I gotta jump in here to the defense of the out-of the box Blade: No it's not set up in a way that makes professional heli pilots cream themselves.....but is is definitely ready to fly. I bought the Blade as my first heli only a month ago and I am very happy with it in all respects. I can now fly it and despite multiple mishaps have had only to replace the main and tail rotors. I have now removed the training gear and am beginning forward flight. As far as excess servo travel/binding this is only a factor when it is sitting on the table and you are playing with it. I can't imagine moving the right stick to the end of it's travel during flight, besides which it is flexible enough that the servos are not damaged by this. Many of the complaints I hear about this heli could be translated like this: !QUOT!This thing cost $200 (which is why I bought it) but I want it to look like it was made in Germany and cost $800!QUOT! No, the blade is not perfect in every respect but I was impressed with it and would recommend it to anyone.

PS imagine what a NASCAR driver would have to say about a factory stock Ford Taurus, and you will get an idea as to how seriously many of the criticisms of this product are to be taken.

PPS mine flew out of the box with no adjustments whatsoever and has flown over 100 li-po packs without any repairs except for crash damage