setups
The majority of questions we get concern how to setup and configure a heli. This is particularly difficult for new fliers because of the massive array of options available from which to choose. To help with this we have begun to list various setup recommendations for various helis. By no means are these meant to be definitive. They are simply recommendations and one should feel free to deviate from them as desired. We have broken the various recommendations down into three broad categories: beginner, sport, and veteran. This can also be seen as cheaper to more expensive but not always. Beginners are often wanting to keep costs down because the initial starting costs of everything needed for helis can be high but they also need equipment that is a bit easier to configure. Veterans of course will not need to use these charts but we list those items here so that anyone who would perhaps like to invest in components that will grow with them will have an idea of what to get. Please list any comments or corrections for any of this in the comments area. We will update these items as time goes on and new equipment is released.
| Align T-Rex 450 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Sport | Veteran | |
|
T-Rex 450 SA
|
T-Rex 450 SE
|
T-Rex 450 SE v2 or 450 Pro
|
|
|
Blades
|
Align 325mm PRO symmetrical wood | Align HS1231 325mm carbon | Align HS1231 325mm carbon |
|
Motor
|
Align 430XL 3700Kv or Scorpion HK 2221-8 | ||
|
ESC
|
Align K10304A RCE-35X | ||
|
Cyclic Servos
|
HiTec HS65MG | JR S241MG, Hitec HS65MG | Hitec HS65MG |
|
Tail Servo
|
Logitech 3400G | Futaba S9650 | Futaba S9650 |
|
Gyro
|
Logitech 2100T | Futaba GY401 | Futaba GY401, GY520 |
|
Battery
|
3S 1800mAh – 2100mAh 20c | 3S 2500mAh 25c | 4S 2100mAh 25c |
|
Receiver (Rx)
|
Spektrum AR6200 | Spektrum AR6200 | Spektrum AR7000 |
|
Radio (Tx)
|
Spektrum DX6i | Spektrum DX7 | JR X9303 |
| T-Rex 450 v2 Pitch and Throttle Curves – Beginner (hovering) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position |
Low-Stick
|
Mid-Stick
|
High-Stick
|
| Normal Pitch |
-2
|
3
|
6
|
| Normal Throttle |
0
|
65
|
85
|
| Throttle Hold Pitch |
-3
|
3
|
12
|
| T-Rex 450 v2 Pitch and Throttle Curves – Sport | |||
| Position |
Low-Stick
|
Mid-Stick
|
High-Stick
|
| Normal Pitch |
-5
|
4
|
9
|
| Normal Throttle |
0
|
75
|
100
|
| Idle-Up 1 Pitch |
-11
|
0
|
11
|
| Idle-Up 1 Throttle |
100
|
85
|
100
|
| Idle-Up 2 Pitch |
-12
|
0
|
12
|
| Idle-Up 2 Throttle |
100
|
90
|
100
|
| Throttle Hold Pitch |
-5
|
4
|
12
|
| Align T-Rex 500 and 500ESP | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Sport | Veteran | |
|
Blades
|
Align 425mm carbon | ||
|
Motor
|
Align 500L 1600kV | Align 500L 1600kV | Scorpion HK-3026 |
|
ESC
|
Align RCM BL60G | Align RCM BL60G | CC Phoenix-80, HV85, ICE 75 |
|
Cyclic Servos
|
HiTec HS-5245MG, Align DS510 | Futaba 9650, HiTec 5245MG, Align DS510 | |
|
Tail Servo
|
Futaba S9650 or HSG-5083MG | JR S8900G | Futaba 9257 |
|
Gyro
|
Futaba GY401 or HiTec HS-5000 | JR G770, CY Solid-G | Spartan ds760, Futaba GY520 |
|
Battery
|
2 x 3S 1800mAh – 2200mAh 20c or 5S 2200mAh 25c | 6s 2200-2500mAh 20c or 3300mah | 6s 2700mAh 20c |
|
Receiver (Rx)
|
Spektrum AR6200 | Spektrum AR7000 | Spektrum AR7000 |
|
Radio (Tx)
|
Spektrum DX6i | Spektrum DX7 | JR X9303 |
| T-Rex 500 Pitch and Throttle Curves – Beginner (hovering) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position |
Low-Stick
|
Mid-Stick
|
High-Stick
|
| Normal Pitch |
-2
|
3
|
6
|
| Normal Throttle |
0
|
65
|
85
|
| Throttle Hold Pitch |
-3
|
3
|
12
|
| T-Rex 500 Pitch and Throttle Curves – Sport | |||
| Position |
Low-Stick
|
Mid-Stick
|
High-Stick
|
| Normal Pitch |
-5
|
4
|
9
|
| Normal Throttle |
0
|
75
|
100
|
| Idle-Up 1 Pitch |
-12
|
0
|
12
|
| Idle-Up 1 Throttle |
100
|
85
|
100
|
| Idle-Up 2 Pitch |
-12
|
0
|
12
|
| Idle-Up 2 Throttle |
100
|
90
|
100
|
| Throttle Hold Pitch |
-5
|
4
|
12
|
| Align T-Rex 600 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Sport | Veteran | |
|
Blades
|
Align 425mm glass fiber | Align 425mm carbon fiber | carbon fiber |
|
Motor
|
Align 600L | Align 650XL, Neu 1515 2.5H, or Scorpion HK-4025-890 | Neu 1910/1Y/H or Scorpion HK-4025-740 |
|
ESC
|
RCM-BL75G | RCM-BL75G or Castle HV 85/110 | Castle HV 110 or ICE 100 |
|
Cyclic Servos
|
Spektrum DS821 | Futaba S9351 or JR DS8717 | JR DS8717 or Hitec HS-7954SH |
|
Tail Servo
|
JR S3500G | Futaba S9256 or Hitec HS-7940TH | |
|
Gyro
|
Futaba GY401 or HiTec HS-5000 | JR G7703D, CY Solid-G | Futaba GY611, GY520, Spartan ds760, CY Solid-G |
|
Battery
|
6s 4500mAh 20c | 6s-8s 5000mAh 25c | 8s – 12s |
|
Receiver (Rx)
|
Spektrum AR7000 | Spektrum AR7000 | Spektrum AR7100 |
|
Radio (Tx)
|
Spektrum DX7 | Spektrum DX7 | JR X9303 |
| T-Rex 600 Pitch and Throttle Curves – Beginner (hovering) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position |
Low-Stick
|
Mid-Stick
|
High-Stick
|
| Normal Pitch |
-2
|
3
|
6
|
| Normal Throttle |
0
|
65
|
85
|
| Throttle Hold Pitch |
-3
|
3
|
12
|
| T-Rex 600 Pitch and Throttle Curves – Sport | |||
| Position |
Low-Stick
|
Mid-Stick
|
High-Stick
|
| Normal Pitch |
-4
|
4
|
10 |
| Normal Throttle |
0
|
75
|
100
|
| Idle-Up 1 Pitch |
-10
|
0
|
10
|
| Idle-Up 1 Throttle |
100
|
85
|
100
|
| Idle-Up 2 Pitch |
-12
|
0
|
12
|
| Idle-Up 2 Throttle |
100
|
90
|
100
|
| Throttle Hold Pitch |
-5
|
4
|
12
|
Notes
Beginner: Anyone just starting to fly a particular heli as their first ‘real’ heli after co-axial, flight sim, and/or similar training. The goals here are not only lower costs but, perhaps even more importantly, simplicity.
Sport: Anyone who has advanced from the beginner stage who is flying basic circuits up to basic aerobatics and 3D flying. The sport flier is looking for a bit more power and more options.
Veteran: Anyone with lots of heli experience who is flying mild to hard 3D. The veteran demands the greatest power and performance from their equipment and needs the greatest flexibility in configurations.
— — — — —
Blades: Beginners should stick with wood blades for smaller helis and glass fiber blades for larger helis. High performance is not needed when you are first learning and you will most likely crash at least one set. Sport and Veteran fliers will want carbon fiber blades. Align carbon blades are often considered the best for the money. Veterans may want to choose from the countless other high-end blades such as Thunder Tiger 600mm, Rotortech 610mm, V-Blades TST edition 600mm, or Maverick G5 600mm.
Servos: Futaba, JR, and HiTec all make excellent servos. Which one you pick really depends on preference, application, experience level, and cost. If you are a new flier you do not need super high speed/high torque servos and you can save some money to spend on more batteries. The tail servo is the one exception and it should be properly paired with your gyro.
Pitch and Throttle Curves: We listed the more traditional settings in the above tables. Another common setting for Normal Mode is to have 0 degrees of pitch at mid-stick. This then mirrors your stick position in Idle-Up (but your throttle might be a bit lower at mid-stick still). Your bottom and top pitch settings do not change for Normal Mode using this method just mid-stick pitch. The advantage to setting Normal Mode this way is that when you switch from Normal to Idle-Up the heli will not jump (or possibly drop depending on your settings) after you make the switch. The only disadvantage is that you lose a bit of post-hover stick throw-range in Normal mode. If you are flying scale you probably will not want to do this but if you do any aerobatics you will spend most of your time in one of the Idle-Up modes anyway and you might want to try setting Normal Mode this way.
[Last updated: 19OCT09]
Comments»
No comments yet — be the first.