Oh here we go, the complaints about the heli, well, to answer your complaints, see below:

1) Yes, the heli is parts intensive as you call it, but then again you can seperate more pieces in case of damage and replace smaller sections as needed. As far as the instructions, I disagree. They are top notch and the plans with the heli are great. Pictures and words make a building experience fun.

2) That is really old news. With the new engines out, 231 and such, no balancing of the flywheel is necessary. You just bolt it and go. However, so you know, when I bought my gasser in 1997, I bolted that g23 and went with no balancing either, and it was just fine though the new 231's are more balanced than the older engines.

3) You make something that is so trivial sound so complicated. You just put the engine in, eye-ball it so that the clutch to the engine top is level, check both sides, and slowly snug the screws and you are all set. I hold the engine with one hand and snug with the other hand - no problem for me. If you want to get anal about it, you can use a feeler guage to get the gap to be the same on the left and right side of the clutch too. I've done that before as well, but I find that eyeballing it to be evenly gapped is good enough.

4) I'm not sure what your beef about the fuel tank is. My heli is over 6 years old, still has the stock fuel tank in it, and its flown 1054 flights to date. I've never lost the fuel tank in flight due to poor mounting and its survived all my 8 crashes since I bought the bird. I don't see any problem with mounting it the way Min Air suggests, and, I guess you just don't like their idea.

5) I haven't had a problem with the mounting of the shroud personally. If you want it to be more fixed than 3 holding screws, you can use a little thin CA on where it contacts the mounting plate. That plate by the way if good enough and will never break from vibration or a crash. What more do you want from it?

6) Yes, there is no holes predrilled you are right. My only guess is that these parts are universal and can be mounted on different machines. If Min Air drilled the holes for you, then they become machine specific. I understand your complaint, though I don't think its a big issue to drill your own holes.

7) Personally I never used that gyro plate. If you buy the nicer rear can muffler with the heli instead of the stock box muffler, that plate will not be a suitable place for the gyro with all the heat in the back. Besides, if you don't use it that is less weight to carry around. I mount my gyro to the servo tray, and it works just fine. You can put it inverted in front of the fuel tank, or upright on the radio tray somewhere.

8) The canopy is the same argument at #6 above. It is a universal canopy that fits all of the xcell line of machines. It would be nice to have it precut, I agree there, as that is more work for the user to do. They do draw a line on it with a template for you to see what you need to cut, but I guess they prefer to have one for all, and just draw a line on the ones going into the gasser kits. If you use a dremel tool to cut the canopy, there is no danger of cracking it. Just cut it with a cutoff wheel as best as you can outside the line drawn, and then use the sanding disk to polish it up and get the nice curves to match the drawn line. There is no need for rear rounded ends for strength, a straight cut will do and the back of the canopy will never chip because its not rounded.

The xcell gasser is a fine machine yes once assembled, and it stays together as long as you can keep it together. I've flown mine over a thousand flights, and you know what, its held up well during all that time. Anyway, to each his own opinion, so read mine with a grain of salt and make your own opinions.

-=>Raja.