Tall Paul

Just got one... Looked it over, flew it a bit inside.
Comments on it...
I'll be adding some small outrigger stubs to the landing gear. It's just as tippy as the CX. I don't plan on investing in a lot of blades as I had to do with the CX.
The upper and lower blade holders are plastic. These to be aluminumed...
The receiver -should- be useable in airplanes with the kit transmitter.
There may be a genuine problem with range though.
The transmitter won't bind with an AR6000 receiver.

choppersrule

Tall Paul,

Everything sounds okay, except the problem of range you mentioned. I don't plan on over 100 feet or so. Think that would be a problem? Is it glitchy? As far as the Tx not binding with an AR6000 Rx, I guess for the money, I wouldn't expect it to be a DX6 or DX7 system.

Hey Paul,
What's your latest invention, just curious.[sm=50_50.gif]

Take care guy,
Dave / Choppersrule

Swanky Pants

First there was the Blade CX... now there's the Blade CX2. Well ladies and gentleman, welcome MY heli... the Blade CX .47! It's so beat & banged up, it's less than its former glory!

Good job on keeping us posted with the CX2, Paul. I know many new heli pilots are waiting for the CX2 to come out before they buy!

Tall Paul

Flying the Blade CX-2 in my living room...
http://www.rcuvideos.com/view_video....940f52cf300cf8

Swanky Pants

Is it just me, when you throttled up for take-off does that thing sound like a small jet engine spooling up ?

Tall Paul

It does, dunnit?
Haven't messed with the gear mesh at all..... yet..
I put Nimhs in the transmitter... the supplied Gassners go south very quickly.
There is a recharging plug on the transmitter... Be very aware it is set up for
JR only. Positive is on the outer ring of the charge plug.
Wall warts for Futaba and Hitec -will NOT work!-

tinchao

I am new to RC heli, I have been reading a lot abut RC heli on this site. I went to the local shop, they said the blade CX2 will be available this weekend, it will be around $189, the blade CX will drop to about $169. Any suggestion which one I should get. What major difference between this two? I ask the local shop about the 2.4 radio and try to find out will it makes a difference, they said hard to tell. Is the CX offer a much longer range? I think a stable fly and easly control is more important to me at this time.
My only rc heli experience is the $40 radio shack indoor heli, 2 ch. I like it so much, that is why I stepping up to a bigger heli.
I will be flying the heli in my house mostly, some outdoor fly by the driveway and backyard only when there is no wind (Knowing CX is not for outdoor). Not looking for all out outdoor fly at this time.
Thanks

Swanky Pants

I fly my CX outdoors all the time. Sure, if the wind is blowing 12mph I can't. But enough of a breeze to russle the leaves is fine, then again I've changed the linkage on my servos to be more aggresive.

To answer your quesiton, however, it depends on how quick you want one. I would *imagine* the Blade CX2 is going to be harder to get right away (think Xbox 360 when it first came out). Then again I may be wrong.

tinchao

Thanks, Swanky Pants, I am so new to this sport, I don't understand what is "linkage on my servos to be more aggresive" Is there any link / sit that I can learn all these term for parts, etc.
I also read about people change to Alum part, is it a good investment? to make the heli more durable?
I think if the CX2 is available, and I got no real negative feedback from other users about the CX2, I will most likely to get the newer model instead of the CX.
Thanks and Aloha from Hawaii

Swanky Pants

Oh yes, very much so. If your hobby store doesn't have the aluminum upper rotor head in stock, then go ahead and order you one. You WILL break it!

The servo motors have arms that the links attach to. Those arms have holes in them that you can attach the linkages to. Stock is in whole #4, I moved mine up a notch to #3. I wouldn't recommend that to you until you get used to flying it!

Tall Paul

I've moved the pushrods from hole #4 to hole #3 on my CX.. It comes out of the box with the pushrods in hol4 #4.
The CD-2 comes out of the box with the pushrods in hole #5, on each servo.
The Eflite guys (on RCGroups) say that's to cater to newbies... And I like the way it handles, over the CX.
I'll be moving the pushrods on the CX back to #4...

RiseAgainst017

Yep, the controller only works with E-Flight receivers. I think you could buy a new E-Flite receiver and put that in another heli/plane and use the radio.
I am new to helicopters (I race cars and trucks) but I saw the CX-2 at my LHS and got the last one they will have for a little bit, Is this a good heli for me to start with?. What are some of the good/bad things about it? What are some upgrades for it, and about how much are they?
Thanks

Tall Paul

The CX or the CX-2 are good introductory helicopters.
Much easier to learn to fly than the "collective pitch" helis with tail rotors.
They are not as manuverable as the more advanced helis, and are limited in how much wind they can handle outside.
There's lot of bling available for them.
The learning process results in many crashes, and lots of broken parts... but the crashes aren't as destructive as the more advanced helis tend to have.

holyschmoley

I went to the LHS today to get a new fuselage for my stryker. Saw the Blade CX AGAIN. I have a Blade CP and have been able to get it to hover but haven't tried much else. It gets squirly quickly, and parts cost a lot quickly. I barely tapped the blade on the deck the other week, and it looks like it ruined my 4 in 1, so that's $70 down the drain - for the 2nd time. I've been messing w/ the indoor heli toys. The pico is great for the $$, but I don't like the 2 channel thing much. I didn't like the Mosquito. Costco just got the Helix's in, and I picked one of those up for less than $50. That's a great toy for playing around w/ indoors. But I really wanted something more substantial to fly indoors and a little out and to help me learn the controls quicker to fly my CP. So as I looked at the CX, the guy showed me a stack of the CX2's that just came in. He demo'd it 2' in front of me right off the counter. That did it. I love the thing. It'll be great to keep me busy for quite awhile. I'll start up w/ the CP again someday, but this is it for now. And it is tippy. I'll be throwing some training gear on it. The last thing I want to do is burn more money on parts.

So is the heat sink necessary? Any other must-mods that are fairly easy and cheap?

Swanky Pants

Holy,

I think I'm going to change my user name to Aluminum Rotor Head. Why? Because when I die I want my tombstone to read "Buy The Aluminum Rotor Head". You will, within a week, break the plastic one off. If you're like me, you'll try to repair it with whatever epoxy/superglue/CA glue concosion you choose. It still will break. Then you will break down and order the aluminum one for $21. Never again will you break it! You understand where I'm coming from?

And about the heat sink, I bought one becuase everyone recommends it. Heat is the enemy when it comes to wasted energy, and electrical energy is what the motors run off. So I say get it, it's only $4!

The training gear, to me, is great for new flying, but you'll have a hard time dialing the thing in with those big ol out riggers on it. She'll never hold a steady hover with them on.

holyschmoley

Thanks for the info. Is my LHS the best place to get those or do you have a link for the aluminum rotor head? Ebay maybe? Is this the piece here you're talking about:
http://cgi.ebay.com/AIRCRAFT-GRADE-A...QQcmdZViewItem

hunter306

I just got one of these little helicopters and they seem pretty well built.

The included Lipo pack leaves something to be desired though. Could I use a 1570mah 2s Lithium Polymer pack in its place? The difference in weight is only 1.1oz so it's not terribly heavy... Would this battery work? More concerned about weight than anything.

Please give me some guidance.

Rustysocket

Definately get the aluminum head and the heat sink. On the CX training gear is not necessary for all but the absolute newbie and even they will ditch them after a few flights. Get a couple of bamboo skewers zip tie them in a X pattern to the landing gear. I wouldn't even bother with the ping pong balls on the end. Save yourself the 10$ and buy replacement blades instead.

As far as the CX / CX2 they are pretty much similar birds. I wouldn't buy the CX2 with the expectation of using the radio gear later in another rig as a primary criteria. While the spread spektrum is a nice feature, unless you are having an interference problem, it offers little benefit over the conventional FM system.

Keep in mind the coax helis are great but most of you will outgrow them quickly and move on to a true collective heli. They are great for honing your skills and getting used to nose in response, also GREAT for introducing children and new flyers to the hobby. My experience has been that they do not handle the wind very well at all. They are simply too light and are better suited to indoor flying.

I keep one on my desk at work and have let many of my clients who have asked about it give it a try. Great ice breaker for the techies/engineer types who come to see me.

Rustysocket

The 28+ gram weight diffence in the lipo will be a deal killer on this bird. If you already have the lipo give it a try and report back. But I think you will be dissapointed if you have to spend money to get it.

hunter306

Good to know, I already have 3 of these little batteries for my Foamy plane and my Mini-T truck, but I figured they might work wonders for this Blade-CX2

I'll probably toss one in there and see how she flies... Any thing I might be able to do to lighten her up? I was thinking about getting the Carbon Fiber Tailboom and Fin, which saves a few grams compared to the stock plastic rear end.

Swanky Pants

Great advice, Rusty.

I've had my heli for about a month now and I'm already salivating at trying a coventional heli. I had a CP a year ago and got discourged with it because I couldn't fly it. Now that I've had some airborne experience, I want to move up soon. Granted, it's a whole different bird, but I have the feel of flying a bird in front of me.

bzyguy01

Rusty,
I agree that the battery will be a losing compramise. The weight will put the bird at the edge where it will take more throttle to keep it in the air thus using more mah and loosing the very little up thrust we already don't have.

Had my CX2 for 2 hours now and already bumped it in my office breaking the top peice.....Go figure...I had my old CX for 5 months and only broke one in that 5 months time! Oh well. I guess it had an early # HE HE

tinchao

Hi, bzyguy01, are you saying the CX is more durable that you don't break it in 5 months? Of CX2 use difference material? I am trying to figure out if I should get the CX or CX2, need as much input as I can gather. Thanks

bzyguy01

Tinchao,
No, The materials are the same and both fly the same but out of the box the CX2 is setup to fly alittle more stable and easier due to the setup of the servo horns.#4 and the other on #5 holes. Thats all. The new radio is alittle nicer as you can fly with other buddies and never worrie about the channel as the CX2 uses spectrum technology versus CX is on 72mhz like the typical plane and heli models use. The spectrum technology is the way to go and the transmitter only uses 4 "AA" batteries versus 8 in the old CX. I know its 20 dollars difference but its worth it in the technology aspect of the radio. Besides ....That 20 dollars will not go very far the first time someone turns on a radio near by that is on the same channel and crashes your bird and hits a car to do alot more than 20 dollars damage.

tinchao

Hi, bzyguy01, thanks for your input, I think I am going to get the CX2 whenever the LHS has it. I also read about heat problem?? Any advise on what I need to do to take care of this? I also read that people take off the back side of the heli to release the heat, drill holes, etc. Is it for the CX or CX2 of for higher end model?
Thanks