Smoggie
Well-Known Member
I can only assume that Banggood have got me mixed up with someone who can actually fly helis worth a damn, because they seem to be making a habit of sending be helis for review. I'm not about to tell them that they have the wrong guy!
The new helis is the XLPower 520
And someone far better than me putting an XL520 through it's paces:
XLPower are new kids on the block when it comes to helis but they have good credentials. The company is the brain child of a genuine heli enthusiast and ace 3D flyer called LouJiaWen (aka 'Raka') and it's he who designes their helis. So far the 520 is the only heli in their lineup, but it seems to be a good one judging from first impressions of the kit and initial build. The XL520 is a 'true' 500 class heli that will swing blades between 480mm and 520mm. It also has a stretch kit available to take it out to 550.
The kit comes with a 1100Kv motor for operation with a 6S LiPo but the battery bay is large enough to take 12S if you used a suitable motor. The heli is quite conventional in design, pod and boom, single stage gear primary drive and direct belt driven tail. Overall it looks quite Logo 480 like, but it's not a clone.
The spares for the heli aren't yet listed on Banggood but they are available direct from XLPower web site. Technical support and after sales is also provided by XLPower and I have to say it's the best I've ever experienced. I had one minor problem with the kit (a titanium turnbuckle was not threaded) and within half an hour of me dropping them a note they had a new turnbuckle set on it's way, no quibbles. I also had a query on setup and got straight through to Raka (the designer of the heli).. There aren't many heli manufacturers where you could get that level of service!
So on with the unboxing:
Here's the box once I removed the outer protection that Banggood added for shipping:
And inside are three seperate boxes which gives good protection for shipping:
Contents of the big box. Quality is top notch, the supplied tail blades are Fun-Key Rotor Tech, not some no-name generic brand:
The paint job on the canopy is spot on:
The smaller box is packed full of the metal parts, there is almost no plastic on this heli, it's all CNC machined alloy.
The motor comes with the kit and is XLPower branded, size 4020 with 1100Kv. Windings look nice and neat:
Swash is fully rebuildable and perfectly finished:
Tail box is a real highlight, beautifully machined from a single piece of alloy!
All alloy head comes assembled:
Tail design is another stand-out feature, it's designed similar to a Goblin tail with floating feathering shaft on rubber dampers and Delta-3 geometry, this shows a lot of attention to detail in my opinion:
Tail belt guide pulleys and tail mounting brackets, all CNC alloy, as is all the rest of the frame hardware:
Kit comes with two booms, one fluorescent yellow, the other black. both are the same length.
Main blades again are Fun-Key Rotor Tech brand, 480mm
I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the build. The spec i have planned is:
Motor: XLPower 4020 1100Kv
ESC: Hobbywing Platinum 100A V3
FBL: Spirit Pro
Servos: KST mini size (still deciding on exact model)
The new helis is the XLPower 520

And someone far better than me putting an XL520 through it's paces:
XLPower are new kids on the block when it comes to helis but they have good credentials. The company is the brain child of a genuine heli enthusiast and ace 3D flyer called LouJiaWen (aka 'Raka') and it's he who designes their helis. So far the 520 is the only heli in their lineup, but it seems to be a good one judging from first impressions of the kit and initial build. The XL520 is a 'true' 500 class heli that will swing blades between 480mm and 520mm. It also has a stretch kit available to take it out to 550.
The kit comes with a 1100Kv motor for operation with a 6S LiPo but the battery bay is large enough to take 12S if you used a suitable motor. The heli is quite conventional in design, pod and boom, single stage gear primary drive and direct belt driven tail. Overall it looks quite Logo 480 like, but it's not a clone.
The spares for the heli aren't yet listed on Banggood but they are available direct from XLPower web site. Technical support and after sales is also provided by XLPower and I have to say it's the best I've ever experienced. I had one minor problem with the kit (a titanium turnbuckle was not threaded) and within half an hour of me dropping them a note they had a new turnbuckle set on it's way, no quibbles. I also had a query on setup and got straight through to Raka (the designer of the heli).. There aren't many heli manufacturers where you could get that level of service!
So on with the unboxing:
Here's the box once I removed the outer protection that Banggood added for shipping:

And inside are three seperate boxes which gives good protection for shipping:

Contents of the big box. Quality is top notch, the supplied tail blades are Fun-Key Rotor Tech, not some no-name generic brand:

The paint job on the canopy is spot on:

The smaller box is packed full of the metal parts, there is almost no plastic on this heli, it's all CNC machined alloy.

The motor comes with the kit and is XLPower branded, size 4020 with 1100Kv. Windings look nice and neat:

Swash is fully rebuildable and perfectly finished:

Tail box is a real highlight, beautifully machined from a single piece of alloy!

All alloy head comes assembled:

Tail design is another stand-out feature, it's designed similar to a Goblin tail with floating feathering shaft on rubber dampers and Delta-3 geometry, this shows a lot of attention to detail in my opinion:

Tail belt guide pulleys and tail mounting brackets, all CNC alloy, as is all the rest of the frame hardware:

Kit comes with two booms, one fluorescent yellow, the other black. both are the same length.

Main blades again are Fun-Key Rotor Tech brand, 480mm

I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the build. The spec i have planned is:
Motor: XLPower 4020 1100Kv
ESC: Hobbywing Platinum 100A V3
FBL: Spirit Pro
Servos: KST mini size (still deciding on exact model)