Most of you know that I’ve been flying my little Align T-Rex 450 remote control helicopter since 2011. I’ve been wanting to fly a larger helicopter since the end of last year, but this spring I decided that I didn’t want to spend the bucks to purchase and maintain it. When one flies R/C helicopters, the word maintain means “buy replacement parts when you crash it.” Larger helicopters have larger, more expensive parts…

But at the end of July, I ran across an opportunity that I just couldn’t pass up (especially when I got permission from The Boss to not pass it up. Love you, honey): a used 2009 Align T-Rex 600 Nitro Super Pro, in flying condition, with a OS 55HZ engine, CY ATG v3 governor, GY520 gyro, two step voltage regulator and SwitchGlo on board glow driver. Oh, and a whole BOX of spare parts, including a second muffler.

How much did it cost? Add up all this, and divide by a factor of at least 3. Now you understand. Incidentally, this is how I got into the R/C hobby in the first place. I found a deal on used equipment: everything needed to fly. And similar to that occasion, I asked the previous owner to fly his bird so I could be sure it was in working condition.

Needless to say, I’m very happy with the value. And the thing is a BLAST to fly. I like flying big maneuvers that eat up a bunch of sky, but that’s challenging to do with a smaller heli that gets hard to see when it’s way up there, or way out there. But this big brother to the 450 is plenty large enough. It’s also very powerful, and surprisingly agile, even though this one has a fly bar(the 450 has a 3-axis gyro and no fly bar). I’m still getting familiar with it’s flying characteristics, but below is a video shot and edited by a friend at the flying field during a windy day. At the end of the video, I perform a full auto-rotation from a few hundred feet up with a sliding landing(that maneuver isn’t possible with the smaller heli). This past weekend, I did a few more autos, and I put the last one right at my feet with no sliding! I’ve already flown two gallons of fuel through it in about four weeks…