HobbyKing.com New Products Flash Sale
R/C Groups.com   RCCars Crack Roll Flying Giants RC Power The E Zone Lift Zone Our Sponsors
R/C Groups.com


Go Back   RC Groups > Aircraft - Electric - Helis > Micro Helis
Reload this Page Article Heli-Max Axe CX Micro Review
Register Blogs Classifieds Clubs Members Regions Mark Forums Read

Featured In
EZone
 
Intro
Is bigger better? Not when it's chilly and breezy outside and you want to cruise around with a heli. And so, at less than five ounces yet with a lot of character, the Axe CX Micro from Heli-Max is Napo Monasterio's new distraction of choice around the house.
 
Heli-Max Axe CX Micro Review
Article Stats
Hits:  12129
By Spackles94 Spackles94 is offline
Old Dec 11, 2008, 11:09 AM
Discuss this article
Printer-friendly version
All articles by this author

Introduction


Rotor span: 10.6 inches
Height: 5.9 inches
Weight: 4.3 oz.
Length: 10.8 in
Width: 2.5 in
Servos: Two micro servos (installed)
Transmitter: 72mHz, four-channel proportional transmitter (included and set up)
Receiver/ESC/gyro: All-in-one board (installed and set up)
Battery: Two-cell 500mAh LiPo battery
Motor: Two brushed motors (installed)
Manufacturer: Heli-Max
Available From: Hobbico dealers
Price: $99.98

As I type this article, the wintry weather is weaving its way into the region. It's cold out there, and it's equally windy, and the chances of going outside and flying are getting slimmer and slimmer. Sure, I may have a fine flight simulator, but nothing beats a tangible piece of R/C goodness, and if I can do it while staying warm, that's even better.

Fortunately, Heli-Max may have the answer for me, the clunkiest of heli pilots. The Axe CX Micro is a hybrid release: the little brother of the Rotofly EX when it comes to aesthetics, but it has the coaxial, newbie-friendly characteristics of its bigger cousin, the Axe EZ. It's tiny, it's light, and it looks like the perfect companion for true lazy flying... right from the couch.

Kit Contents

Hobbico sent along a review kit of the Axe CX Micro, and as you'd expect, it didn't come in a huge box — so, at least from the outside, the plane lives up to its "Micro" name.

Upon opening the box, here's what I found:

  • A ready-to-fly, fully assembled heli.
  • Transmitter: It's a four-channel, 72 mHz radio with manual trims.
  • Battery: It's a two-cell 500mAh LiPo with a JST connector. It does not include a balance tap.
  • Charger: It's a wall-wart kind of charger, and it connects via (you guessed it) a JST connector.
  • Manual (also available in PDF version here) and stickers.

Note: My helicopter apparently incurred some damage in transit, and so I was forced to return it to Hobbico. Kindly enough, they sent me a new one right away, which I had within a couple of business days. The original not only had some damage to the tail-boom base, but the all-in-one ESC/receiver/gyro may have had some issues as well, for it did nothing at all when I connected the battery.

C'est la vie — no kit (not even for a reviewer!) is perfect, but the customer service was great, and I was back in business in literally two business days.

It looks a lot like the Heli-Max Rotofly EX, but judging by the size of the box, it's a mini-me version of it in coaxial form. The compartmentalized box could also double as a storage box or carrying case. Everything fits nicely in there, from the LiPo to the radio.
 
Small as a... tangerine? It does look like a little bit like one, doesn't it? Whatever you choose to associate it with, it's a small, cute helicopter, full of detail and nicely designed. The two brushed motor comes pre-installed with heatsinks. The pushrods come pre-trimmed as well, though you may need to adjust them later depending on your flight experience.
 
The tail is non-functional, but it looks cool, and in the world of coaxials there's nothing wrong with aesthetics. The canopy is made of soft plastic (which will in turn be harder to break). Inside, it holds the brains of the Axe CX Micro.
 
Plug-and-play also applies to this battery and charger. It's a wall-wart-style charger with a LED light that turns green when the battery is full. The battery is a two-cell LiPo that has JST connectors. The four-channel FM transmitter awaits your AA batteries, and that's all you will need to get this helicopter airborne.
 

Assembly

There's little more to do than to take the helicopter out of the box, put eight AA batteries in the transmitter and charge the LiPo. The latter came with a voltage of 7.71 volts — roughly 3.85 volts per cell, which is the optimum voltage for a lithium battery to be in resting or storage.

So, forget about building, for we should be in lazy mode here already. Wait for the battery to finish charging, and once that's done (displayed by the quintessential green light) just pop it into the bottom of the fuselage, hook up the battery, and you're ready to go.

The manual states that the battery may take up to four hours to charge. In my case, the first charge took roughly an hour, and subsequent charges took roughly the same amount of time.

Axe CX Micro, take two: After I received (and returned) a faulty and slightly damaged helicopter, a new one showed up a few days later. This time, it wasn't a tangerine. It was a... flying eggplant? Either way, it's cute in its own way. Here at the Monasterio Electric Aerospace Institute and Crash Test Facility© (motto: "Electrons Rule, Yet Gravity Always Laughs Last"©), we thrive on opening things up. Here are the innards of the Axe CX Micro, the all-in-one controller.
 

Flying

The preflight ritual cannot be much simpler: Turn on the transmitter, slide the battery underneath the fuselage, plug it in, and just like that, it's off to fly.

Taking Off and Landing

With the helicopter resting comfortably on a level surface, give it a little more than half throttle, and you'll notice that you're starting to get airborne. You most-definitely don't want to turn the throttle all the way to 11, or you'll be smacking the ceiling before you can say "Looky there! I'm flying!" So, be gentle, and you'll be OK.

Of course, taking off from a level surface is optional: It’s a small enough bird that you can put it in the palm of your hand, and take off from there, or hold it, and let go of it once you've got enough throttle.

Now, as far as landing, gentleness still prevails. If you think you can just kill the throttle and watch it set down on the table, you're in for a rude (and damaging) awakening. The trick here is to ease off slowly until you're just an inch or so off the ground, and then you can kill the motors. As long as you're gentle the Axe CX Micro virtually lands itself.

Taking off and landing should be done carefully, without cranking the throttle to 11 or going dead-stick respectively. If you take it easy, it should offer no problem whatsoever. Think of your hand as a mobile helipad: You can either take off and land there adding to the small-spaces flying experience of this little helicopter.
 

Basics

What the Axe CX Micro lacks in size, it makes up in stability; it's an easy-to-maneuver little piece of aircraft engineering.

The trimming process was neither too rough nor time-consuming. Mine required a bit of tinkering for the pitch, but other than that everything was centered enough to begin with. I did notice that after a few flights the Axe CX Micro had a tendency to turn the nose slightly to the left, no matter how much I trimmed the left stick.

With its counterrotating set of blades, it stays put no matter what. You can let go of the sticks (or for that matter set the transmitter down), and your micro heli will just hover along until you tell it do something else (or in my case, until I came close to the air vent).

But there's more to flying this helicopter than just let it idly float, and when it comes to maneuverability, it doesn't fall short. The controls are gentle - even a tad too gentle for some people, perhaps. The tail is quite responsive, but the pitch and roll controls are quite smooth and offer little travel movement so the Axe CX Micro tends to slowly roll left and right, and forward and backwards flight tends to happen without much fanfare. There's nothing wrong with that: I'd rather spend my time flying than patching up the dining-room walls after an erratic maneuver. It's designed to be a beginner heli, and the fact that it doesn't do anything that will get you in aerobatic hot water is a huge plus.

If you're looking to fly in close quarters, the Axe CX Micro does the job just fine. It's stable and small, so the chance of property disaster is minimal. Forward flight is not terribly fast, but you can still cover plenty of ground during the average eight minutes that your battery will last.
 
I don't recommend flying the Axe CX Micro near the fine china, but on the other hand I like do living on the edge. Up close and personal: It has plenty of detail, but not at the expense of weight.
 

Aerobatics/Special Flight Performance

The Axe CX Micro was designed for casual flying, but that doesn't mean that you can't have fun with it. Fun is what it was designed for!

My Flying Eggplant (that's what I dubbed this purple, round helicopter) can still do a mean pirouette by whamming the left stick all the way right or left. It is quite precise, and it stops on a dime once I let go.

The most special thing about this heli and what truly makes it as exciting as it can be is that you can fly it anywhere you want get away with it. Do you want to pester your cubicle neighbor? Go right ahead. Are you in a Manhattan studio apartment? That's a full-scale heliport for this gadget. Stuck at home on a rainy day? You can charge and fly over and over again, going from room to room when taking a break from the honey-do list. That's what it’s meant to do, and it succeeds with a healthy dose of fun factor.

There's no chance that you can do any sort of aerobatics with this helicopter, but that's not what it's all about with this aircraft. It will pirouette like there's no tomorrow, however. Touch-and-goes are fun and all, but you might want to make sure that the battery does not move too much. In this case, it partially slid off, and I was already airborne. An emergency (yet successful, mind you) landing was in order.
 
Target acquired! The family Christmas tree with 20-plus years of memories! Oh no! Fortunately, the Axe CX micro can pull a 180-degree turn quickly. Purple aircraft or Christmas ornament? I believe it's the former, though I've seen tree decorations bigger than the Axe CX Micro. Of course, it would make a nice decoration if it were wrapped up under the tree (hint, hint...).
 

Is This For a Beginner?

In the timeless words of a former vice-presidential candidate, "Doggone it, you betcha!"

Coaxial helicopters were meant for newbies, and (while I have flown a few of them before) I still consider myself a bit of an beginner when it comes to gyros and tails, I did not have a problem flying this heli after a minute's worth of minor trimming. It hovers like a champ and does not have any odd tendencies. It's relatively self-correcting, and it flies without much input, making it even better.

When it comes to durability, it passed the rigorous test here at the Monasterio Electric Aerospace Institute and Crash Test Facility © (motto: "Electrons Rule, Yet Gravity Always Laughs Last" ©). The poor little Flying Eggplant encountered all sorts of immovable or slow-to-respond objects along its treacherous flight: A treadmill, several boxes, a TV cabinet, my legs, other planes, walls and, last but not least, the archenemy otherwise known as the ground. I only broke the plastic shafts that keep the upper blades in place. I did manage to break three of them: once out of pure silliness when I hit the transmitter antenna, another time when installing the flybar and the last time when I clipped the wall. It's just a small plastic dowel, and it snaps off easily.

But for the rest of the testing, there was no damage. If I had an unplanned landing, it was just a matter of picking it up off the floor, setting it upright and throttling back up. It is quite durable, and at a mere 4.25 ounces, that shouldn’t be surprising: It has little momentum to do any damage to itself or to any of the other solid objects.

I was able to get about eight to nine minutes of flight out of each battery charge. While nothing seemed to be in an unsafe range, I did notice that both the motors as well as the battery were a bit warm to the touch (especially the motors) after each flight.

With the supplied battery, you'll likely get some eight or nine minutes of nice, relaxing flying depending on your throttle management.
 

Flight Video

Can the Axe CX Micro come outside and play? Sure it can, but it needs to be nice and calm out. My helicopter stayed in the comforts of its homestead. It fit well in that environment — it doesn't need much room to roam around. It maneuvered around the Christmas decorations, and everyone survived to tell about it (though you might want to check out the out-takes at the end of video for some Demolition Derby footage).

Downloads
Type Name
Size
Rocking around (and above and below) the Christmas tree with the Heli-Max Axe CX Micro. Family heirlooms beware!
28.15 MB

Conclusion

When it comes to winding down, I need something that I can chill with, and if I can do it with both my feet kicked up on the coffee table, that's even better.

A WORD OF THANKS

I would like to thank the following for making this review possible: Carol Pesch at Hobbico for providing the helicopter (and replacement helicopter and spare parts) for this project; and, as always, my wife Sally for the fantastic photos and video (and for trusting me while I flew it around the house while it was all decked out for Christmas!).

Hobbico's new micro helicopter does the trick, and it does it well. It's a fun little gadget to hover around the house, yet it is no toy. It's easy to fly, yet it keeps you challenged (limbo flight, anyone?). And when it's all said and done, it has even helped me improve my skills as a pilot — by keeping that left stick in motion at all times.

At $100, this ready-to-fly helicopter hits a home run in the fun-factor department. I now fly it often around the house, and I can't stop having fun with it, hovering up and down the room, much to the discomfort of my kind wife and our spastic dog.

Pluses:

  • A well-built helicopter with equally great looks
  • Performs wonderfully: Slow and graceful, yet can pirouette like there's no tomorrow and has plenty of power
  • Electronics are of high quality and perform as advertised
  • Affordability and durability, all in one package

Minuses:

  • The motors do get a bit hot, even with the heatsinks installed. A brushless setup would be even quieter, too.
  • While the helicopter is quite durable overall, the plastic dowels that hold the upper blades are quite fragile.
Last edited by Angela H; Dec 11, 2008 at 11:09 AM..
 
Reply Post New Thread  Previous Thread Next Thread
Page 1 of 4 1 234
 
Thread Tools
Old Dec 11, 2008, 02:11 PM   #2
Registered User
 
Brown Shoe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Northern Cali
Posts: 1,209
Shouldn't this be in the multi-rotor fourm?
Brown Shoe is offline Find More Posts by Brown Shoe   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 11, 2008, 05:58 PM   #3
kick the tires+light the fires
 
Ironbowser's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: In the vicinity of the midwest.... home of large lots of land to fly in!!
Posts: 2,189
its till micro...

good review.nice to see a non-sugarcoated review.

the vid doesnt work well either. looks like somebody cut the cable line:/
Ironbowser is offline Find More Posts by Ironbowser   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 11, 2008, 09:41 PM   #4
War Eagle!
 
Spackles94's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 6,600
Yeah, good point about the forum placement. Checking into it right now...

Glad you liked the review. I call 'em like I sees 'em, I'm not one for sugarcoating stuff. It is a cool little heli, though.

What problems are you having with the video? It won't show? You'll need QuickTime for it, though I could always stick a Vimeo link here if needed...
Spackles94 is offline Find More Posts by Spackles94   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 11, 2008, 10:23 PM   #5
Balsa just crashes better
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Bradenton, FL
Posts: 352
Nice review- Too bad they didn't make the radio 2.4 instead of 72- But still looks like a cool little bird.

Cub Fan
Cub Fan is offline Find More Posts by Cub Fan   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 11, 2008, 10:35 PM   #6
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 492
Mine is finally back in the air with two tiny bits of filed down coat hanger wire replacing the broken blade nubs (don't try this at home) and a rubber hand holding the broken front battery holder/landing gear support back together... second time both parts broke and tired of paying to replace them. It is very cute and quieter than larger machines, and in a world without the mCX it would be a winner... but it's too heavy to have the kind of mistake forgiveness of the this year's really featherweight small heli.
cstratton is offline Find More Posts by cstratton   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 12, 2008, 10:16 AM   #7
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Grinnell, Iowa
Posts: 1,199
I could not make the movie play either. My Quicktime says the movie has the wrong extension???????
Thanks
Ron
A Rdnek is offline Find More Posts by A Rdnek   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 12, 2008, 10:57 AM   #8
War Eagle!
 
Spackles94's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 6,600
OK, here's the answer to everyone's woes!

http://vimeo.com/2465297
Spackles94 is offline Find More Posts by Spackles94   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 12, 2008, 10:59 AM   #9
War Eagle!
 
Spackles94's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Posts: 6,600
Yeah, 2.4Ghz would be nice — mainly because of the antenna.

Cstratton: What part did you break? The same stuff I broke? If so, would you care to elaborate on how you fixed it?

I thought the mCX and this one would be a bit more similar, but they seem to be a bit more of two different animals. This is one is micro, the other one is uber-nano.
Spackles94 is offline Find More Posts by Spackles94   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 12, 2008, 11:43 AM   #10
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 228
A well-built helicopter with equally great looks.This is a lie the part of the chassis where the tail boom hooks up breaks the top shaft breaks and the battery holder breaks.It's a money pit my walkera lama 2 is way stronger i smashed that thing into walls and nothing broke yet.
yamar6 is offline Find More Posts by yamar6   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 12, 2008, 06:33 PM   #11
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: nj
Posts: 645
Yep great heli cheap plastics used they break to easy... boil some water and place your plastic parts in a bowl put the water in and let parts sit for about 5 to 10 min take part out let cool...i did this on my inner rotor and it worked.
reptileman is offline Find More Posts by reptileman   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 13, 2008, 03:07 AM   #12
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 492
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spackles94
Cstratton: What part did you break? The same stuff I broke? If so, would you care to elaborate on how you fixed it?
For the front landing skid, I just looped a rubber band around the upper landing gear rails and front of the battery. It holds it together and gives a spring action. Temporary, not sure what I'm doing long range but probably fabricating something.

For the broken (upper) blade nubs, I manufactured some 1.5mm wire, filed the area where the nubs broke off flat, carefully drilled in by hand and CA glued the bits of wire in. Can't really take full credit on that as someone here did it first with CF rod. I don't think I got the two sides perfectly level as the heli vibrated badly, but when I moved the flybar weights all the way back out whatever resonance there was went awawy and it is a quiet machine again.
I'm saving the other half broken head to repeate this fix more accureately after I reclaim my tabletop milling machine from storage... always thought the indexing head that came with the package when I bought it used was cute but never really had a use for it... now I do! Actually was eyeing a scrap of aluminum rod and thinking maybe I'll just make the entire rotor head piece.
cstratton is offline Find More Posts by cstratton   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 13, 2008, 09:51 AM   #13
Just an eye in the sky...
 
randall1959's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Saint Joseph, Missouri, United States
Posts: 3,801
Send a message via Yahoo to randall1959
Nice heli but the plastic parts on the rotor head seem to be an issue. I know everyone has been talking about the mcx but to be honest, my son brought his up over the weekend and although it's a great flying tiny heli, it lacks in flight time and has all plastic rotor parts too.
I'm waiting on a Walkera 5G6 with all metal upgrades and it's even smaller than the mcx and I got mine for 30 bucks less than the mcx my son bought Even the lipos were cheaper
I also don't really have a problem using 72 mhz especially indoors. Most of these will probably end up being flown mostly in houses so the frequency won't be much of an issue. You could always replace the antenna with a rubber duck.
randall1959 is offline Find More Posts by randall1959   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 13, 2008, 11:50 AM   #14
Where'd it go? Uh Oh!
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Miami, Florida
Posts: 156
I've had some pretty violent landings (crashes) with my Heli-Max CX Micro and haven't broken anything yet (I think that I can chalk that up to luck). Although such landings would have inflicted major damage to my Hirobo Llama CX, I like the flight characteristics of the Llama better. The soft foam blades of the Llama are also kinder to innocent fixed objects.

Although I now enjoy flying my CP (Collective Pitch) helicopters more than the CX (Counter Rotating) helicopters, the small CX helicopters still rule for indoor flying. I don't think it is safe to fly a CP helicopter inside of your average house.

My bottom line is that I think that the Heli-Max CX Micro is a good value, but due to its hard plastic blades and limited cyclic pitch authority, I wouldn't fly it near anything fragile, valuable or precious.

Regards,
Grog
capngrog is offline Find More Posts by capngrog   Reply With Quote
Old Dec 13, 2008, 12:35 PM   #15
Just an eye in the sky...
 
randall1959's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Saint Joseph, Missouri, United States
Posts: 3,801
Send a message via Yahoo to randall1959
I can hardly believe it. I ordered my 5G6 six days ago and it allready arrived........from China The mailman just dropped it off and all I can say so far is WOW
randall1959 is offline Find More Posts by randall1959   Reply With Quote
Reply Post New Thread  Previous Thread Next Thread
Page 1 of 4 1 234
Return to Micro Helis

Castle Creations      DRIVE / FLY / SUPPORT  

« Previous Thread | Next Thread »
Thread Tools

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
New Product **NEW Heli-Max AXE CP REVIEW** glowfuel Mini Helis 4 Mar 25, 2009 11:43 AM
Sold Heli-Max Axe EZ EP RTF Micro Helicopter twiztidbowler Aircraft - Electric - Helis (FS/W) 4 Oct 07, 2007 12:42 AM
For Sale Heli-Max Axe CP Micro heli RTF 3D4ever Aircraft - Electric - Helis (FS/W) 4 May 22, 2007 06:44 PM
Discussion Who sells mods for the Heli-Max Axe CP Micro dscottm83 Micro Helis 10 Dec 25, 2006 12:51 AM



Advertising - Member Map - Calendar - Gallery - External Feeds - Contact Us - FAQ - Rules - Review Policies - Chat - Archive - Top

All RCGroups content copyright 1996 - 2009 by RCGroups.com and Jim Bourke except where otherwise indicated.
Terry the transmitter, the RCGroups name and logo, The E Zone, Lift Zone, and RC Power are all trademarks of RCGroups and Jim Bourke. Please report any misuse of our trademarks using the contact form. Thank you.

Bored? Want to fight?
Join the RCGroups clan!

Powered by vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.