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| Nightranger 3DXL |
Average Rating: 7 |
Mar 9, 2007
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Reviewed By: The Sandman
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Join Date: Mar 9, 2007
Location:
Total Reviews: 1
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Rating: 7 out of 10
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NIGHTRANGER 3DXL
Picked this up RTF From the local hobby shop for 450.00. Some minor shipping damage to the tail supports were all that I had to adjust out of the box. Not much needed to get tracking dead on.
NOTE: Weird thing on these helis: for some reason the servos can never seem to get 90 degrees to the mains shaft - one control arm will always be much longer or shorter than the rest. It looks funny - but a level swash plate is the goal here and it works fine- so I accept this. The manual also makes short note of the pushrod lengths, but I felt that it should be mentioned here as well.
Having said all that, on my maiden voyage, the tail rotor push-rod arm (near the gyro) came loose and I ended up putting her into the ground. (I found several parts of the head assembly in the backyard the next day...no biggie except I flew this in my front DRIVEWAY! - lol) - Looks like the screw was stripped during the earlier mentioned shipping damage but was not obvious upon inspection- obviously. :)
I spoke to Paul S. at Venom Air Corps. the next day.....he issues an RMA and 2 weeks later: My new nightranger arrives! Wow. What customer service....and in this industry that's rare. (And I have had some BAD experiences with some....uh um....century....not naming names or anything....Century...cough)
Impressions now that I have had this a few weeks:
I like it. NOt a T-rex, but a NOT-SO-EXPENSIVE, fully setup (RTF) 400-450 size helicolpter that is perfect for those transitioning from micros to larger.
Simple bell and hiller head design with a solid Metal frame. Easy to repair.
NOTE: The pin that holds the mainshaft to the gear is a pain to remove, I spoke with Paul at Venom about this and he explains that they are working to change this to something easier to remove/replace- so I used a screw with nut instead and it works fine with plenty of clearance (make sure the diameter of the screw is right or you will have some slop)
The radio is actually pretty nice for a RTF packaged unit. IT does have the ability to adjust GYRO on the radio, re-program curves and even has a "gear" function that is supported on the receiver and radio alike.
The batteries in the original release have been swapped with more powerful 31A vs the old 15A batteries which only lasted about 5-8 min. Still testing new battery and can update later with my impressions.
Overall I am happy I purchased this RTF before building a t-rex. With the 3DXL I can get used to flying the larger size models and gain experience working on them before investing alot of money.
Hope to see more parts availability and upgrades soon. Can't beat their customer service!
ON a scale of 1 -10 I give the NR3DXL a 7. Perfect for the micro pilot who is looking to transition to 400-450 size.
Gregory Daerr
Freelance RCHeli Review Writer ( :) ) |
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• UNBEATABLE CUSTOMER SUPPORT! They really back this product up! Excellent transitional RTF. Price is great!
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• Still a new release, but parts availability is poor (although they will allow you to go direct if local support is not available for parts), also parts descriptions in the manual are vauge and some parts are not even listed (i.e. Dampers are not sold sep
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