I am flying a CX3 coaxial and want to step up to a slightly bigger Heli.

I have an original E-Flite Blade CP that uses a 800 mA NiMH battery (9.6V). I have never successfully hovered the CP. I had Batteries-Plus make a new pack for the CP and it won't even lift off now. So I am thinking do I add the hop-up kit and buy a 11.1V LiPo and try the CP again (~$50) or sell the CP for parts and buy a newer Heli. I have read most of the threads on the E-Flite SR but still leaning that way. If I could find a deal on a used B400 I might go that way.

Any suggestions?

If you go the SR route just make sure you don't crash till "Late June" when all the spare parts will be in stock!

We Hope!


Mike

I personally prefer a belt drive (i.e. B400) but you would do well to tinker with the CP that you have - could be failing to lift off because of the settings (insufficient pitch??).

You would find that the lipo in the CP will cost about the same as the first pair of blades, feathering shaft, main shaft, boom and flybar that you might break on the B400.

That's helis!

Originally Posted by glydr

I personally prefer a belt drive (i.e. B400) but you would do well to tinker with the CP that you have - could be failing to lift off because of the settings (insufficient pitch??).

You would find that the lipo in the CP will cost about the same as the first pair of blades, feathering shaft, main shaft, boom and flybar that you might break on the B400.

That's helis!

Something to consider, Thanks

i would go with the blade SR. if u are having trouble even hovering the cp the 400 will be much more challenging and u will most likely get frustrated.

Originally Posted by mrrocks42

i would go with the blade SR. if u are having trouble even hovering the cp the 400 will be much more challenging and u will most likely get frustrated.

That is not true at all. The B400 has a programmable Tx, is larger so it's more stable and the tail holds much better. It can be set up to be very docile for a beginner. It can use many Trex 450 and clone parts which are much cheaper than SR parts.

The only caveate with the 400 is the intimidation factor of the rotor doing anywhere from 2400 to 3000 rpm. The cost of the radio is soon amortized quickly when multiple helicopters (or aircraft) are programmed into it, saving the cost of a radio for each and every model. When a local experienced heli pilot is asked to help setup an older heli, then that can be used to get some experience on the CP platform. If a Blade CP is setup correctly and it has fresh batteries, main motor, and tail motor, they are quite nice to fly. If isn't anyone local to help, the 400 with help from some good pilots here is a very good choice that will not break the bank for typical upsets. I have decked mine twice since last November and the most expenive damage was 120 bucks as there was not too much undamaged. It now sports a 4 blade head on its way to becoming a Hughes 500C. Have fun.

Don

Hello,

I can't really comment on the CP or 400, I would probably be too intimidated by the 400 to make it my next step though.

For what it is worth I found the transition from CX2/mCX/mSR to the Blade SR to be fairly smooth as long as your expecations are realistic. I believe I will outgrow the stock Tx in fairly short order though. I already would like more control of the throttle/pitch curves in idle-up mode. I believe if I could adjust this to my liking, I would already be using idle-up most of the time.

I am reading on this forum that the CP can be tamed down with a programmable Tx so if you have a DX6i or something similar it may be worth getting the CP going.

The comparison is interesting. A friend just gave me, I am a beginner, CP Blade SR. I have been practicing with an inexpensive FP, Double-Horse. Starting was full of vibration, but after installing the new main rotor which was thrashed, the heli smoothed right out.
A little nervous about taking it up for the first flight, even after following each step in the manual.

hi,lil blade cp can fly on 2sor 3s battery ,an 800 or 1000mah 2or3s 20c battery
should fly heli ,the 1000 will still weight less than nimh pack , lil more than the 800
only recomended change change for 3s is moter pinon .
if youre sure the nimh packs good ,check heli whith tail moter unplugged ,it may be going
bad and hogging amps

I second the vote for the 400. I learned how to fly helis on a Blade 400. They are easy to repair and the parts are readily-available as well as relatively inexpensive. I've had two Blade SR helis and while they are docile, they are not very durable and parts are more expensive. Funny how a smaller heli that's marketed towards beginners is less crash-worthy and more expensive to repair but I digress.

The tail does hold better on the Blade 400 and as long as the crash isn't major, it's quite easy to repair. Plus, like someone said earlier, it comes with a 10-model 6-channel computer radio that will allow you to fly almost any basic airplane as well as more helis.