dkshema
rrMaster
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA
My Posts This: Topic Forum | I updated the EP400 Build thread last week, it's time to catch this one up, too.
I've finally gotten quite a bit of time on the stretched EP400XP. At this point, the head and collective pitch design are limiting factors with this heli. Though the XP head setup is far superior to that of the original EP400, the whole collective pitch mechanism is weak. The frame mounted pitch lever, the pitch slider on the main shaft, the slotted main shaft and that wimpy pitch change wire, all terminated in the sliding washout base just don't make for an agile heli. The XP, even stretched, is a stable heli and has that big heli feel.
It rolls nicely, it flies upside down nicely, but loops are just plain bad. Loops are supposed to be dirt simple. Get some forward speed, pull back on the elevator and the heli should do a nice loop. Maybe put in a little negative on top to keep things round and even. With this heli, it seems that once it gets nearly inverted, just getting up and over to the downhill side of the loop is work.
The stretched version, though nearly the same in weight, weight distribution, power, and rotor disk area just isn't in the same league as my Trex SA when it comes to agility, maneuverability, and aerobatics. The Trex 450SA (and even my moderately upgraded three year old + Trex 450X and 450X-V2) out performs the EP400 in the aerobatic world. I think I've gone about as far as I wish with the stretched XP, it was an overall disappointment as the performance gains just weren't realized.
That being said, the 450V may be a horse of a different color. It's got CCPM head control (does away with that nasty pitch mechanism of the EP400 and XP) and the entire head has been redesigned around the larger Caliber 5 head. The pull-pull tail looks to be promising, as well. The 450V looks to have gotten rid of the features that make the EP400/XP suffer in overall performance. It may be with the EP stuff that the third time is truly a charm.
I'd like to give the 450V a shot, perhaps someday I will. But for the short term, it's not in my budget.
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* Making the World a Better Place -- One Helicopter at a time! *
Dave |
, after all the trouble and waiting he went through to get a longer boom and belt for his 400XP.
