Vintage RC Helicopters - Joe's Collection - Align

Joe's Collection - Align  Joe William Richardson

Align T-rex 100 (2011)

Bought new in Mar 11 and was one of the first batch of T-rex 100's in the country; must admit I expected a small 250 type helicopter whereas it was one of the 'stable' machines which fly'more like a 'contra-rotating' machine.  Mind you this is no bad thing for something this small as the 250 is quite a handful in acceleration and response (for an old 'fart' like me anyway).  Unfortunately the Tx did not have my 'mode' for flying so as it was 'mode 2' I could only gently fly it round and not get carried away.

Align T-rex 250 (2008)

Bought new in Nov 08 and was one of the first T-rex 250's in the country so suffered the 'jamming' tail rotor control associated with the separate bearing tail blade holder design.  Needless to say it suffered damaged and took quite a few weeks to get the spares and convert it to the now common double row bearing which does not jam up.  Up to Jul 09 I had only flown indoors but it was an amazing little machine and my reactions took a big jump especially with respect to unusual positions (the helicopter that is).  If I had tried flying this a year earlier then it would not have lasted 5 minutes though at that time I still had not the 'nads' to flip it, that would wait until I had tried it outdoors where there is more room for things to go 'wrong'.

In Sep 09 it was upgraded with Align CF tapered blades and they did make the pitch a little sharper and had tried it outside a couple of times but not felt comfortable especially over water.  Don't get me wrong, everything was very positive but it is super quick to react and gets up to some serious speeds.  It was this aspect that gave me unease as I could envisage just losing it for a split second then not recovering and 'splash' into the water.  Interesting point in that I was talking to the owner of a model shop I frequent a short while later and he told me everybody he had sold a T-rex 250 had crashed them, usually quite badly (though repair costs are cheap).  It is not one for 'oldies' or those of 'nervous' disposition.

By Jul 10 I had tried it outdoors a couple of times and whilst it copes well even with windy days it is very nervous and quick to get bumped around, unfortunately my reactions are a bit slow for that sort of thing and nearly lost it a couple of times.

Align T-rex 450 XL (2006)

Bought in Aug 06 and used as a general flyer for its first few hours though for me at the time it was a little 'sensitive' and not very stable in forward flight.

Later on in Jan 07 after having a slight 'whoops' with a bulkhead, repairs were carried out and at the same time I fitted an 'Airwolf' body with retracts.  Looked very good and especially menacing when doing nose in hovering just a few inches from the deck (ground to 'land lubbers') or lifting the tail 'high' before shooting off into a circuit.  The extra weight gave it more of a big helicopter feel and the motor has the power to fly it in a scale like manner.

In Jul 09 it started making a strange whirring sound so put into storage awaiting a full strip down and service.

Jun 10 stripped it down but could not really find anything wrong so after a good check rebuilt and tested.  However body edges were starting to curl with the canopy not going on to well and also the retracts occasionally catching the body.  Like all thin fibreglass construction, it ages, cracks and deforms with any attempt to straighten it causing more cracks or even breaking the piece off.

Align T-rex 450 (2005)

Bought in mid 07 as non-working 'Bitsa' being an original 'grey' plastic model but with quite a few updates.  Converted to eccpm to fit into a scale body however, once built there was heavy vibration caused by resonance in the scale body.  No matter what I tried and despite changing main mast, etc, etc this vibration could not be stopped so returned it to 'pod and boom' format for general use.  Not used a lot but by Apr 10 control getting very wayward and there is a lot of play in the seesaw linkages so needed a good looking over before bring back into use.

Given a good going over in Feb 2011 and now much better with response and decided it was ready for the EC135 fuselage.

Align T-rex 450 IC (2007)

Bought in Feb 10 as a set of components made by RC-challenge for converting the T-rex 450 into an IC powered model and comprised of frame upgrade along with the motor and exhaust system.  Very little info available on this upgrade and RC-challenge has long gone.  Intention is to acquire a collection of after market metal components, etc, then build it up as the special it was supposed to be.

Align T-rex 500 (2008)

Had this one bought for me as a late Christmas present in Jan 08 very shortly after they came out as my wife thought that it looked 'cute'; no argument from me.  Extremely stable in the hover and in fast forward flight it seems to think that it is a small T-rex 600 rather than an overgrown T-rex 450.  Even I can flip and roll this one and strangely enough in May 08 it was the first helicopter I had the confidence with to do a full auto down to landing.  Due in the main to its very benign but positive control reactions and relatively large, wide landing legs which means that it does not try to roll over even when coming down not quite straight.  In Jan 10 I fitted a large single 6S 3700mAh battery and though not quite as sprightly (cannot do 3D yet anyway) it now has a standard endurance of 10 minutes general flying or 8 minutes of 'hard' collective use.

This is one helicopter I would recommend to anyone considering taking up RC helicopters; it is stable enough for even a complete beginner to practice with without any great stress.

Align T-rex 600 XL (2007)

Nov 07  -  Bought this one from Hong Kong for a very reasonable price.  High power model and I learnt how to properly loop and roll with this one plus stationary flips and rolls etc though it was certainly capable of more than I could do with it.

Jun 10 - General use of about four hours since purchase but not really put to its full potential and when the battery started to lose endurance I put it into storage.

A very stable easy to fly helicopter that again can be used as a trainer though the cost of batteries and charges does mean that it IS an expensive option.  Mind you, by 2011 the cost of batteries and chargers had significantly reduced both in real terms and relative terms that it began to get viable.

'EX' Align Helicopters

Align T-rex 600 L (2007)

Bought in Feb 08 along with another helicopter and other bits.  The head had been used in a JR Voyager electric conversion however I put that back to standard and built this one up.  Original version and slightly less powerful than the later T-rex 600 model with the 'X' motor though very good for general flying and aerobatics.  in May 09 I modified the front to the helicopter to take my camcorder and attempted to take video recordings of the ship from the air.  Didn't work though as my camcorder is a HD type and the vibration caused the protection shutdown system to stop the camcorder.  Fastened on one of the little 'Flycam' recorders and this worked though suffered from high frequency feedback from the speed controller/motor causing the picture to be 'wavy'.  Sold on in Feb 10 being swapped for a mid 70's Graupner bell 212 and some Hirobo Falcon projects.

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