I don't think I got much out of FMS. I found it really easy to fly anything with it. A good sim like G3 would probably be quite a different story, but that's expensive - like $175 to $200. For $105 (including shipping), I bought an Esky Lama2 and that really helped me with orientation. Being slow and so easy to hover, it was easy to concentrate on other things. I guess whatever works is good.

SCARY EVENT:

Hi Guys,

I was out in the garage tonight, practicing hovering and short forward and backward flight. After about 10 minutes, the heli acted totally weird. All in a split second, I heard a pop from the heli, saw something fly off, and hit the wall next to me no more that 2 feet away. I thottled down, trim down and hit kinda hard (broken skid, no big deal).

Here's the deal, I'm sure we all do these. After a blade hit and damaging the end of the blade, solution, black tape. Of course you have to add same amount to the other blade to keep them balanced.

I knew this but never gave it any thought, at the end of the blades, inbedded in balsa wood (flat blades) is a small piece of lead weight, a litter bigger in diameter than the lead in a pencil. This is what flew out of the end of the blade and almost hit me.

Guess, I may change blades more often.

The first picture looks like a normal set of blades, with black tape to fix repairs.... The second picture are the blades after I removed the monocote and removed some of the balsa wood. The blade in the background has the lead weight, the front on doesn't, that's what flew out at high speed and almost got me. Whew!!! Luck me, I didn't get hit.

Dave / Choppersrule

When I repair a blade I always hit the end with CA before I put any tape on. If the weight is showing I trash the pair. Haven't had a weight fly out yet, but anytime you repair them you take that chance. Use common sense, I know there are guys out there screaming at the top of there lungs "Never repair blades!!!!" but I'm cheap and if there's a chunk missing I trash them. Split monocoat happens with practically any scuffle. I've had brand new blades come with split monocoat.

WOW, glad it didn't hit you Dave. Good notice though. Your misfortune is edgucating alot of people, including myself. I smashed my CP tonight. It was the last night for our club field, got kicked out because of noise, so some friends got to see it go down. Boy, when you hit the ground the last thing your thinking is idle down switch! My buddy shouted at me to turn it off which saved me from burning everything up. I was doing a loop,( cork screw), when I didn't have the altitude or skill to get it back upright and it went in side ways[:@] I just put a set of flat woodies on it and I found a bent shaft. It trashed the aero woodies that I had on it as well but that was it. I'd say it was a good 15 ft drop and thats all that broke[8D] I be heading to www.Hobby-Sports.com tomorrow to get some carbon blades and a new shaft. I think I'm done trying to go inverted with the CP. It really needs a head locking gyro, oh, and I need more skill

Dave,

Glad to see you survived. Nothing like being harpooned by your heli....

On that note, today here in Chicago, a fire department helicopter crash landed upside down and nobody was killed, or injured too seriously. Some lucky firemen.

Doug

My Blade is lookin' good Carbon Fibers might not be the best choice if you have blade stikes, but man do they look cool. Anywho, I'm back up and running. I didn't realize how soft the metal is that they use for the shaft. Great engineering on their part for selling future parts. I had to use a dremel to shave the bent out metal around the shear pin because the bearings and the brass ball would not slip by. even the shear pin was alittle bent. I also put double heat sinks on the main and tail motors to help cool them down in this Michigan heat and humidity. I hope I can keep it from taking another dirt nap

I had that happen to me once, blade was kinda messed up, took off about 10-15 seconds after it starts shaking horribly. I try to land it softly and try to find out what happened, took the blades off thinking maybe a chuck came out or something. One felt alot lighter then the other. Inspect the other one to find a weight the other is missing. I hadn't used blades that are to messed up, and i'm using plastiblades now.

Hello again. I just replaced the main shaft and gear on my cp. Flies way better now. Tracked the blades and had a nice 10 minute flight. it was a little windy outside but not bad enough that i couldn't fly it. I got a question though. I have noticed that there is a slight vibration. When the blades are spinning slowly the heli vibrates. When it gets up to hovering power it barely vibrates. Not like a violent thing but i can see it shaking a little. What do you guys think could be the cause of this. Should i replaced the spindle if i replace the main shaft?

Double check the flybar, and the paddles. If the fly bar is bent, or the paddles aren't at the right pitch(0 degrees) it can vibrate some. If that doesn't work you should check the spindle.

When you say vibrate, do you mean like a 1mm or is it alot more then that? I think some vibration is from the main gear not being perfectly round. Mine does that to. No fix for it other then a better made shaft and gear. (the esky might be better, not sure) I found a thread about the tail rotor balancing, did it and it vibrates less now, unbalanced tail rotor can cause it to.

Just ordered a Blade CP today and can't wait to give it a try. Was curious about using 3 cell LiPo with stock bushed motor. My experience with my fixed winged brushed airplanes was that the motors burned out after 3 or 4 flights when using a 3 cell LiPo pack. Can these cheap brushed motors handel the voltage ok and last a long time on the Blade? Second, with brushed motors I experienced them go from full power to dead when they burned out. Usually not a problem in an airplane but I would imagine in a helicopter several feet up it would be a problem? I pretty much went to brushless in most of my airplanes for reliability and extra power. Wondering if many people go brushless on these helicopters or if not worth the extra expense? Finally, do you replace the brushed motors after so many hours of operation or wait until it dies on you? Have no prior helicopter experience and it all seems a bit scarry not being able to glide down when you have a problem!

Navihawk I got good info on balance here [link]http://static.rcgroups.com/forums/attachments/8/5/6/7/8/812465.attach?FTIfnFHlZRWuoTShL7yhMlHlZQVjZQLhpTEz BmtkZwD7AGgupUOfnJAuqTyiovHlEaOxMt==[/link]
This is one of several .pdf files by SSG Scott who moderates the CP2/Blade CP sticky for R/C groups.

Gonwee I know what you mean about out of round main gears. I find about one in five that are good, I go through LOTS of shafts and spindles haha. You CAN get rid of the vibration by balancing the shaft/gear on a prop balancer and removing web material from the heavy section of the gear where it connects to the spoke.

navihawk


I would atleast remove and inspect the spindle.

Bob

dignlivn

PilotSmith,

The standard brushed main motors will last a long time on Lipos. Just make sure to put the heatsink on them. Also you need to run a different pinion if you go Lipo. The Aerobatic upgrade kit comes with a new brushed motor with the right size pinion, heatsinks for the main and tail motors, & symmetrical blades. I would fly the Blade CP completely stock until you get a few crashes in and can fly it well before upgrading it. Although, some might disagree with me on that.

The tail motors will start failing more often when using lipos. A lot of people have had problems with them. I went to Lipos in February and only burned out one tail motor in 4 months, but my main motor has never burned out using Lipos. And I flew it all the time up (2 or 3, 20 minute flights a day) until a month ago when I upgraded to a Trex.

Doug

pilotsmith

I agree with Doug, on keeping it stock for a while. Like he said at least after a few
crashes . you will get real good at rebuilding and re-setting up. Mine is 8 months
old and still Stock (kinda) Too many parts replaced with stock ones Too count.

Bob

dignlivn

This will help you not buy another 4 in 1 [link]http://static.rcgroups.com/forums/attachments/8/5/6/7/8/770802.attach?MaImMFHlZUOlo8EyL8Eco79yZwOzo8VyZwO0 o8IlWGVjnTIfnF0jMTL2AmpjBQNlB7SjpTkcL7S5nJ4hWGWTpT Ez[/link]for very little $. On Blade put the main motor fuse on shaft (rear) side.

And if you don't have one, get a sim. It will save you a fortune. I just had to mention that since we never seem to talk about it in this thread

PilotSmith,

Below is a recommended motor, battery and blade configurations from Hobby Zone.
They suggest not to use 3s lipos with the stock 10 tooth motor. I'm running an 8 tooth, with standard flat bottom blades and get 20 minutes of flight time. Which is usually more than my brain can handle.

Dave / Choppersrule

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Main Motor, Pinion, Heat Sink, Battery and Main Blade Configurations

When using the recommended main motor, pinion, heat sink and battery configurations we have experienced very good main motor life (better than any other models in this class). We have main motors in stock and Aerobatic Enhancement Kit equipped models with more than 100 flights that continue to perform very well.

For those who may be experiencing premature main motor wear, it is likely the result of excessive current draw causing damage to the motor rather than brush wear. Excessive current draw can be the result of using the wrong main motor, pinion, heat sink and battery configurations, improper gear mesh or constant power on blade strikes and crashes (shock damage). For these reasons you MUST follow the power system configurations recommended to achieve expected motor life. These configurations are:

EFLH1110A - 370 Main Motor with 8-Tooth Pinion:

For use with 3-cell Li-Po packs and flat bottom main blades. This is the most efficient setup for long duration hovering and basic sport flying when using 3-cell Li-Po packs. Must use a heat sink (EFLH1132).

EFLH1110B - 370 Main Motor with 9-Tooth Pinion (Included with Aerobatic Enhancement Kit [EFLH1168]):

For use with 3-cell Li-Po packs and flat bottom main blades for hovering and sport flying, with less duration than when using the main motor with 8-tooth pinion. Also for use with 3-cell Li-Po packs and symmetrical main blades for sport flying and aerobatics. Must use a heat sink (EFLH1132, also included with Aerobatic Enhancement Kit).

We suggest 860–900mAh packs for all-out aerobatics with durations up to 15 minutes and 1200–1320mAh packs for basic aerobatics and longer durations up to 25 minutes or more.

EFLH1110C - 370 Main Motor with 10-Tooth Pinion (Included with the stock BCP heli right out of the box):

For use with 8-cell Ni-MH packs and flat bottom main blades for hovering and sport flying. This is the most efficient setup for long duration hovering and basic sport flying when using 8-cell Ni-MH packs. DO NOT USE THIS MOTOR AND 10-TOOTH PINION WITH 3-CELL LI-PO PACKS AS IT WILL DRAW EXCESSIVE CURRENT RESULTING IN SHORT MOTOR LIFE, EXCESSIVE RF NOISE POTENTIALLY CAUSING RADIO “GLITCHES� AND DAMAGE TO THE 4-IN-1 ON BRIEF BLADE STRIKES OR EVEN DURING FLIGHT. Use of a heat sink is optional (EFLH1132), though it can help to improve duration and motor life.

EFLH1110D - 370 Main Motor with 11-Tooth Pinion:

For use with 2-cell Li-Po packs and flat bottom main blades for hovering and sport flying. We suggest packs from 860–1320mAh. DO NOT USE THIS MOTOR AND 11-TOOTH PINION WITH 3-CELL LI-PO PACKS AS IT WILL DRAW EXCESSIVE CURRENT RESULTING IN SHORT MOTOR LIFE, EXCESSIVE RF NOISE POTENTIALLY CAUSING RADIO “GLITCHES� AND DAMAGE TO THE 4-IN-1 ON BRIEF BLADE STRIKES OR EVEN DURING FLIGHT. Use of a heat sink is optional (EFLH1132), though it can help to improve duration and motor life.

Also, we find it is best to allow the main motor to cool to near ambient temperature between flights.

CLEAN CUT:

Hi Fellas,

Remember the other day when I had a lead weight come flying out and almost hit me. Well, I balanced a new set of blades, and the next day was out in the garage again practicing hovering and short forward and backward flight. Everything okay, so far.

About 8:30 PM, I noticed outside it was dead calm. Took my CP to the back 40, having a ball. Ten minutes or so into the flight, I was about 20 feet in the air and a puff (gust) of wind blew the CP. With my fingers moving as fast as they could go, I lost it and crashed into one of the uprights of my woodedn deck.. It sounded absolutely horrible, KAPOW, SMASH. I have lots of practice, throttle down and trim down immediately.. I think I can do it in 3/10ths of a second. I walked over to pick up, which looked like a total from 20 feet away. Low and behold nothing more than 1 broken blade. Boy, is this a tuff heli, not the easiest to fly but rugged.

See pic of a clean cut,

Dave / Choppersrule

I'm thinking about getting a cx for in the house, will the stock battery for the cx work on the cp with a 11 tooth pinion? Or would the battery be to lite to be able to balance it.

Hello everyone. Bad news. Today i was out flying the cp and i was practicing the left side hover from radd's training. Was doing it without any problems then i straightened it out and hovered a little tail in and everything was going fine. landed and then started to fly. Got to about 7 ft and hovered there for a bit. Then it just started to climb. I throttled down and it would come back down so i throttled down some more. IT came down but not straight i had to fly it because there was too much wind i guess and it was going forward and to the right. I tried to control it as much as i could and managed to land it a little rough but it went back up and to the left and before i could controll it it hit my car. The car is ok, but the heli is not so good. Hve to get a new head, one of the blade grips lost the little ear that holds the ball link. I think that what happened was that the main shaft retaining collar became loose and allowed the main shaft and gear to go down and up. Need to replace 1 blade grip. also both pitch controll links, and the rotor head. Also gona replace the spindle.

Navihawk,

I think we've all been there before, It's a heart break seeing the heli dive in a crumble.. You gut says, awe s*&(, here we go again.

I've had my share of crashes too, I'd hate to think of how much money I've spent in repairs, probably close to the cost of a heli.

On thing I've learned in the last couple of months, make small corrections in the stick, make the heli fly where you want it to go, don't wait for the heli to go somewhere and correct it.. However, the wind will get you everytime, it's called the panic factor.

Best of luck,

Dave / Choppersrule

Thanks for the info.I guess on my airplanes I was simply pumping too many amps through the brushed motors and burning them out too fast. If a brushed motor fails in flight at some altitide is that pretty much a guaranteed bad crash? I won't have my Blade until around Friday so that gives me 1 week to try to get some sim pratice. I have a cable and tried using the free FMS program but could never get the cable and radio to work together. I can get it to work with a joystick but not sure if that will be of much value to practice with a helicopter.

I found that same situation on a post flight this afternoon (hard landing) inspection. I had about an 1/8 inch play. The evening flight (attempt)
was not too good either but re-checked the blade tracking and everything else and Tomorrow I will try and "keep the tail"


Bob

dignlivn

Wow, harder than I thought on the sim! I managed to get two USB joysticks working at the same time on FMS. Kind of like having a real big radio with two giant sticks. Sorry for such a stupid question, but if pitch is controlled with the throttle axis, how do you control throttle? Do you pretty much just put some negative pitch and then flip a switch and throttle up the motor to a set speed and then flip a switch and leave the throttle set there for most or all of the flight so that all you control in flight is pitch and tail with the left stick?

Second question is that I tried the Huges, ThreeDee and HawkII helicopters in the sim. The HawkII was rather docile and relatively not that hard to fly. The tail would pretty much follow the helicopter where little if any tail control was needed in flight. The HawkII seemed a bit more maneuverable and harder to hover compared to the Huges. And finally the ThreeDee was a handful to fly as I had to fly the tail and ended up crashing a lot more given my total skill level of about 40 minutes total sim flight time. So my question is, which of these closest resembles the flight characteristics of the Blade CP?

Going to do A LOT of flying on this sim as just in the 30-40 minutes I've made a lot of improvement but I still am crashing a lot. I can see where you would spend a little fortune in parts and blades to try to fly one of these with no sim time to learn to avoid stupid mistakes and get your orientation down.