macallan

Hi all,

Just about to buy my first heli and have seen this one. Cant seem to find much info on it tho. Being a complete noob at this I was wondering if anyone could offer their expert opinions please

http://www.rc-expert.com/product.php?pid=155

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Tornado-40...QQcmdZViewItem

Thanx many times.

macallan

No one?

Not even a 'Sorry mate, never seen that one before'
Or a 'Stay away from that one, it looks crap'

RC RAC3R

umm.... its made by who? this is the problem when you crash and need to get spare parts... or is it compatible with other heli's....

macallan

Well, from the pictures on the website, I am guessing that it is a modified version of the Walkera 36. The website also sells a W36 with the same aluminium rotor assembly (also available as a spare unit). I guess I was just hoping that someone would come to the same conclusion as me without being prompted as the spares issue is the only thing stopping me from buying it.

Many thanks for your reply

Leudakris

Actually I bought one myself from ebay... about 100 bucks less then they sell for on the main site.

Its not a walkera... (though I'm not sure quality wise its any better), from what I've investigated, its actually a second generation aluSEF or aluminum (aluminium for you brits ) 'super easy fly'. There was an original called just the Tornado (not to be confused with others of that name) that was a rebadged aluSef.

my experience so far: I 'won' the item over a week ago and requested the american standards (72mhz, mode II) etc... Hadn't heard from them, and after reading about rc-expert on this forum, got a little worried, so I emailed them for an ETA and also if they had different options for the motor (apparently the carbon fiber brushless it comes with has heat problems). Also asked about sim capabilites with the radio it comes with (looks to be a FlyingMachine brand??? -anyone heard about this?)

They responded with "there are delays due to the peak christmas season and it will be sent ASAP".

They also offered a Goldne (I think they meant Golden) brushless motor instead.

They ignored the sim question.

So I replied with does asap mean? days or weeks? thanks for the change in motor and what about the sim capabilities?

I look forward to being the tester on this bird. Will post when I get it and start crashing it immediately. BTW, it appears the aluSef is well thought of. I would still like to know about the quality of the radio/electrics and what parts are compatible... only time will tell

macallan

Thanks for the reply,
I ordered a cheapo chopper instead of the one above as I couln't risk buying something that nobody had heard of, and I needed it before christmas

Shame that people are posting about the Tornado V2 now but my post didn't recieve much attention, I might have been learning to fly with one of these instead.

Might get one of these when I write off the one I bought on its maiden flight

Leudakris

I've found out some more interesting information about this chopper.

I was recently browsing a magazine rack and noticed an article in an rc flier mag with what appeared to be a picture of this exact heli. I turned to the article, and compared the pictures with my Tornado V2 and have come to discover that these were one in the same. I don't know who's knocking off who here (kinda like the eflite blade and the esky honeybee cp2), but they appear identical. The article refers to this heli as a excelrc em pro 550. The article refers to a www.excelrc.com site that doesn't seem to be up, but they have a site excelhobby.com that is up and sells the em 550 pro. (though doesn't list any parts etc).

Good news is, the article really says good things about this chopper... performs fully 3d in much quicker and tighter spaces than his typical 60 size choppers. A serious crash only resulted in broken rotors blades. My non-expert opinion agrees with the comments about high build quality.

I have found an slightler older/different version of the em 550 being sold on ebay that has a tail shaft driven tail vs. the belt driven in these newer models. (maybe a similar to the original aluSEf)

I recently purchased a training chopper (wife's orders) in the form of a walkera 36 brushless and discovered that they use the same rotor blades (good news for crashes). BTW, as someone implied earlier, this is NOT an upgraded/blinged out Walkera, though the entire aluminum based rotorhead would be swapable into many of the 400 size helis (shogun, walkera 36, zoom, zap) and rc-expert sells them for that purpose. So I will be flying/crashing the walkera a bit more and waiting for these infernal gusty wind days to end in Colorado before I try to really fly the Tornado V2. When I do I will report the results.

yufasa

My Feedback: (16)

Just got mine and it looks really good, hovers pretty stable although the gyro is not the greatest.. (Walkera???)
The documentation is sparse to say the least, but the parts are identified very well and is available on the rc-experts website.
The plastic blades are not very good, but the CF blades that came with the kit is perfectly balanced out of the box and does a good job.
The "golden" brushless motor with a 30amp controller and the Lipo's(black no name 1800's ???)is plenty for this machine.
I would like to find a local supplier for spares though. I ordered some spares from them just for the unavoidable (landing gear etc.) and it is taking a long time to get here.

opjose

I've had one for a while now.

EXCELLENT heli.

Positives:

The QQF radio looked a little weird initially in that I'd never seen this Chinese manufacturer before and there was no docs provided. I found their web site and downloaded the docs.

The radio is comparable to a Hitec Laser 7, but with six channels. It's not bad at all and has been quite reliable.

The RX is fairly small and light and has not glitched on me at all.

The frame is all Carbon fiber and almost all of the other components are CNC metal as pictured.

I had one major crash with it already and it was a snap to replace the broken parts. Many second party parts fit it and the CNC replacements for the MX & X-400 seem to fit w/o problems. In fact the CCPM upgrade kit RC-Expert offers was targetted for another heli.

It is smooth and stable as the best electrics. The servos look like Tower 9G's but are missing the badges, otherwise they are identical (you can see through them).

Linkages use ball links & clevises with NO "Z" wire bends.

The motor is a 180L style brushless and a 30 amp rebadged ESC with a large heat sink.

The tail belt tension can be easily adjusted. The tail itself is also all CNC with very nice aluminum linkage holders.

This is effectively a much cheaper all metal T-Rex.

I've have had NO problems getting parts or deliveries from RC-Expert and I find that they respond to my e-mails within a day or two at most.

I would advise anyone getting one of these to purchase extra main gears, with the heli as this would be the only part which may be difficult to get from someone else (although I've found two other sources for these).

You can use replacements from other helis and I found tail booms, blades, linkages, etc. which could be substituted in my local hobby shops.

In fact my main rotor mast arrived bent, and while I was awaiting a free replacement from RC-Expert (they shipped one out promptly) I installed the mast from a Walkera #36 which fit perfectly.

The heli is pretty standard sized and as previously mentioned accepts T-Rex parts as well as those from others.

Mine came with a case, 2 LiPo's and a 12v NiMH with chargers for each, carbon blades & foam blades. I also ordered the CCPM upgrade kit for it but it flies so well that I have yet to install it.

Since there was no binding or any problems with the rotor & tail only minor adjustments if any were required out of the box.

Negatives

Documentation was a bit sparse to non-existant, as all I received was a parts breakout which did not feature the later CNC head.

With a subsequent order I received the documentation for the ESC, and I was able to download the docs for the TX/RX from QQF's web site.

Main drive gear may be difficult to obtain from other sources... I ordered six spares.


The Tornado 400 CNC/Carbon is an EXCELLENT heli for a very good price.

Leudakris

Guys, very informative replies.

I had upgraded to an airtronics from rc-expert (partly because I was afraid of the no name it came with and partly because they clamed no sim capability), so I was really curious about the stock radio was.

Because of the delays and mistakes (mostly caused by the holiday craziness), they upgraded my gyro to their best (telebee I believe) for free as well. I don't think the base gyro is a walkera though (I thought it was thier cheapest gws or something).

I'm looking forward to getting my walkera 36 training over with and stepping up to the Tornado as it sounds like a superb experience. Its kind of funny because every time I break a little part on these short test flights, the first thing I think is I ought to upgrade some parts to aluminum (especially those weak blade holders that seem to snap when you barely tap on them), but then I come back to reality and think I already have the nice upgrades on the Tornado...

I've done a lot of scanning/scoping out local shops here in Colorado (including hobby town) and have noticed a disturbing trend. Most shops don't carry many 400 series parts for any of the zoom,zap, shogun or even the trex though many sell the kits themselve's. However, everyone and their brother seems to regularly carry tons of blade cp parts though. (nothing against the blade cp owners, but come on people). Anyone else notice this trend?

opjose

The supplied QQF RX works just fine with PPJOY and uses the same interconnect as the Walkera's.

However using the supplied TX for a sim looks far more attractive than it is.

If you really can't afford the money to get a good sim such as G3 with it's own controller, you are better off paying 15.00 USD for one of those CHEAP E-Sky interfaces which you can find on ebay. Hint: Search for E-Sky Helicopter Simulator

These are powered directly from the computer so you are not burning through batteries as you'll do with the TX's for the electrics.

Airtronics is not a bad choice though... however having an always connected controller such as the E-Sky or something else will mean that you can pick it up anytime you are in front of the computer and practice...


No, it's a nice shiny Walkera for the all CNC/Carbon fiber Tornado 400. That's how I got mine...

I quickly found that you GAIN NOTHING by upgrading to Aluminum, if anything repairs are now far more expensive.

I pulled a blade holder screw when my Tornado angled to far over while trying to adjust it... that cost me quite a bit to fix!

Stick with your Walkera until you stop breaking things.

Drive your Walkera into the ground flying it. By the time you can do 3D with the Walkera, you can switch over to the Tornado which will do the same but with more "authority and accuracy."

Let your Walkera crash and burn, not your precious Tornado!

It's called marketing deals.

Blade is aggressively targetting stores.

However Walkera just stepped in to this as well with the Venom Nightrangers...

Also shops are picking up the MX-400 in droves as well. Even Tower Hobbies just added the MX...

You can use it's parts...

Leudakris

Thanks for the reply opjose.

I actually already have G3 and its been nice to say the least. I was more interested in getting a sim capable tx so that I would have some practice in with the tx I was going to fly with. Funny thing is I live right near milehighwings that sells all the sim cables so it was easy to track down the cable. Unfortunately, what I found out was that most of the sims that work with the cables are pretty pathetic... Clearview seems the best graphicaly compared to the comercial ones (G3 and Aerofly that I've seen). Since I have G3 I didn't really feel the need to spend 200 more on aerofly (the only commerical high end sim that works with these cables)

I'm glad I got the upgrade on the gyro then (I think their ebay deals differ slightly)

You said it regarding using the walkera... The shiny tornado just sits on the shelf calling to me as I take the walkera out for the next crash... The walkera 36 was far better quality than I expected on arrival, I am worried about the electronics in it though and was trying to figure out if I wanted to upgrade the rx with an Airtronics compatable and servos... Also the latest models seem to have the tail servo mounted on front (some have said thats not a good thing). Right now I have a slightly bent main mast and even more slightly bent tail shaft (not sure if they came that way, since I was not looking for that before my first crash). Anyhow, impatiently awaiting my backup parts shipment so that I can really thoroughly go over if before going in the air next time.

I will maybe have to expand my search for 400 parts... the closest small rc hobby shop actually is selling off the last of his shogun parts (said he sold a few then the buyers must have gotten dissappointed with how difficult micro helis were and never came back)

freeonthree

My Feedback: (1)

What cheapo chopper did you get ???

Leudakris

The Walkera 36 from ebay (Brian Mendez [[email protected]]) he's got the best prices out there and is extremely friendly. Only caveat is that he's in texas, but he drop ships from hong kong. Lets put it this way. When I told him I crashed, he offered to get me spare repair parts at cost. He currently sells the base 36 at 125 plus like 30ish shipping. He offers the brushless setup for an extra 40(which I went for) and/or the metal rotor head for 45 more. So I ended up getting a 36b(brushless) for just around 200 shipped. If you look on ebay and elsewhere, there's quite a few sellers selling the 36 for that same price or more without upgrades.

I'm not trying to sound like a walking advertisement, but This guy deserves some word of mouth...

opjose

I upgraded one of mine with the Hitec Supreme II Ultra RX. The one that supports all shifts and radio types.

This has worked pretty well, as I can now switch the heli to work with every TX I have.... except the original Walkera ones...

An equivalent RX with synthesis, instead of crystals would have been nice though.

Still crystals are not expensive.

studly_stui

hi i just got the same heli from rc-expert and had loads of problems from day one and managed to get the spares to fix from kmp models in thunder bay ontario canada i deal with a guy named don and they always have all spares needed at a good price they also have an office in minnesotta.the first problem i had was the tail rotor grips split i repaired that but now it seems the gyro has burned out 2 rudder servos and stopped working itself has anyone had this problem,im looking to replace the gyro but not sure with which one it came fitted with the walkera
the telephone number for kmp is toll free 1-888-968-7251 ask for don say stu from hornell gave you the #
or 807-345-4391

oops

Hi Studly Stui,

The tail rotor grips are one of the weak points with this model. The brass gears with the gear driven tail is the other, although I haven't heard anything bad about the belt.

I made my owm tail rotor grips up for this model and posted how to. They cost a few dollars to make, and don't break anymore. Just a few pieces of brass tube, and some solder, and a dremel tool to cut it to shape.

The tail rotors often touch the ground and this puts a lot of stress on the grips.

I can't imagine the gyro would burn out the tail servo's. Probably a tail servo issue.

David

Leudakris

Just an FYI on the article I was talking about before and the em pro 550.

the magazing is FLY RC (picked it up at my local Borders store - not sure about international distribution) March 2006 issue.

http://www.flyrc.com/current.shtml

In case you are interested in getting a copy.

powerjunkie

This looked like a pretty decent heli to me so I purchased one from rc-expert on Jan 6-06 and have yet to receive it. After several emails asking aproximate ETA, I have only gotten one response saying sorry for delay very busy due to new year will ship out later this week. Well that was three weeks ago and still no heli, I have filled a complaint with ebay am bout to leave negative feedback. How long did it take some of you other guys to get your Tornado 400 V2 heli from rc-expert? I dont think I will be purchasing any thing else from him, and his e-mail response is terrible. Just wish I had mine so I could be flying as well.

yufasa

My Feedback: (16)

I got mine in three days! That was before Xmas and $40 for shipping on ebay.
I was really pleased, but things have gone wrong since then. Replies on email takes at least 3 days.
I have since ordered some crash parts from him (Ben) and have not received it and it is running on four weeks. I am about to contact my CC company.

powerjunkie

rc-expert finaly responded to my e-mails 8 days after I filled a complaint with Pay Pal and Ebay. The message that they sent to pay pal and was then forwarded to me said "that they are out of stock on that item and they dont know when they will be getting any more, and that they would refund my money if full plus shipping. Plus once they do get more in stock that they would offer me the same product with free shipping. Then I also received an additional e-mail from rc-expert stating "Sorry the returned helciopter has been damaged during shipment. Thus we cannot ship back to you because of this, we've refunded you in full alread If you want to buy it in the future, we'll provide you free shipping Sorry Thanks John. I dont know who to believe any way I now have my money back to purchase from some one else. Any suggestions for a good electric helicopter that is 3D capable for around 500.00 RTF?

oops

RTF with 3D under $500? Probably a Walkera shogun clone.

David

Leudakris

PowerJunkie Sorry to hear about your rc-expert ordeals. I got mine in 3+ weeks even though it was promised much sooner. I'm not sure what the heck is wrong with them (benny is the most helpful, but it seems even he dissappears at times). After pointing out that I was tired of excuses (christmas season was one), they upgraded my gyro to telebee for free and actually did send mine almost immediately after that.

If you are stuck to this model, you might want to try the em pro 550 from www.excelhobby.com for 250 then add your own electrics.

There appears to be several options for you under 500. most of the 400 helis have interchangable parts (ark, shogun, zoom, walkera [note the 36 has a trex 450 tail]), so if you get one of the base kits then get decent electronics you should be good. My LHS sells a base trex kit (built) for 125.

I know you said RTF, but most people would not recommend most of the RTF electronics in that price range, and really any of those base kits that do come with quality stuff seem to be packages put together by the hobby shops/suppliers.

fatcat77

who make qqf brand radio system and what is the website. i need a manual for a model qqftx-6