What is the best heli in 600 class, true high quality?

[lahannsven]

Hi folks,

so far I had the 450 and 500L Align Dominator class, which is not bad, but also not highest quality. Especially the dominator series lost quality.

I also looked at Goblin, but I heard here also some negative issues.
Bert Kammerer left SAB division, BK servos break easily, the landing skids are not good as the Goblin heli easily falls to the side.

So where to go. Blade left the larger heli sector and only produces 450's and smaller.

So what's your experience and feel. I am ready to pay for high quality.

Thanks in advance

Sven

[dominator]

You can't go wrong with a compass 6hvu. Most reliable heli I have owned. One of the lightest weight in its class and flys amazing.

[Gladius]

I've been seriously considering getting a DT 600. The quality seems to be really good, and they are relatively inexpensive too.

[lahannsven]

Thanks for your reply.

I will go a little more in detail. I am looking besides the heli kit for best servos, motor and ESC.

All the stock Align electronics easily fail.

I am asking this, because all my crashes were related to technical failure.
Especially a blocking servo can turn your heli into a boomerang.

I never crash because of pilot error. I do sport flight, not hard 3d.

Therefor the heli with all components can cost more. I am tired of seeing failure after 15 to 20 flights.


Thanks

Sven

[ah_liang]

Compass makes reliable stuffs thats for sure. They might not look and feel as high quality as others but the fact that they keep going while others suffers breaks and strips here and there.

[getsuyoubi]

If you seriously experience failure after 15-20 sport flights you must be doing something wrong IMHO. This may happen once in a blue moon, but if you repeatedly experience this then something is wrong - and it's not the quality of Align components, because in that case everybody would have the same problems, and it would be well known.

[Gladius]

I'm definitely not the expert, but lots of people recommend Futaba and MKS for servos. XNova makes some really nice motors. Ko tropic makes the best ESCs, but they are expensive.

[lahannsven]

Hi getsuyoubi

No I had also long phases where nothing broke. It is like Murphy, if you crash, you have two failures in the same week.

All together Align products are OK, but not best.
I will continue to fly my 450's and 500L, but slowly look for seeing bigger.

I had dangerous crashes because of electronic failures.

I want to be sure that a 600 class heli does not boomerang down, because of a servo blocking?

So I am not looking at the price. I want best reliable electronics and heli kit.

I heard good about Kontronik ESC and motors, bad things about expensive BK servos.

Thanks

Sven

[RC/DC_5000]

Unfortunately, there's no such thing as the most reliable or best RC helicopter brand. They all can have their failures and problems.

Some people will buy 4 BK servos and they will last for years. These people will jump up and down and say they are the best ever. Some people will buy 4 BK servos and two of them will fail in a month. These people will scream they are horrible.

I try to buy the parts that people jump up and down about.... but I also consider how easy it is to get parts replaced under warranty by the manufacturer I buy from.

Align has a pretty iron clad warranty and I live two hours from Align USA. If I have a problem with their parts... which is very, very rare... (except their BL815 servo disaster) I get the part replaced for free within 4 days.

So perhaps consider warranty and company pride.... and consider that even the best and most expensive components can fail you.

Mikado makes some pretty high end airframes... with Kontronik drive systems and MKS servos. You can't really spend more money. So let me know how it goes when you spend quadruple the price and you have a problem.

[lahannsven]

Hi RC/DC 5000

You mentioned the failing Align servo BL815. But this servo is still part of the 600 Align kit. Are the mentioned problems now solved?

I probably take the Align 600 kit but tuned with Kontronik ESC and motor.
About the servos I am still uncertain.


Regards

Sven

[Gladius]

The Align 600 still has weak TT gears. If you don't fly it too hard, it will work fine, but if you do, you'll probably strip them at some point.

[lahannsven]

Half of the season I fly in strong wind (20mph with boosts to 30mph).

Therefor the blades and servos are stressed.

So which servos to take ? Align, BK, Mks or other?

And which servos fit?


Sven

[dominator]

Get a set of mks or futaba full size servos. Scorpion or xnova motor. I would run a yep or yge speed controller and a rx lipo pack.

I've found these brands to be the most reliable

[Ah Clem]

Compass 6HV-U.

Had it for several years. Great quality, extremely reliable, incredibly nimble, never a failure or a problem.

[sewerfly]

Gotta love the Compass 6HV Ultimate it takes a licking and keeps on flying

[Smoggie]

The Compass is a rubust, reliable and good flying airframe, no doubt.. It perhaps falls short a little on the 'bling' aspect of quality, if that's something that appeals to you?

The outright best 'quality' as in exquisite engineering and jewel like componentry is the Kasame Dune 600.

FWIW there uis nothing wrong with the Goblins. You will find negative comments about every heli, you cant please all the people all the time. Being an owner of a Goblin 630 i can say for sure that the concerns mentioned in the first post are total non-issues... If fact I've no idea about what bearing Bert Kammerer and his servos is supposed to have on the quality of Goblin helis?

[lahannsven]

Hi grumpy old man,

First a happy new year.
I always pay attention if a senior German pilot guarantees quality.
Bert Kammerer left SAB heli division and I feel it will affect Goblin future products. For sure I think a Goblin 500 is better than the new Goblin 500 Sport.
German quality has become rare. They all go for cheaper Chinese quality.
That's what I feel with Align too. Previous Pro DFC series was better than Dominators.

Let's hope that manufacturers find the way back to quality.

Regards

Sven

[Smoggie]

Bert moved on from Goblin so he could pursue his own branded line of products, not because of any issue he had with Goblin Helis. In fact I believe he still flies Goblin helis, just no longer on the SAB payroll.
I dont think he ever had any role in the QA dept at SAB anyway? For sure having 'senior' high profile pilots on your payroll does not in any shape or form guarantee product quality.

[lahannsven]

A company always depends on people. But the trend is go Made in China.
Obviously a lot of people are happy with the Chinese junk.

My personal opinion is just that a few years ago quality was better.
Nowadays you have to run 5 times into the shop to get all parts working.


Sven

[SumOFparts]

This is all really dependent on your end objective.....

There's really two schools of 600's - the tendency is to go heavier more powerful - dominators, sab, HD 600. 6HV ultimate - these are really 700 power systems jammed into a 600 size....usually 4000mah X2. These tend not to crash well. And their higher demands push the limits of the components.....this is an expensive game to play......


The original 600's are lightweights - (2X 3000mah) - Dt600, compass 6hv, mikado 550/600's...
These are getting harder to find. These seem to last for years - low crash part counts...lower demands on components and critical force parts....

It is true you get what you pay for - but the time is the biggest investment - the performance road is always going to cost more.....

Thunder Tiger E700's have gone opposite direction - its almost a 600 size swinging 690's.......