The Build

Well I picked-up a TRex 550E  3G kit the other day and after about 8 hours later I have a flyable aircraft.  I'm using an 8 channel Spektrum receiver with a Dx8.  I put an FMA Co-Pilot II on board to, hopefully, protect me from some beginners mistakes.  I also put a Custom HeliParts heavy-duty 700 vertical tail to protect the tail blades.
My reasoning behind the heavy-duty tail piece is to give me as much protection of the tail blades, and therefore the torque tube gears, during any hard landings I may incur.  Having to remove the whole tail assembly to change the front gears or the auto rotation gear does not fill me with much excitement.
I gave the copter to my friend to program and to test fly.  As a beginner I will start with the physical building of the airframe while waiting to learn the programming of the radio.  A man's gotta know his limitations!! 
It took Jim about twenty minutes to program the radio and another twenty minutes to make sure I didn't make any mistakes during the build.  He then proceeded to put the thing through its paces.  He started out low and slow to fine-tune the radio set-up and then moved on to the 3G portion of the flight.  After some semi-hard maneuvers with nothing falling off, thankfully, he pronounced the build a success and said it was now ready for me to fly. 
After that flight test and before I have had a chance to fly it Jim came back from the Toledo Airshow with the FMA Co-Pilot II.  After a couple of false starts trying to find the best mounting places I added the sensors and control unit to the airframe.  Claiming that if needed to be checked for installation problems, Jim once again put the helicopter through its paces.  This time mumbling something about wanting one for himself.
Well, tomorrow is the day that I take to the air!  Am meeting some local heli flyers at the field early in the morning to get my first chance to burn a battery and getting my first chance to hover my piece of work.  I am making sure that my radio is fully charged tonight and will make sure the Co-Pilot is set correctly and by noon tomorrow I will have my first flight under my belt and hopefully will not need to repair any parts!
Stay tuned for more.