Advice on the next step after a Blade MCX

JeffM2501 · Nov 02, 2009, 04:22 PM

So I've had a Blade MCX for a while and I've gotten rather good at flying it. I can make it go anywhere anyway I want to (within its limits of course). I'm looking for advice on what the next step would be.

I'm looking for something a bit larger that I could fly outside in a park (figure soccer field or larger). I've seen the Blade CX2 and 3, and I just don't think a Coaxial will fly well outside, and the stuff I keep trying to do with the MCX makes blade strikes.

I've tried unsuccessfully to try a friend’s cheap fixed pitch heli. It was squirrely as heck and could not be trimmed out to save its life. But it felt like more of a problem with the heli/radio then anything else (many of the parts were bent etc..).

I've seen the honey bee line and falcon 400 on xheli.com and those look rather interesting, as they don't have a motor on the tail. Are these any good? If I had the money I'd get a Blade 400 as that seems to be a quality machine but it's out of my ballpark right now.

Are there any other recommendations?

arbilab · Nov 02, 2009, 05:08 PM

Coax won't fly well above walking-speed wind. Bladestrike city, I just cabbaged a whole coax bladeset day before yesterday in "calm" wind. Lucky I found the flybar.

"Outdoors" is a hard transition to make with low-end micros. They don't have the power/authority to deal with wind. Micro singlerotors suit indoor airspace conditions. But you 'can' do anything with anything.

jasmine2501 · Nov 04, 2009, 12:17 AM

You can go with a Blade mSR. It's a little indoor fixed pitch heli with the capability to fly outside in calm winds - mostly because it has speed and lots of control authority. Its motorized tail is very good. It would help you transition to a Blade 400.

If you want to go straight to a CP helicopter, it can be done, but it's a lot of work. The Blade 400 is the lowest quality level I can personally recommend, but many people have been successful with the Falcon and Honey Bee King.

Snakecharmer · Nov 04, 2009, 07:08 PM

Blade mSR sounds like good advice, you can even use the MCX transmitter so you would only need the bnf version.
If you want to fly in a little more wind the Eflite Honey Bee FP V2 is very inexepensive, also inexpensive to repair. Many people have learned on it and it is said that if you can fly the Honey Bee FP you can fly anything...
If you have someone to help you you could probably also get a CP Heli up and running but considering that you are on a budget i would recommend one of the other two because with a CP the repairs will also be more expensive.

norcalheli · Nov 04, 2009, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffM2501

So I've had a Blade MCX for a while and I've gotten rather good at flying it. I can make it go anywhere anyway I want to (within its limits of course). I'm looking for advice on what the next step would be.

I've tried unsuccessfully to try a friend’s cheap fixed pitch heli. It was squirrely as heck and could not be trimmed out to save its life. But it felt like more of a problem with the heli/radio then anything else (many of the parts were bent etc..).

Are there any other recommendations?

If your only experience is with a small coax, then ANY single rotor is going to seem "squirrelly as heck". The small FP's can't be trimmed to just hang there like your coax does. That's the challenge in learning to fly a single rotor heli. The only exception to this is the Blade mSR. It truly bridges the gap between coax and single rotor. It's not as stable as a coax, and a whole lot more stable than almost all single rotors. There are some pricey one's out there, like the SRB Quark, that seem to also be very stable. I only have experience with the mSR, a HB CP2, T-rex450, and a Swift 16. Can't comment on the Quark, or the new Walkera CB100. Advantage of the mSR is you already have a compatible transmitter. After a while, piling up transmitters gets old.

demisemiquaver · Nov 05, 2009, 08:29 PM

Single Rotor copters are the next logical step after co-axial. There are larger Co-Axial Helis, such as the E-Sky Big Lama, that will fly in some wind outdoors.

However if you are looking for a single rotor Heli, the best beginner 4ch heli on the market right now is largely considered to be the E-Sky Honeybee v2.
You could buy 2 of them for the cost of one overpriced e-flight product and it's very durable and cheap to fix.
It flies like the big 6ch copters without any self-correcting weirdness and will train you to fly "real" 6ch Heli's better than probably any other out there.

The Falcon 40 is a rebranded Walkera, and most people will tell you to avoid Walkera. I'd avoid it.
The E-Sky Honeybee v2 is a superior Heli that is more durable and without the Walkera issues.

Go to YouTube and watch the Honeybee v2 videos by Nuttcaze. Very good breakdowns, how to set it up. Great stuff.

If you are not married to the idea of flying Heli's, the 2ch foam toy planes for around 30.00 will fly in more wind and not suffer any damage upon crashing.

arbilab · Nov 05, 2009, 08:45 PM

+1 for HBFP. My second heli (of 6). Demanding of the pilot, forgiving (in cost and time) when you screw up. Very straightforward alignment, no voodoo (MSR) whatsoever.

You can indeed get a HBFP RTF plus another entire barebones for less than the cost of one Eflite. And among respondents who didn't give up on it because it was "impossible", everyone else says "if you can fly HBFP you can fly anything". Unlike Walkera 4?3, which respondents largely say can't be flown no matter what.

norcalheli · Nov 08, 2009, 12:05 AM

Rick,
For someone who has never flown the little mSR, you sure seem to be down on it.

jasmine2501 · Nov 08, 2009, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by norcalheli

Rick,
For someone who has never flown the little mSR, you sure seem to be down on it.

Yeah, you really need to give it a try - it has to be flown to be believed. There's a lot of talk about the mSR self-leveling feature, but it's not like a coax, you can still screw it up, and it takes a while for it to level out by itself. If you're familiar with planes, the coax is like a Super Cub, but the mSR isn't like a Super Cub with ailerons, it's more like a Cessna 182 - it's stable, with a small amount of self-leveling, but not so much that it becomes a crutch.

Greybird · Nov 08, 2009, 08:32 AM

...

sleb · Nov 08, 2009, 12:33 PM

Check out the new nine eagles pro I or proII, mSR like, but less expensive. Comes with two settings on TX and two setting on swash. Gives it 4 setting where mSR only has 2.

don_87 · Nov 08, 2009, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleb

Check out the new nine eagles pro I or proII, mSR like, but less expensive. Comes with two settings on TX and two setting on swash. Gives it 4 setting where mSR only has 2.

Must be something to the lawsuit, neither one is available on the site.

http://www.nineeagle.com/en/

arbilab · Nov 08, 2009, 01:14 PM

Norcal, Jas, Grey,

Oh I want one alright. But I'm looking at $300 electric heating bills in Jan and Feb, minimal fixed income, now's just not the time.

No heli (I know of, except maybe Quark) is without issues, compromises. It's not inequitable to point them out. HBFP is squirrely as a flyer enough to run on acorns. But eye-emm-ohh, that makes it a good (demanding) trainer, as distinct from a fun flyer. HB also fixes in 15 minutes with a Phillips and fingernails. I value those parameters. Buyer's choice as to preferences and priorities, and budget.

HBFP has many proponents for their own reasons, as do MSR and CB100. No question, if I had a bottomless mastercard I'd own them all. Another parameter I value in learning this stuff is flexibility, where I don't get wired into/dependent upon one craft's characteristics. This week I've been sequentially flying a submicro gyroless 3ch mode 4 IR, micro aluminum gyro 3ch M4, and 4ch M2 coaxes, all in one session. Good and cornfusing at first, getting fair at sorting it.

Doubt I'll ever be a hotdog pilot. But aspirations of being one of those "fly anything" people, even if only "halfass fly anything".

Grey, I'd also have an African Grey. And what's that large green parakeet, Monk? More flying things. But I'm not the only hobbyist constrained by budget and intent on functional value that does what I want done at the time. Maybe I'm reading tone into "absolute cheapest thing" that you didn't intend to put there, but it came across somewhat callous. Need we point out, that more people are unemployed or underemployed right now than any time since the 1930s.

jasmine2501 · Nov 08, 2009, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleb

Check out the new nine eagles pro I or proII, mSR like, but less expensive. Comes with two settings on TX and two setting on swash. Gives it 4 setting where mSR only has 2.

mSR has the same thing - two rates in the radio and two swash settings. I haven't bothered to use the higher swash setting because I usually fly in the house. The regular setup is pretty good.

norcalheli · Nov 08, 2009, 07:26 PM

It's perfectly OK to say that a particular heli is out of your price range. I think we all have our limits as to what we are willing to spend, even if those are different points on a graph. If I could, I would have a JR x9303, at a minimum, for scale applications. I can't justify it right now, and my DX7 is much more than adequate. But I'm not going to sit here and try to find fault with the JR and point out all of its deficiencies. (I don't know of any, for one thing.) That was the point of my post.

Nov 02, 2009, 04:22 PM	#1
JeffM2501 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 1	Advice on the next step after a Blade MCX So I've had a Blade MCX for a while and I've gotten rather good at flying it. I can make it go anywhere anyway I want to (within its limits of course). I'm looking for advice on what the next step would be. I'm looking for something a bit larger that I could fly outside in a park (figure soccer field or larger). I've seen the Blade CX2 and 3, and I just don't think a Coaxial will fly well outside, and the stuff I keep trying to do with the MCX makes blade strikes. I've tried unsuccessfully to try a friend’s cheap fixed pitch heli. It was squirrely as heck and could not be trimmed out to save its life. But it felt like more of a problem with the heli/radio then anything else (many of the parts were bent etc..). I've seen the honey bee line and falcon 400 on xheli.com and those look rather interesting, as they don't have a motor on the tail. Are these any good? If I had the money I'd get a Blade 400 as that seems to be a quality machine but it's out of my ballpark right now. Are there any other recommendations?

Nov 08, 2009, 08:32 AM	#10
Greybird Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Florida Posts: 5,750	... Last edited by Greybird; Nov 08, 2009 at 10:04 PM.

Nov 08, 2009, 01:14 PM	#13
arbilab Unemployed Engineer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: DFW, TX Posts: 3,329	Norcal, Jas, Grey, Oh I want one alright. But I'm looking at $300 electric heating bills in Jan and Feb, minimal fixed income, now's just not the time. No heli (I know of, except maybe Quark) is without issues, compromises. It's not inequitable to point them out. HBFP is squirrely as a flyer enough to run on acorns. But eye-emm-ohh, that makes it a good (demanding) trainer, as distinct from a fun flyer. HB also fixes in 15 minutes with a Phillips and fingernails. I value those parameters. Buyer's choice as to preferences and priorities, and budget. HBFP has many proponents for their own reasons, as do MSR and CB100. No question, if I had a bottomless mastercard I'd own them all. Another parameter I value in learning this stuff is flexibility, where I don't get wired into/dependent upon one craft's characteristics. This week I've been sequentially flying a submicro gyroless 3ch mode 4 IR, micro aluminum gyro 3ch M4, and 4ch M2 coaxes, all in one session. Good and cornfusing at first, getting fair at sorting it. Doubt I'll ever be a hotdog pilot. But aspirations of being one of those "fly anything" people, even if only "halfass fly anything". Grey, I'd also have an African Grey. And what's that large green parakeet, Monk? More flying things. But I'm not the only hobbyist constrained by budget and intent on functional value that does what I want done at the time. Maybe I'm reading tone into "absolute cheapest thing" that you didn't intend to put there, but it came across somewhat callous. Need we point out, that more people are unemployed or underemployed right now than any time since the 1930s. Last edited by arbilab; Nov 08, 2009 at 01:34 PM.

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Nov 02, 2009, 05:08 PM	#2
arbilab Unemployed Engineer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: DFW, TX Posts: 3,329	Coax won't fly well above walking-speed wind. Bladestrike city, I just cabbaged a whole coax bladeset day before yesterday in "calm" wind. Lucky I found the flybar. "Outdoors" is a hard transition to make with low-end micros. They don't have the power/authority to deal with wind. Micro singlerotors suit indoor airspace conditions. But you 'can' do anything with anything.

Nov 04, 2009, 12:17 AM	#3
jasmine2501 No hoovering! Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Lakewood, CO Posts: 9,015	You can go with a Blade mSR. It's a little indoor fixed pitch heli with the capability to fly outside in calm winds - mostly because it has speed and lots of control authority. Its motorized tail is very good. It would help you transition to a Blade 400. If you want to go straight to a CP helicopter, it can be done, but it's a lot of work. The Blade 400 is the lowest quality level I can personally recommend, but many people have been successful with the Falcon and Honey Bee King.

Nov 04, 2009, 07:08 PM	#4
Snakecharmer Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 20	Blade mSR sounds like good advice, you can even use the MCX transmitter so you would only need the bnf version. If you want to fly in a little more wind the Eflite Honey Bee FP V2 is very inexepensive, also inexpensive to repair. Many people have learned on it and it is said that if you can fly the Honey Bee FP you can fly anything... If you have someone to help you you could probably also get a CP Heli up and running but considering that you are on a budget i would recommend one of the other two because with a CP the repairs will also be more expensive.

Nov 05, 2009, 08:29 PM	#6
demisemiquaver Just Say No To GMO Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Earth, System of Sol, Milky Way Galaxy Posts: 1,000	Single Rotor copters are the next logical step after co-axial. There are larger Co-Axial Helis, such as the E-Sky Big Lama, that will fly in some wind outdoors. However if you are looking for a single rotor Heli, the best beginner 4ch heli on the market right now is largely considered to be the E-Sky Honeybee v2. You could buy 2 of them for the cost of one overpriced e-flight product and it's very durable and cheap to fix. It flies like the big 6ch copters without any self-correcting weirdness and will train you to fly "real" 6ch Heli's better than probably any other out there. The Falcon 40 is a rebranded Walkera, and most people will tell you to avoid Walkera. I'd avoid it. The E-Sky Honeybee v2 is a superior Heli that is more durable and without the Walkera issues. Go to YouTube and watch the Honeybee v2 videos by Nuttcaze. Very good breakdowns, how to set it up. Great stuff. If you are not married to the idea of flying Heli's, the 2ch foam toy planes for around 30.00 will fly in more wind and not suffer any damage upon crashing.

Nov 05, 2009, 08:45 PM	#7
arbilab Unemployed Engineer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: DFW, TX Posts: 3,329	+1 for HBFP. My second heli (of 6). Demanding of the pilot, forgiving (in cost and time) when you screw up. Very straightforward alignment, no voodoo (MSR) whatsoever. You can indeed get a HBFP RTF plus another entire barebones for less than the cost of one Eflite. And among respondents who didn't give up on it because it was "impossible", everyone else says "if you can fly HBFP you can fly anything". Unlike Walkera 4?3, which respondents largely say can't be flown no matter what.

Nov 08, 2009, 12:05 AM	#8
norcalheli My other addiction! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Marysville, Ca., US Posts: 546	Rick, For someone who has never flown the little mSR, you sure seem to be down on it.

Nov 08, 2009, 12:33 PM	#11
sleb Proud member of the Tri-C's Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Cleveland, Ohio, United States Posts: 863	Check out the new nine eagles pro I or proII, mSR like, but less expensive. Comes with two settings on TX and two setting on swash. Gives it 4 setting where mSR only has 2.

Nov 08, 2009, 07:26 PM	#15
norcalheli My other addiction! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Marysville, Ca., US Posts: 546	It's perfectly OK to say that a particular heli is out of your price range. I think we all have our limits as to what we are willing to spend, even if those are different points on a graph. If I could, I would have a JR x9303, at a minimum, for scale applications. I can't justify it right now, and my DX7 is much more than adequate. But I'm not going to sit here and try to find fault with the JR and point out all of its deficiencies. (I don't know of any, for one thing.) That was the point of my post.