darkfa8
Key Veteran
Location: Eatontown, NJ, USA
| Rob,
To answer your questions,
Inevitably, yes there will be a V2 or some sort of updated/upgraded model that takes into account all the current set of upgraded parts and build strategies. The Tiger is a baby in age compaired to the long-n-tooth Raptor's, Hawk's and other helicopter copies (Stinger, etc). As such, the current iteration of the Tiger kit is very complete, capable and inexpensive. John Beech is by far one of the most aggressive, friendly and cool guys to be hands-on with the progressive development of this heli.
In the last several months he's already completed or nearing completion on a hyper-50 specific muffler, 3D heavy duty blade grips & head axle/bearing system, a electric version is in the proto-type stages, CNC aluminum parts are in the works.
All accounts in mind, the stock Tiger head is very capable and doesn't really require a "head upgrade" of any sort to endure 3D thrasthing by the likes of Marcus Kim, Kyle Stacy and others. Nonetheless, people want their "bling", so I'm pretty sure John will oblige.
There aren't as many posts compaired to what? Everything else has been out for several years (Raptors, Hawks). The Tiger, Stinger and Knight are all relatively new on the scene. As of early summer, there were about 300 or so Tiger 50's out in the USA market. Only a percentage of those people are connected to a heli-specific internet forum. So, what you read about online is only a slice of the total picture of heli owners.
Also, given the number of posts, I haven't read anything outright bad or degrading about the heli. For the most part, everyone seems to be very happy with the machine and whenever someone gets upset, John takes care of them.
I decided to go with the Tiger over a Raptor since the parts count I believe is less, the linkage setup is more direct and I was very impressed with John's customer service and eagerness to improve the heli despite it being new to the market. Customer Feedback is actually listened to and in many cases, applied to improve things.
I think Thunder Tiger is riding the Raptor as long as possible. It's been out, what? over 10 years? I mean, a heli design that works, works well for a long time, but people like to see upgrades in materials, implementation, etc. It'd be like trying to justify owning a '93 Mustang over a '06 Mustang. The technology factor alone makes it pay to go with a newer design. Fortunately in the case of the new Mustang, they did a excellent job. As did Audacity on the Tiger.
- Dan G. - |
