Belt vs. Torque Tube

[CAMOMAN]

If I were to get the belt drive 600N to learn to fly and then want to go to the torque tube.....would I just be able to buy the parts and swap them out in the belt drive chasis.......

[Tom Burgess]

Yep, for the extra though you might aswel go Pro. I think the conversion would cost more than the extra for the Pro and your also getting the carbon frames.


Tom

[CAMOMAN]

I had just read somewhere that the torque tube blows real easy if it were to have a minor tail srike and the belt seems to hold up more.......I was just curious how serious minor tail strikes might be with the tube......

[Tom Burgess]

Originally Posted by CAMOMAN

I had just read somewhere that the torque tube blows real easy if it were to have a minor tail srike and the belt seems to hold up more.......I was just curious how serious minor tail strikes might be with the tube......

Yeah you do have to be careful with the tail. I have heard a lot of people talk about small contact with the ground and the tail rotor that has stripped teeth off the fromt gears. However I am realitively "noob" and I have yet to strip any teeth. And yes I have contacted the ground, must of just got lucky

One other issue with the tube is reports of the tail case flying off or even the boom from the boom case during high revo piro's. However there is a mod you can do to prevent this. I will post a link to a thread I have just startyed on this.

The major advantage I see with the tube is the ease of installation, its really easy and relatively maintenance free ie no lubing or checking tension.

Thanks

Tom

[Tom Burgess]

Link to the tail mod thread,

https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=56394

Tom

[stevehonn]

I'd stick with the belt drive, it's much more forgiving of ground contact and the difference in performance is minimal plus the fibreglass frames of the sport version are also cheaper to replace.

I fitted the torque tube to my 600E and was disappointed that the difference was un-noticable. the 600E is mothballed at the moment and I'm not swapping it across to my 600N, I'm more than happy with the belt.

[CAMOMAN]

Is there a difference in the frames from the CF to the Fiberglass in the sport..or are they interchangeable.....

[AutumnSummers1]

The frames will swap out with no modification. as for what to get, pro vs non pro, If your a 100% newbe
and on a tight budget get the non , its parts are cheaper

[TheBum]

Originally Posted by AutumnSummers1

The frames will swap out with no modification. as for what to get, pro vs non pro, If your a 100% newbe
and on a tight budget get the non , its parts are cheaper

I talked to an 8-year veteran of RC helis shortly before New Year's who has flown both types of 600Ns and I asked him whether he thought the torque tube was better than the belt. He's not a stick-banger, opting instead for more fluid 3D, and he said that he couldn't really tell the difference in handling between the belt- and tube-driven tails. His 600N has the belt. I would guess that the torque tube would really only show its advantages when doing hard 3D.

[gmohr]

I just converted my 600NPro to a belt drive. This was after one minor tail strike and one major crash. The
problem was not with the torgue tube but with the tranmission box gears. The slightest bump and you will be
stripping the tube out of the chassis and replacing the gears. Since I am still learning (just starting to transition
to FF) I can not tell the difference. Cost wise I think I will be much better off in the long run... although if Wayne
gets his Knight 3D's I may be looking at how they have their belt drive set up. Just seems like a
better system.

Any ways that is my $0.02 worth.

[frogbmth]

I have stripped the gears once, but it has sure made me more aware of my tail and a better pilot for it. I'm sticking with the torque tube. There's no mucking about with the belt and changing the gears on the torque tube is only a 10 minute job.

Andy

[dunny]

Originally Posted by stevehonn

I'd stick with the belt drive, it's much more forgiving of ground contact and the difference in performance is minimal plus the fibreglass frames of the sport version are also cheaper to replace.

I fitted the torque tube to my 600E and was disappointed that the difference was un-noticable. the 600E is mothballed at the moment and I'm not swapping it across to my 600N, I'm more than happy with the belt.

Hi steve where do you fly? as i also live in Halesowen and have a 600sport and pro, brought them from Stuarts Models in Cradley Heath.Only started flying around April last year, we fly down at Cutnall Green (Stone Manor area).
Have been told that they fly heli's up at the Rugby club but never seen anyone.

[invertmast]

Originally Posted by frogbmth

I have stripped the gears once, but it has sure made me more aware of my tail and a better pilot for it. I'm sticking with the torque tube. There's no mucking about with the belt and changing the gears on the torque tube is only a 10 minute job.

Andy

and that is why i like my TT's... no belt tensions to have to worry about.

[stevehonn]

Originally Posted by dunny

Hi steve where do you fly? as i also live in Halesowen and have a 600sport and pro, brought them from Stuarts Models in Cradley Heath.Only started flying around April last year, we fly down at Cutnall Green (Stone Manor area).
Have been told that they fly heli's up at the Rugby club but never seen anyone.

I fly on Saturdays at Sutton Park and on Sundays at Himbleton Heli Club which is about a couple of miles outside Droitwich. New members are always welcome at Himbleton so if you're interested PM me.

I thought I'd heard of all the local model shops but I've not heard of Stuarts Models before - where about are they in Cradley?

[dunny]

Originally Posted by stevehonn

I fly on Saturdays at Sutton Park and on Sundays at Himbleton Heli Club which is about a couple of miles outside Droitwich. New members are always welcome at Himbleton so if you're interested PM me.

I thought I'd heard of all the local model shops but I've not heard of Stuarts Models before - where about are they in Cradley?

Stuarts models is on Corngreaves Road (B64 7DA), opposite the city industrial estate, he also makes sheds there.

http://www.stuartsmodels.co.uk/index.html

Tel: 01384 567577

He stocks some heli-parts (Trex, Raptor and Synergy), and he will always do you a deal on new kits.

[kmac32]

I'm laughing, and not laughing at the same time... I grew up flying and fixing real life helicopters.. And as all my friends that have flown and wrenched them will tell you, direct mechanical drive is unforgiving. In the RC world you buy some parts and keep flying, but in the real helicopter world, you die or get hurt.

The RC helicopter designs are getting better and better at replicating the real helicopter experience (hence the torque tube tail). But, that real-life mechanical duplication, to date anyway, does not include survivable tail-to-ground strikes... When you stop a moving object, its energy must go somewhere (i.e., back into the drive train). In the event of a drive train sudden stoppage, all energy will find the weakest point... gears, etc.

Quit criticizing the torque tube design and learn to fly better.

Enjoy your RC the way that I do... (we are all crack addicts) but don't expect it to survive the crash...

[invertmast]

Originally Posted by kmac32

I'm laughing, and not laughing at the same time... I grew up flying and fixing real life helicopters.. And as all my friends that have flown and wrenched them will tell you, direct mechanical drive is unforgiving. In the RC world you buy some parts and keep flying, but in the real helicopter world, you die or get hurt.

The RC helicopter designs are getting better and better at replicating the real helicopter experience (hence the torque tube tail). But, that real-life mechanical duplication, to date anyway, does not include survivable tail-to-ground strikes... When you stop a moving object, its energy must go somewhere (i.e., back into the drive train). In the event of a drive train sudden stoppage, all energy will find the weakest point... gears, etc.

Quit criticizing the torque tube design and learn to fly better.

Enjoy your RC the way that I do... (we are all crack addicts) but don't expect it to survive the crash...

Couldn't of been said better.. Like has been said in the past. If your learning and dont want to spend the $$$ on TT gears.. get the sport version w/ a belt. if your a little more advanced and dont stick the tail in the ground and want a simpler maintenance setup (IMO). get the TT.

[CAMOMAN]

Well I am three gallons thru the 600 and yet to have a problem with the tail drive...so far just a broken landing gear..........nothing major....so I agree.......just don't hit the ground.......and things will be good.....I am not that good yet but I can fly.......and I haven't had a tail problem yet....but tomorrow is a new story...lol..........I had heard all the hype about the the gears but KNOCK ON WOOD...so far so good.......lol

[invertmast]

Originally Posted by CAMOMAN

Well I am three gallons thru the 600 and yet to have a problem with the tail drive...so far just a broken landing gear..........nothing major....so I agree.......just don't hit the ground.......and things will be good.....I am not that good yet but I can fly.......and I havent' had a tail problem yet....but tomorrow is a new story...lol..........I had heard all the hype about the the gears but KNOCK ON WOOD...so far so good.......lol

you'll go thru them eventually, but i have never gone thru a set just from doing piro's yet.

[TheBum]

There's one vendor that makes an aftermarket vertical stabilizer that's longer than the stock one, so it will protect your tail blades and, therefore, your TT better. I just can't remember who it is at the moment.

On the other hand, I'm flying the K&B 30/50 size tail blades, which are 10mm shorter than stock, so my TT problems have pretty much vanished.