willowarune

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Well, I decided not to get the Blade MX...

What made the decison was an ad in the Classifieds of one forum. A Blade CX2 complete with almost complete upgrades in Aluminum and from EXxteme in Montreal. That came for a price of less than the new Blade CX2 I had acquired so all the upgrade parts - over $300 new - were free! This seemed a better idea than the purchase of the new mini-Blade.

The heli arrived and I was delighted. Deciding to make one heli a complete EXxtreme model, I went to eBay and got a good deal on the EXxtreme motors, long shafts and blades. I also got a few aluminum parts from the LHS and, being somewhat concerned about what I had read about the EXxtreme body, back to eBay for the Xtreme body and more blades. All the parts arrived and it was time to start tearing apart and rebuilding the two helis.

I decided to keep one as a "pretty" one, with the full aluminum upgrades. This one I left with the standard shafts and blades, as by now I had ten stock blade sets to use. The other would be the full EXxtreme upgrade from Montreal. With the used bird purchase I had three stock batteries and two chargers (with adaptors) so I decided not to get more powerful batteries until these were fried.

I had read some bad things about Sonny and the Montreal store but I found he was very helpful to even what must have been the silliest questions. So the EXxtreme heli came together after I disassembled the entile bird and reassembled using the EXXtreme motors, the entire "core" with longers shafts and folding blade conversion, the landing skids and battery holder, the shorter flybar and boom tail. The boom tail had been installed on the other heli, the used one, so that had to be disassembled and put on this bird. Right now, the whole thing is done and it is sweet. The only part that has not arrived is from Xtreme (US) - the body with black decals - which should arrive next week and will be left clear with decals attached until I can get around to painting the interior after determining the colour.

So that is the EXxtreme bird. After completing the upgrades, I found it would not fly, so had to track down the reason. Reason one was that the Core comes with a new ball bearing holder for the top of the outer shaft. I had in error installed the stock part, which raised the inner shaft to a point were the lower retaining collar could not be mounted. I found this out after many attempts to rectify the situation and finally, by noting that the ball bearing in the spares box was not the same size as the one mounted on the bird. A quick replacement of one for the other solved the problem.

The next problem was that the upper blades were turning in the wrong direction. I thought I would have to solder and wrote to Sonny for help. No problem - all I had to do was to take the lead for that motor out of the three-in-one and replace it in the other direction. Blades now turn as they should! Many thanks to Sonny for putting up with my silly female questions!

So, all being done, that one was put aside to start work on the other. This was the used bird, already fitted with the aluminum frame and EXxtreme tail boom. The boom was disassembled and put onto the EXXtreme bird and it did look pretty even if still clad in the Blade stock front body. Then a removal of the inner shaft and the mounting of the aluminum lower rotor, ball bearing cap, and all aluminum upgrades (the only thing missing are is the heat sink - out of stock at the LHS. All checked out.

Next, following hints on various forums, was to balance and boil the blades. I checked all stock blades following a good instruction guide on You Tube, boiled them and tested again, then checked each pair for balance using two glasses. All was fine. So on go the stock Blades to the aluminum heli.

Opps! Not getting off the ground and then, on lift off, spining like mad. So it was back to the manual and check out the two small screws on the three-in-one. Following those instructions, in the manual and from thread tips, the Blade lifted off wonderfully even though the aluminum frame and other hop-ups were a bit heavy.

The future plans for this bird include the E-Flite blue/blue Bell Ranger body, microheli blade holders top and bottom, and the EXxtreme landing skides painted to match the Ranger body. The body might come first as with ten sets of stock blades, I intend to use those up before adding the folding blade conversion. With now one extrra set of stock motors, I can burn out the present ones, then the spare ones before trying out other motors as an upgrade.

Now, back to the EXxtreme heli. Complete save for the Xtreme body, it sits in its box and waits. I like the folding blades and plan to weigh each to see how much weight the aluminum parts really add. When its body arrives, it will be completed and out to the backyard

Oh yes, I bound the new heli to the old transmitter, to learn that trick and do away with carrying two transmitters. Now, I have to add that I am the typical blonde when it comes to things mechanical. I can change a tire if pressed but would rather not. This is the most mechanical stuff I have done and to be freank, it was rather fun. Follow the intructions, a bit of reason and away....

So, what next?

The Bell Ranger body wil have to be ordered from the LHS as will the heat sink (they are presently out of stock). This bird will get added navigation lights for night flying and two landing and one spot light. I want to see of these can be controlled on the fifth channel byh a 50% turn to turn on the navigation lights and a 100% turn to put on the landing and spot lights. That will be rather fun on the Bell Ranger body, which happens to be the same heli as used by the RCMP in this area. Maybe add one blue and one white light as well...

The EXXtreme heli will be my experimental heli. Next variation - as the three stock batteries give out, add alternative batteries to see how they change the flying. With EXxtreme motors now, they will be replaced with different brands to see if there is any difference.

And that brings me to the consideration of chargers. From all I have read, it seems that the stock charger of the Blade CX2 is not optimum. So I started to look at chargers and found one by E-Flite that is recommended, the E-flite 1-5 cell LiPo Balancing Charger. This wil need, or so I am told by one source (another says I can use the stock converter) a new converter, making the charger as expensive as a complete heli! Next year I look into those, as it seems there has to be a cheaper and still safe way. Or maybe I will place a wanted ad and some nice stranger will have a used one more within my budget. Until then, the stock charger.

Plans for next spring include a camera. there seem to be two basic types - those that record in flight and are then downloaded to your computer, and those that broadcast to a reciever which you can watch in flight. After looking at many, I have determined the SkyCAmONe 2 is jsut ideal for what I want, and it can serve other purposes as well with its "spy" function. So that will be the objective next spring, to be mounted on either heli but expecialy the night flying Bell Ranger.

We have a front porch with an "L" shapped corner that overlooks our street. Just right, thinks I, for a square heli landing pad, painted green with a circled "H". Set it up and cruise the heli up and down the streets - no municipal by-laws prevent this here.

As to the future, I don't know, Looked at the Blade CP and CP PRO, read the negatives, and looked at the Blade 400. Frankly, the cost of the T-Rexes are not within my budget, so I have to consider, if I do go for a bigger heli, the alternatives like the Raptors and Heli-Max ones. Surfed the web and found Blackhawks and more. Some come with aluminum and carbon upgrades, some RTF and some ARF (not as scary as I have now worked on the CX2s). Or simply stay with the CX2s and have fun flying and experimenting in the backyard.

Willow the Intrepid Heli Flyer of the North[sm=wink_smile.gif]

P.S. It snowed two days ago and then all melted away yesterday. So much for northern Canada!!!

willowarune

My Feedback: (2)

Two days after the snow storm and melting, clear blues skies and a reaonsonalbe temperature! Great flying weather!!!!

They both go wonderfully!!!

Willow

BryFlyGuy67

CX2's are great Helis when flown indoors or in perfectly calm conditions, but for all that $$, get yourself a CCPM Heli that is made to fly outside!

willowarune

My Feedback: (2)

Next spring, I think.

A Blade 400 or the least expensive Align T-rex. The LHS stocks both, and a new LHS sells the AXE.

Willow