to try my Lepton with the MS-420 Carbon blades. One of them never has enough reactivity and power. He wants more and more. Well, he reached his limits with my Lepton that was extremely sensitive with this blades and 2800 rpm. He had to do a couple of flights to be able to handle the heli OK. At end he liked it but at first it was too much for him (and he is good...). For me with the MS blades the heli was almost uncontrolable. And the CCPM values was set to 40%! You will have more power with this heli because it's lighter.Simple. You have enough room for the needed batteries. When it's not possible to use a batt it only means the batt is not a suitable batt for this kind of heli size. 6S 5000? This is ridiculous. The lepton is a race heli. Not a truck.
The Lepton will also be faster because is is smaller with small frontal surface. Loops are the biggest i've ever seen even compared to 50 IC helis. The Lepton has an incredible capability to keep his speed. On this point the JR SVE4S/Vibe 500E is good too but not as good, even with very close setup.

The T-500 is faster on cyclic than the Lepton? Well this could mean too fast! You need the good value, not more. It doesn't have any sens to want more and more in this area. The Lepton is by far fast enough. More is too much for good 3D performances.

Ordered in Japan Lepton parts are not so expensive. I won't say cheap but it's really affordable. Well, it depends of change rates.

With Kora 15-12, 5S 3300, and 18T pinion i had 2700rpm at 70% on the Jazz (governor). Now that the batts calmed down a little bit i can use 75% still with 2700 rpm.

Nicolas