Well I can't say I didn't try. I got (2) used Blade CX's from a friend for a great price. One has a fried ESC so it will be used for donor parts.

I've had the heli in the air quite a bit and LOVE flying however it seems like some of me trims are maxxed out and the heli still drifts the way these trims are maxxed at. My experience with nitro rcs is that I must now center the trim tabs and try to adjust the linkages to get the heli centered in the air.

Is there a good way to start this? Should the links be a certain length or the swashplate be level?

The swash must be level.. start from there.

As odd as it sounds, when I trimmed mine I didn't even look at the swash. Level? Compared to what? I can't tell. Heck, I 'm still a novice, but I still think pretty well, so I came up with my own way to do it.
I started by getting the 4 in 1 absolutely spot on. There is no rotation in my heli, so all I was dealing with was fore / aft / lateral movement. And that's where the trim slider positions told me what to do.

In my case it always lifted and went right. I could almost correct it with the trim.
With the linkage in the second hole ( the way they come from the factory) 3 turns of the linkage equals the movement of the trim from center to fully one direction (ie; moving the trim from fully left to mid range = 3 turns of the linkage). So I turned the linkage 3 full turns and flew again. I needed one more turn and it was just right. Then I did the same with the other link. When I was done, the heli will hover with no rotation and no drift with the sliders centered. It's just a few adjustments. Takes about 15 minutes on a bad day. OK, so there is no drift indoors until the heli makes its own wind and that wind makes it drift.

Soloboss

Thanks solo. I was flying with the blades he gave me which were pretty beat up. I put new blades on and that made a huge difference. I had to adjust the POT on the 4-1 to get the blades in sync. What is a good way to make sure they are even? if I set it on the desk and throttle up one click at a time should the blades start moving at the same time? is that the best way to get the first initial starting point? Then fly it and see if the tail rotates?

After that I will re-adjust the servo linkages the same way I did it the first time. Set the trims at neutral and adjust the linkage ends until it hovers nicely.

I also found that hovering 6" off the ground is horrible. You have to get at least 2-3' off the ground to get out of the blade wash.

With the Trans. and reciever on, make sure throttle is full off, and all other controls and trims are centered. adjust the servo rods so the swashplate is at a 90 deg angle from the main shaft on all sides.

Another question.

I have it hovering nicely at centered trims which is great but now it seems like I have more backward flight then forward. Is this because of the linkage adjustment? If I hit full forward it'll barely drift forward while if I hit full backward you can see the heli tilt and take off backwards very snappy.

The servo linkages are on the second hole in the servo arm. Can I move them to the 3rd or 4th hole out to get more throw? It also looks like the linkage arms on the swashplate bend a lot. Is this normal? I see that Eflite will be coming out with an aluminum swashplate so I'm wondering if there is so much flex in my plastic version what will happen with an aluminum version.

Are you sure that with power on and controls centered, both of your servo arms are centered? It sounds like you're losing some control throw somewhere. My CX takes off like a champ forward and back. Also make sure your CG is correct. You may need to move your battery to a more forward position. Hold the heli by the balance bar with the bar extended to the sides of the heli. The heli should hang level or slightly nose down. Move your battery to get this right.

I'd have to check and see if the servos are centered but they must be correct if the heli hovers without much input right?

by holding the heli by the flybar with the balancer rod running left to right the heli is about perfectly centered.

Not true. If your swashplate is centered the heli will hover fine. But the servo's can only move so far in either direction. So if the arm isn't centered at the servos mid point, you'll have an excess of throw in one direction and a shortage in another. It could be something else entirely, but wouldn't hurt to check. Also make sure your Trans batteries are good. I flew mine down till only the red chicklets were lit, and some really wierd stuff started happening.

I'm good on the TX batteries. Only one green level down.

I ordered a carbon fiber boom and some heavy duty skids so when I mount those up I'll go ahead and center the servos and check to make sure everything is level.

The correct setup will be the swashplate leveled and the servos in their centered location correct?

I recently moved my control rods to the extreme holes on the servo horns. If you can hover for a full battery, then try doing this - you'll be amazed at the control this will give you, but feather your contol in carefully so you don't crash the blades. FYI, I heated an ice pick to carefully enlarge the holes in the horns to replace the rods.

After doing this, replace the horns at 90 degs., and unscrew the ball ends about 3 full turns to level the swash.

A good side effect is that this will give you a lot more trim control.

Anyway, this worked for me - hope it helps some of you.

Steve

p.s. - Nick, if you got the new boom from Stersman, you'll be very please with it and the new skids.

This is exactly what I planned on trying but maybe not the extreme holes. Just out one or two holes. I can easily hover with the tail in towards me but things get a little hairy with the tail away. Not out of control hairy but not as precise as tail out.

The boom and skids were ordered from Sterman Can't wait to get them! I have the original CX though so I have to figure out what to do with that insanely long antenna wire.

Nick, actually I think Stersman talks about what to do with the antanna. Good Luck.

Steve

I've been having trouble with poor control with my bcx. I've thought about moving the servo horns but I want to be able to get it back to it's normal abilities before playing with the servo horns.

Does anyone know what kind of effect results from lengthening and shortening the flybar linkage?

Flybar linkage will change the tracking of the upper blade.

You only need to move this if you notice that the uppers are not tracking in the same plane during hover.

Bryan