The -Flite Blade CX - One User's Review

[rocknbil]

I'm new to this section of the site and probably should have posted this information (http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=209442) in this forum because the Blade CX is really an indoor micro.

MAN I love this thing now! Very frustrating at first, the above link shows why. Here's some tips for all you newbies, like myself, at helis.

Coaxial heli: The biggest thing that separates the CX from most 'copters is the coaxial blade design. Basically this means that the two sets of blades spin in opposite directions to counteract the spin that is normally controlled by the tail rotor on most helis. The upside is this makes the CX MUCH easier to fly for a newbie; the downside is that you cannot fly inverted. Not a big deal if you just want to keep airborne without crashing!

The other bad thing about the CX is a one of the small problems in overall design: It's pretty hard to "dial out" the tendency for the 'copter to rotate to the right. HINT: getting it to not rotate is a fundamental key to successfully flying without crashing. You can move the trim to full left, and there is a pot adjustment on the 4-in-1 unit that you can adjust (rotate it full counterclockwise, but CAREFULLY, its a fragile unit,) and even so, sometimes it will still rotate right a little.

I'm on my THIRD 4-in-1 unit since I began "training" (that's THREE, at $49.99 a pop) and the amount of rotation at hover indeed varies from unit to unit. Some units you can dial out the rotation completely, some it will still rotate. This is apparently because the rotating mass of the UPPER blades combined with the counterbalance is still a little heavy for the craft. A solution I found is to CAREFULLY trim NO MORE than 1/4" off the ends of the upper blades. This does sacrifice a little lift but it is a good trade-off if you simply can't dial out the rotation. Trim the blades with scissors, and PLEASE take some sandpaper and round off the edges of your trims - these blades will cut you.

Do this ONLY if you have managed to get a set of spare blades - you WILL need them!

4-in-1 control unit: This is a miracle of micro flight that has made coaxial micro helis possible. The 4-in-1 is a dual speed control, receiver, and gyro all in one, but it is not without some design limitations. While doing a few simple hover-hops, at an altitude of about 3 feet the 'copter lost all power and dropped like a stone. This happened to me TWICE. See the results in this thread (http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=209442). Normally this is caused by a blade strike and jammed blades while under power, so learn this and remember it well: if you crash or are close to the ground and get into trouble, power down! Pull that throttle stick BACK. If you don't it will blow the ESC chip right off the board.

Like I said my problems occurred while in hover, so in my case the best I can figure is that the motors were overheating. I bought the heat sink and also trimmed out the cowling around the motors and heat sink to facilitate better cooling and the problem, so far, has not returned. I suggest you do the same if you get a CX.

Each time I knew it would take time to get the problem resolved so I ordered spares. So far, Horizon Hobby has been very helpful and receptive to replacing the damage, it's just that they're all out of stock (see below.)

Fragile Upper Rotor Shaft: The other problem I found in the design is the plastic upper rotor shaft is unnecessarily fragile. On several occasions I got into trouble, dropped the 'copter on GRASS from about 2 feet, and it bounced over on it's lid. The plastic upper rotor shaft will snap right off on you, even when powered down. On other occasions, it was better to drop it than go where it was going (not tellin! :D) and had to drop it from as high as 3-4 feet. Even though it landed level, the bounce was enough to snap off the rotor shaft. Since the plastic, shaft, and gear all come as one unit, this is an expensive repair at $8.95.

YOU CAN, however, perfectly align the broken part and EPOXY it back into place. DO NOT use CA/super glue and DO NOT try to fly the 'copter sooner than 24 hours after making such a repair - those blades spin very fast and injury can result - or, it can snap off under power and burn out your 4-in-1. I've got several epoxied shafts and they are very flight worthy.

USE A MAGNIFYING GLASS to assure perfect alignment - if you don't get the broken pieces perfectly aligned this WILL NOT WORK! Buy a new one if there is any doubt at all.

COG (Center of Gravity): Key to controlling the CX is getting it to lift off and hover with all controls released except throttle. Try though I did, with the battery in "stock position" I could not get the CX to not be "nose-heavy" (i.e., wanted to move forward immediately on take-off.) SOLUTION: Cut a small cube of dense foam, approximately 3/4" X 1/2" X 1/2", put double sided tape on one side, and replace the velcro in the chassis (not on the battery) that holds the battery in place with this cube. (SEE PIC.) Then put the velcro on the back side of the foam. This acts as a "spacer" to move the battery back just enough to re-center the COG. You can try to dial it out with the trims and control linkage as below, but this reduces the amount of control you'll have on the stick, so re-center the COG first.

Trimming Servos: As with any other RC's, it's always best to adjust your linkage so your control trims are dead center. (Again, you want a dead center hover on takeoff.) While you can usually get this by adjusting the trims, it's a good idea to note how far they are off and gently slide off the servo control links and adjust the linkage to get your trims to dead center. Before powering down, move the right stick left/right up/down and note what direction the servos are moving so you know whether to tighten or loosen the control arm links and which one does what (left servo is right/left, right is forward/reverse).

Li-PO BATTERY: For those of you that have never used Li-Po's, it is VERY IMPORTANT YOU READ THIS THREAD: Complete Guide to Lithium Polymer Batteries (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209187). Do not compromise on this! These things are awesome lightweight batteries that make micro helis possible and if used correctly are 100% safe, but people have burned houses and cars up with them. This thread is a testimony to that fact.

I charge my lipo's OUTSIDE, using my starter box as a power supply, and suggest you do the same. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, I cannot stress this enough - read this thread (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209187) and be careful with Li-Po's, they are unlike any other battery you've charged.

I had only one pack out of three fail. Basically on a full charge the 'copter would rise, and at full throttle immediately begin to descend. I could do this for up to 10 minutes - rise and drop - but it would never generate enough power to hover. Again, Horizon Hobby was very receptive to support and said "send it back." Be sure to call them first so they know it's coming.

Generally you will get between 10-15 minutes of sustained flight per battery. As soon as it won't stay airborne, shut it down or you'll damage the pack.

Parts Availability: Both Horizon Hobby and E-Flite grossly underestimated the popularity of the CX for this holiday sales season. All through Dec. and Jan, nearly all of the critical replacement parts below are out of stock EVERYWHERE. This includes blades, upper rotor shafts, and 4-in-1 units. I imagine this will level out around February or so as some of the out-of-stock items are just beginning to appear, but if you have anything broken now - I feel your pain!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: Do yourself a favor and procure these parts at the same time you buy your first CX. You WILL crash. It's OKAY. :D But these will keep you flying. In order of importance:

Training Gear: Put your large huevos away and buy these. No, you'll never survive without them no matter how brave you are. I don't have the price handy, I think they're only eight bucks or so.

Blades: These come in sets of two full sets per pack - that is, 2 uppers per pack, two lowers per pack - get both uppers and lowers. $3.99. That's four hard crashes.

CX Heat Sink: Helps disperse the heat from these little motors, I suspect this was my problem with th 4-in-1's so I strongly suggest getting one. $3.99 (I think)

Upper Rotor Shaft: Due to the fragility mentioned above, have at least one of these on hand so you can repair one and have it cure while you go break the other. :D I now have four, two new ones I'm saving for when I learn to stop crashing and two repaired ones.

4-in-1 Control Unit: If you can get your hands on one and can afford it, I STRONGLY suggest having a spare on hand. It may take you up to two weeks to get a warranty refurb/repair/replace, even after the holiday rush is over. The CX is painfully addicting, if you can't handle the cold turkey (as I cannot now!) have one of these on hand. $49.99


E-Flite Li-Po Packs: At least two.

That should keep you flying enough to stop crashing. Outside of the design flaws mentioned, which I imagine E-Flite may modify in the future, the E-Flite CX is AWESOME! Happy hovering and have fun!




If anyone appreciates this post and you are into ground RC, all I ask is you please visit my non-profit site, RC-Resources.com (http://www.rc-resources.com) and join up. :D

[rocknbil]

Attached is my pic of the "battery spacer."

[pkmeyer]

Thanks for all of the very helpful information about the CX. This was great. I too have broken a number of inner shafts. Grrr. pkmeyer

[cjg]

Thanks for all of the very helpful information about the CX. This was great. I too have broken a number of inner shafts. Grrr. pkmeyer
Thanks for the review. I love my BCX, and it is addictive.
Here are few mods I did:

cut cooling holes in the canopy and the 4in1 case.

Made a new tail boom. It appears to have less buffeting in the wind and makes it much more stable. See attached pix.

If you have the two piece flybar holder you can reinforce the holder with 7/32" aluminum tubing cut down to about 1/4" and snapped on as a collar. Haven't broken one since. If you have a one piece wrap the narrow section tightly with nylon thread/fishing line and soak it with superglue to reinforce the holder.

Balance both blade sets. It is amazing how far off they are. This smooths out the ride and handling considerably.

[rocknbil]

Man, that is beautiful! :D Someone over at rcgroups did something like that. Wife bougt me a jewelers' scale, will have to do the balancing thing. Where are you taking material off?

Another cool mod I found is to shorten the counterbalance rods by about 1/2", it appears some of the better fliers are pushing it so hard the flexible blades literally bend up into the counterbalance and crash. There are mods to move the uppler blade farther from the C.B., too.

Hey another development on the BCX rotation: I've discovered something, at least I think I have, that may invalidate the trimming of the blades.

When you arm the 4-in-1, if the throttle is in the wrong position, the 4-in-1 light will stay red and won't go green until you pull the throttle back. This is so someone doesn't get sliced up in the excitement and is a very nice feature.

It also means that before the green light goes on, the 4-in-1 is reading the signal from the transmitter and acting accordingly, right?

Going on this hunch (and it's nothing more at this point) I thought maybe it's doing the same thing for the motor trims: wherever the trim is at the point you arm the 4-in-1 it's assigning that as "center."

So the last 5 flights, I've turned on the TX, pushed the rudder/motor trim full right, then armed the 4-in-1. After arming, I've now got enough trim to get it to rotate to the LEFT! It's almost dialed out the rotation completely.

I still have the 4-in-1 trim full counterclockwise, so my next experiments are to set that to center and try the same thing.

Toolk my training nerf bars off today and flew for 4 batteries, no crashes, WOO HOO! Look ma I'm flyyyyying! LOL . . . .

[rocknbil]

.... Here are few mods I did:.....

DUH. Just found your pics and other posts there cjg. :D Also found some great ideas on balancing the blades.

[rocknbil]

Small update, I've been having more fun MODIFYING this thing than flying it! A few pics below:

- Reinforced upper rotor head - I found that the inner race from an old AE/GT rear axle fits perfectly on the upper shaft. Just cut the outer race with a cutoff wheel, assemble and glue with 5 minute epoxy. In 5 hard crashes the rest of the CX has fallen apart around this shaft.

- Cool is the thing: cut open upper and lower canopy, added the heat sink, blacked the motors with a Sharpie to disperse heat, and cut open the 4-in-1 case to keep it cool. One of the quirks about the 4-in-1 is you can set it so it won't yaw but as it runs the board begins to heat and the yaw returns. This reduces this, and where my motors were almost too hot to touch at the end of a run, they are now barely warm.

- shortened flybar - this adds responsiveness and reduces the possibilty of blade clash, where the blades bend enough to actually hit the upper flybar and disintegrate.

- Folding blades - it's possible to use the old blades and 4 new ones to create a bolted hinge so the blades fold up on impact or for transporting. Again, nuts and bolts are tiny AE GT/10T tranny parts. Works great but I'm having trouble flying it, it wants to toilet bowl on me (won't hover but drifts around in a circle.) It may be the shortened flybar above, got a stock one here I'm going to try with this mod before giving up.

- Mod landing gear - the only thing I didn't like after taking off the training gear is how it likes to tip over on sloppy landings. Using an old broken L.G. and 4 short pieces of brass tube that perfectly fit over the L.G., I modified the stock landing gear, it sits an inch higher and stance is almost 1-1/2 inches wider, I love it! :D

- Custom paint job - The BCX has some beautiful lines all on it's own, so I painted a scheme that follows them. I used standard RC paint with a single-action airbrush, which has a sheen instead of a high gloss, but it's tough stuff and won't chip if you rough up the surface .The yellow is the natural color of the fuse.

- LED light kit - uber cool, many sources for them, mine came from superbrightleds.com.

I AM SOOOO HOOKED! hahahaha . . . .

[rocknbil]

The 4-in-1 case mod.

[rocknbil]

Folding blades, shortened flybar, look close at the upper rotor head. That shiny bit is the inner race of a wheel bearing.

[rocknbil]

Closeup of the landing gear mod, you can see the tubes blacked with sharpie and heat shrik at the top to enhance the "shock absorber" effect.

[rocknbil]

"Final" mods all together, the only thing not showing is the navigation lights which came the day after (lousy pics anyway.) Red light-port, green-starboard, headlight under nose, spotlight and blinking rear red light on tail. The only mods here that are mine are the landing gear and paint job, the rest come from all the guys over at RCgroups, they really love their BCX's too! :D

[OutFrontFrames]

Very nice sir.. Have you thought about upping the voltage in it yet? We want to try it bad but haven't done it yet.. We did move the location of the control rods on the servo horn. That made a bigg difference. We just wanted to try a 3 cell LiPo next for kicks, if the esc will live..

[rocknbil]

From everything I've heard that is a Very Bad Idea. I can tell you the 4-in-1 can't handle ANY overload. I've got three of them as a result, the first two I was hovering at about 4 feet and it just shut down and fell like a brick, with a stinkly poof of smoke it blew the ESC chip right off the board. This happened twice, I installed the heat sink, drilled out the case as you see, and no sweat from then on.

I'm really REALLY sick of this 4-in-1. The tail twitches now and then, as it warms up it begins to yaw again no matter how the heck you dial it, at times the powers just SHUTS DOWN for a few milliseconds and recovers (that really wakes you up,) and overall it's just too damn twitchy. I can't wait until I can rip the whole wad out and replace it all with components and brushless motors. THEN we'll be talking about high-cap packs. :D

Got some VERY cool things coming though: I have been experimenting with the pinhole spycam, works GREAT but is a little too heavy with the required 9V battery, have some 160 lipos coming in (should be here today) so will have some vid to post soon. :D

[OutFrontFrames]

What about hacking the CX 4-1 like people do the CP 4-1?
That way you could add your own 2 GWS-100's and a gyro.. Something along the same lines as a GWS PG-03.. and still use the stock Rx.. Just a thought.

[rocknbil]

No patience for it. :D Fingers are too big, I drove myself nuts setting up this camera (http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=215126)* for the Mayhem, and don't know where all the components are on the 4-in-1. I'm sure the info is out there, but separate components seem really appealing to me . . .

I just have to figure out how to make them appealing to my "financial manager." :D

*Try I did, that camera is just too heavy for the BCX. It has a voltage regulator in the plug to split the power into a 9V and 5V circuit to the camera's board, and the plug weighs a full 20 grams by itself. This brought the overall weight to almost 40 grams, which gives you about 30 seconds to 1 minute of flight - see footage here (http://www.rc-resources.com/images/testvid/bcxstream.wmv), 4.03 MB streaming WMV. Warning, it's really bad video, but so's everyone's first.

I do have another camera coming that weighs in at 20 grams. It's the same lens/photoarray but has a better signal and supports sound, so good video is on its way! :D

[OutFrontFrames]

You know those voltage regulators they make for rc car rx batteries? They are used for lipo rx batteries and knock everything down to 6 volts. If you could use 6 volts then you could eliminate the 9 volt and the other parts and just run the camera off of your existing lipo.

[rocknbil]

You mean like a BEC? Do they come separate? How heavy are they? :D weight is the Big Deal here. Hopefully other cam will be here today, if not, tomorrow.

[cjg]

Try using an lm7805 voltage regulator chip connected to your lipos with one or two diodes on the ground side. This will create regulated outputs of 5.6 or 6.2 volts respectively since the diodes will "trick" the regulator into adding about .6-.7 volts each. The chips are available at radioshack for cheap. This would be REAL light.

[rocknbil]

OMG hahah! I did EXACTLY that last night and it was working, a radio shack 7805, it was putting out 5.03V at the gate! :D

But..

I suck. I killed the camera in a big-fingered soldering incident. I'll be doing it on the next one I find cheap though. :D

[cybinary]

Hello all, I am new to forums and just got my BCX about a month ago. I took off the trainers last week and am having a blast with forward flight. I have been flying figure eights and practicing my hovering both front facing and rear facing and having a blast with it.

I love what some of you have done with your BCX by modding them, and I wanted to add my little bit of creativity to the board.

I was getting severe tail drift as well and talked to a few people at the hobby shop where I got the heli. They all said the same thing as here, the 4-in-1 starts overheating and we put holes in our canapy to conpensate.

I thought, why just put holes....see pic

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/627/736497821orig0kq.th.jpg (http://img235.imageshack.us/my.php?image=736497821orig0kq.jpg)

What your seeing is mosquito netting, i pulled out the smoked plastic and replaced it with black plastic mosquito netting. Costs about $4 at home depot for a good size roll.

After doing that it doesn't seem like I'm getting tail drift anymore AND it I'm getting longer flight times also!

[rocknbil]

Cool idea! haha! And welcome aboard!

Make sure you trim out the bottom of the canopy too, that will help. If the air goes in, it also has to go out. :D

[cybinary]

I did end up cutting out the bottom as well as holeing the case for the four-in-one. I also cut vent holes along the side and installed the motor heat sink. =)

[MMCGinnis]

Please see my post on this thread for instructions on how to repair a blown 4-in-1 controller:

Thread (http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?p=2002783#post2002779)

[Zoomer_31]

Hi everyone...

I'm new here too. When I decided to buy a CX, I started looking for a forum to join to get help and tips and maybe share some flying fun. I bought mine online last Sunday. It just arrived Thursday, but I didn't really have time to play around with it.
Unfortunately my training gear are back-ordered. But I already purchased two extra blade sets, and an inner rotor shaft.

Today I charged the battery, and did all the checks the manual says to do. The CG checks out with the battery in the stock position. Everything seems to check out. I'm not so brave as to try to fly it without the training gear, but I did power it up in the livingroom tonight. Just advancing the throttle one notch at a time. When I get it almost to the point where it wants to lift off it seems to rotate left. An done time it almost tipped over (rolled) to the right. I got it shut down quick enough that it didn't fall over.

So, I guess I'm wondering, should I just be able to add and the heli should just lift straight up nice and steady, or is it always necessary to make control inputs? I'm going to wait for the training gear before really trying to fly it though.

Thanks,
Lee

[rocknbil]

Welcome aboard Zoomer!

You will find two things with the BCX: one, even when you tweak the 4-in-1 proportional pot per the instructions, it will never really stop trying to rotate. There have been reports that people have been able to "dial it out," but I have three 4-in-1 units and they are all the same, even with the pot set all the way to one side and the trims lopped over, it still wants to rotate.

But this is not necessarily bad, as it forces you to mind the tail, something you will have to do with larger tail-rotor 'copters.

Second is, that plastic goodie on the top of the center shaft is going to break. Know it now. I've broken them on hard landings. Before they had the aluminum head upgrade, there were things you could do to reinforce them (see my post.) Now you can just buy the aluminum head upgrade from your LHS or Horizon Hobby.

When you feel like you're ready to take off, put all your concentration on that left stick. When it lifts off the torque of the motors is going to cause the nose to try and spin to the right (always fly the NOSE, not the tail,) so be ready for it. After it gets off the ground, the spin is going to settle down, so be ready for that too, or it will keep spinning in the direction you push it. So it's forward on the left stick with a little push to the left, then gently release the left pressure while holding the throttle when it takes off, look ma, I'm flying. :D

As for the right stick, it may drift a little to one side or the other, but if you keep it tail-in (tail toward you,) when it gets light on the skids, give gentle pushes in the direction opposite it's going - if it drifts forward, pull back and release, don't hold it down. Little taps to move it around.

Most important, when it gets light on the skids don't hesitate, up the throttle a full 4-5 ticks and get it off the ground. You will do more damage by trying to lift off slow, it will try to tip over and pop go the blades and the flybar holder.

GE (Ground effect) is a lot more pronounced with the BCX. This is the air reflecting off the ground and back up to the heli, it will get very squirrely if you try and hover less than 2 feet or so. Bring it up to at least two feet and you will feel it level out and be way more controllable.

VERY VERY IMORTANT: If you get into trouble, throttle down. If you crash and the blades get jammed in the panic, this will blow the ESC chip right off the 4-in-1. If you're good at electronics and surface mount soldering, it can be fixed for 99 cents - if not, it will cost you 50 bucks. So get in the habit of pulling that throttle BACK if you get into trouble.

Last bit of advice is about the lipos. Too many people just see these as some new lightweight battery, which they are, but there are some things you need to know.These lipo batteries are unlike any other battery you've ever charged. DO NOT OVERDISCHARGE THEM. If the BCX begins to have trouble ascending at full throttle, bring it in. Don't hover it in ground effect, don't hop it around, don't drain the battery to nothing.

Offically you're not supposed to discharge a lipo less than 3.5 volts per cell, in reality this is FAR TOO LOW. By bringing it in as soon as it won't climb at full throttle, your cells will be at around 3.7 volts per cell which is GOOD. Doing so will insure good 12-15 minute runs for the life of the pack and hundreds of charges.

The battery wil be warm after a run. If itgets warm dduring charge, DISCARD IT. If it puffs up or makes and hissing noises diring charging, DISCARD IT. These packs will catch fire if they are shorted or charged out of balance. If you use the stock charger and follow this advice, they are completely safe.
As of this post, I have 6 packs, and each of them have undergone at least 100 flights per pack and still cooking. Yeah I fly the BCX and BCP a lot these days. :D

[Zoomer_31]

Thanks for the welcome and all the info Bill. I've been reading all your posts and watching the videos you've posted here. I want to be able to have as much fun with mine as you seem to be with yours.

I have a pretty small livingroom but I made some open space in the middle and I was running up the motors. I noticed what you said about it wanting to tilt a little when its light. I wasn't comfortable with increasing the throttle any further (because I still don't have the training gear) so I backed it off. It's hard to wait, but I guess waiting for the training gear would be better than cracking it up before I really even get to fly it.

I already bought extra sets of blades and an extra inner shaft for when the first one breaks. I'll probably end up getting the all aluminum shaft when the one I bought breaks.

You mentioned to focus my attention on the left stick when I'm ready to take off. So I can get it airborne with most of my control inputs on the left stick? Then when its up a couple feet that's when I can start experimenting with right stick inputs?

Other than that it seems relatively simple as far as helicopters go. From the looks of the video that came with it and all of your flying videos it looks pretty fun. I'll be happy when I have the first few flights out of the way and I'm comfortable with it.

Thanks again...
Lee

[rocknbil]

Sorry I missed this, been out crashing - err, trying to fly - my BCP. :D

I noticed what you said about it wanting to tilt a little when its light. I wasn't comfortable with increasing the throttle any further (because I still don't have the training gear) so I backed it off. It's hard to wait, but I guess waiting for the training gear would be better than cracking it up before I really even get to fly it.

I lasted five minutes on my first battery, I just . . .couldn't . . .wait! :D The training gear does help, but with the BCX you will only need it for a week or two. Don't toss them though, you can use the fiberglas rods to build an unbendable flybar.

So I can get it airborne with most of my control inputs on the left stick?

If the aeleron/elevator is trimmed out well, yes, but most BCX's are "nose-heavy" meaning it will try to move forward when it lifts off. By trimmed out I mean either through adjusting the pushrod lengths or the transmitter trims the heli will stay in one place in a hover with hands off the right stick. See my battery spacer, this moved the battery back a little and re-balances the center of gravity. If you get it fully trimmed out, yes, you can lift straight up and only mind the tail and throttle with very little right-stick input.

Two things happen when you lift off, directional drift of forward/back/left/right, controlled by the right stick, and rotation, controlled by the left. If you try and take off slowly, the ground effect causes it to try and slide left and right, forward and back, or even tip over and strike the blades. you may think well, it drifted left, so I'll adjust my trim right, but chances are very good this will make it drift hard right once you get out of ground effect.

So the best method for the BCX is a "planned hop." This is NOT recommended for a tail-rotor heli, but will work GREAT for the BCX. Get it up to speed just where it's getting light on the skids, then smoothly but quickly raise the throttle 4 or 5 ticks and bring it back down. Usually it will rotate 90 degrees and drift one way or another. Next hop, compensate a little on the tail to control rotation and the right stick to control drift, see if you can hop up to about 2 feet high and stay in a 2 foot circle. You will see it gain stability and is far easier to control out of ground effect. After 3 or 4 of these, you may have some success in hopping right up to 2 feet and holding it there, but at the least sign of trouble bring the throttle back down SMOOTHLY.

That last part is really important, if you chop the throttle it will drop like a brick and break parts. You want to let it down slowly so it doesn't break anything. The only exception to this is if it's about to hit a wall or something while at hovering throttle, a blade strike can kill many parts as well as the 4-in-1.

Your first flight you are probably going to overcompensate, the jitters cause you to give it jerky inputs and it will get out of control fast. Stay with little hops until you can get past the jitters. Once you can do a whole pack in hover, you can experiment with moving a little this way, a little that, and keeping it in position while you rotate.

[Zoomer_31]

Bill,

Thank you again for all your info. I received my training gear yesterday, finally. After several frustrating minutes trying to thread those tiny screws I finally got them installed and centered. I put the battery back in and everything balanced.

We had a very calm evening so I decided to take it outside for the first few hops, bounces, hopefully not crashes. Funny though how much confidence training gear can give a person.

I noticed what you described about how it behaves in ground effect, all the drifting this way and that. In fact I was planning on posting a question about that. What I noticed in ground effect is that it drifted to the right and back. So, based on what you wrote I shouldn't try to trim it while it's that low? But trim it during the "planned hops" instead?

When I do the two foot hops should I trim it during the hop or set it down trim it and hop again?

I know what you mean about the jitters too. I had them just hovering in ground effect. Once again thanks for all your advice and input.

Lee

[RuKind]

I got my bcx last night, I traded a xtm nitro exclerator for it. It came with 2 batteries, landing gear, heat sink for the motors and a few extra parts. Tonight was the first time I tried to fly it. I was in my barn and did ok, I didn't break anything atleast. This weekend I'm going to try it outside. Should I do the cooling mods first or lern to fly it before I cut it up. The guy I got it from only ran 4 batteries thru it and never cracked it up. I just have to remember it's not my lst2 and take it slow and easy.

[rocknbil]

... This weekend I'm going to try it outside. Should I do the cooling mods first or lern to fly it before I cut it up.

Whatever you feel comfortable with, the cooling stuff just makes the motors last longer and may help with the yaw problems. Take heed about outside, if the wind chimes are jingling, it will blow it over or worse yet blow it away. :D It has to be really calm or almost no wind at all. Also things really change at about 20 feet or so, it's easy to get disoriented so if you get any altitude on leave yourself an escape route even if it's throttle down and watch it drop like a brick. It will survive it, I say that from experience. haha . . .

.... So, based on what you wrote I shouldn't try to trim it while it's that low? But trim it during the "planned hops" instead?
When I do the two foot hops should I trim it during the hop or set it down trim it and hop again?

Well, I wouldn't trim anything until you get familiar with how it moves, just adjust it on the stick. Otherwise you may get the trims working against what you're trying to do with the thumbs. Once you can get it up around two feet and hold it there for a second or two, note where you're having to push on the right stick (if at all!) to keep it in one spot. Land it, move the trims a little and try again. Eventually you can get it to where it almost lifts straight up.

[Zoomer_31]

Hey everyone...

I finally got to fly my BCX "for real" in a big wide open space for the first time. I have friends who own the local skating rink...and I was able to get in when it was empty and fly for awhile.

I drained both my battery packs, and never crashed. Thank goodness for those training gear. I have to say though it's so easy to fly I think after a couple more times I might not need them. It's a nice safety net to have for now. There were a couple times I set it down kinda hard, but it seemed like it had moments when it would lose power and sorta drop. That was way before the battery should be getting low. Common problem?

As far as trimming goes. It didn't need much of any trimming at all. I never noticed that left or right nose drift that some of you guys were talking about. Yet when I was hovering here in the livingroom it seemed to yaw left. Could it be that the ground effect here in the livingroom is causing it? When I fly it in here it seems to drift all over the place.

I shot some video of it with my digital camera, but it didn't come out really well. I'd like to shoot some good quality video sometime. That's all pretty new to me though. I'll work on that more after I become a better pilot.

Thanks for all the advice and tips. It's helped decrease my learning curve a lot. I'd enjoy hearing more about people's flying experiences and seeing more
cool videos too.

Lee

[rocknbil]

....I have friends who own the local skating rink...and I was able to get in when it was empty and fly for awhile....

I would die for a big interior space right now, been really windy and trying to learn on the BCP . . .

I drained both my battery packs, and never crashed.

Don't know if you caught this part but don't take those packs too far down. With lipos, drainging them below 3.5 volts per cell will throw the pack out of balance and shorten their life, and in extreme cases can cause them to catch fire. A good rule of thumb is if it gets to where it will not climb on it's own, set it down immediately. This will leave the packs at about 3.7 volts per cell which is perfect and will insure long life.

To read the voltage on the packs, note there are slots on the underside of the charging jack where you can access the tabs to the wires. Take a digital voltmeter and put the negative probe on the middle tab and the positive on one or the other of the outer ones. Read both cells and compare voltage, when charged they should be no more than .01 v of each other and when discharged 3.7 volts or better. Don't try sticking pins in the charging holes and reading it that way, you can short out one cell and this will kill the pack for sure.

. . . training gear. I have to say though it's so easy to fly I think after a couple more times I might not need them.
Yeah it flies better too, but like I said save them, the flybar on these is like spaghetti. You can work off the litte round thingy in the middle and use the training gear as a flybar. :D

. . .it seemed like it had moments when it would lose power and sorta drop.

Like a little hiccup, like the motors just shut off for a second and recover? Yeah I hate it when it does that, and have seen reports of it around.

I never noticed that left or right nose drift that some of you guys were talking about. Yet when I was hovering here in the livingroom it seemed to yaw left. Could it be that the ground effect here in the livingroom is causing it? When I fly it in here it seems to drift all over the place.

G.E. should fade away at about 2 feet. It will drift around below 2 feet, but above that it should smooth out. G.E. will not cause or affect yaw in any way. I've heard reports about "no yaw" BCX's but have never seen one, some claim the later versions of the BCX they don't seem to yaw as bad. Which would suck because I've got three 4-in-1 units here. lol . . .

[Zoomer_31]

Bill...

Regarding the training gear... Did you mean it flies better without the training gear or with them? I will save them, in fact I thought when I'm ready to shed the training gear I'd at least keep the brackets on the skids for a little while. So, if I wanted to put them back on it would be easier.

If mine is a later version maybe that's why the yaw drift isn't as pronounced. I do still have to give it some trim to the right, but its not a tremendous amount.

I'm really starting to love this little thing. I was wondering if they might make other body colors besides the yellow one and the blue police body. I thought at some point I'd buy a new yellow body and repaint it. Maybe something military or some sort of lifeflight chopper.

I have two battery packs right now but, I think I'll need at least another battery pack, maybe two more. Seems like the battery always gets weak just when it's really getting to be fun.

Do you let the motors cool down between battery packs, or does adding the heat sink make this unnecessary? I haven't bought the heat sink yet, but it'll probably be next on my list.

Thanks again..
Lee

[Zoomer_31]

Well, it finally happened to me too... I broke that inner rotor shaft. I was playing around in my livingroom tonight and while trying to land on the coffee table, I sorta missed the edge. oops.. I got it shut off, but it still snapped the inner rotor shaft head.

Now my question since I've never done this before is: How do I go about replacing it? I have a new one I bought before I ever got the heli. Do I need to replace that gear too? I don't think I bent the flybar, at least it still looks straight. Hard to tell for sure until it's powered up again.

I guess I need more practice before I try flying in these really tight spaces. Just way too little room to manuever.

Anyway...thanks in advance...
Lee

[rocknbil]

Well, it finally happened to me too... I broke that inner rotor shaft.

LOL . . . you are now an official pilot(/mechanic) in training. :D I lasted five minutes my first flight.

... How do I go about replacing it?

See page one for a "fix" that allows you to use the stock head by gluing and reinforcing. You can be flying again in a matter of hours until you get the aluminum head.

Remove landing gear, body, slide the antenna fully out of the rear fuselage so you can put it out of the way. While you can do this without removing the battery tray, it's easier if you take it off - see 4 screws on bottom.

Remove and don't lose the two set screws from the collar on the bottom gear, that's the gear for the center shaft. Slide the gear off the shaft. As you do, take note of the hole in the side of the gear and corresponding slot in the end of the shaft - it's really important when you reassemble to get one of the set screws through the hole and onto the flat spot on the shaft.

The center shaft comes with a new gear, you can put it on or not, I save them until I get a nick in the gear - you will know when this happens, the BCX will get a ticking sound in flight. It really sucks to get a nick in the upper gear for the outer shaft, you have to replace the whole shaft.

With the gear off, the shaft will now slide up through the top, take care not to lose the bearing and collar at the top of the mainshaft.

When reassembling, line up the set screw with the flat spot and do not over-torque the set screws, they WILL strip the aluminum collar. It's great to have a nut driver here instead of those stupid allen wrenches, one that fits standard electric RC pinions works out well (don't know size.) Battery tray back on, thread antenna through fuse, L.G. on, fly it.

The flybar is like spaghetti, if it gets bent you can take it off and straighten it ad infinitum. It's just an annoyance to have to. :D

Do you let the motors cool down between battery packs, or does adding the heat sink make this unnecessary?

Absolutely, heat sinks or not. When a motor heats up, it is less efficient requiring more power to do what you are trying to make it do. It only takes about five to seven minutes to cool well. You might as well cut out the top and bottom of the canopy too, (see prev. page, pics) it screws up the nice lines of the canopy but longer motor life is a good call my my reckoning. Many fliers also take a black sharpie and color the motor cans, this also helps disperse the heat.

I was wondering if they might make other body colors besides the yellow one and the blue police body.

Doesn't appear to be any other bodies coming, what I don't understand is why they don't cast a clear one so we can paint them from the inside like our ground RC's. You can paint them - see previous page - I use standard Pactra laquer-based RC car paint and an airbrush, it's tough stuff but it doesn't have the high gloss of most exterior paints. Be sure to scuff up the surface with green scrubber pads before painting and it won't crack or chip.

Did you mean it flies better without the training gear or with them?

Not so much easier but for one it's lighter without them so you get a snappier reaction time and it flies a minute or two longer. Also the air current from the blades affects the dynamics of how it flies a little bit, when you take them off you will see the difference.

[Zoomer_31]

Thanks Bill....awesome instructions. I thought I'd tackle it tonight but it sounds to in depth to start at 11:30pm. I'm not sure I could epoxy it precise enough to make it work right, and I already have a new standard shaft. I guess it'll be a good exercise in unassembling and re-assembling my heli. I'll have your post up and tackle it tomorrow evening.

I'd like to keep my original body as it is, so I guess someday I'll buy a new one and paint it.

I get this thing fixed, and I'm sticking to open spaces for a while...lol

Thanks again, Bill...

Lee

[Zoomer_31]

Thanks to your great instructions Bill, my first run at being a pilot/mechanic is a success. I finished repairs and had my maintenance test flights just a little while ago. All seems to be in order. If it wasn't I guess it would have crashed. lol

That part about the flat spot on the rotor shaft was especially helpful. I might not have noticed that otherwise. I forgot to ask about one thing. Is there any easier way to get the stabilizer/flybar out of the rotor head? Seemed pretty difficult to squeeze it out, but I managed.

Thanks again for the help... Look ma', I'm flying..again.

Lee

[Zoomer_31]

I almost started a new thread for this question, but I decided just to continue in this one.

How do you know when you're ready to shed the training gear? That is as an individual pilot how do you know when you're personally ready?

I've been thinking for the last few flights that maybe I could take them off, but I really like the "safety net" of having them there. I still have some hard or awkward landings sometimes, and so far they've kept my repair costs pretty light. Just one inner rotor shaft so far.

Anyway just interested in everyone's opinions...
Thanks,
Lee

[cjg]

I almost started a new thread for this question, but I decided just to continue in this one.

How do you know when you're ready to shed the training gear? That is as an individual pilot how do you know when you're personally ready?

I've been thinking for the last few flights that maybe I could take them off, but I really like the "safety net" of having them there. I still have some hard or awkward landings sometimes, and so far they've kept my repair costs pretty light. Just one inner rotor shaft so far.

Anyway just interested in everyone's opinions...
Thanks,
Lee
If you think you are ready you probably are. I took mine off after the 3rd evening and never looked back.

[rocknbil]

Yeah if you can bring it down level with regularity it's probably time. Don't throw them away though, the fiberglas rods make **GREAT** unbendable flybars!

You have to cut the "flat" pieces out of the plastic on the stock flybar and work the balls off - they are "knurled" on the shaft. Once off, you will have to carefully drill them out slightly, then they will slide onto the fiberglas rods pretty snug. Center everything up and run some thin CA to hold them. Flip the rubber ends over and slide them on the shaft first, then put a notch in the ends of the fiberglas and standard set-screw collars on, works great.

[Zoomer_31]

Thanks guys...

As far as bringing it down level goes: Inside...not a problem. At the skate rink I've been flying in I can spot land pretty much anywhere I want now.

Outside...more of a problem. It's amazing how little wind it takes to blow it around. I was outside last evening, and it was really calm. I was up and then a very gentle breeze started. All of a sudden its trying to fly away all on its own. I took it down low and set it down quick.

I'll save the training gear rods. Even if I don't change the flybar, I thought it would be useful to have them if I wanted to teach someone else how to fly it.

Bill, I like the blue police body. That's the first time I've seen it on someone's helicopter. Looks pretty good, I may have to get it sometime just the change things up a bit.

Thanks,
Lee

[rocknbil]

Yeah the first one kinda got . . . retired . . . :D

What you can't see are the nav lights, bright white spotlights underneath in the tail and in the nose, with red at the top of the tail and port, green starboard. One of my favorite things to do (batteries charging now!) is turn off all the lights outside and fly around by nav lights only.

You can buy LED kits but I had bad experiences with them, it's so easy to make your own, all you need is lightweight wire, LED's from Radio Shack, a handful of 1/4 watt resistors, and to splice a JST plug for the lights into the 4-in-1 main power wires. LED calculators here (http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz). I'm using a 150 ohm for the two tail lights, 180 ohm front, I see no noticeable decrease in run time.

[Zoomer_31]

Bill,

Adding lights is really cool. I'm really bad at wiring things, but I'd love to add lights like you described. I assume they're powered off the Lipo, but where do you wire them in at?

Do you have any video of your heli. with the lights running?

Lee

[rocknbil]

No, too hard to get the lighting right. See pic below, this is the first light setup with white light at top.

[rocknbil]

....I assume they're powered off the Lipo, but where do you wire them in at?...

Splice a JST female plug into the main power, then a male into your light setup. This allows you to disconnect it if you want (or chage to a body without lights.) The lights go in series with the tail lights on one loop and the front 3 lights on another. Hold them in with hot glue.

[Zoomer_31]

Bill,

The pics are great. I love the LED's. Around here it seems the wind always gets really calm just before it gets dark, so the lights would be a great help. Not to mention the fact that it's just plain cool. I'll keep that in mind for something to do later on. Right now I just want to keep having fun learning to fly. I'm going to try it without training gear tomorrow evening.

Lee

[jclouser]

Hi all,

New to the board and new to the CX. Been out of R/C for some time now and I happened to run across the CX while in my LHS waiting for my girlfriend to finish shopping elsewhere (probably a common occurance.) I have to say this little guy is a blast and I havn't even got it out of ground effect yet! I'm still looking for a good place to fly indoors as I live in a 600sq ft apartment. I'm thinking my local community center's gym will fit the bill perfectly.

The tips and tricks posted here sound great and I'm looking forward to implementing them over the next couple of days. It seems like the first thing to do is install the motor heat sink and mod the canopy and 4in1 case for better cooling. I too have noticed a tendancy for the CX to yaw nose left. I have tried to compensate with the 4in1 adjustment pot and with rudder trim on the tx but nothing has helped yet. I'm hoping once the 4in1 can get some cooling air to it this will calm down. Another issue I had right out of the box is for the CX to want to drift back and to the left as soon as it's getting light on the training gear. I'm guessing I will be able to more accurately trim this out once I can get it out of GE. Even with all that the CX still seems super stable and I'm looking forward to learning on it and eventually putting the CP on my radar.

Thanks to everyone for all the great tips!

-Jason

[rocknbil]

Welcome aboard Jason, the 4-in-1 mods will help but the yaw never really goes away. You will have to mind the tail constantly. I've heard reports of perfectly trimmed CX's but as the battery wears down and the 4-in-1 heats up it usually comes back.

This is a good thing though. I'm learning the CP so it teaches you to mind the tail constantly, which you have to do with a tail rotor heli.

The drift thing is most likely ground effect. The CX is **really** squirrely close to the ground because it's so light. Don't adjust anything on your cyclic or center of gravity until you can get a few flights with it at 4 feet or higher. When you do that, you should be able to trim that puppy out so you can literally let go of the right stick and it will just hover in one position or barely move in any direction at all. Enjoy it, you can't do that with the CP for more than a second or two. :D

The CP is a whole different animal. Because of the spinning main rotor immediately on takeoff it wants to drift left, and if it tilts a little it will ROCKET off in that direction, it's not the same at all. Been learning for 2 months now and just yesterday got through 4 packs doing figure 8's, rotations, nose-in hovers and NO CRASHES! Woo hoo! :D

It's WAY more stable outside though, I can keep it under control in gusty winds.

[jclouser]

...the 4-in-1 mods will help but the yaw never really goes away. You will have to mind the tail constantly. I've heard reports of perfectly trimmed CX's but as the battery wears down and the 4-in-1 heats up it usually comes back.

Thanks Bill, I won't let the yaw worry me as much then. I'll hold off on trimming the right stick until I can get it up in a larger space.

Anyone know what the typical charge time is for this LiPo pack using the included charger? Assuming it's been discharged just to the point of not being able to maintain lift...

thx!

[Zoomer_31]

Welcome jclouser !! As I'm sure you're already discovering there is a wealth of info on this forum about both the CX and the CP. I'm a new owner of a Blade CX too, and I've learned a lot here.

I have a few places that I've been flying my CX. Even though my livingroom is small, I just move stuff out of the way and it's been a great place to learn how to control it in tight places. I've also been flying outside when it's calm enough, but it has to be "really" calm or its just at the mercy of the wind. My other most favorite place to fly is our local skating rink. I'm pretty good friends with the owners and it's also where we play inline hockey, so I can get in when its empty and fly. That's the single best place to fly that I've found. In those wide open spaces with no strong air currents that thing is a darling to fly. I think that's the best sort of place to learn in.

I've read all the suggestions about cutting the canopy, (which I just have not been able to bring myself to do yet), or cutting holes in the 4 in 1 case, which I haven't found to be necessary on mine yet. Basically I just give it plenty of time to cool down between flights and I've not had any problems yet. I am buying a heat sink as soon as my LHS gets it in though.

As far as the yaw drift goes, I've noticed the same thing on my CX too. Here's how I deal with it and it seems to work for my CX. I proceed to fly out of G.E. (around 4 feet or so) with the yaw trim centered. Then I make whatever adjustment it needs. With mine this usually ends up being full right trim. Even with that it still drifts left a little. Then I'll set down, and leaving the yaw trim all the way to the right, I unplug the battery and plug it back in. I still set the throttle stick and trim all the way down like it says to do. Then when I power back up I have enough trim lever to compensate. Seems like after that I can center the yaw trim and from then on the heli. stays put. I'm pretty sure I read a post by Bill describing a similar technique. I think in this thread but I didn't go back to look. So, credit where credit is due. Thanks Bill.

Now for my latest CX news.. Tuesday night at the skate rink I flew for the first time without the training gear !!! I have to say without the added weight of the gear that little heli. is much more fun to fly. Like Bill told me, it's much more responsive to throttle input. I can't believe how fast it will pirouette without the gear!! I've since flown through three battery packs without the training gear, and unless I'm teaching someone I doubt I'll ever use them for myself again. Two of my flights were outside this evening. I feel like I can join the ranks of the "real" pilots now...haha.

I'm not sure if I'll do any extreme mods on my CX but I am working on a lighted landing pad to practice landings and take-offs on. I also thought it would be helpful outside in the absence of a smooth floor.

jclouser.. My charge time seems to run between 1.5 and 2.0 hours average. No wonder Bill has so many battery packs huh?

Once again, welcome...
Lee

[rocknbil]

No wonder Bill has so many battery packs huh?
^ ^ LOL . . yeah I've got a collection of 6 packs, one brand new and never used yet. :D

.....Anyone know what the typical charge time is for this LiPo pack using the included charger?....

If you use the AC adapter it seems to vary, like Zoomer said. But I had a problem for a time, I started getting 5 minute run times even though the balancer light went out. I changed 4-in-1. I changed motors, power leads, tried everything and no go, even with new packs. Actually this is how I got to have so many packs, I thought I'd overdischarged my packs and toasted them.

Turns out it was my power source: I was connecting the balancer to a 7 amp SLA battery for a nitro starter box, even though it was fully charged apparently it was causing the balancer to false peak, or something. I dusted off my 15 amp DC power supply and started charging them with the balancer connected to that - lo and behold, 15-20 minute run times again.

All that being said, my packs charge in 50 to 60 minutes using the power supply as the balancer's source.

[Zoomer_31]

Wow...50 - 60 minutes ?? That's great compared to an hour and a half on the A.C. power supply.

Lee

[jncaseman]

Seems to be a lot of discussion about removing or not removing training gear. Split the difference. Remove the balls and leave the rods on. Removes weight but still gives stability.

[rocknbil]

Welcome aboard jn! The only problem with that - if you need training gear, you will also have troubles keeping it level close to the ground. If it's moving sideways the tips of the rods can stick into the ground/carpet and it will pole-vault over onto its lid. :eek:

[jclouser]

...the tips of the rods can stick into the ground/carpet and it will pole-vault over onto its lid. :eek:

I dunno sounds kinda fun - we could do a CX pole vault event at the next summer olympics... :D

Thanks to Zoomer and Bill for the yaw trim trick, next time I fly I'll have to try it. Last night I took my 4in1 out of it's case and cut cooling holes in the top and bottom of the canopy - also installed the heat sink with thermal paste. Got it up much better this time in my bedroom over the bed, pillows and loose sheets removed. I felt much more comfortable and I hovered it through an entire pack. It slid around slightly in the air but for the most part I could counteract the yaw with just slight right rudder. I can already tell I'm gunna need a few spare battery packs. As soon as youre comfortable on the sticks it's out of juice and you're jonesin' for more! BAH!

[jncaseman]

Rocknbil Haven't had the pole vaulting problem. Outside I have to land on gravel driveway or in grass and landing gear is so narrow it doesn't take much to tip over on side. Rods give it stability. It would have to be moving sideways at a good clip for it to pole vault. Guess you could curl the tips up a little if you thought that would happen.

[Zoomer_31]

You're welcome jc . I think that's what makes the forums so great, being able to tap into other people's experience.

jc, I guess you're braver than I am, cutting the 4 in 1 case. I can see the wisdom in doing it. But if I screwed it up I'd hate have to spend another $50 or so right now. I expect my LHS to have my heat sink in by tomorrow and I'll install that. Since you and Bill have both installed one, is there anything tricky about it I might need to know?

Jc, I think when you're able to fly it inside in a large area, (like the gym you mentioned) you'll notice a huge difference in how much easier it is to control. It's that g.e. bubble that makes things so tricky down low. Even when I fly inside in my home out of g.e. it's still more tricky to fly b/c the wind from the rotors is still bouncing off furniture, walls, cats, etc. so it gets buffeted around more. In a gym or a place like that skating rink the downwash is pretty much null. In fact it's so steady, that the other night I demonstrated that to a friend by setting the throttle and putting the Tx on the floor and stepping away. It just sat there like a good little heli... :p

Until next time guys...
Lee

[jclouser]

I expect my LHS to have my heat sink in by tomorrow and I'll install that. Since you and Bill have both installed one, is there anything tricky about it I might need to know?

The right motor needs to be removed to install the heat sink and is held in by two screws. One of them is easy to get to and remove, the other is underneath the gears of both rotors and is a bit more difficult. I found it easier to not try to take this screw out. I just left the screw in and lifted the motor up as I unscrewed it. The heat sink is a snug but not overly tight fit. You might have to bend the main shaft very slightly to get the rear part of the heat sink to slide in behind the left motor. I took my tail boom off to make getting to the underneath a lot easier.

As far as the 4in1 case mod goes I just ditched the smoked gray case completely. I took the circuit board out of the case and pressed it into the double stick tape that had previously been holding the smoked case. It was actually really easy and is pretty secure. The circuit board is held in it's case by a very small cube of black double stick foam, a bit of GENTLE prying around the edge of the board will pop it right out. Just make sure you pay attention to connector orientation when you hook the motors and servos back up.

Another mod I might recommend is getting rid of that annoying throttle ratcheting feel on the TX. It might have already been mentioned in this thread, and if so I apologize for repeating. I followed the guide HERE. (http://www.dacaur.com/bladecxhelp.html#throttlemod) It really helps get a better control over hovering and how much power to give it to maintain a given altitude. Much smoother!

-Jason

[Zoomer_31]

Jason,

Thanks for posting the link to that page. There's a lot of good info. there.

I like the part showing what people have done externally to change the appearance of their CX's. Someday I'd like to buy another body and paint it.

Lee

[Figit090]

Hey bil, nice heli... i browsed the thread and it looks like a fun R/C... i also read and learned some sobering things about lipo's in another thread. I'm now afraid of cell phones....

i don't know if they are as dangerous but...still.

but yeah, how much was that copter?

[Zoomer_31]

Hey there Figit090,

I got mine for $189, free shipping, plus $9.00 for training gear. I also bought extra blade sets, $3.50 per pack, (but you get two pairs in each pack), and an extra inner rotor shaft at $7.00. Oh, and I bought an extra battery pack. Would like to get another battery pack, and a heat sink too.

Lee

[Figit090]

nice! thanks. if only i had a job, no t-maxx and a running car i'd get one! but i have a t-maxx, and a blown headgasket.... :o fun stuff!

[wafreelance]

Wow Newbie Here.
Saw the cx at a Rod show a LHS had a booth watched the vid playing, was in awe before long, was drooling, the guy at the booth must have noticed the Pool of Drool I was standing in before long I here wiz, damm if he isn't just teasing the ....out of me! he was a buzzing one around, I was hooked Well that was about a month ago, just bought one three days ago! Fresh out of the box charge the battery and could not resist, read just enought of the instuctions to make me dangerous! Smackit off the coffee table a few times and tooker outside! Game on! .....Nope! Rude Awakening! Yes wind is CX's aunry friend, Wow crash it right into the tomato plant cage! took out the bottom props, thank goodness common sense said, Jeeze you've never ever flown anything more than a wind up plane let alone a paper plane! I bought 2 pks lowers 2pks uppers, extra battery, aluminum head with inner, outter that goes to inner, extra screw pak, exrta landing gear, extra counter balance, well needles to say, Im darn glad I did, Cuz after about 6 charges and a few blades, broke that darn counter balance Head, ran here right into the garage and pop goes the weasel, well Im now official hook on the dam thing and actually can almost make it through a hole battery, thats before I read this darn foum and realize, Ive never adjust this darn thing, so now I figure once, its adjust right I should be a ACE! Ha Ha I know better than that! You guy s are great, as a newbie, I appreciate all the info that every person here has posted so kudos where kudos are due! ps love all the mods Im a artist so I will be designing some pretty cool decal kits for these things with full digital effects Im very exited to see what I can do between the paint and decal schemeing. =) Once again thanks and Ill keep a posting!

[rocknbil]

HAHA . . yeah it's a blast, welcome aboard WA. :D

[Zoomer_31]

Hey WA welcome aboard !! Glad to hear you're enjoying your CX too. I fly mine almost everyday. I've been learning precise control, and spot landings lately. I've gotten most of the tail drift worked out, but like Bill here has said a little drift is a good thing, since it teaches you how to "mind the tail". I've found that to be pretty helpful advice. (thanks Bill)

If you're into making decals and stuff for new paint schemes, I've got a couple ideas for some. Maybe when you've done a few for yourself I could talk you into doing some for me too?? Of course I'd pay you a fair price. Custom made decals are a great thing. Saves a lot of painting.

Once again...welcome aboard..

Lee

[wafreelance]

OOps! crash hard tonight after work! wentout on the patio to do some touch and goes off of the hot tub, my patio is full closed on three sides and closed lattice on the other got about 10 lift offs and landing between the hot tub and ground, was above the hot tub headed out forward (I was on the tail end of a battery) and the darn little bugger decided to get a second wind and up she went right up to the old ceiling 8 feet.... boink , I freeking paniced and hit the throttle down and back at the same time... all I could do is watch and pray.... wammo!.. ran over just to what her hit the floor almost nose first..... didn't look good...canopy cracken in 4 spots a chunk out of the bottom....wimper wimper....But to my amazment not a darn thing broke except for a crack on the top blade! either from hitting the ceiling or from me freeking out and running it backwards into the lattice. Needless to say its gluing as I speak while I wait bummed, cause I cant fly it this second, dam feel like a crack monkey without any bananas....cool thing is I will be flying as soon as it dries, Lord thank u for little cxs I hope you have'm in heaven!

[Figit090]

lol...interesting crash storys.

your posts are amusing, thanks. :D sounds like a lot more fun than i thought it would be. dont mean to be off topic but since i cant afford a gas copter or something extreme...i'll ask about this copter in my question.

For those of you that have driven off road trucks or buggys (i've only driven a stadium and a monster by the way) how do you personally compare flying this copter to that? i.e. excitement factor/fun factor/bang-for-your-buck... just the basics of how much you like it compared to the landgoing hellraisers...

[wafreelance]

Bang for the Buck! LOL seems with any of these rc hobbies if they go Bang there goes your buck! LOL! Love mine for never have ever flown I'm addicted, ran several rc cars and with any of them they give you a rush one way or the other, Meaning crash or success in the simple manuevure, but I'd have to say, the Helicopter is definetly the edgyist out of all of them, aside from some for the larger Rocketry Stuff, choppers have them all beat, and I haven't even got to the pitched prop, tail rotor stuff, those guys are crashing every 5 minutes it sounds like, at least til you dumpem enough! cant emagine doing loops and 3/4 High bank rolls... Wow! these are just simply cool beans!

[rocknbil]

. . . how do you personally compare flying this copter to that? i.e. excitement factor/fun factor/bang-for-your-buck... just the basics of how much you like it compared to the landgoing hellraisers...

Hmm . . Apples to oranges man, apples to oranges. Lot of fun but in a different way, sort of like comparing motorcycle riding to skydiving.

Helis (and any flying RC) require more concentration and attention than ground vehicles. You can't goof off much or take your eyes off it. If you do, it gets expensive, very fast. Not so much with the CX, but with the BCP (single main rotor, tail rotor) you can repair several times the cost of the heli in a month or so, just learning.

More or less fun, nah, hard to say, it's just different.

[Figit090]

ok cool. thanks!! i think i'll stick to the ground for now, it sounds cheaper :)

[Swanky Pants]

Hello everyone! Just wanted to make my first post on this thread that I've been reading.

It's great to have a community forum like this, many of my questions have been answered before I could even ask them!

Thanks to Bill for all your input and suggestions!

I've loved helicopters since I was a child and bought my first on r/c one about a year ago. It was the Blade CP. BIG mistake, as I've never flown one before.

So now I'm the proud owner of a two day old CX and boy is it fun. My first flight I was able to maintain hover. Sure I've crashed a few times, but I've only chipped one blade. I'll know now to not be surprised when the inner shaft breaks.

I'm looking forward to getting more experience and possibly being able to fly a CP one day!

[broncobill]

I just got a CX a few days ago. Since I got it, I've been trying to hover off of our air hockey table. That's hard. The ground effects are very unstable. This morning I tried in the living room. It's a whole lot easier. Still not enough room. It's hard to set the trims in a confined space. Next will be the garage. I cut the smoked "glass" out of the canopy, and drilled a few small holes in the 4 in 1. I will take that unit out, and make more cooling holes soon. No training gear, and no real crashes. Yet. I have learned quite a bit from this thread. Thanks to all.

[william35]

:wave: Hello guys. Im new to the site so thought i would say there is great information here on the CX. I just purchased a CX2 about 2 weeks ago and love it. There are lots of aluminum upgrade parts for this thing. I have also found a webiste that has upgrade packages that makes the CX and CX2 even more stable and fun to fly.

[thehump]

My wife is on my case about my Blade CX purchase. I have had to replace the hub and shaft, two wings, the stabilizer and now the landing gear. Obviously I have SLOW reflexes, and the wind outside zings this thing around like a narc at a biker rally. I have limited indoor space, so crashes are quite common. Even tho they are small crashes, I need a secondary job to pay for parts. I have about 10 minutes of actual flight time. My Blade seems to like to fly backward, with no prodding from me at all. The center of gravity looks good, I replaced the hub with the aluminum one after the first break. I like it, but its not as easy as I thought it would be... :cool:

[Gizmo48]

I got SOOOooo sick of spending money every week on my CX. :eek: I finally said enough is enough: Im going to make some mods, then if it still will not fly the way (I) want it to... Into the garbage it goes. SO, about $120 later, It's flying sweet. MY primary complaint had been "blade clack". It really pisses me off that they INTENTIONALLY designed the thing with the blades so close AND a stab that can hit them too.:mad: It has cost me nearly $100 in parts because of it. The last 3 crashes have been mid-air self-destructs due to blade clack! There is source for extended shafts out there BUT, they still have the cheesy plastic bits. :rolleyes: Do it MY way, and you can use the Metal parts from your local supplier and create 4 SETS of shafts for about $6! :eek: NOW, I use Carbon fiber for an OUTER shaft and .078 music wire for the inner. People- KEEP those old broken parts!!!!! To make a carbon fiber OUTER you MUST get hold of a jewelers saw. The one I bought was $23 and pro quality. The secret is that the factory shaft is compression fitted into the plastic gear via a aluminum sleeve. The trick is to remove the shaft without damaging the sleeve. There is ONE way. And I found it!:teacher: Here's how to make a CF OUTER:

Take a old bent Outer and cut off the shaft about 1/8" away from the gear. You want enough left of it that you can use a small set of Needle nose pliers and be able to grab it. (DONT YET!:eek:) Once you have cut the shaft, thread the blade of your jewelers saw through the inside of what is left. What you want to do is slice through the SHAFT and stop when you JUST start to get into the aluminum sleeve. The shaft is NOT parallel to the sleeve there is a slight taper so pay attention while cutting. Use a eye loupe. Once you have cut through, use the needle nose to remove the shaft by inserting them into the I.D. of the old shaft while grabbing close to the cut you made and twisting it so that it pulls away from the aluminum collar IN torwards the center. It will come out cleanly without damaging the collar! The new CF shaft will slip down snug into the collar! Just remember NOT to push it in so far that it keeps the bearing from seating all the way.:D No glue, no nothing!

Use 4MM Carbon Fiber Tubing for the OUTER and .078 Music Wire for the inner.

Here are the dimensions: OUTER OVERALL LENTH: 4.75" INNER: 5.75"

These lengths will virtually ELIMINATE blade clack! :DI can do the same thing you see that guy in the video do. Hold the CX while running full-tilt and quickly turn it sideways. Remember to trim down your Stabilizer Bar so IT cannot hit the blades! DO THAT AFTER you do this mod. You will be able to have a LONGER Stab bar.

One final note: Carbon fiber WILL crack if you tighten the set screws too much. EAAAZZZZYYY does it. You DONT need to crank the screws down!

I've done a bunch of stuff to the CX. and at this moment I'm working on adding a set of heatsinks to the power transistors in the 4in1. I have not checked but they are probably MOSFET' since they channel so much current. They are the two black "chips" that sit next to the motor connectors. I expect it will settle right down since those 2 chips are responsible for most of the heat generated in the case. A little airflow and the sinks should do the trick. :winner: