aknitroguy

My Feedback: (82)

Hi,
I am going to buy a new Heli. I have narrowed it down to the Raptor 90 standard, The Freya Evo 90 or the R50se Raptor. Any and all opinions appreciated. Thank you kindly in advance.
Jay

Flyfalcons

My Freya X-Spec flies much better (and is better quality) than my Raptor 60 was, and the Evo is supposed to be even better for 3D than the X-Spec. If I was purchasing a 90 heli now I'd be getting the Evo.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

I wish I had the cash to have to make that decision.

evan-RCU

I have a Freya .90 and a Evo .50 now and both are much better helos than the Craptor 60 I had and the Craptor 50's I've seen. Flight characteristics and quality are much better. Parts are slightly higher for the Hirobo's. If I had to buy and maintain only one helo the choice would be very easy, the Evo .50, easily the best helo I've owned in many(17 or so) years of helo flying. The bad thing about asking this question is you'll get noobs that have only flown a raptor saying it's the best. Even I, with many years and flying many models from five brands, am biased.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Better or best is a matter of what your looking for. The Raptor is cheaper, the parts are cheaper and parts availabilty is excellent and wide spread. Plenty of people have them so finding help is easy.

Was VHS "better" than beta max? No but it was much more popular.

I take nothing away from the evo, its a great machine, I may even get one but for a starter heli, I would reccomend the Raptor any day. In the end its the pilots skill that can dictate what a helicopter can do, not a fancy expensive machine.

Darksider

i've owned all the heli's you mention and many more, and as a direct comparison of the way that the heli's fly and feel, the evo 90 far and away beats the feel of the raptor 90 se which i own hands down, both heli's are good but ultimately the evo is just more precise and smooth without sacrificing cyclic power to achieve that feel, definetely an awesome heli for the money.

Gareth

evan-RCU

True, but he is asking our opinions, I said parts are cheaper, both cheaper in cost and much cheaper in quality. Hopefully someone flying a raptor could also help with other brands, any knowledgable fly should be able to. Yes I know raptors are popular and no that doesn't make them better. I take it from the original post AKNITROGUY is not a beginner and that he is not looking for a starter helo, had he been asking for a starter helo I would have recommended the Century helos. I don't consider any of the helos he's asking about fancy or expensive, all are good values, just in my opinion the Evo .50 can do the best for the best value.

I have to ask, what helo's have you owned?

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

American R/C Revolution
Concept 30 DX
Concept 30 SR
Concept 46 VR*
Nexus 32 D and F
Hirobo Shuttle *
Raptor 50*
Hirobo Sceadu EVO 50 (soon)
*= present

The 60's and 90's are out of my price range right now.

I've helped quite a few people with shuttles, calibers, raptors, ventures and Tigers so I have seen alot of helicopters come and go. As of now if I had to chop it to 1 it would be the Raptor 50, that opinion may change when I get my Sceadu though. I've seen them fly but never flew one, they look pretty much the same to me as far as flight performance, I'm a firm believer in its not the machine its the pilot.

evan-RCU

I think you will enjoy the Evo very much, happy flying...

aknitroguy

My Feedback: (82)

I thank you all very much for your input. Evan, you are right. I am looking for my next Heli, not a trainer. I have a Raptor 30v2 and a Quick (Japan) Fighter .50. I am by no means an expert pilot, but I am bored with the .30 sized machine. The QJ Fighter .50 is a fine machine. I am getting to know it now.
I was wanting to move up to the .60-90 size aircraft. But after reading what Evan wrote the first time about the Evo .50 I called Steve at dreamhobbies and he agreed with Evan. He owns a whole hobby shop full of heli's and he flies a Evo .50 He claims that once you take the step up to the .60 up class it starts to cost a lot more money. That and he happened to have an evo .50 sitting on the shelf right next to him when I called. He made me a heck of a deal on the heli and a Hyper engine and a curtis Muscle pipe 2. and even shipped it for free! He is a good guy. http://dreamhobbies.com Steve Campbell owner.
Again I thank you folks for your opinions and thoughts on this purchase. Thank you Evan for for the valuble input, in the end it was reading your post that tipped the scale toward the evo. Anyway my Evo will be here monday with some 600mm Vblades (also on sale)
Evan if there are any upgrades The Evo needs before building it please let me know.
Regards,
Jay

evan-RCU

The Evo out of the box is great, don't waste your money on bling that is expensive when it breaks and usually doesn't improve how the helo flys. A decent set of fiberglass blades, a decent gyro and high speed servo on rudder, standard or coreless BB servos elsewere and you're ready, the EVO has push pull throughout and doesn't really need anything else. Spend your money on fuel and enjoy your new toy. FYI I use Cool Power 15% with an extra 2 oz of synthetic oil per gallon, makes more than enough power. The point is you won't need 30%, I don't know what fuel you can get up there. Sounds like you got a good hobby shop to deal with, they are getting hard to find. In case you wondered why I recommended the Evo over the Freya... I put some bling on the Freya and it flys sooo nice but I always have in the back of my mind what it would cost to fix and I don't get as comfortable with it like I do with the Evo. The Freya is really smooth, the Evo almost as smoth and it does the quick manuvers like flips and tic tocs quicker, you can really toss it around. Happy flying!!

aknitroguy

My Feedback: (82)

Hi Evan,
I use 20% cool power fuel in everything. From MT to Heli. The LHS here is very small and doesn't stock much. But it is right down the street (less than 2 blocks) I bought my first Tamiya "grasshopper" there 20 some years ago. Anyway he only sells cool power fuel. I have had good luck with it. I agree.. At 30% (even here where it is cool) you have to start playing the glow plug game to get the best tune at a feasable temperature.
Thank you kindly for all your input. My Quick Japan fighter .50 is all bling and spares are spendy. I wanted a real good heli that I didn't have to sell an organ to repair. Dreamhobbies where I bought it stocks all the hirobo parts, and they are reasonable, not a lot more than a raptor. one more question.. I use a fut. 402 gyro with SMM/hs servo combo. I have had great luck with this set up. Would It be worth the extra chips to move up to the fut. 611?
Thank you kindly in advance. and have a great day.
Regards,
Jay

evan-RCU

402? Could you mean the 401 or 240? I have the 401/ 9254 servo combo in both the Freya and Evo and am happy with them. Again they offer great value, there are better, I just don't require it, the 401 does everything I want it to. I had a 240 years ago and it did not have good enough gain for the fast piroettes. 20% is good but I add a little extra oil just as insurance. I think it adds alot to the life of my motors. My old .46 probably had 30-50 cases of fuel through it when I sold it and it ran better than new.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

I have to agree, you have to be doing some serious 3d to outfly a 401. I use CP 25 percent in everything with 1.5 oz of morgans oil added to bring it up to 18 percent.

aknitroguy

My Feedback: (82)

Hi,
Sorry bout that, I did mean the 401 not 402. I will stick with that then..
Thanks guys,
Jay

SuperFatCat

If EVO 90 and EVO 50's are so much better than Raptor's then, why don't all Raptor dealer stock the EVO's and parts????

I really like the EVO 50 and 90, but very few dealers carry them!!!

SuperFatCat

Just got off the phone talking to 2 different hobby stores. Their take on not selling Hirobo is the distributor will not let them make any money on selling the EVO 50 or 90!

Hirobo is distributed by MRC, which sells them directly. Well, if MRC buys at distributor pricing and sells directly, how the hell does a dealer compete if they have to buy from MRC which is their competitor????
Hirobo Japan should not allow MRC to sell directly.

ACE hobby is the distributor for Raptors sell only through dealers.

It does not matter how good the EVO is, if you can't get it easily or only through mail order, the product is going to die off with lack of majority support.

Raptors will rule!