Presented and flown at IRCHA. This is a 500 size heli competing in the T-rex 500 dominated 500 size segment. According to compass model, the current stocks are all sold out and pre-orders for September batch is on a first come first serve basis.

As with the current trend, this heli comes with pretty metal blings and esc and motor combo which current owners say is MORE than sufficent for good performance. The raptor/knight 3d style of tail pulley drives should be very maintaince free. Batteries are mounted along the axis of the boom while the motor is mounted on the lower half of the frame. [ click here to see videos, photos & rest of story ]

Now showing on the Horizon Hobby site, is the Spektrum AR7100R Rev Limit RPM sensor and bracket assembly available separately. Currently not in stock (which is Horizon’s way of saying “not yet available”), the site shows availability by mid-September 2008.

[ click here to see videos, photos & rest of story ]

Spektrum has issued a product support bulletin for owners of their AR7100 and AR7100R  DSM2 receivers. They’ve apparently gotten a few reports of antenna wires becoming detached from the main receiver body. [ click here to see videos, photos & rest of story ]

Align’s new 650L motor designed as a drop-in replacment for the T-Rex 600E and possibly as a standard motor on the new 600E Pro helicopter has been released to some of Align’s distributors. The new motor is currently available at Wattsuprc in Brisbane, Australia and boasts… [ click here to see videos, photos & rest of story ]

Yes, photos of the real thing, not some autocad or 3d software rendering…which means…THIS THING IS FOR REAL!!! It is really tiny.
Comparison with the 450 canopy. Really small.

[ click here to see videos, photos & rest of story ]

Nice MR video of Lukas Riva flying the Align T-Rex 700 at IRCHA 2008 with CRASH at the end.

[ video courtesy of www.runryder.com ]

Now showing up on the HeliDirect website is a new offering from the folks over at Outrage RC. A new .50 sized nitro heli muffler designed to fit OS, YS and TT Redline .50 sized engines.

[ click here to see videos, photos & rest of story ]

MTA Hobbies not just a fun-fly vendor:

Well I myself have been looking to get a T-Rex 700 ever since they released.  Of course I have been trying to give my advertisers the business before I give it to anyone else.  I have found it VERY hard to get a T-Rex 700, even DIRECT from Andy and Kyna at Assurance.  I finally got one last week and slapped it together but now there seems to be a shortage of .90 motors and pipes.  I live in the Los Angeles area and the only place I usually mail order from is Modefos Heli.  I had been calling all over L.A. and found that MTA Hobbies seems to have A TON of things in stock that no other stores around the country has in stock.  Looks like they even have 8717’s which are becoming scarce.  NO ONE has Spartan Gyros that I can find.  I used to just buy from them like crazy at fun-flys but it looks as if I am going to have to start mail ordering from them as well.

When I called Rosie at MTA on Saturday she said she had OS, YS and Align 91s In-Stock.  That’s insane.  I did find some 6 YS 91s down at Discount Hobby Warehouse in San Diego and 1 Align motor at Robin’s Hobby in Glendale, CA.  Robin’s is only selling their 91 with a T-Rex 700 that they have sitting there as well.

[ check out more MTA Hobbies Specials here ]

Surfacing just as IRCHA 2008 was wrapping up, an issue was discovered with the aileron wiring on the JR X9303 transmitter. Apparently, the wiring for the aileron gimbal is routed in such a way that it rubs on a chip on the 2.4GHz frequency module. After a short time, the insulation on the wires is worn through, exposing the wire inside. If left unchecked, the wires themselves can short, or be worn completely through, leading to a loss of aileron control and a crash. The good news is that this issue is easily fixed.

JR has issued a support statement as well as do it yourself instructions for re-routing the wiring to fix the problem on your X9303. The issue is reported to only affect the 2.4GHz version of the 9303 series of JR transmitters as the module rubbing the wires is the 2.4GHz module. The 72 MHz models of the 9303 do not have this chip. Don’t wait! If you have an X9303, check this issue out ASAP! 

[ click here to see videos, photos & rest of story ]