Stick a $30 kbar on there with some HXT900 analog cyclics, A 15158A tail servo for $8 and a HK RJX head for $15 and you'll have your 3D machine!!!

This is how I know!!! (PS: has a beastx there in the pic but has a blue kbar now and flew much better with the kbar)

Also, those pics were of it stretched but I liked it better normal.. was only stretched for a little while... Still have the same heli.. have analog hitec HS65's carbonites on it now but had over 300 flights on it with HXT900's... it's also been 6S all of it's life..

 

450 is interesting topic. With components from Hobbyking you can make it cheaper and not really worse than Align.

With other components you can make it much better than Align.

Lets start with landing gear. Gorilla skids from MSH Protos fit 450PRO perfectly are undestructible you can have them in black or fluorescent yellow or orange colour. Mine survived 4 years and endless crashes!

Now stuff from HK:
- TGY 306 HV servos are better than MKS DS92 they are rebranded KST servos work flawless in FBL or DFC setup
- There is awesome 700W motor for 3-4S on HK dedicated for 450 my favourite
Turnigy 2836 Brushless 450-Size Heli Motor 3700kv
It seems stronger than 6S dedicated Align motor.
- $3.29 335mm GF main blades are awesome. Low weight very thin profile. In three years only one broke in flight... For me that is acceptable. I never have to balance them. If I crash I do not cry. I keep 10 pairs and just pun new.
- I stoooed buying original gears long time ago. Clone gears strip in crashes so do Align gears.
- main shafts and feathering shafts bend in crashes like Align.
- when HK was selling FBL heads for $7 on sale I got many of them. They are as good as DFC heads if not better.
- $8 CF main frame two halfs for 450 PRO is as good as Align.
- YEP 45A is far better than Align regulator
- YEP 40A fits 450 PRO nose I prefer 45A

Now important clue... HK parts can be very expensive if you consider shipment costs. Same parts can be found on eBay much cheaper because many sellers from China and Taiwan offer free worldwide shipment!

Gyros were discussed in other threads. Cheap gyros are on eBay. HK seem to sell new Vbar clone (TGY Cyclone) but price is higher comparing to eBay.

I have three 450 PROs. We call them "Piggy". PROsiak means piggy in Polish.

There are already 450L clones and cheap parts for 360mm blades stretch.

I go for 4S setup instead of 6S because 4S 1.8Ah lipos are much cheaper than 6S lipos. I still use 3S and with 2.1Ah 35C lipos 450 is a rocket. Just use motor mentioned above. This motor is designed for 4S.

I like Align tail slider. I ordered two.

I fly 450 with 200 agility on cyclics in Kbar and sometimes it seems slow for me. With slider you can set value 120 max.

450 is my basher. I fly 800 much more conservative.

In four year I succeded to break frame only once in endless crashes. Many parts of 450 PRO seem undestructible. I keep stock of blades, main gears, front umbrellas, main shafts, feathering shafts, cheap canopies, booms and TTs. All of them are cheap so no problemo. Other parts survive 99.9% of crashes. Someday I should convert to belt tail but I prefer TT.

 

yep - some good points..

* the TGY 306 HV servos are what I have in one of my 450 pros and what I just bought to put into my New Chase 360 as long as you open them up and insulate the PCB.
* The 335mm CF pro blades are great and only $8 a pair.
* the yep esc's are great as stated.
* the 15158A tail servo is a clone of the futaba 9257 and even thou has a some slight slop has been working fantastic through everything I can put to it for a few hundred flights.
However, mine is in an orange case and since they changed to a grey case, I no longer am 100% sure if it's the same internally still or changed also
* The $15 hk head is a copy of the rjx head and is brilliant - only problem is sometimes you need to buy 2 to make one as I have purchased 4 of them and 4 of the 4 had at least
one part missing - lol, so you but an extra for spares
* With 6S you can get lipos for under $20 now and on special I got some 25C 6S 1300mah for $9.95 from hobbyking - which still fly quite decently..
* I bought 5 fu-bars and they are fantastic... and internally manufactured as well as an original vbar.
I guess the rule of thumb is the following with Hobbyking and other discount stores and I say this to everyone;

"You can by cheap - but doesn't mean it's shiz... There is shiz cheap and good cheap, it's just a matter of knowing what the good cheap stuff is..."

How do you know - well, a lot of geek R&D work reading feedback comments. posts ,etc and word of mouth...

 

HXT900 sound like "suicide" for 450. I liked those servos but stopped using them when they started to strip inflight in my Multiplex Gemini bipe.

Do not be afraid of GF blades. Just try them. I love them.

 

Nah - never had an issue with them in over 300 flights and many crashes... they were tough as nails for me...

Of course I was mild 3D and not hard... they would not be up to extreme 3D

Here is Kev giving my HXT900's a work out..

Had Mark Lilley and co, having a chuckle over me using them at Grafton heli fest until he had a fly of the heli and completely changed his mind. He hammered the heli full hard 3D and was completely amazed and still talks about it... and was disappointed when I told him I upgraded to hitecs.

 

Jockstrap. I am impressed.

Your fleet is very impressive. We have something in common. I mean passion for those flying objects.

HXT900 are legendary. I still like them. I like to push my small 450s and small planks to the limits. On the other hand I do not push my 700 and 800 very hard.

 

Thanks kindly... yea, I am a little obsessed...

But I can give up any time..... NOT!!!!! lol

 

To summ up... Do not be affraid to experiment with cheap clones. Share good and bad. If something does not work you can use original part instead OR use upgrades like KDE, Quick and many others...

Most important have fun. I do.

In 600 Align provided OWB "Made in Germany". I stripped two in my stretched 600 to 700. Since I put OWB from HK600GT I have forgotten OWB exist. Hundreds of flights without OWB locking or stripping.

 

Thank you for all the helpful info!! I keep forgetting to take pictures of my heli but I will do it later today!! I have another question too.. my hk450 v2 is flybar and is flybarless worth it to upgrade to?? And I currently fly my 450 on 3s?? Is 3s ok?

 

Flybarless is worth it by far. Do not trust my words. Trust my friends words. Danielus is great pilot, focused. He was teaching me the basics about 450 PRO. How to set up it with flybar. Once he told me he regrets he moved to FBL too late.

$7 FBL heads work well in my 450s. I have 3 of them. Get $15 DFC head and have fun. 3S is ok but for harder flying 40C lipos or higher are recommended. 20C can provide flips&rolls, inverted hovers, rainbows, if you are good pilot.even piro tic-tocks. High RPM is much more fun. Just do not hurry. High RPM means components are often overloaded. Now you want to have crashless flying so do not push it to hard. Flying at high RPM is often easier but crashes are more destructive. Simple equation...

Get this cheap motor I mentioned earlier. It has 700W of power. You'll not regret a penny spend for it.

Look for parts on eBay with cheap shipment or free shipment. It can save you some cash.

Have fun. Learn to have fun repairing this heli. Well setup it can repay in pure joy.

When I moved to 600 than 700 than 800 I did not ask many questions. 450 teached me how to setup a heli. Was it best way to learn? I do not think so. I skipped 500 550 sizes. In my case it was good move. But do not follow me. Others have better results.

 

Thank you!!! So I should buy the conversion from hobbyking? If I do I will have to buy a fly bar less gyro so what's a good cheap one?

 

I would look for DFC head on eBay and compare prices with Hobbyking including shipment costs. I would call Tarot clone parts "brand name generic".

Regarding gyro there are at least two threads active recently at Heligods. Cheapest and the best are bar clones on eBay. ZYX S2 is not ripoff and should also perform very good. Gyro is much less important than fast, precise and strong servos. I personally prefer TGY 306 over MKS DS-92. Same price now but KST servos rebranded to TGY seem more crash resistant in my experience.

Ask also other pilots more experienced than me.

 

Just a couple of promised pictures!!

 

What do you guys think.?

 

I think you are going to heaps of fun with that thing, even @Crash Heligod will probably pay you a visit (he's like that) after a whoopsie, go fltybarless, paddles are a drag. It's all good from here
Simon

 

I'd also put some fury velco where the wires are coming over the frame, or @Crash Heligod will see you sooner than you think. I also think it's a good idea to put some velcro around wires before zip tying, this stops the vibration turning the zip tie into a knife - no good in the air
Simon
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Thanks for the tip!!! I will definitely try it simon! And for flybarless should I should buy a cheap conversion or a actual align trex complete kit?

 

Hk assult 700 @ $235 au
S9255 on cyclic bls251 tail . Hawk120 + hyperion phase sensor sk540 fbl controller . Turnigy bec . Rotortech 700 mains & plastic pos hk tails that came with the kit .. everything was parts I had left over .. flys well I just dont like the dfc head .. feels mushy