Wha to Do?

[muppetman0]

Having just planted my Belt again I am now faced with a bill of about £60 to get it flying again :mad:.

The way I see it I have 3 options in order of preference:

1. spend about £90 on the EXI 450 barebones kit from Xheli and use my Belt's eletronics until I can afford to upgrade them. http://www.xheli.com/exi-450-arf-rc-helicopter.html

2. spend £150 on 3DX 450B from Sportmoto and use my existing eletronics until I can afford to upgrade. http://www.sportsmoto.co.uk/acatalog/3DX_450_SE_Pro_Model.html

3. spend £60 for to have a stock Belt that will only ever be mediocre at best.

I am planning on replacing the servos with TowerPro SG90s as I destroyed 2 of the Esky ones in my latest crash.

My question is will the Belt motor, ESC, TX and RX and SG90s be OK in the EXI; and will the Belt ESC, TX and RX and SG90s be suitable for the 3DX 450B (it comes with a 3550kv Brushless Motor?

Your advice/thoughts would be most appreciated.

[DierWolf]

Yes get the Exi all the stuff from esky will work perfectly fine in it.

No use spending 60 pounds (130 dollars) to repair it when a brand new one RTF is 189 dollars.

[Ian 777]

I've only seen Grants Exi it is a tremendous bit of kit for the money big step up from the stock belt:)

[helihathnofury]

For me, there is no doubt about which direction to go. Get the EXI. Just superb value for money. [I am getting one next time I am in USA]

Mike

[Ian 777]

Just a thought about Swashplates Mike If you do get a CopterX head your cnc Esky swash will fly it fine:thumbup:

[muppetman0]

Thanks guys, you have been most helpful. You have confirmed what I was already thinking. It looks like I will be ordering an Exi then. Any suggestions for the best price?

[helihathnofury]

The main supplier is at 'xheli.com', starting from US$99 - bargain!!!!!!!!!!!

[Grant_beltcp]

They have an online chat on xheli, see if they can use a different method of shipping (USPS?) to get the shipping price down

[helihathnofury]

have left them an email about shipping, when I get reply will post it!!

Mike

[muppetman0]

have left them an email about shipping, when I get reply will post it!!

Mike

Mike, would it be worth mentioning that there are 2 of us that want them? Maybe even post anther thread to see if any other UK members are keen to buy one?

[Ian 777]

I think many of us are just drooling over them:drool:

[muppetman0]

I've just done a test and it appears that if I order 2 of the Exis the shipping is $117. Don't know if anybody is keen to go half half on an order for 2. Total cost would be just over £80 each.

[helihathnofury]

muppetman,I did ask for alternative prices on more than one. Still waiting...........

[muppetman0]

Having thought about this a bit more I am thinking that maybe the 3DX 450B is a better choice because after import duties and tax it is only about £40 more that the Exi (but it comes with a motor and all metal head and tail units). Also I can get it from a UK supplier so if there are any problems/faulty parts it will be easier to sort out.

Has anybody had any experience of the 3DX 450B and how does it compare to the Exi? What's the quality like comapred to the Exi?

Any help will be great.

[Ian 777]

Dunno but Lorraine and Mark at Sportsmoto seem very helpful :) i may go and have a look at one as Chorley isnt that far from us

[muppetman0]

Dunno but Lorraine and Mark at Sportsmoto seem very helpful :) i may go and have a look at one as Chorley isnt that far from us

Thats the site I've looking at. This is the one I'm thinking about:
http://www.sportsmoto.co.uk/acatalog/3DX_450_SE_Pro_Model.html

[Grant_beltcp]

It does look quite good - but it doesnt look like it will stand up to much of a crash at all with those frames.
I personally would go with a Trex clone rather than a different design purely for ease of use and getting spare parts. When i had the belt cp going i had to wait all the time for spares to arrive, with the trex style i just nip down any local shop and they have what i need:) No more waiting.....

[Ian 777]

Yeah it looks good, metal washout links, rock solid lookng tail.

How good are Fiber frames?

Does the 120 degree servo mount have sufficient support from the frame?

Also the Swash on the head looks the same as the UGT 05 swash which I don't like much. (don't know if it is though)

Looks very good over all though. Whats the motor?

Grants Exi is great but he has upgraded most of his head to Trex now

[another_finn]

It does look quite good - but it doesnt look like it will stand up to much of a crash at all with those frames.
Look closer:
http://www.cnchelicopter.com/servlet/the-972/1AAAD-star-dsh--dsh-trex-eccpm-silver/Detail

The entire upper deck is one solid chunk of aluminum that everything bolts to... It looks sort of "over-ventilated" but I think it just might be one of the most solid frames out there. Apart from the frame, most of it should be T-Rex compatible so spares are no problem either. Personally I do prefer the "A" style, but that's probably just esthetics. Can't think of anything the other frame styles would be likely to do better.

[muppetman0]

It does look quite good - but it doesnt look like it will stand up to much of a crash at all with those frames.
I personally would go with a Trex clone rather than a different design purely for ease of use and getting spare parts. When i had the belt cp going i had to wait all the time for spares to arrive, with the trex style i just nip down any local shop and they have what i need:) No more waiting.....

Thanks for the input where did you get your Exi from? How long did delivery take?

[Ian 777]

Head and tail look excelllent, configuration looks easy to work on

Just wonder what would happen if you dropped it hard on its head, the button is a long way from that ally mount.

[muppetman0]

Yeah it looks good, metal washout links, rock solid lookng tail.

How good are Fiber frames?

Does the 120 degree servo mount have sufficient support from the frame?

Also the Swash on the head looks the same as the UGT 05 swash which I don't like much. (don't know if it is though)

Looks very good over all though. Whats the motor?

Grants Exi is great but he has upgraded most of his head to Trex now

Not sure how good Fiber frames are, I was hoping sombody here could tell me.:lol:

I believe the swash is the same as the UGT 05

The motor is a Sonic 3550kv Brushless Motor. I can't find any more info than that.

[Grant_beltcp]

It would be worth finding out the power of the motor, but i would expect it to be pretty reasonable. I can see the aluminium deck looks strong, but I was refering to the main frame sections as the vertical sections look very weak and thin.
Purely for the ease of replacement I would go for a good clone, but thats just because i cant afford to buy every spare before i need them! And Align are always bringing out newer stronger parts to replace the current components with. If i damage something, someone at the flying feild usually has a spare too!
I bought mine from x-heli, in total it cost me £85 delivered and I didnt have any import duty to pay, I may have asked them to send it as "toy Parts" or "Gift"

[muppetman0]

It would be worth finding out the power of the motor, but i would expect it to be pretty reasonable. I can see the aluminium deck looks strong, but I was refering to the main frame sections as the vertical sections look very weak and thin.
Purely for the ease of replacement I would go for a good clone, but thats just because i cant afford to buy every spare before i need them! And Align are always bringing out newer stronger parts to replace the current components with. If i damage something, someone at the flying feild usually has a spare too!
I bought mine from x-heli, in total it cost me £85 delivered and I didnt have any import duty to pay, I may have asked them to send it as "toy Parts" or "Gift"

Thanks Grant, I think I have my preference has shifted back to the Exi again!!!!

How long did delivery take for Exi?

[helihathnofury]

..have you seen the new metal EXI at
http://www.xheli.com/ma-450-helicopter-arf.html
for $189. Looks the biz to me!!!!!!!!

Mike