Review - KDE's 600e Ali Bottom Plate

[Skiddz]

I'd be more than happy to haul along a bunch of bottom plates if you like Patrick. I'm leaving here on Aug 10 and should be in Muncie on the 13th.

Lemme know.

[Mercuriell]

Received mine very promptly through the post - thank you :) - Very fine bit of engineering.

Gonna put it onto my stretched T600 where it can better accommodate the lipos perched up front to get CogG right.

Only suggestion for improvement would be to tap the U/C mounting lugs for M3 then the locknut wouldn't be necessary and it would be ideal to take M3 nylon bolts - may overdrill mine then tap for M4 to do this.

[kegerator]

Hey Mercuriell,

Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad you enjoy the design. The reason I'm using a M3 clearance hole and locknut is so that people can use nylon bolts if they choose to help prevent damage to the undercarriage in the event of a crash (the bolts simply shear and prevent breaking the landing skid supports). If the design used tapped holes, the bolt would shear, leaving a portion of the stud inside the threads and it would be extremely difficult to drill it out without damaging the threads during a rebuild (spoken from experience, ha! :lol:). I wanted to give pilots the option of using any type of M3 bolt they choose (steel, stainless, nylon, etc.) and the clearance hole seemed to be the best option. I agree with your approach of overdrilling and then tapping for a M4 bolt as a second option, let me know how it works out for you. :thumbup: I always like hearing new ideas!

[Wyldman]

Kegerator,

I finally got a chance to install the new bottom plate and all I can say is WOW!:thumbup:

I used to be very careful when lifting the 600e by the frame as it was flexing and I was scared stiff of cracking the GF frames. Now, I can pick it up and the frame flex is almost non-existant! I also noticed that the servos seem to have less movement in their mounts during cycling because of the stiffer chassis.

Now, all I need to do is become a good enough pilot to worry about stressing the frame enough to flex it in the air! :lol:

[Mercuriell]

I too hooked up the plate this morning to my T690 with HFX frames - made a big difference to frame stiffness in fore-aft and side to side planes - also able to sling the flight electrics lipo underneath which has opened up a huge battery bay. Drilled out the lugs to 3.5mm then tapped for M4 x 0.5 and mounted up the gear with M4 nylon bolts (no nuts) significantly sturdier gear mounting and no freakin around getting your nuts on! I reckon this is the best u/g after metal blade grips

[Duke600]

About a month after Finless and I installed the bottom plate on my T600; I Crashed:arggg:
I was trying piro flips a little too low, I lost orientation and crashed flat on its side. It happened to be the side my Castle Creations HV85 was located, which erupted into flames:flamedevil I Grabbed my fire extinguisher put out the fire and surveyed the damage.

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54444&stc=1&d=1215745627


I was surprised to see there wasn't that much damage. Damaged the ESC (duh) ; Blades; boom block; landing gear; and boom, and the canopy got a little toasted.
http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54451&stc=1&d=1215746017

I picked up the Heli and looked on the bottom and noticed the bottom plate suffered a little damage. I first noticed a good size dent in the plate; This is where the ESC was attached to the side of the helicopter. Then I noticed a slight bow in the bottom plate, not too bad. I was very surprised to see there was no real damage to the Frame (fiberglass). Second I would have expected my receiver battery to be taco'd because I have it located on top of the bottom plate between the frames, there was no damage (the wires were a little singed from the fire but no taco'ness:thumbup:). And third there was no scratch on my NEU motor, I use a 1915/1y and it sticks out of the frame a little, but it turned out fine.

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54460&stc=1&d=1215747058
http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54461&stc=1&d=1215747058

In my opinion, I believe if it were a plastic bottom plate, it would have shattered. If it shattered then my receiver battery would have been taco'd, and maybe some damage to my motor and main batteries. I really do believe this bottom plate saved my heli from more damage.:thumbup: I also am sure I can straighten out the bottom plate out and use it agian.


Jeff

[kegerator]

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for the post on the crash, I'm extremely happy the frame worked and protected your electronics, motor, and LiPo. That is the goal of the Aluminum upgrades and it worked, so it's great to see success. :YeaBaby: I agree that it should be possible to bend the aluminum back and reuse the upgrade. If not, shoot me a PM and I'll take care of you with the 30% off, crash-guarantee for a brand new part.

I'm sorry to hear about your fire, I know what a fire is like (TREX 500...ahhhh!) and it's no fun when it happens. Luckily you had a fire extinguisher on hand - I had to watch my 500 burn for a while until I was able to put out the flames with my water bottle (not the best option, but it's all I had close by). What is your PayPal account address? I want to continue the HeliFreak donation that was passed to me during my fire rebuild and send you $20 to help get you a new ESC. :hug:

[anthony7656]

Jeff Good to see that Your Elec. were saved, I know kegerators upgrade parts are great in looks and performs well as well.

Kegerator good product that saved the heli parts and I know U could feel the pain of Jeff :)

Let me know when U are in town, lets do lunch, just did my first flight after upgrade and boy does it look good :)

[kegerator]

Additional online vendors are now supporting the KDE Direct brand line, with five online stores now offering the TREX 600, 500, and soon the 450 designs.:thumbup: As always, products can be purchased directly through the website (www.kdedirect.com (http://www.kdedirect.com)) and through these vendors:

www.modefosheli.com (http://www.modefosheli.com)
www.deeteeenterprises.com (http://www.deeteeenterprises.com)
www.readyheli.com (http://www.readyheli.com)
www.helihobby.com (http://www.helihobby.com)
www.tammieshobbies.com (http://www.tammieshobbies.com)

Thanks to everyone's support and the new TREX 450 design is soon coming, hopefully by the end of the month when the parts arrive from the machinist and anodize facility.:)

[kegerator]

Thanks to everyone for their support and the TREX 500 and 450 designs are now available direct or through online vendors. Finless produced another great review video for the 500 design at: http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=84203 and the positive feedback on all three designs has been outstanding. I've attached some newer images of the 500 and 450 designs and the 600E design continues to be a great success! :thumbup:

[Duke600]

ITS BACK...

I took me two months to rebuild because I started a 600 nitro project:badair:... But its back together the 600E is flying again. If you don't remember just look a my earlier post of my crash:arggg: I was able to bend back the damaged part of the bottom plate and mount it back on with no problems:thumbup:

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=61585&stc=1&d=1220582775

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=61586&stc=1&d=1220582775

I liked the Bottom plate, so I decided it would be good for my T500 also:thumbup:
http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=61584&stc=1&d=1220582775

[Finless]

hehehehhe..... Duke.... Show the frankin canopy ;)

Bob

[Duke600]

hehehehhe..... Duke.... Show the frankin canopy ;)

Bob

oh yeah!

I wanted to save some money, and because everyone wanted me to keep it, I used the :flamedevil Flame Canopy

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=61629&stc=1&d=1220618961

[gwk]

I'll bet Kevin will love seeing the K2 Heli stickers on your canopy. I sure do!! LOL!!! :D

[kegerator]

That is one of the most hilarious canopy jobs I've seen in a long time! :lolol I believe this will inspire me to not buy a brand-new canopy every time I crash - instead, we should all start a competition on the best reworked canopy! :YeaBaby:

Glad to see you were able to fix the T600 frame and get it flying again!

[Finless]

You will all loose the contest! Kevin probably has more dorked up canopies than any of us ;) However, Duke's is hard to beat!

Bob

[CT4]

I have just bought one of these plates and I think it is fantastic, worth every cent.One aspect of the plate has been missed, I know that most heli pilots are hungup on 3D but as a scale builder the plate makes the frame stiffer and the install easer as you can work out all of the mounting points with just the plate in the fuselage. One negative point, I know the holes for the skids have to be where they are in the tabs on the plate, but it makes it impossible to install a 3mm cap head screw from the top.. A longer tab (could be cut off if not needed) and a 2nd set of holes would make this an all round product.

[NecOne]

Hi all (From france)


That's my Rex powered by KDE ;) ... a liked the bottom plate so i decide to mount the battery plate.

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/6474/rex3sh3.jpg

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/314/rex4sz7.jpg

PS: i have made another upgrade ... the ESP elevator arm ^^

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/1826/rex7hn6.jpg

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/2171/rex9gm8.jpg

And the final Result ^^

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/1892/rex1hn8.jpg

[brian94066]

that's a beautiful machine:thumbup:

[dxtarl]

Sweet paint job

[kegerator]

Hey NecOne,

Thanks for supporting the KDE Direct brand, your entire setup looks fantastic.:noteworthy I especially like how you did your LiPo straps, crossthreading them through the cut-outs for a truly strong and secure mounting method for the packs. I saw you also installed the 600E upgraded elevator arm assembly in your setup. Was there anything special you had to do (frame modifications, etc?) to install this into the standard 600E setup? I knew it's standard for the new 600ESP, but I didn't know it mounts into the old 600E as well. Based on your pictures, it looks relatively easy to do. What items did you need to purchase to get the job done?

Thanks!

[heli400]

Hey,

NecOne one nice heli :thumbup:

kegerator I currently have a bottom plate for my 500 and 600 installed on my heli's and they are very nice products:noteworthy

kegerator I'm currently building 600 ESP so I'm going to buy another bottom plate and battery plate for it. I was wondering if you are going to make the receiver tray for the 600 like you did for the 500?

Thanks,
Rick

[NecOne]

Hey,

NecOne one nice heli :thumbup:



Tx ;)


kegerator I'm currently building 600 ESP so I'm going to buy another bottom plate and battery plate for it. I was wondering if you are going to make the receiver tray for the 600 like you did for the 500?

Thanks,
Rick


Yes !!! Please make 2 receivers tray !!!

One for Rick .. and the second ... ;)

[kegerator]

Hey Guys -

Yes, the receiver mount for the 600E/ESP is in the plans and should be out soon depending on my upcoming work schedule. I only have a 600E at home for reference, which has only the one receiver mount. I saw in images that the new 600ESP has two receiver trays in the back. Are they the same tray (i.e., shape and hole patterns), just two are included in the kit? I haven't had a chance to see one in person, so I need a bit of help for the design intent. Thanks again for all the support! :happyd

[heli400]

Kegerator,

I need one quickly:thumbup:

I just checked the trex 600 ESP manual and they are the same code number Align Code Number 50B074-1 size is 70x47x5mm.

I hope this helps if you need anything else let me know.

Rick