rotor09

First, I will bet that simply because the bigger 550 flies better and is much easier to see once you start trying to fly maneuvers that take the heli further away from yourself, you will probably find that you will crash the 550 a lot less then you would the 500. Consequently after a year of flying you will probably find you have spent less money on crashes with the bigger 550 then you would have with the 500. So in reality the crash costs of flying the 550 is really less.

The bigger issue is what you may be forced to buy. You can get much better electronics for either heli from other manufacturers then the Align electronics supplied with their helis. So buy the time you change them out for more reliable items and sell the Align units on e-bay or your local clubs swap meet or whatever and buy proper gear, your overall costs will be greater then you anticipated.

That is why I suggest that you check out some other brands of 550 helis, like those from Mikado or Century. Starting with their combos that use very reliable motors and ESC's and adding proven and reliable electronics from manufacturers who specialize in them, such as Futaba, JR, Airtronics or Hi-Tech, you will find the cost to be the same as the Align 550E but you will be flying as good or better a heli with much better electronics and gyros.

Getting my Futaba equipped Century Swift 550E years ago, was a real eye opener relative to what you are asking. It probably has well over 300 hard flights on it now with no maintenance and no failures of anything!! I found the cost of getting it into the air was not much different then what I had spent geting my T450 flying properly. And their 620SE has even been more exciting.

Bigger is always better. And many other manufacturers have many more years of experience making the bigger helis (those that use mainblades of 550mm to 800mm). So you might find it well worth your while to check out 550 offerings from others.