The Xcell is a very dated design that wasn't very good when it was new. The newer versions are just the same heli with fixes/upgrades for all the problems. It's a good stable flier for a beginner but there are many good new designs out there that will let you progress to heavy 3D and don't cost a fortune to maintain and repair.

The Xcells' frame is weak and flexes under any load. The aluminum is prone for cracks even with small engines and the radio tray is very flimsy without extensive bracing.

The front tail drive and the wimpy boom are a joke for HH gyros, even with the front bearing mod/upgrade which makes it even more of a pain to work on and adjust the mesh.

The 'tractor' tail is back-wards, the wire drive is good for little more than hovering and their brittle canopies crack like eggshells with the slightest bump.

Mine ate bearings like crazy and nearly always needing work at the end of the day.

If you don't plan on getting into 3D, you like to work on your heli as much as fly, you don't mind the outrageous prices for parts (if you can get them at all) and you can handle the *****s down in FL. then it may be OK.
IMO, that's an awful lot to put up with just to proclaim "I've got a MINIATURE".


I don't miss mine a bit.

Kirk