MAIN FRAME
COMPONENT LAYOUT: The servos are mounted to two aluminum bearing blocks. The blocks slide out by lifting the servos and bearings straight up from the frames. The servos mount in such a way that they are protected inside the frames. The motor is mounted in the front with the pinion facing up like the original TREX. The battery is located up front and the ESC located underneath. The ESC can also be mounted under the main gear on the side of the frames. The tail servo is mounted in the back and above that the gyro.
DESIGN: The TREX 450 Pro has gone through a complete revamp of the frames. The frames are now a single piece of carbon fiber on each side separated by aluminum bearing blocks and aluminum/plastic inserts. The frames were designed to not only be stronger, but easier to work on. The servos can be completely removed from the frames by sliding out the bearing blocks.
SWASH CONTROL: The swash is controlled using a direct link CCPM system. This system offers a completely locked-in feel and when combined with metal-geared servos this system becomes very durable.
CANOPY: The new fiberglass canopy that is included with the kit comes pre painted and has a completely new look to it. The canopy resembles the other TREX helicopters designed by Jason Krause. The canopy mounts to the helicopter using two rubber grommets in the back and a plastic U-shaped tab in the front.
LANDING GEAR: The new landing gear is a single-piece molded white plastic. This gear has the struts and skids molded together to create a stronger and lighter gear. The gear is attached to the frames using two machine screws that thread into aluminum frame spacers. The lower part of the frame is also stiffened by means of a carbon fiber base plate.

DRIVE TRAIN
MOTOR MOUNT: The new brushless motor is bolted to an aluminum mount that screws into the frames with four button head machined screws. The motor mounts upside down with the pinion on top and can be adjusted for gear mesh.
PINION: The 13-tooth brass pinion attaches to the motor using a single setscrew.
MAIN GEAR: The 150-tooth main gear is now made from white plastic and has fins to help provide cooling air to the motor and speed control.
AUTOROTATION DRIVE: The one-way bearing is located inside a hub on the main gear. The hub provides adequate support for the one-way and also provides cooling to prevent the bearing from melting the plastic. The design allows for the tail to be driven during an auto.
TAIL DRIVE: The tail drive on the new TREX 450 Pro is much like that of the old TREX. The main tail gear resides below the main gear and drives a secondary gear supported by bearing blocks. A bevel gear is used instead of a pulley. This gear drives another bevel gear that attaches to the torque tube.

ROTOR HEAD
WASHOUT ARMS: The new washout arms are constructed from black anodized aluminum and have plastic links that connect the washout arms to the swashplate. These plastic links are dual bearing supported and have no play. The washout arms are dual bearing supported as well and attach to a metal washout base using machined screws. No output options are available.
BELL/HILLER ARMS: The black anodized aluminum Bell/Hiller arms are mounted on the flybar seesaw and are dual bearing supported. The arms are machined with lightening channels to provide a lightweight and strong part. These Bell/Hiller arms do not have any input or output mixing options.
MAIN BLADE GRIPS: The new main blade grips on the TREX 450 Pro are made from machined aluminum. The construction is very strong and has the pitch arm built into the blade grip except for the ball, which is threaded into the blade grip. Two ball bearings and a thrust bearing support the blade grips. No input options are available.
HEADBLOCK: The headblock is made from a solid piece of aluminum and machined to create a lightweight and strong foundation for the head components. The block is secured to the main shaft using a single Jesus bolt. A single rubber damper inside both sides of the headblock performs the dampening.
PHASING: Two pins that are press fit into the headblock for phasing. The phasing is not adjustable and has a minimal slop between the washout base and pins.
SWASHPLATE: The swashplate is machined from aluminum and anodized black to match the rest of the head components. The swash is configured for 120º CCPM with a special ball that acts as an anti-rotation pin. A plastic anti-rotation bracket and gyro mount guides the pin.

TAIL
BOOM: The tail boom is made from aluminum and is 12mm in diameter and is 350mm long.
TAIL CASE: The tail case is a completely new design that incorporates the new torque tube. The case is made completely from aluminum and is attached to the tail boom by clamping the tail case together. The vertical fin mount also has a plastic pin that locks the tail case to the boom. The tail case has two metal plates that mount to the clamp and provide support for the tail shaft. One of the metal plates is machined with a tail rotor control arm standoff. The gears are exposed and offer an easy quick way of checking the condition of the tail drive gears.
TAIL BLADE GRIPS: After years of creating popular helicopters and realizing that aftermarket blade grips are usually finding their way on their products, Align has eliminated that step by creating a perfect blade grip. The grips are made from aluminum and are machined with counterbalance weights. This allows for a smooth operating tail that will not overstress the tail servo. The grips are supported by two ball bearings and attach to the tail hub using a socket screw.
PITCH ACTUATOR SYSTEM: The pitch control arm is dual ball bearing supported and is attached to the standoff mentioned before. The plastic pitch arm has a ball cup that attaches to the tail pitch slider on one point using a plastic ball. The slider has a brass bushing that thread into the aluminum tail pitchfork. The fork attaches to the blade grips using two plastic links.

Testing
When testing a complete packaged helicopter, you can't help but wonder if the product you are getting with the helicopter is any good. Align is known for making great helicopters, so this will be a true test to see if their electronics will compare to the amazing flight characteristics of the TREX line of helicopters.

Hovering • From initial takeoff to hover, the TREX 450 Pro felt locked in. The precision of the control system really made this helicopter feel and fly better than any other 450 I have flown. The TREX 450 Pro did not drift around or feel like it was balancing itself on a ball of air. Even in windy conditions this helicopter felt stable for such a small airframe.
Rating: 5

Forward Flight • If I could describe the forward flight characteristics of this helicopter in one word, it would have to be "FAST". The TREX 450 Pro is one of the fastest 450's on the market. The sleek design and aerodynamic canopy tracked well through the sky. The helicopter did not have any weird tendencies like ballooning or burying the nose. (NOTE: Isn't it a bit predictable that in virtually every test we do, the phrase "No bad pitch-up tendencies" seems to rear its head in some form? Are we really going to say that every helicopter we've ever tested has NO unusual behaviors in forward flight? It's a credibility issue.) It felt as though if it had a more powerful motor and more available pitch, this 450 would just keep getting faster and faster and still fly like it was on rails.
Rating: 5

Cyclic Pitch Response • The cyclic on the new TREX 450 was nothing less then impressive. The helicopter rolled on axis due to the higher center of gravity. Like mentioned before, the helicopter has a very solid feel and this seems to translate throughout the flight characteristics. Tick-tocs required nothing but finesse when flying the old TREX 450, but with the Pro they're as easy to perform as with a 50-size nitro heli. Overall, the cyclic felt locked in when you needed it.
Rating: 5

Collective Pitch Response • With the addition to the new motor, the TREX 450 Pro can handle any 3D move without a problem. The collective is very solid and offers plenty of pitch to perform quick stopping and direction reversing maneuvers. When hovering, the collective feels very solid and does not jump around. The collective feels linear throughout the travel and it does not feel overly sensitive in any one spot. Overall, the collective is solid and no bad tendencies were seen.
Rating: 4.5

Tail Rotor Response• The completely redesigned tail on the new TREX 450 Pro makes this helicopter one of the best performers in its class when it comes to tail rotor response. Right off, I checked the piro speed in both directions and it was very consistent, although a little slow. I bumped the endpoints up and gave it another go. The tail held throughout any 3D maneuver I could throw at it. Fast backwards flight, Hurricanes, and Death Spirals could not blow out the tail. The tail feels very precise and stops exactly where you intend it.
Rating: 5

Autorotation Capabilities• The TREX 450 Pro and its torque tube tail allows for better autos than a belt drive helicopter. Although better then most, the TREX 450 Pro still has a difficult time performing an autorotation due to its size. Autos can be performed, but is not recommended to learn how to auto using this size of helicopter.
Rating: 4

Post Flight Inspection • After countless flights on this helicopter I went over the whole machine and found nothing out of the ordinary. The ball links still felt as if they were brand new. The dampers held up through the abuse and after a month of testing the dampeners still feel good. The new torque tube design has held up very well.
Rating: 5

Conclusion
The TREX 450 Pro feels like a bigger machine in a small package. The electronics worked flawlessly and better then I could ever imagine for a fully packaged helicopter. The precision of all the control surfaces make this one of the most solid helicopters in the 450 class. The team over at Align have truly created a great flying 450 helicopter.

When You Open the Box
Opening the box to the new TREX 450 Pro is like opening the TREX 250 box. Everything has its own place molded into a yellow plastic container. A thin foam sheet covers the canopy and is pre installed onto the frames. The head assembly is pre built and is stored in its own section of the container. A separate box that sits above the cradled servos housed the small parts that are needed throughout the build. The landing gear is located underneath the plastic container.

Manual and Build
Building this new TREX is no different from the other Align products. The manual states to remove factory assembled parts to verify that thread lock is on every part and the screws are sufficiently tightened. The manual does a great job showing you where every part is located and where it needs to be attached. Text is used sparingly throughout the manual, but when it appears you'd better read it or things can get out of whack. This 450 assembles much faster then the other TREX 450s. The one-piece frame and modular servo arrangement makes attaching the servos faster then ever.