phililpb

I have been flying model planes for a while and now I am trying my hand at helicopters.

I do have Phoenix simulator but I find it difficult to spend anymore than 5 minutes on this. But it is a useful tool and I do try out new things on this first.

After a forum recommendation I bought a Blade MCPX RTF. This was much too lively for me and it did not take long for me to break it without even getting it properly airborne. I ordered the spares to fix it but as I have no idea what I am doing it does not work properly. As you throttle up the fuselage starts to spin before the blades do.


I could see even that even if I could fix it I would not be able to fly it. I went with my first instinct and bought a Blade 200 srx. I proper beginners model that the "forum experts" did not think worth while (not this forum I may add). I had one great flight/hover with the blade in beginner mode without any damage.
"This is it" I can use this and step up through the modes as I learn.

I have also bought a used align 450 sport (as it was a bargain price) but I don't even have the tools to put it together at the moment but I am not in a hurry for this.

I had a problem with the blade however on my second attempt. I ham fistedly forced the JST battery connectors together and some how managed to short out the pins. The heat melted the plastic so now I am grounded until new connectors arrive. I am used to larger model planes with large connectors but I have learned my lesson on that one.

Real2You

Don't give up on the mCPX....once you can hover it you are going to love that little heli. There are youtube videos on how to set it up for beginners. It may seem hard now....but after a while something will "click" and you will be able to hover and move around easily. I'm not sure why the tail would spin before the blades do.....look everything over very closely...the parts are small and something might have just slipped out of place. I have a mCPX and its super durable and it hovers almost hands free. You do have to get it up in the air a few feet quickly or it will do all kinds of weird stuff because it's so light and the wind from the blades bounce off the ground and cause it to act like it's out of control. Good luck and hang in there.

phililpb

No I have not given up on the Mcpx. I have just put it on hold for now I did have the rft with a DX4 transmitter but I am now waiting delivery of a DX7.

I now own 3 helicopters and plan to progress using the Blade 200 then the mcpx and then the trex. It may take me a while though

I think I will have to strip down the mcpx and give it a good check over. I already have replaced the boom as it was broken for a longer version (I don't know if that will make any difference. I think using a computer Tx will help a lot as I will be able to limit the throws (if that is the right term). There are many upgrade parts available for the mcpx. Are any of these worth while if I need to replace any parts?

Real2You

I haven't used any upgraded parts on mine. The one thing I did do though(took the advice from others on this forum)....I broke the tail a few times and kept buying the tail motor combo...so I had broken tails with good motors piling up. I bought 2mm solid carbon fiber tubing and cut them about an inch longer than the stock length. I took all the old broken tails and just replaced the tubing(took the wire out of the hollow tails and wrapped them around the solid CF tube. It works great and flies better and the tail hasn't broke since(had a few hard crashes)....my mCPX has turned out to be my simulator. I try new stuff and if I crash i hardly ever break anything.

Real2You

Just to add...I have the DX7 and love it. You can tame the mCPX down a little if needed.

phililpb

It is an old style dx7 but should do the job

phililpb

well I have been trying to fix my mcpx

I bought it used and it seems the previous owner had not put the blade grips onto the hub correctly. I think he just used what bits he had left over to just get it out the door.

But it has taught me quite a bit about how it all goes together and at least parts for the mcpx are not very expensive

It was not surprising I did not have any success with making it fly. It has given me a little more confidence as it was not all down to my pilot skills.

phililpb

I am a little confused about the flight modes for a CP helicopter. My current understanding is as follows

Normal mode. CP and throttle are controlled by the throttle stick. with throttle and cp a zero when the stick is fully down.

Idle up. throttle is no longer controlled by the throttle stick but stays at a constant rate (with a fine tune on a dial or slider). The Throttle stick controls CP only with negative pitch at full down, zero pitch in the middle and positive pitch at the top

Throttle hold. Throttle is switched of for auto rotations and as a safety switch.

My futaba set has the ability for three different idle up modes but I am not to worried about that yet.
Have I got this right. Especially normal mode or in normal mode is the CP at zero at 50% stick and below?

Real2You

I pretty much set my normal mode like it said in the instructions that came with my mCPX. But you are right in that ....normal mode you will have 0 pitch at the bottom and it will increase as you throttle up. A lot of people suggest you have a little negative pitch at the bottom(like -2) so if you fly in a little wind it will help landing the helicopter and keep it from getting away. When you idle up, yes you would have 0 pitch at mid stick....positive pitch as you throttle up from midstick and negative pitch as you throttle down from midstick. I think I have mine set to be at 80% throttle at mid stick and 100% throttle at low and high stick. Those settings can be adjusted to your flying style. You could have 70% at mid stick. When I go from normal to idle up mode(or stunt mode)...my heli dips a little but not much because I have it set so when I switch to idle up(I'm usually hovering when I go to idle up)...it will still be hovering even though the throttle went from say 60% to 80%. You don't want your heli to shoot straight up when you go to idle up...so if you are hovering a little past midstick....you want to hover a little past midstick in idle up too. And it just takes a few udjustments in your transmitter to get the pitch and throttle curves to be where you want them. Pretty much in the owners manuel it tells you where to put the settings for normal/idle up. You have 3...so they may call it normal/stunt1/stunt 2. Stunt 2 might be 100% throttle all across...with -10 at the bottom and +10 at the top....0 at midstick. I hope this makes sense.....and everyone sets there helicopter up a little different depending on there skill level. You are right on the throttle hold switch. For safety and to practice auto's.

madmorgan

My Feedback: (2)

on one note if heli is spinning or falling over when trying to just spool up watch tail blade it will start turning way before mains start to turn. i have a load of flights on mine now so i have to kind a feather my left stick or tail input to the left a tad so the tail blade has no input until the mains get to speed then i let the gyro take over then just get it off the ground. havent looked into figuring it out or fixing it lol. the boards on em are cheaply made. and also as real said on your flight modes you have to set that all up yourself in the radio if you dont go into throttle pos1 and change it then it will just be a linear setting as in normal mode.

phililpb

I managed to fix this problem but I am not sure how. I have ended up replacing almost every part of my mcpx. I think the main rotor was not spooling up as it should so the tail span up pulling the tail round because the main rotor was not producing the expected torque for that throttle setting.

But I lost track and made some mistakes (adding new faults) so now I can not tell what part or combination of parts resolved the problem but at least it is working now

madmorgan

My Feedback: (2)

mcpx is very forgiving to the learning errors lol they definately are tough lil guys!