Questions about Hornet and Zoom 400

[Super-Hornet]

Hi all

Anyone of u have either Hornet or Zoom 400 or both experience can answer my question will be appreciated. I thinking of getting CP helicopter of either Zoom 400 or Hornet. Here are my question.

Hornet
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Since size is about the same as Dragonfly, so using Himax HA2025-4200 might be too heavy for Hornet. What motor do u use for Hornet?
CCPM? Is Hornet CCPM? What is CCPM anyway?
So far is it "The Hobby Shack" carries it?
Made in U.S.A?
Price comparison to Zoom 400?

Zoom 400
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Bigger size than Hornet so it has higher lifting power than Hornet or Dragonfly. With that, it is more suitable for my HA2025-4200.
The Zoom is not CCPM. Am I right, if so, according to some ppl in RCGroups, it is possible to use standard 4 Channel TX but u are limited to normal flight (No Inverted flying). If that so, can Hornet do so? If Hornet cannot, then I can go for Zoom first while using my standard 4Ch TX till I save enough money for better TX.
Who will going to carry the spare parts?


Super-Hornet

[MicroHeli-Nut]

Hornet, U can fly a mech mixed heli on 4 ch... but it'll be like FP. I think u dun wanna do that cos things get more complicated without a proper curve......

Hobby Shack carries all the Hornet parts. Ah Tat told me that the Hornet CP-X will be cheaper because it has less CF parts and the blades aren't that Ex.... The difference in the CP-X as far as i've read is that compared to the H2, the boom length's shorter... no bottom CF plate, compared to the newer versions of the Hornet CP , it's just 2 more carbon fins and tail boom supports......

I dunno much about the Zoom except that's it's made in a Taiwan Factory. Blades are composites with foam inside. Tail drive is supported by a bushing in the middle and 2 more side bearings ....[just confirmed lastnight]

[Super-Hornet]

Hi MicroHeli-Nut

I personally saw both Hornet (at Funfly) and Zoom 400 (at THS), what I can say is that:

I like Hornet more than Zoom in terms of product quality.
I hate Zoom non-anodized Tail Boom, Tail support, weak plastic spike pinion for both end tail shaft, and stupid design landing skids (non anodized horizontal skids and landing skids way too narrow for Zoom Size). I also have comment regarding about its blades because it is using foam type. Way too weak.

What I like about Zoom 400 is its size. Bigger than Hornet but not too big as compare to v.30 or any nitro chopper. I also feel that zoom parts is cheaper than Hornet but that maybe my assumption.

Currently I more lean toward Hornet but I need more assurance from u all. If majority feel that Hornet is better, then I go for Hornet when I have enough money.

What do u all feel?

Super-Hornet

[MicroHeli-Nut]

I will not take sides becos i've not flown a Zoom or owned one.

The hornet to me, is real fun to build. I found myself with my mouth open in shock many times when i found out how precise the Hornet's moulding was. I think a lot also depends on how skilled the building is. I made a lot of mistakes by my itchy fingers in alterations by smoothin this or sanding that. I can confirm now the Hornet 2 needs nothing else except proper fitting of parts with the right tools like a good bench vice and a needle for CA. NONE of the parts need to be worked on to fit if they have no flashing ........

The biggest flaw in the Kit has got to be the @#$@# instruction manual. I think it is crappy and dennis at Deetee enterprises should write the English manual.... The tail build instructions were the ones that got me into trouble. I ended up relying on a lot of onlinehelp [no different from owning an Eco 8]

I wanna stress here that the Hornet 2 comes with something that i had not spotted b4....

It's pitch slider for the tail shaft used to change pitch in the tail blades are DOUBLED bearinged and BRASS sleeved. The Eco 8 does not even have bearings in the stock pitch slider and the Zoom from what i can see in the photos, has only ONE bearing for pitch slider.....


I ended up not picking the Zoom 2 weeks ago because
1) I was sick of helis from Taiwan or China
2) The Hornet 1 or 2 is not choosy on battery packs... that means if your lipos fail you can still depend on metal hydride cells....

REgarding stability issues on the stock blades, please follow Hornet forum... www.hornet-heli.com There are many flyers who reported marked improvement on the Hornet 2 stock blades by adding 1g of extra weight to the tips.....

But the Zoom's tail setup also looks like it's less prone to vibrational issues:
1)gears are set at 90 degrees using pinion and spoke gears of very different sizes.....
2) smaller pinion at end of drive turns a Larger Poke plastic gear for the tail
3) Directly driven from the motor, which ensures less loss in efficiency....[ in contrast to the hornet, hornet flyers have reported cases of the conical gear skipping above the main gear and causing teeth breakage on the main gear...., against that finding, Fit has had 3 crashes .... with no terrible damage, one of which was a tail\boom strike, David has had 2 crashes with no injury to main gear]

also in any case of mishap the tail gears go first, which is not a bad idea on the Zoom.

So much text, and my hornet's not up in the air yet.

[dabiddo]

LIke Ray, I have no comparison since i have not owned or seen Zoom before.

But just a penny for your thought..

I believe both heli is good in its own way.. But that is not the only consideration... the most impt thing is spares support... H2 you can be assured that there is some kind of local hobby shop support, although they suck! but at least they are there and you can be fairly sure you can get your bird up in the air in a short time after u crashed it...

As for the Zoom, the only place now selling them is That Hobby Shop and even that, they seem to have problem carrying the spares.... unless you are prepared to order online bags of spares.. if not u might be grounded for a while if you crashed the zoom badly...

I am happy with my H2 and like what ray said, i had not much problem assembling my H2, it is tedious but the parts quality is good...

[Super-Hornet]

Hi all

I too feel that Hornet parts are much better than zoom. That is why I said the Hornet is from U.S. while Zoom is from Taiwan.

Initially I though Zoom 400 is from Europe (Protech) but then the more I dig out from the internet, it seems like Zoom 400 is from taiwan or china.

Looks like I might stick to Hornet instead. I not sure whether Hornet is CCPM or not..that is whether can I fly with 4Ch only or not. (No inverted flight yet because I know my skill not that good yet. Once I clocked more flight hour I might upgrade my TX to CP type.)

One more thing... other than "The Hobby Shack", where else (locally) can I get the spare. If locally don't have, which overseas do u all recommend and take how long to arrive?

Super-Hornet

[D.Yeo]

Being czech the hornet's got that funky euro heritage haha (it's not american.) And very nice CF parts almost comparable i think to the xray and serpent bits.

The zoom has got cheap plastics and was probably put together by a 7 year old child labourer in a sweat shop in the country side who gets beaten if he doesnt fix the rotor head right.

But like you said the size of the zoom is nice. That's the deciding factor for me.


The way i see it the lower quality heli parts on the zoom can always be changed out for nicer anodized stuff later on, But if you like a bigger heli, you wont be able to change the hornets size easily.

That's why instead of going to HS today to pick up a hornet as planned, i'm waiting it out with ammo and bon for a zoom.

It seems to be the next big thing with US hobbyists and the heli is being supported by a few companies ( Hobby-people sells it as the shogun,graupner sells is as the micro star 400, protech in europe.... )

As such i think plenty of aftermarket parts for the shabby plastics and cheap aluminiums will be forthcoming, opening up screw/bolt-on customizing possibilities like with rc cars and trucks.

The hornet's ccpm unless you get the FP version i guess.
Which isn't worth it as your feda is more than capable as a FP.
Especially since you no longer have any more motors with brushes......

[Super-Hornet]

Hi D.Yeo

U got the point(s) also. If u read RCUniverse and especially RCGroups, u will notice that Shogun/Protech/Zoom are becoming more and more popular. Damn! Now my decision back to neutral again. I also feel that just like my DFly, if I have Zoom, sooner or later I will sure mod it to my taste.

Maybe I just spend my money on good TX first and seat around waiting for those first batch of ppl buying Zoom. If Zoom do really catch up like DFly, then I will buy Zoom. Like I said before, I prefer Zoom size...more lifting power and more immune to wind due to its size.

Super-Hornet

[D.Yeo]

yup that's the thing about the zoom, it's a bigger platform that has shitty parts, but at least parts can be changed.

i dont think it's by any means going to be a champ in gusty outdoor situations( i'll be most happy to be proven wrong ), like a big heli, and it might not be fair to think it will be...it's still pretty small.

[ammo]

just an update:
aftermarket zoom parts have already hit the market few months back. wide stance l/g anodized booms, carbon booms, carbon blades, abs blades, servo cum gyro mounts, etc

[ammo]

There have been reports of zoom flying with nicd/nimh cells but the weight makes it sluggish and more prone to damage in crashes. personally i would say it's the same case for both the hornet and zoom in this.

if you are talking about brushless for the 2 helis, hornet is using Himaxx 2015 or Hacker B20S series motors(comparable to speed 300 in terms of amp draw < 10 amps) and the zoom is using the Himaxx 2025 or Hacker B20L series motors(comparable to speed 400 in terms of amp draw > 10 amps but < 20 amps)
the escs to be used with the motors are the Castle Creations Phoenix 10 and Phoenix 25 respectively.

Lipo batterieswise, the hornet will be on etecs 1200 3s or heaviest kokam 1500 3s and the zoom on kokams 1500 3s or 1800 3s from jethobby. alternative packs can be used but the focus here is on general flying and i'm taking into consideration the weight factor as well.

batteries and motors matching:
best performance : lipos with brushless
average performance : lipos with stock motor
: nicd/nimh with brushless motor
< average performance : nicd/nimh with stock motor

[ammo]

AUW for hornet is ard 350g
AUW for zoom is ard 500g

Super hornet:
waiting for zoom to see if it's catching on? haven't the indications from all over the world told you enough? you should catch it while u can. i believe prices are not coming down anytime soon anyway due to the shortage of parts and kits worldwide.

still it's your decision.

[Super-Hornet]

Hi ammo

Initially already preparing for Zoom. I have HA2025-4200 with CC PHX-25 idling around waiting for new chopper.

The thing is not only I buy CP chopper, I also need to change my TX from GWS GWT-4A (Which is standard 4Ch) to Revo Mixing TX. That means I have to spend more than u all. As I said, other country the Zoom is getting popular (Last time so do Hornet) but I need to gamble to see whether will Singapore catching on or not. If so, then parts are more easy to get.

Super-Hornet

[D.Yeo]

hmm hornet i think it's worth waiting to see if the zoom catches on.

Meanwhile why dont you try a nice radio first ?
and you can occupy your hobby time trying out cheap planes as well

[Super-Hornet]

Yup... Maybe i upgrade my TX first. So, anyone got any good recommendation on what brand and model to go for? Which LHS is the cheapest I can find?

Super-Hornet