Well I bought one finally. I have a cx2 V2 with the 3 in 1 and fuses on the motors and alum head. I bought all the cnc bits too. I havn't installed any of the cnc bits until I crash and break something which I highly doubt I will due to my experience with the axe cp. I'm not planning any xtreme mods for it either. Stock with the cnc bits no more no less. I can't believe I'm flying ways I only wish I could have with the axe. I'm doing circuits...figure 8's...backwards circles and changing direction mid flight. I'm sorry to say I'm switching over to co-axials..more stable easier to fly...less complex setting up and no tail rotor to worry about. I'm looking into the eflite jet ranger body too. My axe is up for sale in the ads and willing to trade. Make an offer.

By golly, I think you've got it. You discovered FUN! Just plain, do it your way, kick back and enjoy the flight, don't need to impress anybody - FUN! A lot of guys have bought the Cx or CX2 and learned them and graduated from them. Interesting that most guys never get rid of them.
When you get bored with the docile attitude of the CX2, the first easy mod is to merely pull the brass weights out of the flybar. Some like that, some don't. I sort of tripped over the idea that the next level flybar mod can be done without cutting anything. Remove the brass weight, push the boot away from the loop in the end of the fly bar and turn it 90° and remove the boot. Then you can put an axle lock collar or two on the short leg of the loop and go play. All the stock stuff can be put back on if that's your pleasure.

It has been interesting to listen to and watching the changes as we all started stock, then started adding the upgrades. There have been a couple of guys who did the full mod to the CX2, then purchased another one stock. In an indoor flight test, the stock CX2 does very well against the fully modified CX2. So why the mods? We do it because we want to! I had the full Xtreme changeover done with motors and skid / tail / canopy / blades grips and blades. I sold the whole works and went back to stock. I'm glad I made the changes because of the extra weight and stability. And I'm glad it's back to near stock for the light weight and agility.

Anyhow, welcome to the simple world of fun helicopters.
Learn tricks, make videos, impress us.

Got questions?

We all students.
We are all teachers.
We are the Collective.
You will be assimilated.

Soloboss

I learned my lesson with the axe cp. I tried to mod it like everybody else and now it flys like crap and I don't want to bother with. Way to complex for my tastes. Besides the cx2 to me after flying it fews days I have it now is way better and is exactly what I want. I can hover close to the floor in one spot land reasonably soft...power down wait power down again...wait power down again till rotors turn ever so slightly like a real heli and shut down. You know for me this is a step backwards after owning a single rotor heli and I used my skils right out of the box. Cripes im doing turns left right and centre circuits etc. I should have bought the cx2 before my axe cp now im kicking my but for not doing it. I could have saved alot of money. I thought i was hooked on single rotor helis..I was wrong Im hooked on co-axials now big time. Ya soloboss I agree fun fun fun...ease and simplicity and the more stock the better...less is more you know. And we wont even go there about difference in price for parts...way cheaper than the axe cp. Thanks for the welcome post.

As many of you know, I am a die-hard CX2 fan. However, as fun as the CX/CX2 is to fly, it has a couple of major disadvantages that typically find most pilots that start out on CX2's wanting for more. The CX2 is underpowered, uses too flimsy blades and does not perform well unless you are in completely calm conditions. For most of us, this means flying in your house or garage. Some of you may have access to larger indoor areas, or that occasional calm evening and you get to really have fun flying around. My house does not have huge vaulted ceilings, nor do I have a huge pole barn in which to fly. This led me to the Align TREX 450 and I could not be happier with it. I still fly my CX2's all of the time, but nothig beats the rush of flying my TREX! I was flying outside last Sunday in 10 - 15 MPH winds and though I could tell I was fighting the wind somewhat, she had no problems with it.

I think your mistake was buying an Axe CP to begin with. Had you started with a CX2 or a fixed pitch single rotor, you might have been happier.

Go with what you enjoy, though! Have fun with the CX2 and don't go too crazy on mods. I tend to agree with Solo in that a lot of mods are for show only and do nothing to help the flight characteristics of the Heli. You can over-mod it to death with no real gains in performance.

Mods that I do think are useful are:

[ul][*] CF Tail boom, or, fill your stock rear fuse with expanding foam for added strength[*] Aluminum swashplate[*] Extended upper head[*] Xtreme 180 ball-bearing motors[*] Unbreakable skids[*] Better and more LiPo packs (minimum 15C, 850 mAH)
[/ul]

My $0.02

I'm not gonna mod the CX2. I'll add the swash and heat sinks thats it. The rest will stay stock. I learned my lesson reading rcgroups and other forums. I should have left the axe cp I have stock and not changed anything on it. Now I regret it. I can return it to stock form and ad lipos but I'd rather sell it. I like the cx2 the way it is without going to extremes with it. I don't feel the need to considering its intended design and what I want out of it . I'm more of the toy'ish heli kinda of guy now since my experience with the axe cp which has that realistic r/c heli quality, yet has that toy'ish feel to it. You see if I belonged to some sort of organized club and had others around me with the same interest I might have bought a 450 size heli. But I don't, thats why I like the axe and cx2. I'm solo on this hobby venture (sadly) and all I have is these forums online to feel like I'm part of something bigger. Gotta love helis. *sigh*

You don't even need the aluminum swash. I had one and after a while the little bearing in it got stiff. I am back to the plastic one. Works just as good, cheaper, and it is lighter. I have over 200 flights on it, no problems.

I have had several plastic swash plates go bad on me. I went to the Aluminum swash and have never had a problem since. It's a worthwhile upgrade, but certainly fly your stock swash until it goes bad, and THEN upgrade.

I'm with xyster101 on the plastic swash. I don't know why some have persistent problems, others have no issues at all. I broke a ball off one of mine after falling out of the sky onto pavement. It simply landed wrong. My CX is so old that when I got it the CX2 hadn't been invented yet. This is my second plastic swash - no issues.
0I wonder if the swash problem is part of the deal where guys move the linkage to the outermost hole on the servo arm. I'd guess that the servo is fully extended at the time of impact (in attempt to avoid the collision) and the stress of the servo push added to the collision is what breaks the swash. I left my servo links in the stock locations and removed weight from the flybar for a bit more performance.

A lot of guys loose the lower head in favor of the alloy. What breaks is the larger drive posts that drive the lower rotor blades. When one of those breaks off, measure the hole in the blade, find a little piece of wire (I use aluminum wire) that fits nicely into the hole in the blade, drill out the broken stub in the hub and stuff the wire piece into the hole. Reinstall the blades and fly. I did that once. A long time ago.

I did find the Skids and Boom from Boomtown Hobbies to be a goldmine. Goldmine from the perspective of spending less on parts. And the skids protect the helicopter frame and battery tray as the skids are really flexy and tough. They work like bumpers when you mess up.

I also did get the upper alloy bearing holder and bearing. That's the one that centers the inner shaft in the outer shaft at the top of the outer shaft just below the upper rotor. The stock bearing cup will wear out and go off center causing wobble at the top end. You don't want a wobbly flybar. When you get one, you'll be back here asking what TBE is.

I may catch a lot of flack for this, but when you feel the need for something else to play with, you may consider a fixed pitch. There are a bunch of fixed pitch helicopters out there and most are really similar. I hear the Esky radio gear is better than most. Anyhow, the fp helis are really durable and a blast to mess with. You'll probably get to the point where you will fly it around the yard when there is very little wind. You won't do a lot of fast flight, although there are you tube videos showing a fixed pitch helicopter doing things I didn't think possible. And they cost about half what a coaxial costs. There are very few parts to the helicopter and most are very durable. A crash that would cost two or three blades on a CX will cost nothing to repair the fp. Don't try to get too serious with the fp, but they are a really cool little helicopter.

That's just my opinion.
Soloboss

Er Mark...........

Its spelt eflight silly

Ah we should let this obvious obsession of fp`s go this time its not his fault

I personally though, only think boom mod upper and lower head mods are definite mods to do, the whole frame i think is overkill, however im suprised to find it comes in at same gross weight as stock

I myself also changed the swash to alloy, but only because i kept snapping ball joints with my bear claws i call hands, it made it cheaper in the long run