Advice on used Trex 250 Pro DFC purchase

[Bioblade]

Hi Guys,

I just purchased a used Trex 250 Pro DFC on eBay for a good price and was hoping to poll the community for advice on what to look for on the heli in order to ensure that I wasn't misled or sold a lemon.

This will be my most mechanically complex machine to date. I've been flying the Blade 200 SRX and Nano CPX up until this point so I am bit worried that even if there were some damaged parts or issues with the helicopter that I wasn't made aware of by the seller, I wouldn't even know how to identify them.

Are there any general steps that I should be taking in examining the helicopter or specific areas on it that I should pay special attention to in order to ensure that "scuffed blades from a tip over on spool-up" are the only thing that isn't "like-new" on the heli?

Thank you all kindly for your advice!

[myxiplx]

There's a fair learning curve on these bigger helis, including setting them up on your radio. The 250 is fairly tough, and relatively inexpensive to repair though, so even if you do find some problems you have a decent machine.

Nearly every second hand machine will have a problem somewhere, the main thing is just to check that you're happy it's safe to fly. All the screws are there, not too much slop on the Blade grips, servos are all smooth, etc... Hard to teach you everything in one post, but if you have a helicopter club nearby it might be worth seeing if you can pop down with it.

The 250 is a very different animal to the ones you have, but if you can fly a nCPX you should love the 250 :-D

[Bioblade]

Thanks for the reply. I'll be sure to check for those things and see if I can't insert myself into some sort of local RC flying scene if there is one reasonably close to where I live.

I am really excited for this helicopter. I can fly the 200 SRX with the 6-axis stabilitisation turned off (agility mode) and have been really enjoying the nCPX. I've only had mine for a week now but have started doing forward flips and aileron rolls with it and have been managing to tighten them up more and more as I practice. So much fun!

I'll post up some detailed photos of the 250 when it arrives. Perhaps people might be able to spot things that I don't? And of course who doesn't like to look at nice helicopter anyways right?

[skunkworx]

Well, the first stuff I'd look for is clone or alternative parts as opposed to genuine Align. Some of them are good, but most are junk so I recommend the real stuff whenever possible.

Since it's an SE you definitely got the better type that's available (I have some of the older versions which aren't built nearly as well IMO). With that said and in as positive light as I can put it, the 250 is pretty tricky to get flying and can be a handful if you let it get away from you. You want to really take your time with the setup. There are lots of us on here willing to help so don't be scared to all questions!

Congrats on the new machine. I think you'll really like it but be prepared to work at it.