Lightweight 250 pro dfc

[bmc76]

A tad under 320 grams, with canopy and battery.
The biggest loss was the servos.
I used ds76's and a ds76t for a loss of 26 grams.
I switched the micro beast and sat for the 7200 for a loss of 8 grams.

Makes a BIG difference, there is no more heavy disk, it feels quite light now, and flies like my other helis, I think I can finally enjoy this bird now. Only negative is the questionable reliability of the eflite servos, but I can't find any even close to that weight in the 450 class that might be any better. I'll take the calculated risk.

I have a few more things that I will do that will drop another 15 grams once all done.
1. switch ar7200 for zyx-s/sat ( weighs just 13.9 grams with sat and adapter cable)
2. switch blue align for talon 15 once released (loss of 6 to 8 grams)
3. carbon boom/ pf canopy ( loss of 2 to 3 grams)
4. trim servo wires (2 to 3 grams)

[grumpy42]

Originally Posted by bmc76

Only negative is the questionable reliability of the eflite servos, but I can't find any even close to that weight in the 450 class that might be any better. I'll take the calculated risk.

I plan on using Hyperion DS09SMDs for the cyclic and a DS09GMD for the tail . They are light, have metal gears, and seem reliable, but the SMDs are slower than ds76s. They are currently 50% off, so they may be worth trying.

[bmc76]

Originally Posted by grumpy42

I plan on using Hyperion DS09SMDs for the cyclic and a DS09GMD for the tail . They are light, have metal gears, and seem reliable, but the SMDs are slower than ds76s. They are currently 50% off, so they may be worth trying.

awesome, let us know how they run.
This may end up being my favorite micro... I've had 4 flights this evening and the difference is crazy. I was ready to give this bird up, glad I didn't because I love the disk size. It doesn't have the rocket power of the x2 but it's still plenty.

My friend shot a quick vid before dark, I'll upload asap. I think it really shows the difference in the disk loading.

[bmc76]

Here's the video.

TREX 250 Pro DFC lightweight (3 min 8 sec)

[jimmy77611]

Awesome flying heli. I've got mine down to 340 grams from it's original 376, and I can tell a huge difference.

I have the DS76t on the tail (works WAY better than stock too), x-canopy (weighs less than stock), talon 25 (got rid of BEC/extra wiring)

I may look into those DS76 cyclic servos.

How much collective pitch are you running?

[jypt01]

Very Nice - it's really got some pop!

I just picked up a used 450X and flew her for the first time today.

To get rid of that heavy disk feeling I am considering following your lead and swapping out my microbeast / sat and servos from my 450x for her servos and AR7200.

Again Nice Job

[bmc76]

Originally Posted by jimmy77611

Awesome flying heli. I've got mine down to 340 grams from it's original 376, and I can tell a huge difference.

I have the DS76t on the tail (works WAY better than stock too), x-canopy (weighs less than stock), talon 25 (got rid of BEC/extra wiring)

I may look into those DS76 cyclic servos.

How much collective pitch are you running?

Thanks, damn what a difference, I'm finally happy with this bird after almost putting it on the classifieds.
I run +-11.5, bogs less and tail holds better at lower collective and 100% throttle I've found.

I've got the Talon 25 for my x2, after finally programming it on Friday I never got around to installing it this weekend because I was working on the 250.
I CAN'T WAIT for the Talon 15 to be released, it will be around 10 grams with connectors, and at least this time the software will be ready to go.

What is this X canopy you speak of?

[bmc76]

Originally Posted by jypt01

Very Nice - it's really got some pop!

I just picked up a used 450X and flew her for the first time today.

To get rid of that heavy disk feeling I am considering following your lead and swapping out my microbeast / sat and servos from my 450x for her servos and AR7200.

Again Nice Job

thanks, I'm happy I've found that the heavy disk loading was not just a trait of the 250, but of the heavy electronics it comes with.

I don't think the 450x will notice an extra 35 grams, definitely not as much as the 250, 450 is definitely not lacking in power and disk is naturally light.

[jimmy77611]

Originally Posted by bmc76

What is this X canopy you speak of?

Found it a couple of weeks ago just surfing around, and decided to give one a try. Pretty nice canopies. I got the alien paint scheme...very visible.

http://xcanopy.com/

[fly and fly]

Originally Posted by jimmy77611

Found it a couple of weeks ago just surfing around, and decided to give one a try. Pretty nice canopies. I got the alien paint scheme...very visible.

http://xcanopy.com/

Thanks for nice canopy website, i just check around, their designings look awesome, but the pics photoshop to bad.

Please post some of your x canopy here.

[jimmy77611]

Originally Posted by fly and fly

Please post some of your x canopy here.

Look here:

https://www.helifreak.com/showpost.p...12&postcount=5

[chardur]

bmc76 I thought you were just being nit-picky but after seeing that video...holy sh#t!



Does any one know the weight difference between the plastic "250 Plus" canopy and the DFC fiberglass one?

http://www.aligntrexstore.com/250-Pl...12_p_2480.html

[bmc76]

Originally Posted by chardur

bmc76 I thought you were just being nit-picky but after seeing that video...holy sh#t!



Does any one know the weight difference between the plastic "250 Plus" canopy and the DFC fiberglass one?

http://www.aligntrexstore.com/250-Pl...12_p_2480.html

Yup Totally different machine.

Before, let's say you just went into a normal climb, then moved to midstick to descend, when you reach your desired altitiude and move up on the stick, there was that big deadzone where nothing would happen, it just kept falling, then all of the sudden catches and catipults, I did so many hard skid bounces... and what really made me not enjoy it was I had to really change the way I flew this bird compared to my other helis, needed more altitude and real estate just to compensate for this behavior, because it happened in circuits as well.

I also notice the cyclic twitches are gone on hard pitch changes and I think this can be seen in the video, also it has a bit more hang time on knife edge and I think this is visble as well. It feels like my x2 now, just not as much power, but still plenty

[jypt01]

Originally Posted by bmc76

I used ds76's and a ds76t for a loss of 26 grams.

4. trim servo wires (2 to 3 grams)

Really do love how the bird flys in the video.

I just flew my 250se converted to DFC with a microbeast the first time succesfully this past weekend (I bought it all from this site) as I said earlier mine will be going on a diet to shed some weight. 5 packs through it has the JR DS290G on the tail, with 100% Curve I have the tail holding pretty good at 60.5% gain with no wag. Just flying fast circuits and some hovering flips and rolls, I have not flew her inverted yet.

My question / comment bmc76 is that with all the trouble I have read about the tail and how a person really needs a MKS95i to control it I am amzaed you are using a ds76t on the tail with such great performance. Can you share what your tail setup is to get such great performance (ball distance from center, fins, anything special with grips, stock parts ect...)?

I can certanly see were some weight can be dropped by trimming the servo wires, plus it would sure clean things up a bunch. What is the acceptable method to shorten up the servo wires.
1. Is terminals available and the wires shortened with new terminals crimped on?
2. Would you open up the sevo, unsolder the connections, shorten them and then resolder them back on?
3. Or would cutting them in the middle to the desired length and soldering them back with some heatshink added be an acceptable practice?

Thanks

[jimmy77611]

I'm also using the ds76t on the tail/ Works great. I'm up to about 46% on the gyro with no wag except in hard wind (when I shouldn't be flying a 250 anyway). Otherwise it holds super solid. I can't imagine that the DS95i could be much better. The DS425 was very loose and waggy.

Mine's all stock grips/fins/etc, and ~4.5mm distance on the horn.

[bmc76]

I used 4.5mm from center (stock is 5.5) tx gain is 48% in dx8
What remains to be seen is how well it will hold in fast backwards clockwise hurricanes, I expect it to hold just fine.
As far as setup I just use the golden rules, 90 the horn as close as possible, set slider perpindicular and fine tune length of control rod using rate mode, then set endpoints making sure to get full right rudder travel.
Look down the tail from the rear, visually line up the horn ball to the ball on the lever and work the rudder in both directions to make sure the push rod doesn't bind or have any hard bends in it.

Personally I will trim and resolder to the pcb's, but I'm, quite experienced and proficient with a soldering iron. You can buy new connecters and the crimping tool, but it's a little pricey.

[Phil79]

BMC, wich voltage are you running on those eflite servos?

[mdecker79]

I just picked up three of these for cyclic servos to see how they are. All in for flying weight my 250 is already at 360 with the Ds95i. Just changing them out from the stock Align I should save about 18.9 so I should feel a difference.

[bmc76]

I'm running them all at 5v. The tail servo is only rated at 5v, cyclics up to 6v. When I get the talon 15 I will either run a stepdown diode to the tail or use a different servo sub 9 grams. I'm researching servos now, not sure which direction I'll go yet as I don't like experimenting with servos at 20 to 40 bucks a pop.

[bmc76]

Originally Posted by mdecker79

I just picked up three of these for cyclic servos to see how they are. All in for flying weight my 250 is already at 360 with the Ds95i. Just changing them out from the stock Align I should save about 18.9 so I should feel a difference.

Actually it will save you 19.8 grams, with horn screwed in it's 7.7 grams vs 14.3 grams