This is just my opinion, as a newbie, about upgrades.
I saw few new post recently about newbies looking for upgrades.
One advise...
If your heli flys perfectly, don't buy upgrades.
If you still learning hovering and stuff, don't buy upgrades.

Here's my story...
I started RC heli with a Vortex coaxial. I can do hovering, landing, FF.. with no problem.
So I moved on with CP Pro. While I was still struggling with hovering. I bought all those CNC head and shaft and stuff, while I still had no clue about what mechanics and stuff aobut heli. Which end up having my heli grounded for over 2 weeks and my skills still no impovement... How can I learn when my heli can't fly!!!
Save your money for blades and spare parts. Or maybe a new heli.
Hope my story and advise help... Just want to share my own stupid opinion...

Very well said. Not the stupid oppinion part. All the rest lol I also think a lot of the guys should hold off on the upgrades. Unless of course youre like me and just enjoy doing them for the sake of doing them.

One of my other hobbies is messing around with cars (the real ones) and I remember some good advice someone once gave me, a long time ago. "If it don't make it run any better, why waste the money?" The advice was from Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins in case anyone is wondering. Some of the fastest cars I ever had never had any chrome or polished aluminum or any other "bling" under the hood anywhere. I spent the money on horsepower instead of looks.

I figure why should my helis be any different? Besides, just for grins I tried a set of CNC blade grips once for my BCPP and had nothing but trouble with them. The plastic stuff may not look pretty but it works.

I know ALL about that...

[link=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=564309]My sob story[/link]

I've heard this one quite a few times. Let's see. You want to upgrade part "A" to the nice fancy one so you order it and when it arrives you try to put it on your Heli. The first thing you notice is that it doesn't really fit. After playing around with it a while you finally call the vender you bought it from only to discover that in order to use part "A" you also need to order parts B,C,D,E,F,and G at a cost of $MEGA BUCKS$. Then when you finally get it all together the whole mess doesn't work half as well as the stock stuff did (but it sure do look neat). Yep, been there! Too many times I might add.

Maybe the more experienced people here know how to deal with upgrades but as Dougwo said, us newbies should stay clear of the upgrades until we know how to fly the things. Personally, I'd rather save my money (what little I have anymore) for that Raptor 90 I'd like to get someday when I get good at flying instead of sinking it in a Blade CP.

Only having had my CX for 4 days and doing a lot of reading on this forum I made the decision to only upgrade with the addition of a heat sink. I have found this actually works very well and i'm making much less trim changes through a flight. However this might well be my own ability improving, it's hard to say.

While reading the link you gave I ran across this little gem:

Man, ain't THAT the truth!

Well, I guess I should say that some upgrades are good. They're not all bad.

The only other upgrade thats very beneficial to the CX is the aluminum shaft upgrade. Youre stock 1 will get bent sooner or later and its a very well spent $25 to replace it with the aluminum 1. The flybar is held in place with a cap and screw instead of just a push it tight fit. Itll never pop out again with the upgrade and its also much stronger.

My 2 cents......I first bought the CX too and that's what helped me learn to fly, well besides the G2. I have since bought the CP Pro as well as the Super-Skids and Gyro. NOW, the skids and the gyro have yet to be installed because I've stuck to my guns and committed to learning to fly this thing completely stock and then I can upgrade the skids and then install the gyro just to help a little more. But most importantly, I've decided to fly them both stock because they can fly perfectly well that way and I know the upgrades aren't going to teach me to fly. Besides, if the upgrades do make it easier then I'd rather keep it stock and really learn how to control it.

Jon

I would put the skids on ...They can take more abuse than the stock gear....plus they just look cool.

I'll second that one. I have super skids on my CP Pro also. After breaking a few sets of the stock skids I figure that's one upgrade that's really needed. I didn't notice any difference in performance so I wouldn't say it made it any easier to fly. What I did notice was less broken parts. When the stock skids would break on a hard landing, the heli would topple over on it's side usually taking out a blade or two and one time bent a spindle.

Well, you guys are pretty convincing. Seriously, I was just looking for an excuse to put them on, now it looks a little more serious.

Jon

My advice.....

IF you upgrade. DONT try to save money and get cheap upgrades. There are allot of after market parts out there that look good but are still cheap.....Don't be fooled by pretty pictures. If you go to upgrade to CNC with the idea of saving money in the process...you should just send the money to the guy who posted just before me.

wow.... i thought this post would be one of those "dead post" which only few people read and no one reply. Anyway.... I paid my "tuition" for the lesson and hope newbies like me not gonna repeat it again.
Yes... some upgrades are nice... BUT you don't know until you use your credit card and effort and time... which sucks compare to going to atlantic city and play slots.
Newbies.... pay attention to the posts in this forum, and the experienced guys above will save you time and money. haha.... Salute to you all.

Looks nice Jon. I have the v2 skids from Helidirect. They look kinda cheap but work. I was looking at the v3 Superskids which look much nicer but I don't know if I want to spend the money since what I have now works. I hear the battery fits much better with v3 skids which might make me change my mind.

The super skids, Brushless motors, Seperate electronics, CF main blades...etc....these make the BCP more solid and increase flying time by reducing bench time. These micro's make great trainers because they are really tough and take dumb thumb abuse well.

the more complexed your tail drive or the more expensive the parts (CNC tail or head), the less likely you are to spend time flying (increased bench time) and less likely you are to push the edge and learn. Keep it simple...keep it tough = charge and fly.

I just keep my micro simple and tough....that's why it gets the most stick time. I hate crashing my other blinged heli's. Flying is easier when your relaxed and confident that a hard landing or blade strike/tipover isn't going to take your heli out for the day.

Video...a little relaxed battery burnin in the back yard.

http://www.cindy4citycouncil.com/ima...yard_flier.wmv

futura.... You are so right. I just rebuilt and readjust my whole stock head to replace my CNC head. Now I can hover for 5 secs and land in my kitchen, a 8x10 space. And it was only my 5th battery and my first hover with my CP pro.
about the super skid... Does it make hard landing less bouncy and less likely to tip over? I was actually thinking about the CNC air frame, super skid, and duct fan(so i can take off from a soccer field without cutting grass).

There isn't any bouncing but you can tip it over I guess...though its not prone to doing so. The ducted fans sound like a great Idea but the cowel/mounting is weak and breaks. Its also very heavy and the BCP is already tail heavy. Give it a try if you like, but I have heard very little good reports.

With the CNC airframe....you will have to get creative with mounting the servo's and such. Its not a direct replacement. I also have heard of people getting some serious glitching but I suspect that is due to how/where everything is mounted.

There are some good threads around about that CNC frame....a search might net some more info.