I bought my first heli

[capcadetjc]

I bought the Blade CX2 yesterday. It flys pretty good, but I cant get it to trim very well. Any suggestions? Also, any cool accessories I should get for it?

[arbilab]

Describe your trim issue. Also, are you above 1 rotor diameter off the ground?

[jackclarke]

You should be able to trim your aileron and elevator for a fairly stable hover but you need a fairly large room because of rotor turbulance. The turbulance bounces off the walls, the ceiling, the floor, the furniture and will cause you to bounce around like a rubber ball. The larger the room the less bobbing around. It will actually fly hands-off the controls if the room is large enough - except for a slight amount of yaw (cw or ccw drift). Upgrade wise - the first and most important upgrade is the non-destructible blades and the blade holders. The original blades have the tensil strength of rice crackers and a blade strike is an almost guarantee set of new blades. The landing skids are also cracker strength and worth upgrading. The 2 piece plastic body will shatter in pieces if it hits the ground too hard - the upgrade is about the same cost as replacing both pieces. Upgrades won't extend your flight time - average is about 6 minutes - but there are a couple that will extend the life time. The motors get HOT and their lifetime will be significantly shortened if they are overheated and not allowed to cool down between flights - motor heat sinks help to protect your investment. You can speed up the charging time of the battery (less than an hour) by using a smart charger - recommend buying an extra battery and don't try getting every last second of flight time out of each battery. That extra couple of minutes of flight time costs in battery life. When you need more throttle to keep it in the air - it's time for a recharge. Last item - once you start, it's hard to stop. Prepare to be addicted.

Welcome aboard

[capcadetjc]

Yep, found out about the blade holders a little bit ago. I got replacement blades, skis, and an extra shaft at the store, but now holders. Im going to have to order a couple. I flew it in the back yard, and it was way more fun to fly it out there than around my room. I also ordered the Pre-Flight sim Blade edition so I can practice while the batteries charge : ). When I get proficient enough, are there any choppers I could do FPV with?

[Balr14]

Yes, many.

[capcadetjc]

What would a descent chopper capable of doing FPV cost? Im not looking something really fancy, just enough to get line of site distance, and the camera in the air.

[douglas4]

I have the following from boomtown hobbies and installed:

1) #4 boom
2) flexible skids
3) extreme shorter flybar
4) extreme upper extended head
5) aero-nuts vented motors
6) all the eflite cnc bits
7) greathobbies (canada) 7.4v 850Mah 25c batterys

What a difference all this made in the way it flys and performs. No blade clash...no death roll...and harder cyclic turns made easily.

[Balr14]

What would a descent chopper capable of doing FPV cost? Im not looking something really fancy, just enough to get line of site distance, and the camera in the air.

Depends on the camera weight. The biggest problem with FPV in helis is the wind. You can't see it or feel it, but it can really bother helis. I think I'd want a large, stable CP heli that isn't bothered by wind as much, so I'd say about $600 - $700, if it was me. For you, I'd go with something like a Blade 400. You can find good used ones for $325.

That being said, There's more than a few folks who have tried it with Coax and FP helis, with varying degrees of success. But, they really aren't saving any money, as they are seriously modded helis.

[capcadetjc]

I was just looking at the Blade 400, It can handle wind okay yes?

[Balr14]

Yes, but it will require upgrades to handle FPV. I would also point out that if your objective is to fly FPV, learning to fly the conventional way doesn't provide a great deal of benefit. To begin with, you only need to deal with one orientation.