Aplus 400 - Opinions?

[nightbreed]

Anyone has this heli? It looks quite nice....heheh....sorry for 'bimbo' comment. :P

Seems more affordable than T-REX 450XL(CDE)CCPM V2 Kit+New 430L3550+25G ESC.

I used to have the Trex...built the main rotor hub...then sold everything away. Scared crash.

Many months later, owned a Vortex....finally got to fly a heli. Found that I like it and would like to get another heli...

So, should i take the plunge?

[mathsinstrument]

No wind to put lines, now got urself something to fiddle on the control sticks? hahaa.....

Well, if it's gonna be another shelf-queen, then i guess you need more than floats to prevent it from crashing. You need to build the thing light and up from ground zero. Build it with confidence and fly with with confident thumbs....
I would like to try it out if someone lets me fly their's.... Then maybe i can feel the performance myself....

[noob]

Currently Building it.

Hi sir,
i have just bought an APLUS 400 heli combo with 25 amp esc and APM450F 3800 KV=330$ HEHE
So far its still building, findings so far.. (pardon me if i describe technicals wrongly i am still not very experienced heli builder, no offense)
Thumbs up:
1. Very light heli, less parts then TREX.(seems like an effort made by designers to reduce Unnecessary sparts and spaces for speed and agility)
2. All CNC good money for value.
3. Seems strong and sturdy with little or no flex(good setup for a cheap price!).
4. Simple adjustments of cyclics and mixing system (nice simple cyclics!).
5. Unkle and Skyhobby provides parts.
6. Well designed CNC parts or at least functional and secure.
7. Pinions of 3 tooth range provided! so i dont need to buy more..( i think its 11-13 tooth something like that.. cant remember) i can swap them to get a comfortable power for my batteries or esc.

Thumbs down:
1. needs modification to add electronics such as reciever unit.
2. no space to mount gyro(you need to build or fix your own gyro mounts).
3. Landing gear parts connected to base main shaft bearing, which might break in a hard landing(i mounted the normal landing gears similar to trex and ZAPs)
4. Battery mount space too short(you need to extend it)
5. Factory assembled parts needs to be double checked or reassembled(some parts are not well assembled, e.g o-ring clamps too thight on one side)
6. No belt pully adjuster(needs to be adjusted manually by pulling or pushing the tail boom)
7. Do not use the screw glue provided.. it dosent seem to work, i bought my own loctite.

Flight performance:
i havent build finish and i am not good enough to provide a flight performance review cuz i just learning to fly fig 8s...

overall experience:
I like this heli very much, and i would definately buy it again! I feel i have got a good deal for the price i paid. This heli needs alot of mods but i am fine with it, cuz its a simple design for me to upgrade on minus the extra weight, clean and mean.. Oh if you are looking for a stronger and more complete design (gyro mounts and more rigid) which is much stronger but heavier go for the SJM400V2! i heard its the same price from SKYhobby. diff is APLUS 400 all carbon fiber & sjm400v2(not need much modification) is some kind of fiber glass composite thats looks like carbon fiber.

Have fun hope this review helps you.

[awesome]

yo noob, thanks for the review!! we want to be spoilt for choices..

[HZM]

Understand that few members had bought it already and many are Trex owner

Cheers

Mike

[nightbreed]

Hi sir,

Thumbs down:
1. needs modification to add electronics such as reciever unit.
2. no space to mount gyro(you need to build or fix your own gyro mounts).
3. Landing gear parts connected to base main shaft bearing, which might break in a hard landing(i mounted the normal landing gears similar to trex and ZAPs)
4. Battery mount space too short(you need to extend it)
5. Factory assembled parts needs to be double checked or reassembled(some parts are not well assembled, e.g o-ring clamps too thight on one side)
6. No belt pully adjuster(needs to be adjusted manually by pulling or pushing the tail boom)
7. Do not use the screw glue provided.. it dosent seem to work, i bought my own loctite.

Have fun hope this review helps you.

Wah, call me 'sir'....only my cadets call me that.

But I thank you for your very timely opinions. I think the modding part, while tedious and time consuming, gives one the added advantage of being more familiar with the heli, not to mention the satisfaction of successfully modding it. I guess if I can see what I'm supposed to do to make the stuff fit, then it's fine. What would be really helpful is a picture of your mods, if it's not too much trouble. Points 1-4 and 7 on your 'thumbs down' list are understandable to me, but I'm not sure I can relate to points 5 n 6.

I was at Skyhobby today and saw the heli on display...... it was hard to walk away from it.

[nightbreed]

Oh if you are looking for a stronger and more complete design (gyro mounts and more rigid) which is much stronger but heavier go for the SJM400V2! i heard its the same price from SKYhobby. diff is APLUS 400 all carbon fiber & sjm400v2(not need much modification) is some kind of fiber glass composite thats looks like carbon fiber.

Have fun hope this review helps you.

Oh yah, what is this SJM400? Who sells it in S'pore. It looks really mean... It's something like US180?

[nightbreed]

Hoo-boy...

[SKYHOBBIES]

Dear Noob,

Thank you for your review.

We will strive to serve our customers with the spare parts that are available with this model.
We are pleased to announce we are APLUS authorised dealer in Singapore.
APLUS has been receiving good reviews in Europe and after months of serious considerations of it's performance quality & affordable price,
we finally gave it a shot to introduce the new generations of APLUS into Singapore.

We can see APLUS is slowly catching up with the trend of mini Helicopters and constant improvements by APLUS Hong Kong have already convinced us about their committment in quality service. In the recent visit to Hong Kong, Fung has personally show us his Stock APLUS400 (no further upgrades can be possible) and it was really awesome.

For more information, we invite you to their website at : http://www.aplus-rc.com/
or more information can be found at our website with video streaming : http://www.skyhobbies.com.sg/APLUS.htm

Please take your time to decide which combo you intend to go for as APLUS
has taken the extra mile to offer different packages.

Regards

SKY HOBBIES SINGAPORE

[noob]

hello

Hi bros,
i try to make some screenshots of the mods and post them out later, and the issues pertaining 5 and 6, [Awesome] youre welcome man i enjoy building the aplus 400 as much as sharing with you guys my experiences, if any of you do get the kit please feel free to share with me your building experiences and ideas too, so we can make it a more stable and cost effective helicopter altogether ,hehe mean while
[Nightbreed] > heres a nice link for you it has a full and very detailed setup and built of the sjm400 helicopter Very Detailed sjm400 built Check it out! hope you like it, i havent own an sjm400 helicopter but it seems to have the same rotor head and tail system as the aplus 400, both the Version 2 are using the golden main rotor setup i havent bought that yet, heres another link for the new V2 golden rotorhead courtesy of SKYHOBBIES >Link from skyhobbies.com.sg

P.S. Oh ya guys take note this is a personal review and is not targetted or biased in anyway, the aplus400/sjm400 should not be compared against other helicopters such as the align TREX series or the X400, all of them have their own flaws and benefits, ive helped a friend built a trex before, it has a unique frame design and lots of space for electronics, although weights and sizes may vary. The old ZAP400 is still respected, although not as advance as the current designs and had various tail problems, it was a really good attempt and innovation during its time, i respect the dudes that designed and made it available to us all. i think there is no such thing as a better heli, its how people build it, maintain it and some lucks, i belive even a brand new TREX SE can = -$400 after parts and repairs from a bad crash due to negligence, a walkera heli owner may crash lots of time but cost him like 100$? Please try to leave no chance to error and solve problems before they arise its the best way to save money!
i learnt it the hard way:
-loose tail gear case->exploded=-$35?
-Thight or binding cyclics ->faster motor failure and over heating=-$60?
-Thight or binding cyclics ->Servo burnt and crashed =-$80?
-newly built heli failed to double check-> wrongly set ESC, pitch and trottles spun up and crashed =-$60
-forget to loctite some loose nuts and bolts ->vibrations something fell off and crashed =-$70

please share with me your experiences too so that i may reduce crash cource hehe, welcome both comments and criticisms. All in the good name of adrenalin rushed fun flying and perfection based building.

Cheers

[noob]

About SKYHOBBIES

I bought the combo kit from SKYHOBBIES the shop unkle is very polite and cool dude, he gave me some advice on not mixing the nutz packets which was very useful and was nice to answer some of the questions about the aplus 400 prior to my purchase. Thanx

nightbreed> oops you already have that link sorrie, your fast man

[nightbreed]

noob, thanks for the links. I don't think there's parts support for the SJM400V2 here. Donno if it's even sold here....so I guess a better move wld be to get the Aplus. The SJM wins in the looks dept, tho....

[nightbreed]

Ok. I've decided to get the Aplus400 kit. With it, I intend to get the following. I hope experienced heli flyers can give input about my choices. Thank you!

1. EITHER Li-Polymer Battery 11.1V 2250mAh/16C (Jet Hobby)
OR DN Lipo 2150mAh/20C 11.1V (JH...but sold out)
OR Flightpower EVO20 1800mAh/20C 3S1P (RC-Warbirds)

2. Hobby Wing Pentium－40A ESC (this has BEC, what's the diff with UBEC?)
(qn: if EVO20 1800mAh/20C burst is 56A, but ESC burst is 55A, can buy?)

3. Motor:....Hmmm....this one no idea. Any suggestions?

4. Optic 6 with 4X HS65 (Rotor) + 1X HS81

5. Futaba GY401

Hmm. Anything else?
Thanks!

[awesome]

Ok. I've decided to get the Aplus400 kit. With it, I intend to get the following. I hope experienced heli flyers can give input about my choices. Thank you!

1. EITHER Li-Polymer Battery 11.1V 2250mAh/16C (Jet Hobby)
OR DN Lipo 2150mAh/20C 11.1V (JH...but sold out)
OR Flightpower EVO20 1800mAh/20C 3S1P (RC-Warbirds)

2. Hobby Wing Pentium－40A ESC (this has BEC, what's the diff with UBEC?)
(qn: if EVO20 1800mAh/20C burst is 56A, but ESC burst is 55A, can buy?)

3. Motor:....Hmmm....this one no idea. Any suggestions?

4. Optic 6 with 4X HS65 (Rotor) + 1X HS81

5. Futaba GY401

Hmm. Anything else?
Thanks!

hi..my take:

1. use tp2100 batts..they are good. otherwise, you can get 2 nos. fullriver batts sold be jethobby. etecs are ok. i don't like the evo20 cos they seem to have the lack for punch..

2. i have no luck with both tower pro or hobby wing esc. quark 33a is still my choice, though i have not tried cc35 yet.

3. motor..i think the mm450th from jethobby is good enuf.

4. you don't need 5 servos..4 nos. hs65 is good enuf

5. gy401 is great..otherwise gy240 should be good enuf..

2cts nia nia..

[nightbreed]

From: awesome

"hi..my take:

1. use tp2100 batts..they are good. otherwise, you can get 2 nos. fullriver batts sold be jethobby. etecs are ok. i don't like the evo20 cos they seem to have the lack for punch.."

====>Hmm. 2XFullriver it is. TP a bit expensive...

"2. i have no luck with both tower pro or hobby wing esc. quark 33a is still my choice, though i have not tried cc35 yet."

====>Just remembered I'm getting a 60A ESC for boat. Can use for heli, right? Heheh. 2 for 1.

"3. motor..i think the mm450th from jethobby is good enuf."

====>Thank you!

"4. you don't need 5 servos..4 nos. hs65 is good enuf"

====>So, the tail no need HS81? the HS65 can already?

"5. gy401 is great..otherwise gy240 should be good enuf.."

====>Ya. This one cut and dried. No prob.

"2cts nia nia.."

====> Your 2cts worth many times more to me! Thank you for your input!