I've reached the point of mandatory upgrade to allow me to keep my composure. I'll probably always have an Eflight CX or CX2 of some kind, but the stock stuff has just pushed me over the edge.

I doubt that anyone who is a regular on this forum has worked harder to use inexpensive modifications to stock parts than I have. Or at least I'm more vocal about it than most. I'm sure there are a lot of folks out there who don't want this hobby to bankrupt them, they just want a bit more from the stock parts. Up until last night, I supported that effor, but I have given up.
I had just mounted a full new set of blades and dialed things in pretty well. The heli would only lift hard to the right, and took off a blade on flight one.
New blade - re-tune, try again.
It came straight up and was as stable as I've come to be accustomed to. And without so much as a glitch, it rose and backed into the antenna (the CX long antenna) and bent the flybar, head, broke 3 blades and fell.
I've had enough. Perhaps I've come to expect too much from the stock parts. I have seen dynamic performance out of my mostly stock CX, but it's the inconsistency that is making me nuts. Following the drash, in frustration, I lifted it up, and smashed the whole works in my hands, dumped it into the trash and walked away. My perfect little heli - gone


Later I did retrieve it from the trash can to determine if I at least had the electronics to base a new heli on. It works. I have the head straight and the flybar is OK now. I'm not going to buy more eflight stock blades. Eflight knows of their problem with bad molds and they have determined that mold repair is not a worthwhile effort. For me, having to rework their blades is no longer a worthwhile effort. As I said, I've had enough of their attitude.

I like the look that Shufflez and others have with the new look helis. I'm glad you posted your blade grip summary, Gary. I'll go back through the posts to determine the list of parts that is known to work well together, but the Xtreme folks are eating Eflight's lunch.

I really feel bad about dropping out of the re-design side of the stock helis. I've had enough of continuously buying new parts and throwing them away in ongoing support for modifying the inexpensive stock parts. The stock helis are very good little machines and I certainly recommend them as a way into this great hobby. But for now I'm moving on and Michael and I are gonna be buddies before this is over. I can just feel it in my wallet.

It is nice to see you have decide to join us on the upgrade side.

I understand your feelings, and we all need to move on at some point.
I've been very happy with my CX2, it flys, hovers and maneuvers well throughout all of my minor modifications.

It is what it is.
If I wanted a high speed, fully maneuverable, 3D heli I would have purchased a T-REX or similar.
And I may just do that in the future, possibly the Blade 400.

Maybe you should have moved on long ago, maybe not. But when the fun is gone it is time.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I understand where you are coming from. I just ran out of stock blades that I bought about 3 months ago and the new ones are definitely not as well made.
As for trying to make your own parts, I shortened the fly bar, cut the canopy, adjusted free play, and added a laser on a servo. I agree that to an extent some things can be made or altered, but a heli is a precision instrument. I noticed that a blade weighting 0.5 grams more makes it fly horrible. Or a little extra friction between the pinion and main gear on one rotor affects hovering. We as humans can only manipulate parts to a certain point and then human error comes into play. I can make a shaft straight again, but it is never "factory" straight. When parts are spinning at these high speeds, precision is needed.
I have upgraded a few of my parts and the cost factor is not too bad if done over time. The stock parts are designed to get the owner into the heli. Some people love it like us, others will put it on the shelf since it is not for them. Eflite might not sell as many units if it came with upgraded parts but cost $50 more. So people buy it and if they like it can improve the performance or go bigger with a CP model. I suggest getting some folding Xtreme blades, sure they cost more, BUT they are more durable, last longer and perform better then home made ones because they are machined. Most after market parts will allow your heli to perform better, be more durable in a crash, and give you less tune up time.
Think of a car, the stock air filter is ok, but an after market one will give the car more power and last as long as the car. Over the long run, it will save you money.
My 2 cents

You nailed it with the last comment. When the fun is gone it's time to move on.
I'm not moving away from the CX, It'll still be in there somewhere.

This won't be a quick transition, but I'll get there. I just need to ease my budget into the fun. Budget shock is not good.

I hear you.
I know you may be soured on E-Flite, but that's why I'm very interested in the Blade 400.
$469 RTF, can't beat that assuming the heli performs as advertised.

Let us know when you do get something else.

Solo my buddy I feel your pain all too well. I'm a man of limited budget and reworking my parts has always something I have had to deal with from day one. I will say that the stock eflite parts are junk! The CNC certainly do help the situation greatly! Since dropping my inverted exploits and flying it as Eflite intended my spares are back to normal. I'm really looking forward to my Xtreme goodies and that will help with the blade expense! I'll keep you posted on how much this is costing me once I'm fully upgraded

I hear ya Solo! I sold my CX2 and all the spare parts after about 3 months of moding, tweaking, flying and learning. I learned a lot with the CX2 (and all the advice on this forum), but prefer to fly outdoors so I’m continuing my progression on a CPP. Fortunately my buddy gave me a couple broken up CPPs and I put one together for very little $$.

Been saving up for a 400 size heli and real TX. The Blade 400 w/ 6Xi looks pretty nice.

Keep the faith!! ~Onad

PS My wife would like to get her hands on my heli and “break it into a million pieces” and then dump it in the trash…[sm=48_48.gif]

God i feel for you. I got my wife one, promised to paint it pink (50% done) and now its hers. She actually enjoys it. Once or twice a day she will hover the 5#5. I even let her try the cx2, and she did real good. hovered for about a minute before she could not hold her breath anymore!

I'm having a hard time giving up my CX-2; as it fits my lifestyle to a Tee. Limited space, limited time; mostly indoors.

I agree with Soloboss in that You can only go so far as an inexpensive or cost free method of improving stock parts. We might have apogeed in that department.

I will finish with this:

That is what makes the Free Enterprise system so Great; quality aftermarket parts are filling the quality control issue need almost as quickly as they develop; I.E. XTREME products, namely the GRIPS and their nearly indestructable blades. Look at the batteries available now. Money drives the good and the bad.

I'm looking into manufacturing Titanium inner shafts; as I have the tools in my shop.

It is getting to the point to where One might as well build their own CX-2 from the ground up, and get it right the first time; You spend twice the amount of the original anyway by the time You're done. Then, buy a DX-7 and let it be the last TX you buy!

What We know now; what We didn't know then. . . BUT IT'S BEEN A FUN RIDE ! ! !

Gary

Gary

I have to add this! Solo don't let the frustration eat through you. I was at the same point a couple weeks ago after another inverted trip with my fully LED kitted heli. I was so sick from it all that I damn near called it quits. Worst part of it all is that I've wanted to be doing this hobby for years and procrastinated even longer. Let foolish old men running LHS's talk me out of this hobby. I have had more joy with this hobby than any other! Even when I have ditched it bad the old mechanic in me rises up and looks forward to the challenge of making everything right again. Keep the faith my friend! I think if you did just pack it in you would regret it. Lord knows I would!

It's sad to hear such a true 'stock' CX pioneer becoming so upset and fed up with E-flite parts. Indeed, as xyster said, i haven't had this experience with E-flite parts, but the last parts i got from the E-flite brand was when i bought the heli.

Maybe indeed their molds are 'tired' and they just quit putting effort into fixing it, maybe focussing on the release of the Blade 400 too much. It's a pitty that a company lets so many people down, especially those who have the CX/CX2 as a step-up heli! These people will eventually notice the poor job E-flite is doing and decide to await reports of truelly tested E-flite products before burning their hands and wallets on them again. Personally, i went almost "all alloy" just after i got it (i bought it in France and knew i'd need spares ), so i cant judge personally on a decreasing quality on parts.

Also the stuff that IS available here and DOES fit the CX2, is from a highly respected german brand, who can't get away with low quality parts (charging $28 they better not! [:@]) as their reputation is build on 'high-quality' german "grundlichkeit" .

I want to say i'm 'on budget' too (and i really am! but "budget" is relative of course), but that's nearly impossible here, as prices are so much higher. I've set myself certain goals/targets and now i'm going to set budgets too as Michael and i just recently became close (financial ) friends .

Actually, the current look for the CX2 was merely for my own 'comfort' as i didn't expect to get into a CP heli this soon .
(Hmmm, "i'm going to" doesnt sound convincing, i know i haven't convinced myself either. I'll wait with a budget until i know how addicted i'll become to the HDX )

[offtopic]Onad; my misses has almost smashed it out of the air several times when i fly it too close to her. She 'hates' the thing ("those blades can hurt you", and "it's too dangerous to fly around people!", but she loves the fact that i'm having such a great time with the little rascal . She won't pick it up (or clean up after me when i've been modding again) as she doesn't want to break anything or throw stuff away that i'd still use .[/offtopic]

They say Golf is one of the most frustrating sports; but every now and then You get and Eagle or even a hole in one, and that keeps You going, even through a series of bad games; just to get that Eagle or hole in one, just one more time.

[offtopic]Nice analog(ue); birdies (CX2s and such) and Eagles (T-rex's and stuff) [/offtopic]

Yeah, stump3r, I'm trying to keep this all within a budget too. I could do more if I were more focused, but I'm going too many directions with my multiple budgets. So I get really frustrated when the parts don't work or I ditch the heli and need yet another rebuild. But that's the nature of the hobby. And it sure does drive the need to get better!

Anyhow, I'm staying with the eflight folks for some bits and my trusty CX is the core of the rebuild. I just have to wrap my head around the upgrade. I'm used to a rebuild being under $10 and completed in 20 minutes. This time I'm going well over that I fear, but Michael has fair pricing and his stuff is only a couple of days away from me rather than a week like the west coast vendors.

Heck, there's nothing in me that's afraid of CNC stuff. I'm a Solidworks solid modeler fer cryin' in the soup! And my next door neighbor has a few CNC gadgets in his shop. And he owns the place. I need to cultivate an interest in this hobby so he can share the fun. Can you say 'custom'?

In the mean time I need to work on the Falcon and most certainly the sim. I have skills and a new heli to build.
I wonder what Michael is getting me for Christmas??
LOL!

You guys are truly the greatest. I would probably move along faster with the Falcon, but I spend all my time here with my friends. So I sort of get by with the FP heli and I spend hours on the CX. Maybe I needed the blowup last night to draw a line that I won't cross by going back.

Anyhow, you are one heck of a bunch. I blow up and you're all right there. There's no whining, no lectures and little advice. Just a few words of encouragement and a surprising amount of agreement on the eflight quality issues, which is just what I need right now.

Next will be a couple of nights on the net for pricing and away we go.
I'll keep ya posted.

Soloboss,

Well, you know that I have modified my Helis many times with aftermarket parts. Going back to a previous conversation we had, as I look back on it now, I am happy with the $$ I spent.

I had all good plans on keeping my second Heli "stock" and not modifying her, but now that has changed for me as well.

Go with the flow. Walk away from it for a while if you have to, but have fun.

P.S. Modding is fun.

Solo,

I think HopMeUp still has the MicroHeli heads, swashplate and bearing cup for about $8 each if interested.



I think the Wright brothers are probably looking down, shaking their heads, in disbelief.
Try not to lose sight of the fact that these things are actually flying, and that's pretty remarkable IMO.

Hey, one of those might make a good signature line.

I empathize with the frustration. I got a Blade CX and CP about a week ago. Now I am going to auction them off. I didn't find the CP an improvement over the FP Walkera I already have and the CX was (IMHO) garbage compared to my Colco Apache. The blade design on the CX is stupid, blades should be seperate from grips and their 4in1 died with a few days. The CP just seems to eat the battery faster than the FP. "Oh yeah" said the salesman, "You need the arobatics kit". Then next day when it didn't fly,"Oh Yeah, you need a 11.1 Lipo." It still isn't any better than the FP (I don't do 3D). The CP transmitter went crazy and I had to fly it with an old Esky 6ch TX. Then the 3in1 in the CP died. Then I found out that although Eflite has a building in the USA they don't make a single thing. They are just rebadgers of a Chinese product line.[:@]

I decided not to listen to anyone about what is the best. I listened to the raves about Eflite and paid a premium price for stuff that was worse than the cheaper, maligned models. If I take my experience and extrapolate it to other heli's then The Align T-rex is an over priced piece of junk and I should look for similar one's with bad reputation and half the price and I'll get something really good.
I also realized that all the heli's are made by a handful of companies that share each others ideas, designs and parts (True Chinese Communism) so it really comes down to what package has the best of the mix-and-match distributors.


I love the Colco Apache, rock stable, rugged and battery last about 15 minutes. Walkera FP is the one for practicing my skills with a twin blade heli. The little Picooz clones are for rainy days. All kinds of parts to build my own Franken-heli's. Maybe I'll try Esky heli's their TX and reciever I have seems pretty reliable.

oh soloboss, i so agree and empathize with the disgust and angry outburst - i helplessly watched the freaking 300 dollar micron v2 eat itself in midair and i'm still not decided on buying the parts for it or not as they have to be so tiny and thus will probably break again (and again) - i really liked my tiny single-rotor playmate, but i will never, ever give up my cx's - they are my solace in the depths of my depression and my best flying friends since i have no room to fly in until next summer - my cam bird will never be anything but an old cx as it is so stable a platform - the walkera 5#5 is just too flimsy for continuous daily use like the cx's

on a side note, i am now flying my two cx's totally 'out of the box' stock after flying a brand new one 'out of the box' (not even dialed in yet) at the lhs - each bird got a new stock flybar, a new stock outer shaft, a new stock inner shaft, a brand new pack of stock upper and lower blades each, and a new stock body and canopy - i set the pots to the pic in the manual, and replaced the batteries in the tx's - two brand new birds that are all ready to be dialed in and the mod cycle started again fresh (no weirdness remaining to effect the new mods) - the cx2 is now just the 'magnum' as the 44 peeled off the "44 magnum" body, and the old cx cam bird is now sporting a brown 'marine' plastic body and canopy (with the marine decals stripped off) and has been re-christened 'mariner' - i am now ready to test the xtreme mods


edge

Yah, it’s kind of funny. I got into RC Helis because my wife wanted to try them. I got better much faster than her (because I flew all the time) and she got frustrated and quit. I’m kicking myself for not taking it slower, but man is it an addictive hobby!!

Solo, Im right there with you. Sat Night I modified my upper grips to be like yours. Put it up and had such bad tbe it crashed almost instantly and took out all 4 blades even they they swung out of the way. I havent put new blades on yet. I have been searching for the xtreme mods. I think I want to outfit the whole thing. Boom, skids, grips, motors, head and even the led flybar. If there is a better heli that I can learn to fly without spending tons of money right away Please let me know. I want a trex600 but that wont happen becuase of funds until this next spring at least. Anyway, just want you to know Im there with you. I would almost be glad to strip the heli of its electronics and put them in something that was worth it. Im not saying its not total junk but the parts are and you have to keep buying. I hate that. Cant ever get ahead and save for me next heli or even a new radio.

Anyway. Let me know what you come up with. I think the xtreme stuff is the way to go but I could be full of hot air too.

I got microheli CNC grips on mine. Using the inexpensive LAMA blades. No problems. The CNC swash and bottom rotor were on and back off. Too far from original and couldn't get it to fly right even after getting the swash level. CNC inner shaft worked well though.