any of the lower cost ones i would stay away from. there's no point in upgrading them.

typically, the best you can afford, even if it's a stretch is the way to go.

i am a huge fan of the b400. you get spectrum radio, brushless motor, belt driven tail, upgradable (to an extent). i still use the spektrum that came with my 400 in everything i own. $460 is about the going rate, rtf. or you can always buy a used one.

Schluter Heli-Star - Vintage Cruiser
Pantera 50 - Air Wolf (W.I.P.)
Align T-Rex 500 ESP - Weekend Warrior
Blade mCX - Domesticated Animal Terrorizer
Blade 400 - Insert Purpose Here
Heli-Max MX450 - for the Road
Dx6i and Airtronics SD-10G
RealFlight G4.5

I would think you could easily swap out the vbar head and vbar control system. Just buy a stock Align head with flybar, the washout mixer and linkages.

But, from what I've head, the vbar systems can be cheaper to fix after a crash - fewer parts to replace.
And, the vbar system is "tunable" for responsiveness - so it might make learning easier too.

I don't own one, but I've been talking to people that fly them.

ticedoff8 (Yahoo IM)
Shogun V2 - daily flier (retiring soon)
3 - GMP "King Cobra" .61 w/ 620mm blades - 25 yo heli.
AMA 171886

Hey Mike, that is one great flying helicopter as you can tell in the last issue of RCHELI. Align does offer a flybar conversion for the 3G version of the helicopter, but I do not think you need to do that. Replacing the 3G system would be expensive as you have to purchase the head, and a separate gyro for the tail. That can really add up depending on which gyro you plan on using. The 3G system works great and can be dialed down to a nice comfortable feel that somewhat rivals a flybar head. It may take a little more to setup and understand how to program, but I think that would be the way to go. Get some advice from a fellow pilot, or give Align a call and talk to their customer service. Hey you can even shoot me an email if you need some help. ryank@rchelimag.com

Associate Editor-
RC Heli Magazine.

"What we have here, is a failure to communicate"

why do i have dumb thumbs?????

Schluter Heli-Star - Vintage Cruiser
Pantera 50 - Air Wolf (W.I.P.)
Align T-Rex 500 ESP - Weekend Warrior
Blade mCX - Domesticated Animal Terrorizer
Blade 400 - Insert Purpose Here
Heli-Max MX450 - for the Road
Dx6i and Airtronics SD-10G
RealFlight G4.5

Ok this is my question.

Is it possible to run 2 Lipo Batteries in parallel or in series with 2 different discharge ratings?

Alot of people now who run a trex 500 and a trex 450 are using 2 of there 3s packs from there 450 to run there 500. I love this because i dont have to buy separate battery packs for my 2 Helis. This is a big money saver. I recently lost one of my 30 c packs. So now i am left with a 35c and a 30c pack. I want to know if i can run these together without harm to the packs or the esc. I did not really think it would harm anything it would just bottle neck to the lower "C" rating, But i wanted to ask the professionals before i tryed anything. I have asked this question a few times to few different people at my local hobby shops and they all had different opinions on the matter.

thank you for your help

Jake

I don't know about professional here but in my opinion I wouldn't do it. Get another 30C and 35C battery, then you have two sets. In theory it should be OK and you are right it would default to the lower Amp rated one for example 30C/2200mAh = 66Amps and 35C/2200mAh = 77 Amps. So if you stayed below 66Amps it would be fine. But they will probably drain at different rates, yadda, yadda, yadda. So my two cents is don't do it or you may end up with two more dead/damaged lipos.

I'm sure you will get more opinions here than you got at your LHS.

Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. - Albert Camus

i'm with KC on this one....

although, the C rating is for a safe discharge rate (or draw) from the system. so, the battery is capable of giving more faster, doesn't mean it would always do such.

if that were the case, you should experience a drop of flight time switching from a 20C to a 30C pack.

but, i'm a wuss, and always err on the side of caution (well, most of the time!!!!). so i guess you could try and see what happens. would be kinda cool to get an official yes/no from the mfg's, but good luck on that one.

also, i read in the mag to NEVER charge two 3s packs in series as a 6S pack. i do this all the time using my 106B+ charger (always ballance charging) and have yet to have any issues with it. then again, i always pair my batteries during discharge and charge, essentially making a matched set (1 always with 2, 3 always with 4, etc). all they do at the manufacturing plant when they build them is put larger terminals on the tops to make room for more batteries, so you are doing the same thing essentially when you use an external wire to connect the batteries. just always be sure the "hot" battery goes to the "hot" lead on the ballancer, same as the "ground" battery"! otherwise BAD things can happen!

Schluter Heli-Star - Vintage Cruiser
Pantera 50 - Air Wolf (W.I.P.)
Align T-Rex 500 ESP - Weekend Warrior
Blade mCX - Domesticated Animal Terrorizer
Blade 400 - Insert Purpose Here
Heli-Max MX450 - for the Road
Dx6i and Airtronics SD-10G
RealFlight G4.5

I always charge them seperatly. Im and thinking of doing a short flight in parallel and testing the batteries to see if they are discharging at the same level and no overheating. At least if they are in parallel they are 2 separate entities and should not cause concern. I would be a little more worried running them in series being they are running through each other. I may become the test dummy on this one. I'll wait till this weekend to see if anyone has already tryed it. If not ill go ahead with it and report back.

http://www.cisclan.com/images/personal/redeyesig2.jpg

Batteries with different "C" ratings essentially have a different internal resistance. The higher the "C" rating, the lower the internal resistance - and it's the internal resistance of a cell that causes it to heat up. As long as you don't exceed the rating of the pack with the lowest "C" rating, you should be OK. Heat is a LiPo packs enemy.

As far as charging packs in series (like two 3S packs as a 6S)... This also is OK as long as the charger knows it is charging a 6S pack and that it has access to each cell in BOTH packs via its balance leads. I do this all the time. I just made a "Y" balance lead that connectes the balance leads of each pack to a single 6S balance connector that plugged into the charger. Of course you'll need to properly wire the adapter, so refer to your battery manufacturers documentation to determine how the balance leads are wired.

Chuck Bassani
RC Heli Magazine - Team Member

yup! same set-up here the 106B+ has a 6S port, so i just did the Y for the balance leads. works like a charm.

Schluter Heli-Star - Vintage Cruiser
Pantera 50 - Air Wolf (W.I.P.)
Align T-Rex 500 ESP - Weekend Warrior
Blade mCX - Domesticated Animal Terrorizer
Blade 400 - Insert Purpose Here
Heli-Max MX450 - for the Road
Dx6i and Airtronics SD-10G
RealFlight G4.5