hi from a new 500 owner

[mhills51]

Wow! all you guy's needed was a XL tail fin from fusuno. No need for changing any landing gear at all.
http://helidirect.com/fusuno-neon-re...ew-p-13723.hdx

[one life fly it]

Best get finding a XL set then , hope they are available here.

Never owned a sim ! Perhaps I should get one , might wait till after Christmas just in case

The only thing I don't like is the cheap nasty screws ! Can't understand why they didn't use 2mm . I've rounded 6 so far. Have ordered a ss screw set so I can replace them when I need to

So what are your views on training uc ' s ?

[burhay]

Originally Posted by bstanley72

I wouldn’t worry too much about the tidy wiring. You’ll want it so that it is easy to work on, not look pretty. After a crash or two it gets old wiring everything back the way you had it.

Agree. Gets old quick and a huge time investment. Sure everyone likes nice and neat. But unless you very seldom crash, to me it is just not worth the headache.

If you run the wires in some black mesh, makes it alot easier on yourself and looks nice.

[oy2503]

I really do hope you'll listen about the Phoenix sim. You could find a used one,
if money is an issue. It's already the cheapest of the good ones. And it pays for
itself many times over - believe me.

Don't get crappy training gear - get a set of 600 undrcarriage and tail fin.

I have started replacing the original screws with real Unbrako 8.8 with real heads.
But since I don't often crash (just once), it takes some time. Don't fix it, if it ain't broke.

I just gave myself an early christmas present - one of the last 500ESP's. At almost
a 50% discount. My local heli pusher has a christmas calender - a new offer each day.
Two days ago she put up the last 500ESP's and I bagged one.

I have a 500ESP already, so a _full_ set of spare parts is a good thing, cough, cough.

Cheers
Erik

[one life fly it]

OK sim ordered ! Should have it here by Tuesday . Gonna use it on the dx6 but the 500 will be on the aurora 9 is that a good idea ?

Btw I know I should have spent a bit more and got a better version of the 500 instead of the base model but trying to convince the wife I needed yet another flying toy to go with the other 63 1/2 toys was hard enough!. You should should have seen her face when I ordered a pace vxr ! ( that's a glider)

Can't seem to find those XL tails .

[oy2503]

Well, as far as I can see, there is nothing wrong with the 500E.

You get a belted tail, which is great for a beginner. Just give it some silicone oil
and ground it - there should be postings about that. Just to be sure about static electricity.

You get the same blades, frames, 500MX motor, servos, ESC and gyro as the 500ESP.

The only downside is the plastic head and tail parts. The plastic bearing blocks are ok.
And you can upgrade parts as needed. Remember, don't fix it if it ain't broke.

When you upgrade the plastic head, just get FBL head parts instead. Then you can buy
a cheap FBL controller. Even a 3G unit will work. And it can be had very cheap.

Cheers
Erik

[mhills51]

What is the down side of the plastic? Never upgrade to a logo lol! Also the static is not a real issue anymore unless your using DSM-1 or you got one of the first year made kits with the old belts (funny I brought up logo because they do still use the static generating belts)

The plastic on a 500+ heli is just as sound advice as the belt drive. It will save you a lot of money and will hold up better!

[senoj]

Originally Posted by one life fly it

Best get finding a XL set then , hope they are available here.

Never owned a sim ! Perhaps I should get one , might wait till after Christmas just in case

The only thing I don't like is the cheap nasty screws ! Can't understand why they didn't use 2mm . I've rounded 6 so far. Have ordered a ss screw set so I can replace them when I need to

So what are your views on training uc ' s ?

There you go

http://www.fast-lad.co.uk/store/fusu...5-p-11285.html

Lincolnshire is a bit far for a get together +1 for the Phoenix, mine easily paid for itself on the first day. IMO Training gear is pretty essential until you get the hang of it, it saves your blades.

[one life fly it]

Originally Posted by senoj

There you go

http://www.fast-lad.co.uk/store/fusu...5-p-11285.html

Lincolnshire is a bit far for a get together +1 for the Phoenix, mine easily paid for itself on the first day. IMO Training gear is pretty essential until you get the hang of it, it saves your blades.

Thank you I'm struggling with this heli now , so I've enlisted some help with set up

Sim arrived but won't run on laptop so I'm a bit stuck got an IT bloke from work coming to have a look

[Blayd]

Originally Posted by mhills51

Wow! all you guy's needed was a XL tail fin from fusuno. No need for changing any landing gear at all.
http://helidirect.com/fusuno-neon-re...ew-p-13723.hdx

The 600 fin is still longer then the XL, and the 700 skids are still far nicer then the 500's. Wider is better baby!!!

[KSHeli]

I have the 500E and there is nothing wrong with the plastic grips and tail I've crashed the heli a dozen times and they've held up well. I have only had to replace the belt once due to a crash, with TT tail probably would have required replacement on all but one of my accidents. As a matter of fact I bent the head block in one crash and the grips were just fine, I've destroyed many sets of CF blades with those original grips. I've seen plenty of aluminum grips getting bent in a crash though. They are lighter than the aluminum parts. Finely broke the ball ear off of one grip a while back and replaced with new plastic grip, and have a spare now.
I've just maidened this heli as a FBL bird last night, I kept the belt tail as I see no reason to change even still has the original plastic tail case, it just works fine. I installed the Helicommand HC3SX unit as I decided that I would much rather fly than crash and would like to push the envelope a bit too. The SL and bailout of this unit will work with the flybar also, that's according to the instructions manual, you just set it to FB in the software.
Its a great bird to learn on.

[mhills51]

I had the metal ones on my HK500 and every single crash I had to replace them. The arms that hold the ball links on always bent and hollowed out the screw hole. I tried Tarot brand, some no name brand, and then went back to the HK metal because they only cost $11 and came with new thrust bearings and feathering shaft. The only ones I didn't try were the align, but that was because I refused to pay $39 and have them being destroyed just as easy.

Smaller helicopters metal holds up much better, but usually the plastic holds everything much tighter with less play unless you go around green loctiting every bearing in your metal and hope it holds. Plastic also gets a bad rap because not all plastic is the same. The mixing arms that came on my HK500 were a joke, but the metal replacements had way to much slop they were a joke. The Align plastic is really tough and does not flex much if at all. I kinda stress tested my align plastic mixing arms before using them and they are still in my airwolf right now.

[senoj]

Originally Posted by one life fly it

Hi , I'm Alex and live in the UK . I'm currently building my first 500 align . Its just the base model but hey you gotta start somewhere. I admit I am a plank flyer coming to the dark side and know very little about heli's but I've got to say what a help Bobs videos have been.

Hope you guys will be able to help with my first question. What's the first things you would upgrade and why ?

Also I'm not into 3d and would like to go scale once I have mastered it but think air wolf has been done to death. What else is available?

Thanks for reading.

Alex

Just to answer your question on scale have a look at this. One of the lads in our club has one and it looks very impressive 'in the flesh'. Wouldn't like to crash it though

http://www.align-trex.co.uk/fuselage...ge-hf5007.html

[mhills51]

Yea this is my 500e

[senoj]

Originally Posted by mhills51

Yea this is my 500e

That is very nice and a great photo too

[mhills51]

Thanks! we are lucky to have a pro pilot who is also a pro photographer. http://www.pbase.com/flashburn/root
His only problem, there are no pictures of his flying skills lol!

[KSHeli]

+1 Yes to the scale pic.
You want to be an accomplished flier before going scale as the crashes are so unforgiving to those structures.

[one life fly it]

Sim now working and many heli s crashed

Not the same as real thing for me , going round me heli friend saturday to finish the 500 and set up , then fingers crossed take her to test at indoor on Sunday



Thanks for the advice , oh and I have ordered the XL tail set as the 600 one is more expensive and not bling lol

[KSHeli]

Yep, I don't like the sim either, they just don't fly the same. Everyone I communicate with says use a larger model in the sim. I just need to get with someone that really knows the Phoenix and go through all of the setup.

[mhills51]

I just get board really super quick with the sim. It helps starting out 100%. Maybe I am just getting old and like the rush I get from seeing how close to the ground I can get inverted. I don't get that anymore with the sim lol! I also agree the sim once your know how to fly will not feel the same. I some times get messed up after flying on the sim and forget to give a little more throttle to keep it off the ground. I know I can adjust the weight and all, but I would rather go fly!