First some pictures :
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The shaft is a one for one swap with the Align shaft and is made of solid titanium. As can be seen from the above right photo it has a flat machined onto it for the main shaft collar to locate against.
Fitting the shaft was very straightforward but a little grease was required to get a nice smooth movement of the washout base on the shaft. This was only a minor point as the shaft was a very good fit in all respects.
The shaft has performed as one might expect of any main shaft the only question being its durability in a crash. This remains to be seen as I can't bring myself to deliberately bury my T-Rex to see if the shaft survives ;-)
As soon as I crash the update will be here on how the shaft faired.
Crash Test
Well, it didn't take long to get a decent crash, fortunately for me (and unfortunately for Ron) it wasn't my heli that hit the deck. So at this point I'll hand over to Ron and let him tell his own story.....
I took a long fast dive from about 100ft after trying a backwards roll and 400s with 13t pinion did not have enough oomph to catch the bird out of the bad move and impending fall....
crashed HARD. Snapped the frame in 5 different places, snapped the stock head right in half, snapped an align carbon blade and cracked a stock blade grip, canopy demolished, horizontal stabilizer demolished, main gear stripped, aluminum landing gear flattened and bent beyond repair, snapped off 2 of 4 frame legs that hold onto the landing gear.
i KNOW from experience that would have whooped a stock main shaft in blink of an eye. I've bent stock main shafts just looking at them wrong. I had just installed the Ti shaft the night before. I was heartbroken upon the crash thinking for most certain that it could not have withstood the forces of the crash... this was a hard direct hit on pavement, not grass.
Further inspection of the shaft reveals absolutely NO damage whatsoever. Not even the SLIGHTEST bend... I rolled it on a glass table top and on a mirror laid flat. Perfectly smooth roll... matter of fact it still rolls smoother than a BRAND NEW stock align shaft... its a real work of art. Upon this crash and discovery of no damage, i went ahead and purchased the Ti feathering shaft also.
Well there you have it, indestructible main shafts :) (it appears not, see below)
My thanks to Ronald Serraglio Jr. for his account of the durability of his Titanium main shaft. How come we don't make the whole heli out of this stuff? (I'm just kidding, no emails please).
Another crash report, this time one of my own doing :(
Put the T-Rex into the ground sideways from the hover but will full power (2700RPM) on the head as I didn't hit the hold switch in time.
Damage : SAB blades destroyed, rotor hub shattered, main gear stripped, blade grips shattered, MicroHeli flybar set and washout arms destroyed, aileron servo gears stripped, tail servo smashed, MicroHeli tail rotor hub shaft bent, tail blades shattered, feathering spindle bent.
Titanium shaft : No damage at all.
Having had two major crashes and no damage in either to the shaft, it appears someone has managed to bend one of these shafts. Whilst no main shaft is ever going to be indestructible this titanium shaft is considerably tougher than stock shafts, plus a good deal lighter. It is the light weight element that MicroHeli highlight in selling this titanium shaft, rather than it's durability. I have contacted the person who bent their shaft to get a crash report and once it is available I will publish it here.
Here's the detail, kindly supplied by Tomi :
My crash was pretty much a crash crash. I was doing som FFF figure 8 circuits and I lost orientation from the dark paint on top of the canopy. I didnt see which way it was going so I didn't correct it. It hit the dirt full speed. Snapped the modded frame to eCCPM, broke one blade, broke the landing skids, trashed the canopy, and bent the shaft. It hit nose first. But it hit very hard.