Is the MX 400 a good starter chopper? I just got one for Christmas (COOL) and want to know if will work as a trainer.

probably one of the best micro heli to train on (well its barely a micro heli). cyclic isnt as aggressive as the trex.

there are a few issues with the x400, so make sure you do the FIXES before attempting to fly it. they are CRITICAL and will cause a major crash if ignored.

start by boiling all the white plastics for 20-30 minutes and CAing the swashplate so it cant separate.

I think mine is great. Much more stable that the BladeCP. To remedy the white plastic issue I replaced all but the landing gear with alloy upgrades. I also opted for the eCCPM upgrade as it does away with a ton of linkage and slop and you get a metal swashplate with the kit. Also installed a boom mounted tail servo and I am looking into the aftermarket gyro mount that relocates it above the boom on the top/rear frame section. The aftermarket seems to be responding pretty well with parts for the (M)X400 and you can also use many of the Trex parts. Time will tell but I think that it will end up being the first choice for beginners and general sport flying with the Trex being the choice for aggressive flying, performance and 3D. That said, it is still a great choice since it will be quite a while before you will outfly its capabilites and it is upgradable to grow with you. RT


Check out www.tedani.com and www.grandrc.com for parts and upgrades.

Thanks for the all the info....
I will pay close attention to the upgrades you recomended. But over all it seems to be a well built machine whenI was looking at the updates I saw that there was a ot of carbon fiber upgrades for the main frame also, is that a real issue or just for improved performance?
BTW, is a chopper hard to learn, as opposed to flying fixed wing RC?

Is a chopper harder to fly than a fixed wing! Oh hell yeah! Definitely. Most fixed wings you can just take off, throttle back to 1/2 or 2/3rds and cruise around on the right stick, just elevator/aileron. Sure its not as pretty as feeding in a little rudder for the turns but it works so you can just take a break and think a little. Heli is totally different. Cyclic is constantly moving, left/right/forward/back just to maintain position or course. Now throw in the sometimes constant manipulation of the collective to keep the heli from gaining or losing altitude and oh yeah, don't forget to steer the tail around as it doesn't want to do it on its own. Its quite a handful. Sorta like rubbing your belly and patting your head at the same time. You can do it but it takes work. Get a Sim if you don't have one. I like Aerofly Pro. The Sim is cheap compared to a major crash. RT

Back when I was young, and learning to fly (full scale), my instructor was a test pilot for Bell (late 40's early 50's) before he went to work as an FAA inspector. He told me that flying a helicopter was like standing on a basketball, sounds like RC helios may be similar.
The good thing here is that at least I am not going to be in this one lol....
I have a G3 flight sim and will work with it for awhile before I even try to start geting instructions. I will look at the one you mentioned (Aerofly pro).
Sounds like a chopper can be quite entertaining to fly, does not sound all that relaxing. LOL, gee this is fun.
Makes flying a multi engine RC sound like childs play in comparison.
I have spent a few hours just looking over the instructions on putting it together, I am glad this is an ARF, would hate to try to build one from scratch I can tell you that....
One last question, is there a good book about RC helios? Perhaps I should do some reading so I have a rough Idea of what to expect. Basically all I know about the helicopter is that the rotor provides lift and vectors the thrust to move forward and back and to provide for aileron function, tail rotor counters the torque and aims it. So as you can see I know little or nothing about them.

We have a few good helicopter pilots/instructor at my club, so hopefully they can at least get me to the point of getting it up around and back on the ground without turning it into landfill.
I have tried to hover with the sim good think it wasn't real heard that crunching sound a awfull lot. I did manage to get it up and down one though (after three hours or so) boy what a work out!
Thanks again,

Do a search in this forum for EHBG. You can find a link to download the Electric Heli Beginners Guide. Lots of good info.

Thanks.
Regards
Paul