I have never owned a 550 size heli, ever. I was sort of expecting a crazy fast wild bird that I would have to tame down just so I can fly it. kind of like a very large MCPX or something. but oh boy was I wrong....this bird is amazing. first hover was hands off and rock solid. very fluid and smooth in the air. almost like the bird was flying itself. this is one super smooth heli.
my setup:
E5
550mm Raxis V2 (not sure about exact size or spelling there, they came with the airframe so I used them)
96mm Rails on the tail
Scorpion 1100kv motor
CC Ice2 HV120 ESC
CC BEC Pro (set at 8V)
Torqe 9080 on the cyclic
Torge 9081 on the tail
BD3SX with V2.10 firmware (managed to eliminate the elevator bobble too!)
Headspeeds 2350, 2450, 2550 (2450 being the sweet spot)
5000ma and 5300ma 6 cell packs
I am getting a solid 3:30 of fast "hardish" 3D along with some big air and fast fast fast hurricanes in all orientations.
I am literally blown away at how smooth this bird fly's and how well it fly's. its like a small 700. perfect size for the park too, I can do a hurricane without worrying too much about the trees and things.
now, one lesson I learned very quickly with this one. collective is fast! so, I like to come flying at myself tail in at a fairly high rate of speed, then bust into a half piro flip (right rudder), stop with the tail pointed directly at the ground, the skids at me, and the disk at a 45 with the ground and a quick pop of positive collective followed immediately by negative to sling the heli at the ground and snap it dead still. then immediately going into an inverted, tail down, right rotation aileron hurricane.....not being as used to this bird as I should have been before trying this, I didn't quite get the disk at a 45, much closer to 80, the positive pitch went well, but too much negative almost sent her into a walnut tree just to my right! dang that was close!
I like the weight of this heli too. as my name says, I like gassers, which inherently weigh more that most birds. I like this extra weight to pull through maneuvers and things, I feel more connected than with a floating light heli. this heli is light, but gives the "feel" of a heavy bird, with the quickness of the small electric. its just a great heli and I could go on forever about how nice it is....I love it, I am done rambling about how well it fly's. now I'm off to fly again!