RE: Is Vbar worth the added expense?
Don,
The stabilization systems make the heli much more resistant to wind. In general you can set it up to be very stable in a hover but you still need to know how to hover. On some systems you can go into heading hold mode which does hold the copter very steady but this is not how most people set up and fly. As with any system you need to have your copter set up correctly with it trimmed well. For me even in a wind I can then take my hands of the trans for a few seconds. Drift is much less. With a flybarred copter in still air this is possible with the copter trimmed correctly. However with wind gusts the flybarred can be a more of a hand full wheas teh FSU prevents teh copter from tilting. You still get some verticle bobbing but you can fly fast forward thru windy conditions and the copter is like it is more on rails as opposed to being a leaf in the wind. You wll move in the direction of the wind and move slow when going into the wind and faster in the direction of the wind, but rotation in all three axis is vastly better controlled. So the answer is yes it does stablize in all 3 axis rotaionally but not linearly.
Heli command and Flymentor make systems which can hold the copter very stable, Flymentor uses the existing flybar heads and helicommand has syytems for both flybar and flybarless as well as systems made for 3D. the HC systems are rather expensive however.
I you look you will see several threads on head conversion. For the 450 there is the RG50099FL Complete Precision CNC Flybarless Head System 450 Size Helicopter with just the parts needed to convert the Align head. There are also full kits for the 450, 500, 600, 700 and fuel equivalents. If you are a bit more mechanically inclined ad want to modify the Align head this is possible also. There are number of threads on this. Most opt to go direct from the swashplate to the pitch arms. This is the most durable and simple setup. But you can also mod the head to keep the mixing arm and use the stock pitch arm geometry. I went the simple direct route and love the simplicity and durability. This is the most comon path. But you can try with moding your current head parts.
Tweaking depends on the system you buy. Some have small programming boxes you can take to the field, some have both boxes and computer connectivity and some are computer only. SJGD, Axiom,Mikado and Skookum have programming boxes some use a USB cable. Skookum has both.
Listing a high end gyro - don't know maybe now for Christmas maybe in the spring when everyone begins to fly more. Things usually sell on Ebay all year round.
If you PM me we could converse more