600GT, Upgrade & revisions

+1, waiting the for HK600 TT.

HK has been a pioneer in bringing affordable heli to many around that world esp. to those without lots of choice (ie US & Can has lots of choices). Having said that I'm incline to recommend to newbies or new builders to go for a basic Align kit for the hand holding offered by the detailed manual, parts list and worked out bugs. The premium for a beginner is worth it. Rebuild with HK kits/parts.

Originally posted by wchiro ... Still waiting to buy my HK600.

Little bit of perspective needed here I think....

Go buy an Align 600LE or 700LE (Limited Edition) and see how long it flies before the tail explodes.
Have Align done anything to rectify this? No.
Email them and see what response you get, precisely none, it's been tried.
Now the inevitable crash that results from the tail exploding is going to cost somewhere in the region of £100 to £200, so say $300 !

Now the 600GT isn't perfect, Jason and the management of HK know this, it's been reported here and also prior to the release of the 600GT.
The trick is to get the manufacturer to recognise this, which in all honesty they are not going to do willingly as they would have to absorb the re-tooling costs.
Have a little patience, let Jason work his magic and see what happens.

You got a 600 class helicopter at a fraction of the cost of the Align equivalent, stick the required parts on, make the mods, do whatever. Just don't be demanding free stuff, it aint going to happen.

For the record, my pre-production 600GT is still flying, everything from the boom block back over had to be changed for Align. The swash was swopped out for Align as it was unusable, headblock pins were lowered, new set of main grip bearings and a new set of dampers and it was good to go. All in all, not bad really.

I have perspective I've read hundreds of posts I'm just tired of wasting hard earned money on faulty crap. I don't care if only the tail broke but it caused other  damage the the heli causing me to spend time and money fixing it, instead of flying it and having fun. This is becoming work and no longer a enjoyable hobby.

To be honest, it would be worth the extra cost if they just went and bundled the necessary Align parts with the HK600 and skipped the poor quality knockoff parts for things like the main gear, rotor with correct pin length, tail servo mount and the tail with thrust bearings. I'm sure HK can get these parts for cheaper than I can buying them individually. A ceramic bearing set would be nice as an option.

Gears seem to be a big problem area for HK.
My HK450 maingear was really warped, it caused a lot of vibration so I replaced it with an Align. The belt drive gear/shaft/bearing setup had to be replaced also, the bearings were bad from the start. Tail shafts and separating pulleys have also been a regular problem.