Happy bilated Birthday aws23.

Ugly crash today, I was doing great and having a lot of fun when I went backwards too far, and the heli crashed into a little tree with those wooden supports on a slope that runs behind the softball field. The crash was so nasty that the rotor head actually SPLIT apart, the spindle snapped and the rotor blades took off in opposite directions, landing about 10 feet from the heli. One rotor blade was split at the point of impact, but the other was fine. Main shaft moderately bent, main frame toast, canopy busted and worst of all...my 2-in-1 shorted out due to the instant stress on the motor, so the main motor MOSFETS actually shorted out and the main motor was STUCK on running full power, very scary situation. Fortunately the rotor blades were gone so I grabbed the heli by the tail boom, stuck it upside down into the ground and unplugged the battery. The 2-in-1 seems to have this nasty shorting-out issue, it happened to my first 2-in-1 before I even started flying so I got a replacement, but it seems that if the unit shorts out, the current goes right through the MOSFETS and the motor is stuck on full power, it even bypasses the arming procedure so the second the battery goes in the motor is running full power. All other functions work fine so it is an issue with the main motor speed control chip.

Anyways, this gives me a reason to get the CNC aluminum main frame assembly. I'm going to wait a week or so to give some breathign time after this crash, but I hope to be flying again in two or three weeks. And I'll tell you guys about that CNC frame. It also comes with a dual tail motor mount, which effectively uses two tail motors instead of one two drive the tail rotor, you split the wiring between the two so each motor gets half the voltage, resulting in much longer motor run times because of reduced brush wear. The CNC frame also has an aluminum tail boom that bolts on using a set screw, as well as aluminum skids so they're very tough. And I'll paint the new canopy I get as well.

Gryphix: that Blade canopy is looking WICKED. How did you make it all white, did you just paint it and then stick graphite-looking stickers on, or did you manage to find a white canopy?

DarkWombat

I could be wrong but I believe with a dual tail mount, you run the motors in parallel and split the current between the two, not the voltage.

Brett

Hmm you're right actually. But still, even with the voltage the same, the amperage would be significantly less and the motors would still last longer

I am also a hobby shop owner and I bought some of these (and like everyone else loved them) for a trainer. However, I just got off the phone today with Horizon and they say its NOT a trainer and that some of their employees have destroyed them trying to learn. I guess I can see where it would get away from a newbe. They say the Blade CX is almost hands off hovering. Has anyone got one of these yet? Is it truely that easy to fly?

Fuller

Hey im really trying to get on of those antenna whips. Where can i find them and how do you like it. Does it have the same range or better than just simply having the antenna wrapped around the stbd landing skid? Let me know how i can get one. Im trying to make my BCP look like I actually did something to it.

Thanks

I read over on the rcgroups.com forums something about this cx is going to be available after some big R/C trade show coming up.

Oh here its is. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=424524

Horizon is going to have a bell heller kit for the blade and some other cool stuff. do a search on EFLH CP on the Horizon website.

look for Dean's antenna. Great unit, I use it on mine and get 150 feet +/- on my range check.

cost is $10

pics here: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_30...37/key_/tm.htm

True, the BladeCP is NOT a training helicopter. I wouldnt recommend it to any newbie. Its a bit much for a new pilot to handle. This being said....you could learn on a Blade, but you'll probably be going through a fair amount of parts.

I havent flown the new BladeCX, but I do have a Hirobo XRB which is very simular, and it is definatly the heli for a beginner. Its like a helicopter with and extra "training" rotor on the top. REALLY stable, and is easy to fly. The BladeCX should fly just like it. Im gonna order one. Its just a really cool little heli...should make a nice addition to the collection.

Im picking up my MX400 today.Whooooohooooo

As far as antenna whips, I just bought one of those RC car antenna holder thingys and coiled the antenna around it. Works great, no glitches yet, and range is well out of visual.

I cant wait for the bell/hiller upgrades. It needs it for the inverted stuff. Hopefully they will come out with some kind of brushless upgrade package too.

There are quite a few upgrades coming out soon.

Head dampening set, Bell/Hiller setup including new blade grips and arms and pushrods, and even an aluminum swashplate, and a carbon tail rotor to match the carbon blades.

With all this awesome product support, E-flite still has everything else beat in this mid-entry helicopter field.

I hope E-flite comes out with a T-rex type helicopter. That would be awesome.

Figured out what was wrong with the slop in my spindle after installing the 3BB grips...I used the wrong size washers on the outer ends. put thicker ones on and it works great.

BTW...if you haven't switched to the 3BB grips, DO IT! I flew mine yesterday and it was like a different heli. No more jumping up and down...smooth as silk.

the modification is a ball point pen cut to 1 1/4 length and then you notch it out to the diameter of the tail boom and it should mount like a baby then epoxy on and once it dries drill the holes for the skids to slide in you can always drill the holes first but be reall carefull not to get epoxy on main gear . it works like a champ i have a spare frame and all but i will wait untill frame i no longer any good or not repairable but she is tough just wish they make a frame plate support that wraps around motr area all the way back to aft servos whicvh will make frame a little more ridgid

Hi, I have had some discussions with Horizon over the blade being a good trainer heli and I certainly respect their thoughts---however---as I mentioned before-- I have been flying helis for 35 years and have no idea how many boys--and girls- I have helped over the years learn to fly a heli. My first heli was a kavan jet ranger. I have flown heli boys, mini boys, champions, superiors, all this before anybody new what a gyro was and did not even know we needed one. I just feel like a $1000 dollar, more or less, heli with very dangerous wooden or fiberglass blades after only a few flights laying in a heap is much more dismaying to a beginner than a little $200 electric heli with balsa blades that don't hurt too much( speaking from experience) all laying in a heap. Actually I have never seen a blade in a heap and I have seen many mishaps. The blade certainly is not as stable in a hover (after I make a few adjustments they are very close)as a 30 or 60 size heli but it sure teaches you the fundamentals of hovering. I had thought that possibly after flying the blade for awhile most would want a larger heli but most stay with the blade or similar electric. Just a few of my thoughts and experiences. I certainly respect others thoughts and experiences on the "trainer or not trainer" matter. Al

well you might be an ole timmer but i will say this helo is very stable in a hover if you have it trimmed right i can hands free for 5 secs easy and she might drift right or left and i think that is due to only the 7 to 8 mph cross wind i fly in and i will say this i think if you fly in 5+ mph wind this thing handles and has so much more lift i really think that eflite did a damn good job!!!!!

aws, Id agree with that. While the BladeCP is not a trainer heli, its certainly a better choice for a beginner than say...a trex or something. I just cant see any beginner starting off on a Trex and actually being successful. Ive been flying helis for about 6 months, and the Trex still requires my utmost attention. The Blade is way more forgiving than a Trex, but not as much as some of the actual "training" helis like the XRB,BladeCX,Housefly etc.

You could learn on a Blade, and many have been successful doing that, but its not really what it was designed for. E-flite designed it to be a intermediate heli for pilots that already had experience on some other heli, and were ready to move up to CCPM style flight and aerobatics. It just so happens that the bladeCP's low price, small size and ease of use makes it a somewhat reasonable beginners heli.

I just purchased a Blade today with the 9 tooth motor and upgraded blades.....I haven't got it yet but I've been reading from several different forums opinions and comments from different users. I used to fly glo heli's about 5 years ago (2 Shuttles (belt start), Raptor 30 V1, 2 LMH's but lost interest in them for several reasons. #1 - replacement parts, constant engine tuning, and fuel (I DO LOVE the smell of nitro burning though ).

Now some of you might remember the Telebee HH gyro and smaller Piezo gyro's, well that's what I used to fly with and ALWAYS had a decent hover but RARELY a hands free smooth, non-drift hover. I find it comical now to read viewer comments that are complaining of a 2 or 3 inch drift with the Blade. I mean, damn if it's holding a heading and only drifting 2 or 3 inches, you're not even flying - the wash is causing the drift. Is the Blade really that stable in a hover? I'm also baffled how the tail motor works since it's not controlled by blade pitch like 30, 50, 90 size heli's. Can anyone break it down how it's controlled??

Lastly, does the FMS software work with the radio supplied with the Blade and if so, does anyone have a Blade program I could download?

Thanks!

Sure,

Basically, the tail rotor works like this.


Instead of a servo adjusting pitch on the tail rotor to change direction.......


It uses a fixed pitch tail rotor blade. The gyro tells the tail rotor motor to spin up and blow more air, or slow down and blow less air.
More air, and the heli turns right, less air, and it uses the torque of the main rotor head to turn left.

You can sometimes hear it while in forward flight. You can hear it go WHIZZZZ whiZZZ Whizzzz as the gyro compensates and revs it up.

Its not the ideal set-up obviously, as it is slower than a pitch set-up, and less precise....but it works surprisingly well considering its low-tech approach.

The blade is WAY more stable than a gyroless machine. LOL. I never flew one of those old heliboys, but Ive talked to some old timers around here that have flown them, and they all said if they could have had one of these small electrics back then it would have been the cat's meow.

Wasnt it groupner that offered a $10,000 award to the first person that could make a heli fly a figure 8, back in the early days. I heard their first heli was based off the design that the guy that did it used.

I had a honey bee fixed pitch and it was starting to be no fun. decided to get a blade. busted a set of blades and bent the shaft. replaced the parts and decided to take it slow. after 20 charges or so I can hover tail in sideways and nose in. No busted parts. Now I can fly a heli on a sim LOL. point is, for any newbe, take it slow keep it low and you can learn with a blade. Once you can control the tail and react ahead of the heli it will be easy to hover and gain altitude. What a fun little heli.

OK not sure if you got an answer to this...And I have very little Exp with RC heli's (had a Blade for three weeks now), but some real world stick time

But I had sort of the same thing and this is what I guessed:
When you put in right nose it makes the anti torque motor on the tail spin faster. This causes a bigger draw on the battery and it slows the head speed down...That makes the heli drop a little. I also found that slowing the anti torque rotor made it jump up a little. I have found that Lipo's or a fresh battery makes this happen less.

Like I said, I could be WAY wrong. But it happens that way in a full scale heli...So it makes sense it could happen here as well.

No you're spot on Ron. Since there is no pitch-control setup for the tail rotor (it's fixed-pitch) by increasing or decreasing main motor speed while decreasing or increasing tail motor speed at the same time, respectively, you get faster response. The downside is, of course, changes in altitude the farther you move the rudder stick left or right. With my 6102 TX setup I set up a mix, but I can fine-tune this setup so it's a good balance of responsiveness and performance. Alas, this is one of the problems with a fixed pitch tail. There are solutions out there though, such as a direct-drive motor which yields higher RPM's with a smaller prop, so you get more responsivenes but more amperage draw.

Wow got a blade for my birthday today and what a difference from the ole fixed pitch e-sky I have. I pulled it out of the box charged the battery, put her on the ground spun her up and off I went. I was amazed how stable this thing is, all it took was a few clicks of left and I was in a solid hover. On the ole fixed pitch e-sky forget about a good hover, I learned with it to just get up and start flying because there is no real stable hover. Not with the blade, this bird is amazing and a lot of fun. I flew her 5 times today and other then me losing orientation at about 6 feet and shutting her down, which broke one of the landing skid supports (already fixed with some pushrod tubing) this thing performed flawlessly.

I am sold, best electric heli for the money on the market. I am already thinking upgrades I wonder if I will lose the stable hover with the symmetrical blades. Those saying this isn't a beginner helicopter, I disagree the fixed pitch e-sky is the one that shouldn't be for a beginner. Guess the one positive is with me learning on it, makes the blade a piece of cake to fly. I haven't done much but run it around the yard and hover it but I am looking forward to getting the hop ups and learning some new trick stuff now!

this is my theory. as you get better and better at hovering you will get longer flights. I have found that it takes a lot more energy when the heli is all over the place. Its kinda neat a tail tail sign your are doing good because if I am all over the place and seetle into a nice stable hover ill have to pull the collective back a click or two to keep it from going to high. I suppose this will all change when I get into fff. I will switch lipos then. another bad habit I think I am getting, correct me if I am wrong, but I am getting a habit of controlling collective along with the tail rotor speed change. that is when I put the nose right, more power to tail ,heli will fall, a little correction with more collective. nose to the. left less power to the tail. correction with less collective. I am thinking this learning curve will be of no effect with a belt driven tail. or will lipos even out the current draw a little? I can see myself with a gas heli turning to the right and smashing it into the ground.

In regards to the trainer/no-trainer debate...

The Blade has proven to be a great trainer for me. I had only flown three channel electric planes before the Blade and am now flying circles and can hover with no problems. It has taken my about a month and I have gone through some parts, but they have been reasonably priced. My broken part count has gone way down in the last two weeks (only one set of blades)! I mean for $220.00 you can run the thing into a brick wall and you can't be out more than that. Try that with a high end electric or gas. I think the manufacturer has done a great job with this package.

I do wish the blades could handle a bit more contact. I picked up the CF blades hoping to get more life out of them, but it seems that with the NiMh setup, they just don't work well. I think they are just too heavy with the stock setup. I used them for quite a while and was unable to destroy them, but I guess you need the upgrade kit to get them spinning fast enough for stabilty. My flight times were way lower once I got stable in a hover with the CF blades vs. the balsa ones. I am on my fourth set of balsa blades now.

Steve