BUYING THE PERFECT HELI

Well as the name suggest a guide to buy a perfect heli ...Now when i said perfect heli i ment perfect heli not costly heli ,cause if the heli is costly it does not need to be perfect too....
FOR TRAINING START WITH WHATEVER FITS UR BUDGET CLONE WILL DO WITH CHEAP ELECTRONICS
POINTS TO  NOTE
1. If its costly it does not need to be good
2. The heli price is important ..but the cost of the parts also matter alot and vise versa
3. ITS not how the heli flies but also how does it crash ...a heli taking a beating in a crash should be considered
4. IMPORTANT If a particular BRAND XXXX has a really good 600 size heli does not mean the 700 size or the 450 size is as good as the 600
5. If the heli frame is very good ...does not mean that the electronics offered from the same company are great too
6. Make sure that on the mechanical side the heli is not too complicated or has many parts ....cause many moving parts increases maintenance
7. Make sure the heli u buy does not need any more aftermarket upgrades to run efficiently increasing the overall cost 

sometimes helis are priced low by the manufacturer well that seems great right well i doubt .....in this case all this shows up after a crash .....the number of parts that need to be changed after a crash in these low priced helis are too many ....and thats where u spend more MONEY unknowingly ...a heli should be able to handle simple tip overs ...now every small tip over i have if i have to keep on changing a spindle or main shaft or gear then that a problem a big one cause if it cant handle a tip over how can it handle a proper crash ...

look at the warp 360 by compass yes its a bit costly but it handle crashes very well it a well built heli having a 6 mm main shaft and no spindle  a rigid design its a perfect 450
in the video below slide to 1:50 after a crash like that all u need to is straighten ur blades n go fly 


try doing that with a align 450 and get a paper and pen to write down the parts broken, bent or shattered.
the point is u got the align cheap no doubt but u keep spending like crazy on repair parts it does not justify the low cost amazing heli then ....

Its not align only the gaui X3 too its cheap at 200$ u getting a 450 but it plastic parts with cf infused in them but in the end its plastic n they do break and yes the parts are costly so u buying cheap but spend on parts
You have got it cheap its a win win situation but if u spend more on parts for simple tip overs n crashes it does not justify anything ....

All of the above are 450 size swinging 360mm blades
ALign dominator 450 L price 320$ (motor blades included ) clone of gaui X3 parts cost low
GAUI X3 price 200 $(only kit plastic )... X3 full metal (334$)moderate parts cost
Compass Warp 360 334 $ (motor blades included ) very rigid and strong heli parts cost moderate but is maintenance free who needs parts 
 
ELECTRONICS
Electronics in the combo are not always great  (point to remember)
u dont need to get very costly electronics either
u can substitiute ur electronics with amazing low cost products for hobbyking which are either clones or original at great prices
 TGY 306 HV servos cost of align servo or savox micro but performance is way over both the servo brands
(CLONE OF MKS Ds 95 24$ with high performance spec suitable  for all 450 Size heli
TGY 616 mini size servos for 500 size helis

RJX servos for 500+ size helis till 800 size

MOTORS
THE NTM motor and the SK3 motor are high performance motors available at very low price very close to the Scorpion motors specs
 
FOR the esc u have the YEP RANGE of esc from hobby king which are clones of the amazing well known YGE esc available for every heli size

FOR GYROS U HAVE AMZING GYROS FROM RC BAZAAR the AVIONIC X5 AND THE KBAR
If u wanna go premium for an extra cost u can go for the VBAR,MSH BRAIN,SKOOKUM 540 ,KDS EBAR all reasonably priced ...

VERY IMPORTANT POINT NEVER COMPROMISE ON THE QUALITY AND SPECS OF THE SERVOS AND FBL UNIT
Thats were the specs matter alot ..

LIST OF BEST BUY HELIS WITH GOOD PERFORMANCE  AND LOW MAINTENANCE
BEST 450
COMPASS WARP 360 (KDS CHASE 350 YET TO BE RELEASED )
AGILE 3.6

BEST 500 425MM BLADES
GAUI X4II
COMPASS ATOM 500


BEST 500 500MM BLADES
GAUI X5
COMPASS ATOM 500 STRETCH
GOBLIN 500

BEST 550 SIZE
 
AGILE 5.5
ALIGN 550 DFC PRO
GOBLIN 570
SYNERGY E5

BEST 600 SIZE
AGILE 6.2
SYNERGY E5 STRETCH E6

BEST 700SIZE
AGILE 7.2
SYNERGY E7
ALIGN 700PRO DFC

 

ALL THE ABOVE MENTIONED ARE PRICED GOOD EXCEPT FOR THE GAUI HELIS ARE VERY COSTLY ....AND  ALL OF THE ABOVE HAVE GOOD CRASH RESISTANCE .....I CANT SAY WAT MAY HAPPEN IF U NOSE DIVE FROM 1000 FT BUT AS FOR CRASHES DURING HARD 3D MANEUVERS THEY CRASH GOOD SO ....THERE IS THE LIST OF THE BEST BUY HELIS

http://www.rcindia.org/helis/tail-drive-belt-and-torque-tube-!!!/

check this link for difference between torque tube and belt



hope this helps a bit
BUY GOOD STUFF CRASH LESS

Great guide.....

thanks

Nicely Written Shannon . No Logos in the list 

You forgot the 6HV ULTIMATE . It's a Tank bro

u know what happens to tanks right

Yeah but that's still better naa 

Nice thread Shannon

We get what we pay for ...

A comparison of GAUI X5 premium and ALIGN 550E Super Combo
At first sight,
ALIGN 550E Super Combo = $792
Cost of Gaui X5 Premium = $1200

If you dig deep, with ALIGN you are stuck with LV coreless servos, ALIGN 3GX FBL unit, Align motor and Castle Talon 90

With GAUI X5 Premium you get
VBAR, HV Brushless servos, Scopion motor and Hobbywing V3 100A ESC w/ Super BEC

There is basically no need to upgrade anything on the GAUI - all the compoents are excellent.
whereas with ALIGN you will slowly spending same or more upgrading the components.

The two things I do not like about ALIGN are the 3GX units and the DFC head. I have not faced any issues on my 450 DFC, but still I prefer the one with driver. I also prefer the Hobbywing ESC to Castle Talon. My hobbywing ESC has lasted more than an year and 700 flights. Castle did not last even 9 months and burnt for no reason. Castle did replace the ESC - they have superb customer service, I must ack that.

I dont know how shannon forgot about Logos - they are the trend setters. I love their drive train - belt and herringbone gears. But they are very expensive. Even though they use plastic at some areas, i do not see an issue with it.

If I were to get a heli it would be GAUI X3 and X5. If money were no issue, would love to get a Logo (a 480 Extreme would be nice) 

i did not forget bout the logos ...buts it a guide to get a perfect heli ....and logos have unrealistic price to their models and spares so i did not mention them ...and yes align only found the 700 and 550 worth to add in the list also the 800 but yet again its going over board ....

Nice work Shannon..
Definitely will refer the final list of this thread whenever i buy a heli..
 

thanks ...but review all your products before buying ...shannon is fine drop the sir i dont wanna feel old now  just 23 

Happy..

lol   

Sujit Sir i'm with you for X3 

X3 all metal version that is ...am still putting my money on the new agile chase 350  design

 

Shannon sir what about TT Raptor E700.
This one also looks promising in the 700 class category - great price and performance.
$660 for a kit
BTW the tail drive looks very similar to what you have on the Agile 5.5

agreed to raptor but this heli should be tough am not saying the list contains unbreakable helis but they can handle a beating ....the TT raptor E720 is a great buy