T-Rex 600 ESP Review

Written by Ashley Davis Tuesday, 13 April 2010 00:00

Introduction

The following is a review of the T-Rex 600 ESP.

This review covers the version of the 600 ESP up until Spring 2010 when the motor was changed from the 650L to the new 650M. This review is of the kit with the 650L motor, the 650M motor may be covered in a subsequent review.

My thanks to Align UK and Skyline Models who sponsored this review.

The T-Rex 600 ESP is the first real change of the original T-Rex 600E released a few years ago. At first glance the changes look cosmetic with the new blue anodising and the 650L motor. However, all is not quite as it seems. The servo layout has changed as have the bellcranks that provide linkage to the swashplate from the servos. Also the anti-rotation slider has gone and is replaced by the elevator 'A' arm introduced to the 600 NSP last year. The model is also torque tube drive rather than belt drive like the original 600E. Closer examination also shows 2mm carbon side frames which provides some much needed extra stiffness into the frames box section. With all this in mind it's easy to see that this is likely to actually be quite different to the original 600E.

For now lets put the differences to one side and take a look at what the build of the model entailed.

Build

The build was videoed end to end including all the radio gear installation and you can access and download the full video in the video build section of the site.

This model was also used as a test bed for the new HobbyWing Platinum gyro for which we will shortly be producing a review.

The build itself was your typical Align build, the manul starting you out on the rotorhead, then onto frames and undercart, followed by tailboom and tail and radio install. I departed from this methodology and started on the frame build and left the rotorhead until last. My reasons for this are that it doesn't make much sense building a rotorhead when you have no model to fit it into, so it then lies around waiting to get broken whilst you build the rest of the heli up to a point that the head can actually be fitted.

So, from a builders perspective there are a few questions to be answered..... lets start out with part quality.

There wasn't any part used in the build that didn't fit, was broken as supplied or was overly problematical to fit. All the parts slot together nicely, the plastics certainly appear to be better quality than that used in the original 600E and the metal parts are all nicely finished, in most cases pre-installed with bearings and in  many cases supplied as dry fitted. This last part taking a lot of the guess work out of the installation process as you can see how it's meant to go together before taking it apart to apply loctite and then re-fit. I did hit problems with the width of the frames, with the servo layout provided my 9252 servos were just too deep and wouldn't fit into the frames without a lot of spacers to space them out and away from the frames. This is no change from the original 600E which had the same issue. I'm sure a slighly less deep servo would fit fine and I suspect Align 610 servos would fit perfectly if you chose to use them. Either way there are some spacers provided in the kit which allowed me to install the required spacing to make it work.

OK, so how about ease of build?

With the few dry fitted parts the assembly in many cases is straight forward. The most confusing part where I found myself checking the manual a few times was in getting the aileron bellcranks installed the right way round with the balls installed correctly onto them. Similarly the elevator 'A' arm is equally easy to make a mess of and get stuff installed back to front. I'd recommend just slowing down and taking your time with both these parts or you will end up taking bits apart like I did in order to re-orientate or re-fit balls correctly. Bellcranks aside the tail drive shaft can be a bit reluctant to install into the boom (torque tube) if you don't grease it adequately. Overall though it's a straight forward build with not much in the way of confusing parts to assemble or unclear exploded diagrams in the manual.

Is it a lengthy build process?

Not at all, despite the fact I had to video the whole thing it still went together very quickly and I'd say a beginner could easily complete the mechanical build without radio gear in about 4-5 hours. The radio install and setup probably taking another 4-5 hours.

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Electronics

The 600 ESP comes supplied with a number of electronic components. The most obvious is the 650L motor which is a bit of a hefty lump, given the size and weight of this motor I'm expecting some decent performance for 3D flight. The kit also comes with an Align 100A ESC which is more than adequate for powering the model on the recommended 6S pack configuration. However, the ESC is a limiting factor in that it will not do anymore than 6S so you really are stuck with using 6S or buying another ESC. I'll come back to this point later.

The kit also comes with electronics to power the radio system in the form of a 5V BEC which also has some nice LED indicators on it to allow you to see the charge status of your receiver pack. The kit includes a 1900mah 2S lipo which provides that rx pack capability. My estimations are that this is safe to use for approximately 3 flights before swapping or recharging if you want to play it nice and safe (and depending on the power requirements of your chosen servos).

The kit does not provide an rx,  servos, or a gyro, those you must supply yourself. This kit is not a super combo so you do not get servos or gyro with it.

Blades

The kit comes with Align 600D 3D blades and also white carbon tail blades. Both of these blades are capable of top level 3D performance but for sport fliers or beginners I would recommend a less aggressive blade as the Align 600D are really a stick banger blade and not really suited to smooth sports flying. Something like a Radix 600 would provide a much smoother and progressive performance as well as auto'ing better than a 3D stick banger style blade.

Flight Testing

Flight testing is really designed to understand the manners of the model not just decide if it can pull the worlds best piro tic-toc. So to that end I put the model through a series of moves designed to initially determine how accurate the machine is and how well it tracks through large moves. Following this I test the power system and it's suitability to different flying styles.

So taking accuracy first I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is the first 600E from Align that actually flips straight. All previous incarnations have had a wonky flip due to either swashplate phasing design errors or frame flex. The 600 ESP suffers neither. The collective response is sharp, largely assisted in this area by the stick banger style blades. Cyclic response is much faster than my old 600E and actually surprised me as I wasn't expecting it, it really can flip quite rapidly although this ended up not being as advantageous as you might first think and I'll come back to this. Positioning the model in chaos moves or getting nice accurate stops was not an issue and overall the accuracy was very good.

Moving onto large moves where we are looking at the tracking of the model in flight. The 600 ESP has an extremely smooth feel to it and it's the difference you get with a big electric model compared to a nitro. Electric models have little vibration and as such they provide a super smooth flight performance in large sports type moves. This comes across nicely with the 600 ESP and it tracks superbly well through large loops, stall turns and rolls. This I feel is much assisted by the stiffer frames and the new layout of the control system with the angled bellcranks and elevator 'A' arm.

So at this point we know it's accurate, tracks well in large moves and doesn't suffer any significant phasing issues or frame flex. So let's move onto the power system.

This unfortunately is where the story starts to unwind. The 600 ESP is a 6S model and it's a 50 sized model. This means that you need a pretty high amp draw in order to get the power needed for good 3D performance. It used to be the case that lipos were not up to this task but with todays high power lipos much more is possible with a 6S system......... if it has a good motor. Sadly the 600 ESP has the 650L which while it will deliver enough performance to do 3D is barely adequate for a strong 3D flight. Certainly for me I felt like I was continually nursing power and having to micro manage my pitch in order to stop it bogging down. I'm sure this is the reason Align has recently announced it's 600M motor.

Lastly I said I'd come back to the cyclic pitch speed which is very good, it really can flip fast. The downside is that good cyclics means more power drain on the motor and I ended up having to back off the cyclic as it was just pulling the headspeed down too far when combined with collective. If matched to a more powerful motor then this really could be a quick and agile model.

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Power System

I said I'd come back to the ESC and it only being capable of 6S......this is a further limiting factor for the 600 ESP. Most pilots if not all experienced pilots will say that a 6S system is just not adequate for a 50 sized helicopter. The amp draws become prohibitive with overheating being a major problem when drawing large currents. As such 8S is seen by most as the minimum for 50 sized helicopters and 10S the accepted norm. Until Align take the step to acknowledge that 6S really isn't a good power system for a 50 sized helicopter then for most 3D pilots the 600 ESP doesn't present good value for money,  immediately after buying it you have a new ESC and motor to buy (having already paid for an ESC and motor you don't need).

For beginners and sports fliers I'm sure the 650L motor and 6S ESC would be more than adequate but without doubt a limiting factor in the future as the pilot progresses to 3D flight.

I think the 600 ESP would probably sell better if it was cheaper and didn't include the ESC and motor.

Lastly when considering a large electric model the consideration of lipo costs must be taken into account. If you are an occasional flyer then three packs for a quick three flights in an hour might be just fine. For a more serious pilot who wants to fly all morning or all day the lipo costs very quickly become prohibitive and nito power looks a lot more attractive. Bear in mind that a lipo flight (cost per flight) is probably cheaper than a nitro flight these days but the upfront costs and the charging requirements at the field will soon make a large electric model seem quite impractical for a full days flying with multiple flights, in this instance nitro power is far more convenient.

Flight Video

Pros & Cons

 

Pros
Nice quality of parts
Accurate and smooth flight manners
Straight forward build
Good 3D blades supplied
Includes all electronic components except rx, servos & gyro
2mm carbon side frames and little frame flex
Nice painted fiberglass canopy
Cons
Power system is lacking
ESC limited to 6S
Prohibitve lipo costs if used as an all day flier
Frames too narrow for some servos

 

Conclusion

The T-Rex 600 ESP is a much improved model from the original 600E launched a few years ago. The model has matured in terms of it's build quality and it's flight capabilities from an accuracy perspective. Unfortunately the power system has not matured with it and is still the original 6S system that Align launched with years ago. I think to be taken seriously the 600 ESP needs a power system that delivers what we expect from electric models these days.......which is more power than the equivalent sized nitro model. The 600 ESP power system does not deliver this and whilst this may be fine for beginners,  sport and mild 3D fliers it limits the appeal beyond that. Overall I think it's a well designed model, nice quality that not only looks nice but has very good flight manners, unfortunately it's let down by an outdated power system.

( 36 Votes )