Hopefully Nick will bring some to HH15
Simon

 

I have a pretty strong feeling he is going to...Raptors are a good "cheap" helicopter. Nice and light and good head geometry.

 

I figured as much. I looked at the link earlier and it's obviously Chinese.... but that is difficult to avoid these days. I assume the quality is far better than Syma and some of those cheaper brands or T.T. wouldn't be listed with the other brands down the forums menu here... moreover, this discussion would not even be taking place.

 

Close, Taiwan.

Thunder Tiger have ISO 9001 quality assurance certification.

Thunder Tiger have been around for a long time, before Align started to dominate the market, Thunder Tiger was what people flew to learn on, back in the paddles + nitro engine days.

Ray Hostetler himself had one.

What would be interesting to see is the E550 3 blade reviews.

It has a good price tag, $799 everything included except radio and battery. You gotta admit, its tempting.

 

Good to know. I would consider T.T. if there were better local support here in OKC, unfortunately the two LHS's here seem to be pushing Horizon Hobby (Blade) and Align only.

 

Nothing wrong with TT quality. I think its much better than align.

 

I think I found out why: http://www.rcheliwiki.com/Align ....... Apparently Blade helis are made in China also. Is there a brand of heli that's NOT made in China??

 

With reference to the "Clones are shiz" thread last month, Do T.T. helis share parts with any other brands?

 

It doesn't matter where it's made, it's all about specs, tolerances and quality control.

Just because something is made in the same factory, it doesn't mean it's made to the same quality level


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The reason I ask, from experience I know some companies manufacture more than one brand "over there" such as Syma shares parts with Double Horse and some of those other cheaper brands. I know some brands have higher QC standards than others. I'm just wondering if T.T. is an exclusive brand, or do they market under other names as well.

 

Hey @Beaver
If you have an aversion to Asian made helis try one of these
http://www.minicopter.de/
(The diabolo), beautiful - here is one with some high and low speed head action
Simon

 

I read up on the new Shape in another thread also. Nice machines! I am a fan of German engineering. I was going to try and avoid going Aisian on my next heli, but that will most likely be unavoidable due to cost of high-end helis, and limited local support (availability of parts other than Blade and Align) I will simply have to research which ones are more reliable at a more affordable price. As @HungryHungryHippos mentioned earlier that T.T. is ISO-9001 certified, I can respect that. Since I am still fairly new to this hobby, I don't know specific details of each brands QC ratings yet other than what I read here, but I am learning.

 

Truly your best bet would be a Trex 550, great learning machine, I had one and regretted selling it. Either second hand or new (second hand is a good way to go) and parts are as cheap as chips, they fly like the bomb, cheap to run (one 6s pack). Worth thinking about. I'd just put better blades on it. (Like cyclones, rails or halos)

Simon

 

I was leaning toward Align anyway as I've noticed I don't see very many people speaking highly of Blade helis, if at all.

 

You can't go wrong, the 550 is the sweet spot as well, it will prepare you nicely for a 700, blades are OK, but not as good as align IMHO
Simon

 

The blade pro series from my understanding is no longer being produced.. So I would not buy one based on that alone

 

Both of these reasons are good to go with Align.

I have owned both a blade 450 and an align 450. So that would be comparing apples with apples. Align was better. It flew nicer.

But here is the most important reason for picking an Align over a Blade.

With Align your most likely to buy as a kit, you have to assemble it, and set it up like a real man (or real woman).

The Blade I had came out of the box bind and fly, you dont learn anything.

Its rc modelling, part of it is the gentleman aspect of putting together a model. Blade helicopters rob you of this experience.

Beaver, do you have any very experienced rc helicopter guys at your flying field or near by clubs?

If so, give them a visit, see what they are flying.

Ask them about the Thunder Tiger Raptor e550. The reason why it might be good for a beginner heli is the 3 blade stability. If they can help set it up and give it a first test flight then it would be good.

A FBL setup of 3 blades would need an experienced person.

The only problems I forsee with the e550 kit are the servo's and the FBL unit, I suspect these items will need to be replaced.

 

There is a club here somewhere, but I haven't been to visit yet. I would actually PREFER a heli in kit form, and I have enough technical proficiency to get the job done. It actually disappoints me that Blade has no offerings in kit form. It matters not, I've had both my Blades stripped down to the frames and back together anyway. Sounds to me like it's gonna be Align or T.T. for me. Thanks.