Upgrade story

[Danny_Swe]

I thought of sharing my story of the T-Rex 550E, could be interesting to read what and WHY (and when) I have upgraded. Since this a very upgradable machine


Start: Bought a FBL V1 kit from GrandRC with BLS451/251 servo, 600MX-motor, ICE100 ESC and BeastX.






· 1 ·

Parts: KDE and other alu-parts. 550-blades. QuickUK magnetic canopy lock. New canopy. Colored fins and tail blades.

Flights: 10

Reason: I had an easy crash and had to replace some things so I thought I would replace it with alu and put on some more alu parts just for stiffening the frame (which I had read was a problem). I also wanted more stable heli so I went with 550mm blades also, and I also wanted too see the heli better with colored fins, the original tail fin is really weak also and vibrates so that needed to be fixed. The original canopy was really boring I thought so I found a new cheap nice one.

Comments: Since I like bling it was much nicer now without any plastic parts. The KDE front gyro mount is really awesome also, and the magnetic canopy locks too. I can see the heli better now and the new canopy is really nice I think.






· 2 ·

Parts: YGE 100LV, V-Bar fullsize express. White paint and XT60. New canopy. New landing gear. Spektrum satellites.

Flights: 250 (about)

Reason: Had problems to get the CC governor really dialed in and while I had seen on meetings when people where flying the 550 with v-bar and cheap hobbywing ESC with governor that seemed to hold so amazingly well and smooth I thought I really wanted that. Also nice with some more features on the v-bar to adjust, like banks and so on. This new ESC seemed really great also and could be used with v-bar governor as well so I choosed YGE (had read that a high quality ESC i preferable even if you're not using it's gov).
I had also found out that I really liked white so I painted the frame white. The Deans I was using was starting to look really bad also so I thought I should try something else like the popular XT60. New canopy also because the last one was not so visible and didn't fit the white paint so good. New landing gear to make it more resistant to bad auto's. Since v-bar works as a receiver with two Spektrum satellites that was the obvious choice also.

Comments: Well, this was a great improvement. I started with using the YGE governor, the setup took just a few minutes and then the machine flew way better than it did before after lots of tweaking of the ICE and BeastX (not much tweaking on the BeastX, I was quite satisfied with basically stock settings on that). But I remember I felt an improvement of the feeling when flying, it felt more soft but without lacking speed/agility. Like the machine almost flew itself through the maneuvers, before it felt a little stiff but now more smooth, kinda floated with the maneuver. And the governor worked really well! Actually so well so I didn't bother with the v-bar gov
The white painted frame/boom was also really cool I thought, and actually more visible than black. XT60 was really nice also, less spark, easier to solder, but a little stiff to disconnect maybe, quite small connectors (these ones on a 550 is just at the limit current-wise as well). The new canopy was really slick also! Good fit for the white paint also. The new landing gear is nice looking and seems very durable. I almost forgot, the internal BEC of the ESC was working great with my servos so I got rid of the CC BEC Pro, still today I haven't had an issue with the internal BEC. I also got rid of the receiver and connected the two satellites to the v-bar, really nice! Got a way more slick setup and not so much devices all over.






· 3 ·

Parts: V-bar pro, ESC upgraded to support v-bar gov. KDE 600XF 1175kv motor. EC5. Lynx main shaft bearing blocks with cross brace.

Flights: 450

Reason: My motor bearings broke. I also wanted the v-bar gov since I had bought a bigger heli and got that from the beginning and noticed how nice it was. So I thought I should upgrade to that and also wanted to try a more powerful motor to convert this heli into a smack-machine while my bigger one will serve as soft 3D/big air machine (before the 550 had that role). So I sent the ESC to Germany for upgrade and ordered new motor, the choice was quite simple because that motor was direct fit, good quality and power, also good HS if I went +1T pinion. So that motivated the high price of the motor. Found the Lynx main shaft bearing blocks with cross brace and thought it could help stiffening some more and prevent the OWB from breaking once in a while. Had also put EC5 on my 700 so I wanted the same connectors here (as I share packs also).

Comments: Now this was really something! The machine got really brutal. Like driving a V8 car, you can cruise on low speed but if you press the pedal to the metal it just jumps away! The motor was running more smooth also, the sound as well. And the v-bar gov was really awesome when beating this machine now. I could just push a little elevator and heard the gov "precomp" the motor so the flip would turn out really well and smooth with really consistent feeling. Also when just flying big air, like a huge loop or so the machine felt really nice and consistent, it climbed nice when it had more raw power. AND... the motor was running colder also! Most impressive this motor! BUT... it's hard on the packs and flight times if you beat it, maybe -1 minute and the packs might puff I you have bad packs. The packs and the ESC went a little warmer also. But if you fly calm and nice it's no problems at all, same flight time and so on. Cruise around in low HS and enjoy the torque and when the devil in you awake, change to idle2 and go kick some air!







Summary: It's a really enjoyable machine now. This was a really great upgrade the last one and I can't think of any more big improvements. Maybe 12S but that will be too much to change. But 6S is a little on the lower side with this setup*, some hard smack maneuvers is not so good with this machine but I guess maybe lighter packs, other blades (shorter, better) will improve that aspect. But I really enjoy 550-blades so I will have the machine like this for a while. EVERY machine has it weak spots, I guess when you fly several hundreds of flights with one machine you will discover them. Just accept them, you can never find the perfect machine (because there is no such thing as a perfect machine, it's maybe perfect for a certain time in your career and a certain flight style but not perfect all over!). So, fly, enjoy, have fun!

/*edit 120425: Tried today with a good 45C pack, the machine is almost unboggable now!! Even with heavy 550-blades! Couldn't imagine it would be so different to my other old 45C packs. Well, ok, I'll revise the text above. 6S on a 550 is really good but it demands good packs if you push hard.
Next thing to try is my stock 520-blades to see if I get "quicker tic tocs" without stressing the machine so much. If that works good I'll buy some Edge 523's since they shall be good for just that.

/edit 120426: Now I have tested with 520 blades! The difference was quite big. First impression was "it's like flying 450 heli!". Much quicker in the air, more agile. Tic toc's felt better now and are not stressing the machine so much. Flight time a little longer. But less lift and the heli felt smaller so I would not recommend this if you're not seeking agility. You're not needing so high rated packs either, less boggable now.

[markleyland]

Nice write up, heli looks cool! I bought the same landing gear as you and love it, but how did you get on with the canopy clip as the skids are so much thicker than stock? Tell you what I did and might be another upgrade for you, I bought the HeliOption quick release canopy clip, goes great with the magnetic mounts!

[Danny_Swe]

thanks! So you mean the HeliOption quick release clip would work for those landing gears?

I haven't found a nice way to solve that issue on the photo in upgrade #2 there you see I have put foam rubber on the gear and a velcro to secure the canopy. Not a good way but it works

[ady]

very nice indeed as you have not stretched it , may i ask what tail blades you are using please

[Danny_Swe]

I'm using 86mm tail blades (KOK blades now). I know some guys have even tried 90mm but I think that would maybe be a bad idea! I can fly at around 2200rpm with tail holding really well. Last time I tried easy flying at 1900rpm but in that case you have to watch your stick and don't do anything hasty because then the tail will most likely not hold.

[markleyland]

Originally Posted by Danny_Swe

thanks! So you mean the HeliOption quick release clip would work for those landing gears?

I haven't found a nice way to solve that issue on the photo in upgrade #2 there you see I have put foam rubber on the gear and a velcro to secure the canopy. Not a good way but it works

I cut a slot in the skid and used the spring loaded clip, holds the canopy on there pretty good and is quick and easy to install.

[ady]

cheers chap

[Danny_Swe]

nice mark! I'll have to buy a such (btw, I also have a canopy cover, nice for not scratching it )

[dyuen888]

Nice story... I think others may had mentioned this but in the USA I would chain my Helicopter and not the bench

BTW what type of paint did you use on the CF frames?

[Danny_Swe]

I live in a rough place now so I chain both

used Plasti-Kote White Ultragloss, spray can. First sanded of the parts and then three layers of paint. Surface was really gloss and nice afterwards. Like this paint, have flourescent red also.

[Danny_Swe]

Tried today with a good 45C pack, the machine is almost unboggable now!! Even with heavy 550-blades! Couldn't imagine it would be so different to my other old 45C packs. Well, ok, I'll revise the text above. 6S on a 550 is really good but it demands good packs if you push hard.
Next thing to try is my stock 520-blades to see if I get "quicker tic tocs" without stressing the machine so much. If that works good I'll buy some Edge 523's since they shall be good for just that.

[Danny_Swe]

Now I have tested with 520 blades! The difference was quite big. First impression was "it's like flying 450 heli!". Much quicker in the air, more agile. Tic toc's felt better now and are not stressing the machine so much. Flight time a little longer. But less lift and the heli felt smaller so I would not recommend this if you're not seeking agility. You're not needing so high rated packs either, less boggable now.

So... I'm at my goal! Now I have the ultimate smack machine

[markleyland]

You can always tame it down if it's too agile. The Vbar is great for this as it allows you to have 4 different banks each assigned to your idle up switch and one to your gear switch if you want all 4. This allows you to have different agility/gain settings at the flick of a switch.

[Danny_Swe]

aha, yes, haven't thought of that. Never tried bank switching, will give it a try. Thanks

[Danny_Swe]

Originally Posted by markleyland

I bought the same landing gear as you and love it, but how did you get on with the canopy clip as the skids are so much thicker than stock?

...I had to make something before I make the final solution... so I took some LiPo velcro and put there, some cloth on the protruding part there. Got quite good, but time will see how long it last

[markleyland]

Oh OK, well that's one way of doing it, thanks for sharing. Does it hold well in the wind?

[Danny_Swe]

yes it holds really well, it goes a little around there also, hard to see in the photo. But I think the velcro will get bad in time so next time I order I will have a quicklock