KDE Direct Electronic Pinion Support Upgrade 15Nov09
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KDE Direct Pinion Support
KDE Direct have a new add-on to their T-Rex 700 electric conversion kit. They have now produced an Electronic Pinion Support Upgrade. This is a rather ingenious little device that bolts above the motor and provides a full bearing support to the top of the pinion. The idea is to eliminate lateral flexing of the pinion and reduce wear and possible stripping of the main gear.
Because the Support mounts to the motor mount only and not to the frame it is hard to say how much flex it will actually eliminate but it will certainly help to some degree. As always, KDE provides clear installation instructions.
JR Sylphide 90E 06Nov09
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Ok, this is just starting to get silly now. RCHeliResource.com has shots from the Tokyo Hobby Show that reveal a brand new .90 sized electric heli being produced by JR. No further details yet. At this rate we’ll be seeing a new .90 sized electric every week in 2010!
Infusion 90E 18Oct09
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Who would have ever thought we’d have TOO many .90-sized electric helis from which to choose?! A new company, TSA Model, just announced its own .90 sized electric heli the Infusion 90E. The Infusion 90E is an all new design and TSA Model also has a nitro version as well as a 500-sized model that all share the same basic design. It is mostly of conventional design with a narrow frame and a few unique features like the tail assembly. It uses a shaft driven tail rotor. Like all the .90-sized electrics it runs on 12S but has both packs above the skids sitting side by side.
It will be interesting to see how this heli performs and how TSA Model does against its more seasoned competition.
New Srimok 90E 15Oct09
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Srimok 90E
Well 2010 is going to be the year of the .90-sized electric heli so start warming up your credit card. Kasama just announced their all new Srimok 90E electric heli. Details are light but it is based off their nitro 90 and is a native electric not a conversion. No word on release date yet.
So we now have the Rave 90E, the Aurora 90E, the Srimok 90E, and of course the T-Rex 700 eConversions. And if all of that were not enough, rumors are growing over an official Align T-Rex 700E for 2010 as well.
The big question is, who is going to ship first and how will kit and part availability be?
KDE Direct T-Rex 700 Electric Conversion Kit 09Sep09
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KDE T-Rex 700 E-Conversion Kit
KDE Direct now has a T-Rex 700 Nitro to Electric Conversion Kit available. It is three heavy duty aluminum pieces that converts a standard T-Rex 700 Nitro kit into an electric powered model. Overall it looks like a good design but unfortunately it does not not include a new, lower tooth count, Mod 1.0 main gear that many folks believe is necessary when converting the T-Rex 700 to electric power.
KDE also provides an install guide for their kit. Only very minor frame modifications are needed.
Also see their Electronic Pinion Support Upgrade.
[Updated: 15NOV09]
New Aurora 90E Announced! 11Aug09
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Aurora 90
If the new electric Rave 90 was not exciting enough now Avant has announced an all electric Aurora 90 to be released by the end of the year. It is an all new, original electric design and features a number of unique ideas. Narrow carbon fiber frames hold everything and it runs on 12S power. Most mechanics are the same as the nitro 90. See Avant’s site for more info and photos.
Latest news from Avant,
We wanted to give you an update on the electric Aurora release. We are pretty much done and we’re getting ready to release. We’re very happy that we will be able to do so within the time frame we were planning which was around 90 days after the IRCHA Jamboree. We are currently doing a few finishing touches like finalizing updating the manual that comes in the CD and finishing some bags packing after that we’ll start shipping to dealers in the US first and right after that to the rest of the world. There will be some new additional dealers in the US as well that will be announced at the time of shipping.
Aurora 90E Front
[Updated: 15NOV09]
New Rave 90E Coming Soon! 25Jul09
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Rave 90
At the recent 2009 NATS Curtiss Youngblood announced that they are working on a new 90-sized heli. The new Next-D Rave 90 ESV will be a native nitro heli but will also ship with a factory produced electric conversion kit. Details are still somewhat slim and there is currently only a single prototype flying but Curtiss Youngblook Enterprises hopes to have the heli shipping before the end of the year.
RC Heli Mag’s T-Rex 450 Pro Review 13Jun09
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T-Rex 450 Pro
RC Heli Magazine’s July 2009 issue has one of the first reviews of Align’s new T-Rex 450 Pro helicopter. The 450 Pro is the latest version of Align’s venerable 450 series. It is a significant upgrade from the previous 450 SE v2. The 450 Pro is an all new design. Gone are the dual side frames of earlier kits and the Pro now has a more traditional single piece, carbon fiber side frame. Servo placement has been dramatically altered to improve geometry but makes access to the servos more difficult. Like the v2, the Pro has an all metal head and tail. (more…)
Align Carbon Fiber Flybar Paddles — Review 29May09
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Align CF Paddles
If you are looking to increase the responsiveness of your heli one of the first things to consider is your flybar and paddles. In general a longer flybar, lighter paddles, and larger paddles will provide a faster cyclic response. I had been flying my T-Rex 600E with the stock flybar and paddles and was looking for a bit more performance. I installed the Align 440mm Flybar (part# H60108) and the Align Carbon Fiber Paddles (part# H60143). The paddles are one-fourth the weight of the stock paddles, about 4 grams vs 16 grams, but are shorter so even with the 440mm flybar the total length is almost identical to the stock configuration. Without doing some math it is hard to say if the carbon paddles are actually smaller than the stock paddles but they seem to be perhaps a bit smaller (wider but shorter). (more…)
Main Gear Case Upgrade for T-Rex 600E 16May09
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KDE Direct has an interesting new upgrade part. It is an aluminum replacement for the main gear case of the T-Rex 600E. This new part allows you to use the main gear from the T-Rex 600N. The 600N main gear has fewer teeth (164T versus 170T) and is slightly thicker (taller). This gives more surface area for the motor pinion to bite into to help prevent the main gear from stripping. We have not had any issues with our stock T-Rex 600E main gear but if you are flying a high-power setup this is certainly some easy and cheap insurance. (more…)
