I recently purchased an Align 500E fusealage for my Align 600LE nitro powered. The instruction manual shows a servo being unistalled. Is this the rudder servo? I can't start the reconfigure until this question is answered by another who has already successfully made the swap out from pod and boom.

I did the swap on an T-Rex 600 electric, which is now in the Align 500E fuselage. I did have to relocate the tail rotor servo as it will contact the fuselage in its standard mounting position. It only needs to move forward just a bit, but does need to be moved.

My nitro 600's have the tail rotor servo mounted forward, so and would not need to be relocated, however the LE version may have the TR servo in the same location as the electric, and thus need to be moved.

Thank you, for the reply. The tail rudder servo in the LE version is identical to the standard N version. The servo is in a forward location unlike the E variant. This is what I thought and now I canproceed forward on the build.

The only other issue I ran into was adjusting the height of the mechanics in the fuselage. They fit pretty close, but need to be raised a bit. I just built a few hardwood blocks to raise it, and haven't have any issues with that setup in the 100 or so flights I've done so far.

When you say mechanics what are you specially refering too?

Robert

Basically, its the mechanical guts of the pod and boom that will be installed inside the scale fuselage. The hardwood blocks that I referred to in the previous post would go between the floor plate in the scale fuselage and the landing gear attachment on the mechanics. It didn't need much, perhaps 1/2" or so. You will see this when you trail fit the mechanics in the scale fuselage for the first time. Then just measure the height you need (its not exact) and make a couple blocks to give you the height you desire.

That is what I though. When going scale there is always something to modify that the manufacture fails to mention in there assembly instructions.

Robert

True. Luckily, in this case with the T-Rex 600 and Align fuselage, it really is an easy build. Just a few things to do, but 90% of it just fits together well. You'll be very happy with it I'm sure.

I finished the conversion today and did not require any shimming of the stock align frame. I did have to move the pitch servo from the right to left side. The airframe balanced tail heavy and I added 6oz to the nose cone. Most of the machine socket head screw I replaced because I believed they were too short for the intended application. The antenna, since I fly on 72mhz is routed out side the fuselage down on the belly. You may not have noticed that they only provide four grub set screws for the landing skids. If you look at the inside of the landing gear where the skids slide through there are holes for an additional set screw. Instead of four you should have eight provided. I had extra set screws to resolve this issue. Hopefully I'll have time for a test flight on Friday.

Is there anything I should be aware of concerning its flight characteristic in this configuration?

Nothing unusual with regard to flight characteristics. The wind is more apt to catch the tail since there is more side area, so I increased the tail rotor gyro gain to compensate after a dozen or so flights. It will feel heavier and a tad more sluggish, but nothing that should cause an issue. I am even able to do mild 3D with mine, so the weight isn't that significant. If there are any vibrations in the mechanics, the fuselage will amplify those and they will be more noticeable.

Good luck on the maiden.

The weight gain is my only concern. The fuselage weights about 2lbs but it looks spectacular. I'm using a JR 770 gyro and I'll take your advice and reduce the gain about five percent. Cross my fingers on possible resonance. I'm running an OS Hyper 55 swinging stock Align blades.

I increased the gyro gain, not reduced it. I found the side area of the tail required more holding power from the gyro then in the pod and boom configuration. It was fine in most instances, until I was flying on a windy day and I noticed the trail had a harder time holding. I think I increased the gain about 5-7%.

My mistake, it comes with old age. Increase the gain.

I have a 600N that flys very well, no vibration and copes well with 3D.
I was able to pick up a 500 scale fuselage from our hobby shop. Modification to the tail servo was straight forward. The model looked the part.
Test flight, start up normal, on the ground all smooth with all working as it should. As I lifted into the hover the tail started to seriously vibrate ending in a messy pile on the ground.
Damage to the mechanics all ok the shell a bit broken.
Later that day the shell was removed and the old skids installed together with a new set of tail rotor blades. The helicopter flew perfectly without any hint of vibration.
Has anyone got any thoughts on what the cause may have been with the shell fitted. I will get spares and try again with the 500 shell, it looks to good to give up.

Thanks