Align Trex 600 Super Nitro Pro review

This is my latest and first ever nitro heli. The align trex 600 super nitro pro. Bought it online at helipross.com in Taiwan 2 mths ago in august 2008.

At this blog moment (oct 2008), I've flown roughly about 8 gallons (32 litres) of nitro on it.

My first crash took out the blades, torque tube, tail gear, carbon tail boom, skids, main shaft, muffler, skids and cracked the canopy. It was back in the air within a week or so. Replaced all damaged items with new ones and covered the cracked canopy with the align CF canopy cover.

Apart from that bad crash, I also suffered a few hard landings. Carbsmart sensor failing and blowing the piston was one of the cause, a loose main blade lingkage was another. Managed somehow to autorotate back to ground on both occasions. Booms strikes however stripped the front umbrella gears. Again, all parts were duly replaced and air operations were resumed.

Since then my flying confidence has been greatly reduced. The shakes have returned and trying out new maneuvers are limited to my sim and 450. I know sooner or later gravity will win but for now, mild flying is my current policy. Crashes and mods I reckoned have cost me an additional $700 or so.

That's the story so far. The rest of this post from here onwards are basically brief explanations on the pics Ive included. One, for my own remembrance while it is still in its prime :) and two, for those who are thinking of getting a 50 size nitro, apart from the mods, below are what's included in the align super pro kit.

The all metal head. Zero slop in the bearings even after the bad crash. There is however some play at the washout cage even from new. Common to all super nitro pro head.




Align CF paddle. Mixed reviews on its performance in forums. Since I haven't tried others, I cant say whether its good or bad.








Gy611 gyro. Futaba's signature gyro. Serious gyro for serious flyers so they say. I still haven't explored its full potential as yet.









The gyro's amp which fits nicely in the heli allocated slot.

Mount the rx on top, lipo battery below, regulator opposite and with the canopy fitted, the heli's CG is spot on.

I was using the stock align governor with csm carbsmart before upgrading to this Aerospire Multigov Pro which I ordered direct from Aerospire. Huge increase in performance and versatility. Look up the info on the net yourself because there are just too many to mention. Personally I found the downside to it would be its inability to be turned off without losing 1 of the 3 programmed rpms. But apart from that, I have no complaints.



For constant fuel delivery to my 50 hyper, I fitted a raptor header tank. For automatic mixture control during flight (one of the multigov pro functions), the high needle is control by a hitec hs65mg servo. Notice the modified servo horn. This is for added visibility for tuning purposes. Horn should be centred in normal flight. Changing fuel affects its centering. Change the stock plastic fan to a metal one. They warped and can destroy your rpm sensors.

Ive place the on/off switch as far back as possible so that you view the battery level, operate the ignitor while the canopy is fitted. One cool feature of the align regulator is the built-in glow ignitor. One press of the button will light the plug for 15sec. Ample time to start your motor.

This is my latest upgrade so far. Quick UK metal tail grips which I ordered from Helikraft. Check out 50-tuning.com.. Zero negative review not forgetting the added bling factor. The weight added to the tail by using this mod were, to me, unnoticable.



The stock kit came with black new 3d 600 skids. I got the orange ones after the crash. Reckoned they looked better. As for the blade, I initially wanted to get the align 600D when the 1st set were destroyed but they were out of stock. Funtechs were the only ones available from Helikraft at that time. Found a review on it in a magazine shortly after acquiring them and it had gotten excellent review. Sheer luck indeed.

Right now Im still waiting for my new lightning series ceramic bearings from Boca USA to arrive. Will replace them once they do. Ordered 5 bearings in total for this heli. 3 for the main shaft and 2 for the engine starter shaft. Apart from the low resistance and high tolerances, they should last longer than normal bearings.

As for future upgrades, Im planning to try a different engine. The TT 53 redline most likely to be my choice. Im also thinking upgrading my spektrum dx7 to a jr x9303 for a higher resolution control.




Some say the best 50 size nitro is the Knight 3D. Some swear by TT Raptor 50V2. Im quite happy with align. Give it a go and you wont be dissapointed. Fly safe!