MSH on the rise

 

Most of the lower-end manufacturers have devoted over half their product lines to multi-rotor. (E-flute, Walkera, etc...)

S.A.B. : Obviously leading the market share and staying there by such recent models such as the G380.

MSH (my new personal favorite) : Obviously trying to keep up with S.A.B., but maintaining their proven design techniques where belt-drives are concerned.
Align: Loosing ground for sure, especially to SAB and its clones (Goblin 380 / Devil 380). The 470 plastic thing they just released seems to be a calculated stab at trying to keep a foothold in the market without committing to higher risk aluminum production costs if the model doesn't sell.
Not being as familiar with other makes and models of heli limits me from commenting too much on the subject.

 

Two heli companies that are pretty innovative.. compass and soxos (sox on, sox off). Soxos have tried to utilize the best bits of many different model helicopters. Intuitively I am not so keen on the drive train - time will tell. But i like how they keep the weight as close and as high as possible to the main rotor. Also the way pitch slider works... very different. Being a geared design it autos very well too.

Compass also has a different style head.. I like the main rotor head design and the belt tension system. Will be interesting to see how these helis go now @MickyD is selling them. He will definitely be able to demo them well - that's for sure.

Now Align? I think they have been at the top of the hill... and now cant seem to get a foothold anymore due to the variations out there. Not saying align is bad by any means. There design is simple and good value. Maybe its just gone a bit stale. I know in AU align is not heavily supported as much as it used to be.

Goblin? Kicking goals left right and center... A unique and nice looking helicopter that flies well and is reliable too. Now the ONE thing thats goblin does that none (stand to be corrected) of these other heli manufacturers do... that is the goblin BOOM and canopy. The boom is not cosmetic (ie not a carbon shell on top of a boom pole), its functional and its blended into the the heli profile.

MSH? Allways innovative. They do alot of things right. Improving on an already good design.

 

OXY 3 has became King of the 300 size.
OXY 2 coming very soon.
OXY 4 end of summer/fall 2017

Heli industry has been hit hard for USA new buyers, with all the FPV stuff.
Only way for small heli companies to keep doing their heli's, is to play in the FPV side just to be around to build their heli's.

 

Yes fully AGREE Richard 100% The OXY3 is KING of the 300 size - absolutely no doubt. I really do like the Oxy3 heli.... but for me i just dont have an application... IE i would fly my 380 where ever i would fly the oxy at the moment.

Now the OXY 2 is capturing my interest. If i could smak hard in my backyard that would be fun. I have allways loved flying the mcpx - even though its slow and floppy i could still piroflip the sucker. It taught me collective management. But out of a micro i think i want more than what is physically possible.

If a micro could be crashed manytimes without casualty... i would be sold. The MCPX was the closest heli to meet that objective. I would love something tough that could take a huge beating - is easy to work on, is easy to tune/fix - has moderate performance

The company that produces this I think will do ok...

 

Gaui?

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Mikado just seem to "keep on keeping on". They didn't set any records over the last 5 years, but the new 700 seems to be getting a reasonable following and there still seems to be lots of the 500/600/690 frame set models kicking around the clubs, a bit like your favourite jumper that you don't often wear. PerthRC have had their challenges with support over the last year or so and it will be interesting to see how they go in the new shop.
Synergy seem have settled into a niche of dedicated flyers for both their electrics and nitros. They fly great and Zen are doing a good job of supporting the product.


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On that note, I can testify that the Nano CPX was very durable for a micro...... Though it did have it's shortcomings.

 

I liked the Nano but it was a fraction too small for descent piroflips. great for zipping around though.

 

I think Align is on the rise again and about to put a beating on clones and over priced premium brands. It's a very biased opinion for me.

Oxy maybe on the decline. They have a fantastic little heli that I love, but they have been very slow to get a new heli to market. I've been waiting so long now I've almost moved on altogether and now other manufacturers are going to take a bite of their market.

Blade on the decline. I think customers are getting tired of quickly discontinued product, over priced replacement parts and sub par quality.

Sab maybe on the decline, the clones are moving in and beating them over the head with quality and price.

For me helis are on the rise, I've never been more interested, financially able and find myself buying more and more.

 

Quite possibly but aligns representation in some countries is lacking a bit - like Australia. There is only one vendor in AU that does aligns from my knowledge. America might be different i would imagine.

 

I can't say for all of the US, but where I am, helicopters aren't as popular as they were, and one of the last remaining hobby shops where I am, no longer maintains any reliable inventory of Align parts except for 600 and above, because they say there are too many different models to have to keep up with all the inventory, especially the 450 Sport/SE/Pro/450L series with either belt or TT for any given model. For me to get 450 parts, I have to pick-and-choose from leftover clearance inventory, or use Blade 450 parts..... a few of which are actually more durable than Align parts (OWB sleeve to be specific). The other shop is mainly "Plank" and only keeps a few lines of Blade parts on-hand.
In most cases, its easier to get Align parts on Ebay or similar online outlets.
None of the shops here support major brands of heli, such as SAB, MSH, Mikado, Oxy, or any of the others, which automatically limits me to online ordering as opposed to being able to drive to the LHS to get parts. Fortunately enough for me, I don't need spare parts nearly as frequently as I did last year, so it's not as much of an issue now. But if I were to go strictly on the basis of brand-name parts availability here in Oklahoma City, I'd be stuck flying only Blade helis, instead of a Protos.
Don't even get me started on Brands changing their product lines to include multi-rotor models...... In my opinion, when they do that, they loose focus, and their more traditional "helicopter" models suffer from lack of interest and/or development.

 

I have also run into the same problems as Beaver. The LHS told me Align was dead and they noon could get parts any longer. It couldn't be any further from the truth and also one of the reasons I became an align team member.

Align did recently change from dealing with multiple distributors and hobby shops to having 1 US distributor. Shops can get parts and sign up with the distributor the same as amain, heli direct ect..

I do however agree with the position of many shop owners about there being so many brands, revisions and the fact that what is hot today may not be tomorrow. The problem there is the shops are stuck with inventory that won't move and they take a loss.

Beaver I travel to OKC once and again, maybe we can meet up some day and throw down. Keep me posted on some local events out there and I will most likely show up.

 

Ah, then you may know the club.... Collective RC. I 'll be joining them soon, pending AMA license. (Ive only been flying FAA-permit class for a year now)