For Sale Align trex 500 flybar heli

[Camaroboy383]

Unfortunately someone I knew passed away and I acquired a bunch of his helicopter stuff.. I had plans to get this stuff going, but I just have no time..I know he would want to see his stuff used instead of collecting dust so i guess its time to see if anyone can give this stuff a home.. i have to sift through everything but we will start here..

Align trex 500 flybar heli, I'd assume this is the v1 of this chopper.. comes with some spare parts.. I do not know a bunch about this chopper, never got the chance to ask..

Has a receiver and gyro, motor, an esc that was in the canopy but unknown if it functions, it does power up, as well as all 3 cyclic servo's..

I can see there was a tail strike, rear gear set missing a couple teeth, as well as the tail input gear missing a couple teeth.. input gear would need to be acquired, tail gear set is included in part's...

Missing tail servo.. all other cyclic servo's do function..

Some minor rust on the flybar and some of the head screws..

All aluminum head and tail case/blade clips..

Carbon air frame seems perfect, boom is not bent..

Tail boom will be removed for shipping purposes..

Fiberglass Canopy is in great shape

Any questions feel free to ask and I'll answer to the best of my ability..

$240 shipped to the lower 48 states, PayPal goods and services is a must..

 

[Tex Koder]

Unfortunately someone I knew passed away and I acquired a bunch of his helicopter stuff.. I had plans to get this stuff going, but I just have no time..I know he would want to see his stuff used instead of collecting dust so i guess its time to see if anyone can give this stuff a home.. i have to sift through everything but we will start here..

...

Gosh.
My condolences to you and the acquaintance's family.

I do hope you find a wonderful home for this heli.

 

[Camaroboy383]

Gosh.
My condolences to you and the acquaintance's family.

I do hope you find a wonderful home for this heli.

He lived a good life, he was an avid hobbyist and lived a long time, he was in his 80's.. unfortunately his wife passed more than 10 year's ago and they had no children..

He lived in a 1400ish sq ft house, and no kidding every wall in the house floor to ceiling rc aircraft and ho scale trains..

We pulled over 150 planes out of there, more than 20 helis, and miles of train stuff.. the dx8 radio collection was insane.. he had 18 of them....

He was doing what made him happy so in the end that was all that mattered..

 

[Tirefryer426]

Sorry about your friend. Lost one of my flying buddies a few years back.

I have this exact same heli. It is a V1 AKA the ESP version.

I believe I heard that they've stopped making parts for these. Helidirect has some stuff for them it looks like.

If I'm wrong on the parts, I'd love someone to correct me. I don't fly mine much anymore.

GLWS

 

[Camaroboy383]

Sorry about your friend. Lost one of my flying buddies a few years back.

I have this exact same heli. It is a V1 AKA the ESP version.

I believe I heard that they've stopped making parts for these. Helidirect has some stuff for them it looks like.

If I'm wrong on the parts, I'd love someone to correct me. I don't fly mine much anymore.

GLWS

Thank you, and thank you for the info, I was into heli's a long time ago but never got into align product's so I appreciate that info.. I'm tempted to just break it down and shuffle the parts off on eBay..

 

[Tirefryer426]

That might be the best route to take unfortunately.
I know I can't really justify $240 for a parts bird for a helo that I think I spent $200 on.
I've got an align 450 flybarless that is in the same boat with the parts availability.

 

[Tex Koder]

That might be the best route to take unfortunately.
I know I can't really justify $240 for a parts bird for a helo that I think I spent $200 on.
I've got an align 450 flybarless that is in the same boat with the parts availability.

I'm not a heli guy..
So roughly how much more money would one need to invest to get this bird up in the air ,safely / reliably?

 

[Tirefryer426]

I'm not a heli guy..
So roughly how much more money would one need to invest to get this bird up in the air ,safely / reliably?

Short answer is anywhere from $50 to $300.

As long as there isn't any additional damage and all of the electronics work - looking at a few bucks for a servo. Tail servos don't need to be crazy. Maybe $15-$20 for the second gear that it doesn't come with.
Radio and a battery if you don't already have one. These are 6s helis.
There are youtube videos out there that explain how to dial in the blade pitch angles and get the head set up correctly. That can be a bit of a process for someone that hasn't done it. On a heli with known crash damage and of otherwise unknown origin this would be a must.

Won't go into long winded forensics on the tail strike. I'll just say that there could be damage that isn't apparent without a full tear down or a full power up on a bench with the blades off. (you have to be careful, these are basically flying lawn mowers. A 500 size helo can seriously injure you if it hits you.) Could be looking at another $50 - $75 in nick knacks. The size jump from a 450 to a 500 is pretty substantial. Its a big enough helo that even light impacts can bend things.

Its got a lot going for it, though. Its a great starter heli in a size that isn't going to bankrupt you if you crack blades. Bigger helicopters are easier to learn and fly. These don't have any safeties on them, though. No bailout button. That canopy is in great shape, you can't get those anymore outside of ebay. Aside from the little specs of rust on the flybar, it looks like it was taken care of. Everything looks really clean.