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| The following is a review of the Align CNC Swashplate. The first part of this review will center around the build quality of the Swashplate. Initially some good close up photos of the swashplate to give you a feel for the attention to detail. |
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| There is no slop in the ball but it moves without any resistance at all....an
excellent start as I really didn't want to have to free up another swashplate
inner ball. At least Align have got this swashplate right in terms of freedom
of movement. Which is to be expected given the all metal build. Next was to check the sizing of the ball links, a quick test of several of the purple links showed that this swashplate is sized exactly like all the other ball links on the T-Rex, which for those of us familiar with the purple links means a bit of work to make sure they move freely. I also had a good feel of outer bearing, it was very smooth and without any notchiness or slop. In every regard in terms of build quality this swashplate is directly comparable with the MicroHeli swashplate reviewed earlier this year. The main difference being the blue anodized exterior. All in all I would say the build quality is excellent and considering the price it is outstanding. I did have a good go at trying to separate the two halves of the swashplate but it is well and truly secured, so no fear of a separating swashplate during flight tests. Addendum: Apparently there is a problem with these swashplates coming apart in flight, even though they seem secure enough when studied off of the machine. Information currently available shows that a redesign of this swashplate has been done and all units shipped before January 15th may possibly come apart in flight. Having spoken to the UK distributor all UK stock was shipped after February 7th and there have been no reports of a UK source swashplate coming apart. Anyone who has purchased outside of UK should contact their dealer for further information. Out of interest I decided to do a direct comparison of the Align swashplate and the Microheli swashplate. They are almost identical in terms of size as can be seen below. The main difference being the swashplate ball. The MicroHeli one is designed to give some extra throw/movement by having the slightly raised shape in the swashplate ball. Also the MicroHeli swashplate is extremely light weight, lighter than the stock plastic swashplate in fact. The Align swashplate is heavier than the stock plastic swashplate. The Align swashplate ball runs directly against the CNC outer and is a metal to metal bearing. I'm not so keen on this and would prefer the MicroHeli approach of using a plastic inner with the metal ball mounted inside (pictured below right). |
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| Next job was to fit the swashplate to the shaft and connect up all the relevant linkages. This was uneventful and the results can be seen in the following pictures. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Having got the swashplate fitted a quick check of the movement showed no
binding, notchiness or slop in evidence. Next step is to check the flight characteristics. Given it's almost identical proportions to the MicroHeli swashplate I don't expect to notice any considerable difference in flight characteristics but I will leave that conclusion until I have done some flight tests. For now enjoy the pictures and flight test conclusions will be posted shortly....... Flight testing I've had plenty of opporunity to fly this swashplate now and in many respects this update is long overdue. Having spent some time hovering, circuiting and doing some sport flying the swashplate has performed faultlessly. Control response is accurate and having run a number of flights the swashplate shows no signs of wear and tear. One element of concern noted earlier was the metal swashplate ball, which appears to be of the same material as the swashplate itself. I'm not keen on similar metals being in contact with each other in this way and have made sure that the ball is always lubed adequately before flying, this negates any worry of the ball binding up and for this swashplate I think is a necessary part of everyday machine maintenance. Aside from this one element (which is not a major issue) I am very pleased with how this swashplate has performed and for the price it is very hard to beat. If you own this swashplate rate it using the TRexTuning rating system ..... |
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