Well, Xheli had the Squaron 450 on sale for $69 (Day after Xmas) I"ve ordered one in order to create a decent flying dirt cheap heli.
Here is my build components:
EXI 450 Squadron ARF $69 Telebee TLB01 Gyro off ebay $32 4x HXT900 servos from hobby city $17 incl shipping Mystery 3000Kv motor & 30A ESC from ebay $23 13T 2.3mm pinion from helidirect $5.00 incl shipping Bullet connectors from helidirect $3.00 Deans connectors from heli direct $2.00
Total for an Rx ready heli less battery: $150
Well, I actually already have everything but the heli (on order). I actually have as spare Alpha 400 that Ill eventually put into this heli but I kinda want to challenge myself to see how inexpensive I can build this EXI.
Wish me luck and I'll post results of the build. If I can get it to fly better than my Belt CP, I'll consider it a success!
Edit: I ended up spending less than $120 because I combinded shipping on other parts I was already going to order from HeliDirect and Hobby City.
Got it flying today. It flew fine w/ the servos and gyro. I'd say the Mystery Motor is a bit underpowered but it's ok for sport flying I prefer the MA 450 from EXI only because it has all metal head/tail. This cheap EXI flew ok though. I'm going to fly it some more when it gets warmer.
I'm looking forward to hearing more. Many people are caught up in getting the very best parts (read: most expensive). It is awesome to see that someone's working the other end of the spectrum to show us it can be done reasonably.
Thats good to hear. I just bought myself a exi 450, just finished the build with some hs65 servos, align motor and esc, gy401 amd this thing is pretty solid in the air. This was the first 450 I built and im loving it. I'm thinking of getting rid of my Raptor 50v2 now since the smaller bird easier to bring along. Good luck flying.
Here is a flight from yesterday. It was a quick warm up flight before I flew my Raptor e550. I'd say the motor is just not strong enough for the kind of flying I want to do. It bogs down at full pitch. I'd need to take a degree or two out of top end pitch. W/ the Alpha 400 and Volcano ESC as well as the EXI LE 450 all on sale now, that's a better bet since the alpha and volcano come w/ the connectors and pinion for ya.
Much better than the Belt CP. I bought my Belt CP last spring. Flew it some, then added CF blades to counter the "pitch up" of the Belt CP woodies that happened after comming out of a loop or turn. Then I added a HH gyro to the Belt.
The EXI squadron with the included woodies is definitly more stable in the wind than the Belt and just as agile. plus you can move the paddle weights in or take them off.
for the EXI, you can upgrade the plastic tail for $20 off ebay or dealextreme or get the head/tail all metal for $50 off ebay as well (copterX). CopterX upgrades have a very good reputation. The Xheli Blueray SE is better than the BeltCP IMHO, and you can still do the copterx upgrade. But in the long run, your better off building an EXI so you can choose your servos and gyro. Whatever you get, CP's run you $20-$40 in crash parts.
First flight of Exi 450 went great. I got it for $40 from Xheli. I also got the blinged out head and tail, it looks awesome. For a total of $80 it's geat buy.
BTW, My current dirt cheap Build suggestion has changed. Turnigy Typhoon 2215 motor from HC or Exceed Alpha 400 from Xheli Super Simple ESC from HC or Volcano 30A from Xheli Tower Pro MG90 servo or HXT MG14 servo from HC (pointless to use nylon geared servos cause they strip to easy) Colco GY400 gyro from R2hobbies. Spare blades are the $6 Fiberglass blades from HC.
that Mystery motor was too weak. Plus Hobby city has better motors for like $12 each.
Yes, I have a set of the Hobby King/ Hobby City fiberglass on a 450. Tracking moves around a little unlike good CF blades and the roll rates are reduced about 20% but for the price, they are good novice and sport blades. The 450's I have the FG blades on I have been using for low on the deck inverted hovering practice. I'm not a Tracking-NUT so a 1/4" of seperation here and there does not bother me. Your not going to do tic tocs in these and if you do a hard loop or come out of a manuever and punch the pitch, the blades will flutter or stall but that's not why I bought them. As I'm doing stuff low on the deck, I am trying to minimize my crash costs to I take more chances and/or relax more about the maneuver.
The heli in this video has the black/yellow HC/HK fiberglass blades on it, Tower Pro MG90 servos, volcano esc, Alpha 400 motor but I do have a $30 Hyperion tail servo and Logitech Gyro on it. I don't think I did anything in the video that was demanding of the tail but a good fast tail servo and gyro really helps in gusty winds while hovering. Tail servo, then gyro would be the first $$ I upgrade in an inexpensive heli.
EXI 450 part II. After my first EXI bit the dust due to electronics: I order a new one, no sense in buying parts when a replacement is only $40. Equipment:
> Spektrum Dx7. No more glitches and setup much easier then my Futaba 9z. > EXI micro digital metal gear servos ($9.00!) Center better and are faster than the Futaba digitals the replace. Hopefully they aren't as fragile as the futabas. >CC 30 amp in governor mode. >LightMax 2200 mah 3s from HobbyCity ($19.00, they,ve been on sale for $16.00) work great so far. >Custom Canopy from HobbyCity ($6.00). >Futaba 401 gyro and Futaba digital tail servo. >Exceed 3500 kv from Xheli.com
This thing flies great! A totally different feel with Spektrum. Super responsive and no mystery twitches. The EXI 450 is now my favorite.
One more thing to add: The heli is virtually silent. Cant' even hear it from ~ 60 feet
INEXPENSIVE BLADES!!!! Check out the 3D Pro blades at Xheli. I have been using $5 fiberglass blades for my 450 from Hobby City and have been hounding my contact over there about carrying inexpensive fiberglass blades. They just started to carry them. They are the same blades that Heli Direct carries but astonishingly much lower price. I just got in an order of 6 different pairs to try them out including some for the new 250 clone I have comming. The 335mm blades are 335mm from end to end and 325 from hole to tip. The 325mm blades are 325mm from end to end and 315 from hole to tip.
I hope to try them out in the back yard at least this weekend.
