Trex 500 buildup coming soon!!!

[akent]

I just wanted to let you all know that I will be doing a build up thread of a Trex 500 very soon!

I bought much of a Trex 500 from our very own Mckrackin. This is the frame with an Align motor and esc, the cyclic servos and a belt driven tail with nice CNC blade holders. This also has a carbon fiber boom and fins and a fiberglass canopy.
Mckrackin made me a deal that I could not refuse!! Thank you again, sir!!

This thing is a work of art! I am surprised at the robustness of all the parts.
It is missing the head, the gyro, tail servo, radio, a few nuts and bolts, and a battery.

For the missing parts, I ordered an Exi 500 kit from Xheli. This kit has all CNC parts. As soon as it gets here, I will determine which parts are better and use them on the Trex. I did this, as just an Align head for the 500 is not far from the price of the whole Exi kit!

This should prove to be an interesting build! I am really excited about it!

The first parts from Mckrackin:


and



Best,
Kent

[McKrackin]

Crap.There's always that feeling of seeing a heli from someone elses camera that gives me the feeling of giving a kid up for adoption.

PM me for a proper parts list.

We'll build a heli just like mine ;D

I've been told that a Helicommand can only make a heli behave like what I got

[akent]

Hey Mckrackin, why not make it public here?

I personally think that anyone reading this who may want to build up a proper Trex 500 for the Helicommand should be able to see it?

While I might not use the same parts up front, I could certainly upgrade to them later on!

What say you, my friend?
Kent

[19000rpm]

Full build transparency is what I vote for! ;D Kent's right and we need more quality build stuff going on including the parts list.

Happy landings

[McKrackin]

OK then ;D

We'll start out mild.
Forget the 430mm blades.They are stabile but slow.
Go 425mm CF.

70mm plastic tail blades are pretty good but CF is lighter so faster.

Align 510 servos on the cyclic are great.
I am getting ready to order my JR's now though.Especially for the tail.The JR DS8900G can do 60* in 0.05 sec.
Married to a JR G770 3D gyro and you have a rock solid tail even in the torquey stuff.
JR DS821 will handle the cyclic very well.

I am already using a Scorpion 1400kv BSL motor and it is washing out my Align GP750 gyro with DS520 servo.
The 12T and 13T both over power the gyro.

The Torque Tube tail drive is a must.You have to see it work to understand.

The 60A ESC you have is plenty.So is the motor really.

An Align ESP rotor head is also a must.The mixing arms are carried by the smoothest bearings I've seen yet and offer little to no resistance to the cyclic servos.

Some paper thin CF flybar paddles are a must.NO flybar weights should EVER be used on a 500.Any heli really in my opinion.

Keep a bright color on the canopy.Orientation is way easier that way.The canopy you have is easy to see.Sorry for the holes.That was a camera mount

This is some pretty good stuff for a very good 3D heli.

Have a fun build.Keep us posted ;D

[19000rpm]

;D

Happy landings

[akent]

Hey, thanks for the list, Mckrackin!!!
That sure gives me a sense of what to shoot for eventually.

Up front I'll use:
The servos on there: HS82MG
Stock motor: Align 500L
Tail gyro: G401B (Futaba clone)
Tail servo: Futaba S9257
Main blades: 425 CF
Tail blades: Align CF
Flybar paddles: Stock
Head and tail: Exi/CopterX 500 CNC

I'll start working on upgrades when this bird is up in the air for a while.

Thanks!
Kent

[fergie]

i'm looking forward to see this baby come to life kent, NICE ;D
also looking forward to some flight vids of it. keep it up kent

[Solitaire]

Kent

I'm dragging this thread up from the second page for a chance you want to add to it. ;D

Where did you mount your gyro? There's a nice little CNC shelf half way up the frame at the rear. Could be used for the gyro or the Rx. I checked Ernie's sold 500 and I think he put his gyro on the top and used the shelf for the Rx.

[akent]

Jun 26, 2009 0:03:30 GMT -6 Solitaire said:

Kent

I'm dragging this thread up from the second page for a chance you want to add to it. ;D

Where did you mount your gyro? There's a nice little CNC shelf half way up the frame at the rear. Could be used for the gyro or the Rx. I checked Ernie's sold 500 and I think he put his gyro on the top and used the shelf for the Rx.

Hi Sol:
I ended up mounting my gyro on the top of the boom holder. I had it mounted under it on the middle shelf and for some reason it was not holding the tail well at all. Once I remounted it on the top it was fine. This was with the G401B, not the Sparton. I mounted the Sparton on top, too, just because that's where the other had been. I also like to have access to the programming port on the Sparton.
I mounted the receiver on the bottom, the same as the 450. I then removed the middle shelf altogether to have more room.

I'll try to post some pictures this weekend as soon as I get back from Houston.
Best,
Kent

[elkmaster01]

Kent,

I'm going to start a 500 build very soon too. My 600 is my Caddilac,,,this 500 will be a Hot-Rod. I've come to HATE the 450s, they are too small,,my eyes aren't that good anymore and I'm ate up with arthritis,,,bigger is better.

T-Rex 500 ESP Torque-Tube drive!
Scorpion HK3026-1400 motor w/ 15T pinion
Scorpion 6-cell 90 Amp ESC
Castle Creations 10 Amp external BEC
Futaba s9257 servos,,,cyclic and tail
Futaba GY401 gyro
6-cell 2700mAh 30C battery
AR7000

I'm going to use a battery 'Y' harness so I can connect the BEC without powering up the motor.

No Helicommand or Co-Pilot II,,,this one I'll have to actually fly! ;D If all goes well and I learn aggressive 3D,,,this winter I'll hop-up the 600 too.

[akent]

I am going into a gutteral laugh mode now, Elk! This is AWESOME! Yep, my 450's are small.

The 500 has, from my research, the highest power to weight ratio of any heli on the face of the planet, if you use a Scorpion motor!!!
I'm running the 1600. I think Mckrackin ran the 1,400. Many run others.

I will try to post a video soon of the punch of my 1,600 Scorpion!!! There is ZERO bog.
Kent



Best,
Kent

[elkmaster01]

How many teeth you using on that scorpion Kent? I'm going with the 15T, I'm electing for more constant torque over headspeed. Do you have a way to tach your head??

{{{{imagine a gay, non-heli guy reading this post!!}}}} LOL ;D

[akent]

Elk, I'm running a 13t on the 1600 with an 80amp Hobbywing Platinum ESC.

It sees 3k rpm at 90%. This is a LOT.
At 80%, it's at around 2,700.

I may be off a bit, but I think that my wife is not gay and reads these posts, sometimes!! She just laughed pretty hard!!

I use an optical tach that is 20+ years old to measure headspeed. It works great!
Kent

[elkmaster01]

So,,,do you strap the heli down to check headspeed? Can you get an accurate reading without the main blades on? I find this interesting,,I'd really like to know my RPMs. I'll search around,,see whats on the market for this.

Thx!