Originally Posted by KCV6

I run mine on my WK-2801 TX which means I can increase servo travel by programing in more than 100%. Unfortunately this doesn't help anyone else who doesn't have the 2801. I would still prefer to have longer servo arms and then program the TX for less than 100% travel.

Cheers. Mark

I've been looking at the 2801 but wasn't sure if it was really all that good. What's your opinion Mark? Is it worthy, or?

Mel

I have no problems at all with my 2801, works very nicely and is well priced, it's only downside is the 8 model memory, they need to release a newer version with more models. If you shop around the 8 chan 2801E RX is also under $40, not bad for a 2.4 8 chan dual aerial RX.

Works great with all my helicopters and I guess I'l be adding a plane or two to it soon.

thanks mark for the information about the longer servo arms i would be interested to hear how that works out .shortening the fly bar sounds like a good idea i may give that a try i'm still waiting on some new blades and canopy to arrive hopefully Monday or Tuesday i had to order from USA there doesnt seem to be anywhere in the UK at the moment that stock a full range of spares for this Helli .there are one or two places that say they will be soon if any one knows of any one who dose in the UK i would be very grateful .my tx is bog standard that came with the helli so i wont be doing any programming i was wondering what was the largest type of battery i can put in this helli without causing any damage also how much will this increase it performance and what sort of mods would i be looking at bearing in mind that I'm a newbie to all of this thanks again hope this post isn't to long mike

Originally Posted by KCV6

I have no problems at all with my 2801, works very nicely and is well priced, it's only downside is the 8 model memory, they need to release a newer version with more models. If you shop around the 8 chan 2801E RX is also under $40, not bad for a 2.4 8 chan dual aerial RX.

Works great with all my helicopters and I guess I'l be adding a plane or two to it soon.

Thanks Mark, going to put that on my wish list.

I finally cracked my first set of blades. Flying in some wind today, actually flew quite well considering the wind. Trouble was I landed it on the edge of the concrete patio with only one skid, gravity won, the blades smacked the concrete.. Didn't break them, just cracked. Still flew though but I'm going to change them.

I saw on Helipal they say the Airy Harden Balde II can be used on the 400D.

Helipal Airy Blades

Anyone tried these?

Mel

Originally Posted by wabbitguy

I saw on Helipal they say the Airy Harden Balde II can be used on the 400D.

Helipal Airy Blades

Anyone tried these?

Mel

Tried them for the little ones (the AX03 and the ax05 ... which is the same as the ax07 once you cut them - I am not sure with the AX9 though)
Obviously Airy made those specifically FOR the 400(D), as they did not exist a couple weeks ago ...

Originally Posted by erdnuckel2

Tried them for the little ones (the AX03 and the ax05 ... which is the same as the ax07 once you cut them - I am not sure with the AX9 though)
Obviously Airy made those specifically FOR the 400(D), as they did not exist a couple weeks ago ...

Might have to order a set and see how they work. I notice they sell sets of 1 and 3. Which is kind of funny because the videos show them flying into walls and they don't break...:-)

Mind you, I also had a set of unbreakable landing skids for one of the Lama V4's. I broke them...:-)

Mel

Originally Posted by wabbitguy

Might have to order a set and see how they work. I notice they sell sets of 1 and 3. Which is kind of funny because the videos show them flying into walls and they don't break...:-)

Mind you, I also had a set of unbreakable landing skids for one of the Lama V4's. I broke them...:-)

Mel

Hi Mel,

where did you buy the unbreakable landing skids that you broke ... if I may ask? I bought mine for the L4 at boomtownhobbies a loooong time ago - and I broke three battery trays in the mean time - the skids are still the same ....
(sorry for the oT )

As far as the Airy blades are concerned - I like them (actually a lot) but speaking of unbreakable blades is just a joke (and to be honest, one that's not too outrageously funny!!)
I don't know what they used in this video to hit the blade and not produce even a dent ... but it was for sure nothing with destructive potential !!!
I broke scores of airy blades since I'm playing around with them - the good thing is, usually (in most cases anyway) they don't break, they just split ... and this can be fixed several times with superglue/CA (so at least you are not out 10$ every freakin broken blade ....)
But indestructable is definitely something different .... and this will become even more obvious with such a big bird as the 400(d) ...

To make a long story short:
Good luck, I am already looking forward to reading your assessment of their quality ...

Sven

Wow... That was quick with the Airy AX-09. I'll definately be giving them a go. I'm gonna order a set right now

A couple of the guys I work with have 53Q3's and have been running the 3D Pro "unbreakable" harden blades and they have broken several sets . They should just call them "more durable" blades. Will be interesting to see if they are as flexible as the smaller ones. The 400 really needs fairly stiff blades to perform best.

Mike, I did some mods so I could load the battery from the front with the fiberglass canopy off, and I can fit these 2200mAh packs:

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=6306

The connectors need to be changed. They give me 13 to 15 minutes filight time. So probably about 10 to 12 minutes of flat out flying non stop.

Heya Sven, how goes it?

Mark

Originally Posted by KCV6

Heya Sven, how goes it?

Mark

What can I say Mark? Thanks for the shout ... taking one day at a time (the two last of which were not really thrilling )

Definitely don't get enough flight time though - buy I can see some light at the end of the tunnel as far as the GREEN Machine is concerned ... I have the parts, now I just have to start "assembling" .... Actually that is not completely correct, I have the Microheli parts ... and the custom body ... now i just have to wait for the German parts (but that would be V2 anyway)

Always impressed reading how you go on with pefectioning (or is that "perfectionating ?? ) the 400D (I still want one and hope that works out for my next trip to Germany sometime next year ... )

Regards for now (work will "call" in a few hours)
Sven

Oh well more money spent. I decided to get a set of the Airey blades and also a spare set of motors seeing as they were in stock. I'd say I won't be needing the motors for a long time, The brushes barely look worn in the original set. Also grabbed a spare inner and outer shaft. This gives me the old set to play with and see if I can't come up with an extended inner shaft setup.

Mark

Originally Posted by erdnuckel2

Hi Mel,

where did you buy the unbreakable landing skids that you broke ... if I may ask? I bought mine for the L4 at boomtownhobbies a loooong time ago - and I broke three battery trays in the mean time - the skids are still the same ....
(sorry for the oT )

As far as the Airy blades are concerned - I like them (actually a lot) but speaking of unbreakable blades is just a joke (and to be honest, one that's not too outrageously funny!!)
I don't know what they used in this video to hit the blade and not produce even a dent ... but it was for sure nothing with destructive potential !!!
I broke scores of airy blades since I'm playing around with them - the good thing is, usually (in most cases anyway) they don't break, they just split ... and this can be fixed several times with superglue/CA (so at least you are not out 10$ every freakin broken blade ....)
But indestructable is definitely something different .... and this will become even more obvious with such a big bird as the 400(d) ...

To make a long story short:
Good luck, I am already looking forward to reading your assessment of their quality ...

Sven

Sven, I'm trying to remember where I got mine. I think it was from someone in Ontario Canada. I do remember they were darned expensive and did "resist" a number of landings. But the Lama V4 is a might heavy and those skids just are too lame for words in my opinion...I did buy several sets of "Harden" blades for the V4 and still have all the sets. Never managed to break any of those.

I wasn't aware you could glue the stock blades? I looked at the ones I removed yesterday and there's a tiny chip and a couple of cracks but the blades are whole for the most part. So can you actually CA these things?

The skids on the 400D are VERY nice in comparison to my other helicopters.

I tweaked the extent slightly further this morning (about 5/8 of travel) and with the wind doing 6-8 mph gusts, I was going some power slides around the back yard. They didn't start out to be slides, just got caught up in the wind...:-) But I flew it for about 80% of the battery and then the wind started getting serious (10+ gusts). I still had some modicum of control, but it was getting touchy. So I landed it and called it a successful morning..:-)

The neighbour has one of those little handheld anemometers (a no name brand). Seems to work down to about 3 mph, although the manual says .5mph. That's how I was taking the wind readings this morning. No idea if the reading we got was accurate or not. He said he got it off eBay for like $30 or something. Maybe I'll just hang a string off the shed...:-)

So those Airy blades are new. Guess I might as well jump on board and get some myself. Unless you guys already bought them all...:-)

Mel

Wow, ordered the bits yesterday and shipped by helipal today. Big thumbs up. Will definately be reviewing the blades which should turn up in a few days. I don't doubt for a minute they will work and probably work well, but I still suspect they will be a lot more flexible than the stock blades which will probably mean I'll have to back the extent off a bit.

Mark

Originally Posted by KCV6

Wow, ordered the bits yesterday and shipped by helipal today. Big thumbs up. Will definately be reviewing the blades which should turn up in a few days. I don't doubt for a minute they will work and probably work well, but I still suspect they will be a lot more flexible than the stock blades which will probably mean I'll have to back the extent off a bit.

Mark

Mine were shipped today as well! I'm only running about 5/8 travel for the extent so I won't have to back off.

Reading all your posts Mark, I see a pattern where "backing off" isn't a direction you normally go...

Mel

good news about the blades they seem to be the way forward .the wind has stopped here .had two good days of flying the heli flies really well but seems very sensitive when turning to the left or right.sometimes spinning all the way round .is this normal and something i am going to have to get used to ;or is there something i can do to correct this .one last thing for tonight dose anybody know the range of the bog standard tx .thanks for the info regarding the batteries and the canopies i;m looking into the 450 ones they look really good thanks mike

Mike, you may want to turn the sensitivity up or down a bit to suit your preferred flying style. The 400 is fairly heavy and does need to be flown in turns. You have to almost anticipate a turn and start it just before you would normally with a smaller coax or fixed pitch. I like this as it's more like flying a larger FP or CCPM helicopter and a lot more fun than a simulator.

Always remember to mark the original position of the sensitivity pot with a sharpie or equivalent before moving it so you can always return it to a "known" point if it starts behaving badly.

Yeah, the 450 canopies are very easy to modify to fit, just cut slowly, the underlying gellcoat tends to chip leaving chips in the paint. I clean the chips up with some wet and dry and airbrush the edges with normal model enamel paints and then enamel clearcoat.

Mark