trex 500 or the trex 550?

[allan1353]

As the title says, I wanna move up in heli size from a 450 but not really sure if should go with the 500 or the 550.
I'm just a sport flyer that does not do flippy floppy's (3d) yet.
My biggest question would is the flight careerists like is the 550 more slightly more stable then the 500 or are they about the same?

[AzHeliCrasher]

I'd recommend the 550 if you can afford it. More stable etc. I believe parts cost is very similar to 500. Someone did a comparison but not sure where the thread is.

Just to mention, I've owned the 250, a couple 450's, 2 500's, 2 550's, 2 600's and a 700 I converted to electric when they were only sold as nitro.
The 700 is my favorite but cost more for everything and needs larger space to fly. 550 is my second and the only one I fly currently.

I'm sure others will chime in but that's my opinion above.

Let us know what you decide.

[EjectEjectEject]

I went from a 450 right to the 550.

550 has far more "presence" in the air.

[Ignatjev]

Even the 500 is more stable than 450, but I would go to 550 size as soon as could afford the maintenance/crash cost.

[Apache13]

Depending on your finances? - I have a 500 and love it. If you are going bigger, go straight to the 600.I have both but the 500 gets more air time.

[gstoneberg]

It depends. I went from 450 to 550 and then added a 500 later. I like them both. My 500 runs stock 425mm blades where my 550 has the 600 boom and runs 550mm blades. The 550 is more stable and autos MUCH better (tho I have auto'd the 500). I just dumb thumbed the 550 and it's going to be $160 or so to get it flying again if I repair the canopy. As others have said, crash and lipo costs are the only downside to the 550. In every other way it is superior to the 500, tho the Protos is still fun.

[marc8090]

Go for the 550. It's the smallest "big" heli, standard size servos, same boom diameter as the 600 and 700, etc. The 500 is the biggest "little" heli. It's much nicer working with larger, more standard size parts. Plus it will be more stable, especially in the wind.

[allan1353]

Thank you everyone for your honest opinion :-) . I'm going to chose the 550.
It means saving up a little longer as things came up, but in the end it would be worth it in the long run.

[Staticxd00d]

Another vote here for the 550.

[Ignatjev]

Originally Posted by allan1353

Thank you everyone for your honest opinion :-) . I'm going to chose the 550.
It means saving up a little longer as things came up, but in the end it would be worth it in the long run.

I`m yet with 500/425 not 550 size only because of crash costs, I crash regularly but I also kinda much fly.
And if you want to save on crash costs, put an FBL with rescue on 550. Spirit FBL has saved me tons of money

[EjectEjectEject]

Originally Posted by Ignatjev

I`m yet with 500/425 not 550 size only because of crash costs, I crash regularly but I also kinda much fly.
And if you want to save on crash costs, put an FBL with rescue on 550. Spirit FBL has saved me tons of money

+1 to that. When you get to 550 size bits it's more a case of what does it cost you NOT to have rescue.

[hairymuffin]

550 is perfect because of size and cost... Batts are not crazy expensive nor are the other electronics..5-5 mins flight times depending on flying style

[SumOFparts]

BOTH - but start with the 500 - if you choose your packs carefully - you can you use your 500 packs in parallel on the 550.....or series if you wanted to make it 12s........ie. 2600mah....

[TeeJayShelton]

Depending on what your after you may go one way or the other.
I own a 500 EFl pro and a 550V2 and the horsepower to weight ratio is way better on my 500. Both running stock 6 cell setups. I enjoy both but my 500 is a powerhouse that comes down with a super cool motor/esc/batt. My 550 is not as snappy and comes down with warm components. It is warm enough that I don't just drop another pack in it and lift off. I give it a cool down period. My 500 can land and takeoff with a fresh pack back to back to back in 100° ambient and never get hot. When I fly alone at work on lunch I swap batteries or heli and am back in the air pretty quick.

I like them both but if I only had the 550 that process would slow to a crawl unless I were to upgrade the ESC and then it still would come down with warm packs/motor without the pop that the 500 has. Both heli are 6 cell one is just a much bigger and heavier 6 cell.

IMO you cant go wrong with either of them.
They have their own strengths.

[gstoneberg]

This is a good point. My v1 550 with the stock 70a ESC did not fly nearly as well as my v2 does with a 120a ESC. The only thing that comes down hot on mine is the lipo. My protos 500 runs warmer than my 550. It has lighter disk loading though so it flies differently.

[EjectEjectEject]

Originally Posted by TeeJayShelton

Depending on what your after you may go one way or the other.
I own a 500 EFl pro and a 550V2 and the horsepower to weight ratio is way better on my 500. Both running stock 6 cell setups. I enjoy both but my 500 is a powerhouse that comes down with a super cool motor/esc/batt. My 550 is not as snappy and comes down with warm components. It is warm enough that I don't just drop another pack in it and lift off. I give it a cool down period. My 500 can land and takeoff with a fresh pack back to back to back in 100° ambient and never get hot. When I fly alone at work on lunch I swap batteries or heli and am back in the air pretty quick.

I like them both but if I only had the 550 that process would slow to a crawl unless I were to upgrade the ESC and then it still would come down with warm packs/motor without the pop that the 500 has. Both heli are 6 cell one is just a much bigger and heavier 6 cell.

IMO you cant go wrong with either of them.
They have their own strengths.

I run an 8S setup on my 550 With the KDE 600XF G3 motor and 130A ESC. I was a bit concerned about motor temps so I popped an eMail off to Patrick at KDE and got the following back: "Yes, no problems, and you can continue to fly the motor back-to-back. Since you upgraded to a higher-power system (8S), naturally you’ll be pushing more power through the system and as such, items will heat up - it’s the nature of the beast with physics.

The entire motor is rated to over 450F, so no concerns of any damage from heat-generation. In actuality, when the motor is running in the flight, the centrifugal fan is efficient at keeping the motor cool and consistent, designed to run around 120F-140F during a flight as optimal performance.

When you land and shut down the centrifugal fan, you’ll experience a motor that feels much hotter than during operation, simply due to the high-performance design of the motor. With high-performance motors, there is a high-copper concentration stored in the motor which naturally stores heat during flight. When the fan is shutdown, all the heat is expelled to the outer case and what you are feeling is the heat conducting to the Aluminum Fan, as it’s designed to do. In this, the temperature may feel hot, but this is normal for all high-performance motors and nothing of concern due to the quality of the components."

[EjectEjectEject]

Originally Posted by gstoneberg

The only thing that comes down hot on mine is the lipo.

You might like to keep an eye on that. I've been tracking battery temperature and found that anything up to 40 -> 42 deg C seems fine but once I got up to into the 50 deg C -> 55 dec C range things started to deteriorate in the packs permanently.

I'm even thinking of putting some good size holes in the top of the canopy to improve cooling for summer ops.

[Kap'n Krunch]

[QUOTE=allan1353;6852269]As the title says, I wanna move up in heli size from a 450 but not really sure if should go with the 500 or the 550.
I'm just a sport flyer that does not do flippy floppy's (3d) yet.
My biggest question would is the flight careerists like is the 550 more slightly more stable then the 500 or are they about the same?[/QUOTE

The trex 550 is heavy and better suited for 8 to 12s

the trex 500 is ballistic stock

[PaoloFCantoni]

[quote=Kap'n Krunch;6863231]

Originally Posted by allan1353

As the title says, I wanna move up in heli size from a 450 but not really sure if should go with the 500 or the 550.
I'm just a sport flyer that does not do flippy floppy's (3d) yet.
My biggest question would is the flight careerists like is the 550 more slightly more stable then the 500 or are they about the same?[/QUOTE

The trex 550 is heavy and better suited for 8 to 12s

the trex 500 is ballistic stock

I'm only slightly more advanced than you - just did my first flips on the 550L. (I've been flipping and rolling on the 450X for a few months).

Notwithstanding that the 550L may well be more suited to 8S or 12S, if your skill level is as you describe, the 550L will be fine for your flying. Even at 6S the power if pretty high and if you're not doing smack 3D, it will set you up for the larger helis.

When I originally bought the 550L, I was same as you, just FFF. In my view, the 500 is the largest small heli and 550 is the smallest of the large helis. As can be seen in the forum, you can upgrade to more powerful, larger, configurations without any major drama. I certainly intend to as my skill level improves.

For where I was and am now, it was almost a no-brainer.

I don't regret having got the 550L, but I probably won't stay there over time - as I get more used to the larger helis.

YMMVWFM,
Paolo

[SumOFparts]

On the negative side the 550L is pushing the limits of 6s technology - like it or not....The advance flyers that stick with them have to find a work-around eventually - using one compromise or another......

On the plus side - the 550L is almost the weight of an old days 6s trex 600 - so it is super stable in air.....with plenty of 'get out of trouble' power.
And for a sport flyer - you would have no problems with 6s for a while....
Using a governor would extend that even a little further.....jumping to 8s - little more....

I chose the 500 route - mostly because my field choices around here are mid size......and bounded by houses on most sides....
However - they (500) are quick - much more than my 450's.....

Also my flying style dictates this - I've crashed my 500's more times than I can count -
my 550's and above - only hand full of times.....I'll take way more chances with my 500's....

I can throw up a 500 almost anywhere - anytime....
and the packs and blades are fairly cheap.....