Plastic frame vs CF

[flyingquisinart]

Hi there,
I have a plastic frame 550, stretched for 550 blades. I have the X5 tail which I think gives the tail disk a smidge more area. I just do sport flying, but this year, if it ever warms up, I want to learn inverted flight and maybe tic-tocs. I just picked up better servos to replace my budget ones, because I noticed some porpoising in fast forward flight, also I will replace my cheap blades with stiffer ones at some point. PT was nice enough to fabricate the mod for me to stiffen the frame behind the motor, which will help.

I've seen videos with these doing decent 3d, but will my plastic frame work OK for learning basics like tic-tocs? With the 550 blades, it does everything in a fairly slow, floaty manor, which I personally like right now. If I bump the head speed up a smidge to about 2100, I don't seem to have tail blowout on pitch pumps.

I had considered getting the X5 this year but I have plenty tugging at my wallet already with long overdue household stuff. I still may later if they still it without electronics.

Thoughts?

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[BladeScraper]

Stock plastic frame can handle plenty

Gaui Hurricane 550 3D Flight - Pilot Keith Williams 14 Years Old (5 min 47 sec)

However I do recommend the Gaui X5 because its one sick machine!

[flyingquisinart]

Nice flying!

I soo want an X5 but can't justify the expense right now. Had to buy a new laptop, bathroom desperately needs redoing, etc etc..

Matt

[sp00fman]

Bathrooms can't fly. get the X5!

[masjo]

Agree. . . . .bathroom can wait! Flying can't.

[flyingquisinart]

Oh, the X5 is mine! I have 8 flights on it already, 6 last weekend. And nothing accomplished with the bathroom, the garage, or anything else for that matter!

Matt

[milliotseb]

What are your feeling comparing the 550 plastic to the X5? you got a X5 flybar or X5 FES?

[flyingquisinart]

Originally Posted by milliotseb

What are your feeling comparing the 550 plastic to the X5? you got a X5 flybar or X5 FES?

Well, it's not apples to apples, as the 550 had $18.00 fiberglass blades, and I tended to run lower head speed on it... Stretched to 550 blades. The Hurricane was converted to FBL, and the new one is FES . I'm really only a sport flyer, but...

The X5 is stiffer and maneuvers are all faster. Roll rates are crazy fast, collective response is more crisp. I'm also running faster, stronger servos than I had in the 550. Tail is stronger, but that's because the 550 tail was designed for higher head speed than I ran. What did get confirmed in my mind was how well the 550 flew. It just did everything little slower. Big air loops are great on either. I think the X5 will excel in harder moves. I sometimes do a flip, then punch out inverted, then flip back, the X5 does it as fast as I can move the sticks, where the 550 was slower, but graceful. I'm starting to try tic tocs and are easier with the X5, but that may be more the blades, servo combination. The 550 was floatier, but the X5 is more stable and can feel floatier than I would have expected. I turned up the Ikon rates and added expo to suit my comfort level.

Matt

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[Soccerjay]

Originally Posted by flyingquisinart

Well, it's not apples to apples, as the 550 had $18.00 fiberglass blades, and I tended to run lower head speed on it... Stretched to 550 blades. The Hurricane was converted to FBL, and the new one is FES . I'm really only a sport flyer, but...

The X5 is stiffer and maneuvers are all faster. Roll rates are crazy fast, collective response is more crisp. I'm also running faster, stronger servos than I had in the 550. Tail is stronger, but that's because the 550 tail was designed for higher head speed than I ran. What did get confirmed in my mind was how well the 550 flew. It just did everything little slower. Big air loops are great on either. I think the X5 will excel in harder moves. I sometimes do a flip, then punch out inverted, then flip back, the X5 does it as fast as I can move the sticks, where the 550 was slower, but graceful. I'm starting to try tic tocs and are easier with the X5, but that may be more the blades, servo combination. The 550 was floatier, but the X5 is more stable and can feel floatier than I would have expected. I turned up the Ikon rates and added expo to suit my comfort level.

Matt

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Do u still have the 550? It seems like an inexpensive way to experience a gaui x5 just add the fbl head and maybe upgrade tail.....if u do i would be interested in a side by side comparison with same equipment on both for a test to see how much better the x5 really is....


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[sp00fman]

The hurricane is a money pit to get up to X5 level. The gear-train of the hurri wont deal well with the power the X5 motor can give, so your stuck with something more mellow.

I got my hurricane to fly pretty well, power is plenty for me and my lipo's are the limiting factor, but the FBL converted plastic head is sloppy on the grip bearings and the headblock is sloppy, narrow and the flimsy single thin O-ring damper seems insufficient. I think upgrading to a X5 FES head is something i will want, but it is adding another $100 to upgrade a $100 airframe.

I plan to go over the head once more this evening, see if i can remove some slop here and there.

[flyingquisinart]

Originally Posted by sp00fman

The hurricane is a money pit to get up to X5 level. The gear-train of the hurri wont deal well with the power the X5 motor can give, so your stuck with something more mellow.

I got my hurricane to fly pretty well, power is plenty for me and my lipo's are the limiting factor, but the FBL converted plastic head is sloppy on the grip bearings and the headblock is sloppy, narrow and the flimsy single thin O-ring damper seems insufficient. I think upgrading to a X5 FES head is something i will want, but it is adding another $100 to upgrade a $100 airframe.

I plan to go over the head once more this evening, see if i can remove some slop here and there.

I sold mine (for much much less than I had hoped), but I would say it's like the X5 with a low head speed. I had the Gaui Metal FBL upgrade kit and that, IMHO was very nice. I think it would have had a bit more pop with better blades. With my set up I had 550 blades so the tail was a little weak at 2000 RPM, and would blow out a bit on hard-ish maneuvers. The difference between FB and FBL with the metal head was huge though, night and day. I was very gentle with inputs though for fear of stripping gears, although to be fair, once I did the mod (thanks PT!) to stiffen the frame behind the motor, I didn't strip anything.