Long range in 3min...
and then 3min to get back
2200mah

Also it's just a standard 2.4 GHz receiver?

The 'long range' bit presumably just refers to the fact that the VTx will go up to 600 mW. But isn't this illegal in most places (excluding Ham licences etc.)? As is flying beyond visual line of sight of course. With all the global anti-drone propaganda at the moment it seems a bit odd for a big/reputable company to be marketing a quad in this way ...

Okay so I must be missing something here,What exactly about this makes it long range?

Originally Posted by liquidcourage

Okay so I must be missing something here,What exactly about this makes it long range?

The 7" props

F3 flight controller in 2019? Seriously?
ESCs wired up with connectors?
Long range how, it's just an SPM4649T?
iC3 Connector looks like it's impossible to use with XT60?

$399?

No. Thanks.

Being too hard on it. Yeah i take 8 quads to the field at a time but thats the experienced person.

For a beginner its great and thats prob the intended market.

I mean you can always poo poo everything. E.g what are 'long range quads' when you see ppl take fixed wings 50 miles away. Long Range quads? To me that seemed more a fad started by teamblack sheep cuz suddenly having a few ppl on crossfire at a race may have led to reception issues but they still need to sell them boxes so lets do this 1-2mile 'long range fad' yikes!

Also F3 boards? damn id still be using naze Rev1 if so many ppl didnt want to get on the band wagon and bloat up the software with all kinds of random features - until what - its just an autonomous racer?

The point is that this is no more 'long range' than any other quad with a standard 2.4 GHz receiver. 6 mins is not a 'long flight time' either - most standard 5" quads will do that (on a much smaller pack), flown reasonably sensibly.

I've still got plenty of quads flying on F3 boards but I sure as heck wouldn't be paying $400 for a brand new quad fitted with one now.

Why are ALL "BLADE" products
sooo far behind in equipment used?
Is it bc these were designed 8months ago
and by the time mass production rolls out, they are sooo outdated

6S and 7" props seems an odd setup for something allegedly aimed at duration. I wonder if they are using up motors originally intended for something else?

BTW ... I don't know about the US but maneuvering around a full-size paramotor in flight (at the end of the video above) would get you in deep trouble in most countries. Bearing in mind it was presumably shot with a GoPro or similar with a super-wide lens this was really close ...

Hey guys, I wanted to field a few questions and comments regarding the Scimitar LRX:

First off, you guys are completely right. This is a long range ready aircraft. Correct that an SPM4649T is not going to get you very far beyond LOS. Simply adding a crossfire or other lower frequency radio link will make this a very capable aircraft. Since Blade is targeted at a beginner to intermediate market, we wanted to have an out-of-the-box BNF solution and decided to included the SPM rx instead of additional purchases to get you into the air.

7" props on 1400kv 2408's an extremely efficient setup, we performed extensive flight testing to verify our battery/motor/prop combos. Please be aware that we will usually advertise the lowest average flight time to avoid any customer complaints on the subject. This setup on a 2200 6s is easily capable of taking a cruise for 10 minutes or more, but as always your throttle input is ultimately going to determine your flight times.

Regarding the F3 flight controller, this airframe is locked in out of the box. F4's, F7's, or F243450's aren't required if the airframe is well developed and balanced. Feel free to reference Bob Roogi's Facebook post's regarding his flight footage from a Naze32 recently, the flight video in question is amazingly buttery smooth, no high power processors required. The design and implementation of the LRX project simply did not need a faster operating processor to achieve the results we were looking for. I will be posting additional videos with this rig to really show its capabilities and performance.

Regarding Bill's comment on the product video, the paramotor chase at the end of the video was not a "hey its a paramotor, im gonna go buzz it!" situation. This video was shot at Eli Field Model Air Park in Monticello IL, of which I am the club president. The video was choreographed and planned out, the paramotor pilot and myself (LRX pilot) were in constant communication via bluetooth headsets. Great care was taken to acquire the footage. Feel free to check out the full edit of the paramotor chase with the LRX Here:

LRX Paramotor Chase

If you have any additional comments, questions or suggestions regarding the LRX project, feel free to post them here! I will be watching this thread to see what you guys have to say! Thanks a lot for reading, Happy flying.

Pete Holey
Blade Product Development Team

Originally Posted by TheMustangOne

Being too hard on it. Yeah i take 8 quads to the field at a time but thats the experienced person.

For a beginner its great and thats prob the intended market.

I mean you can always poo poo everything. E.g what are 'long range quads' when you see ppl take fixed wings 50 miles away. Long Range quads? To me that seemed more a fad started by teamblack sheep cuz suddenly having a few ppl on crossfire at a race may have led to reception issues but they still need to sell them boxes so lets do this 1-2mile 'long range fad' yikes!

Also F3 boards? damn id still be using naze Rev1 if so many ppl didnt want to get on the band wagon and bloat up the software with all kinds of random features - until what - its just an autonomous racer?

No, I'm not being too hard on it.

There are way better beginner FPV drones that you can buy from other vendors, for far less, and I'm not talking about ordering anything from China. Plenty of reputable US vendors to buy BNF quads from for quality builds that are more up to date. F3 may fly just fine but it is on its way out -- certain betaflight features are simply starting to become unavailable for F3. And this is also about value for your money. To add insult to injury they do something to it unconventional like add the iC3 connector which does not help the newcomer at all. Nothing like locking the user into a Spektrum branded connector, because who sells iC3 connector batteries? I also think the use of those connectors for the ESC is a highly questionable choice too.

Originally Posted by JohnCC

No, I'm not being too hard on it.

There are way better beginner FPV drones that you can buy from other vendors, for far less, and I'm not talking about ordering anything from China. Plenty of reputable US vendors to buy BNF quads from for quality builds that are more up to date. F3 may fly just fine but it is on its way out -- certain betaflight features are simply starting to become unavailable for F3. And this is also about value for your money. To add insult to injury they do something to it unconventional like add the iC3 connector which does not help the newcomer at all. Nothing like locking the user into a Spektrum branded connector, because who sells iC3 connector batteries? I also think the use of those connectors for the ESC is a highly questionable choice too.

You're right, lots of other vendors to choose from, but none in a 7" BNF form factor that I can find, There may be one out there, but I haven't found it. If there is one, I'd be very interested to see it's retail cost. Again regarding the F3, Any features that are exclusive to the F4 or higher FC's just weren't needed to make this aircraft fly well, but I totally get that forward compatibility can be a deciding factor in the buying process. Thanks for the input. The FC is feature rich otherwise, with just about everything you would need to learn and grow with.

Smart battery technology and iC connectors are EC compatible (HH standard battery connector) and are an excellent new technology for Horizon Hobby. This tech is great for beginners who aren't familiar with proper lipo care. This will avoid many household fires and damages caused by improper charging. I did make sure to leave plenty of power lead left for anyone who would like to snip off the iC connector and solder up their favorite connector, pretty simple task for someone who's done it before.

the ESC connectors you see are rated for well beyond the need, and are another feature targeted for the beginner to intermediate pilot who doesn't want to tear down his machine and try to solder up motor wires for the first time. Simply unscrew the damaged motor and unplug, mount the new motor and plug it in for approximately a 1 minute motor change.

I really appreciate the comments on this, looks like this product has a lot of experienced eyes looking at it. If I was a top fuel drag racer and someone wanted me to take their brand new Corvette out on the track, I'd probably want to make some changes and improvements as well.

Thanks again for the input, it's appreciated.

Pete Holey
Horizon Hobby Product Development

Pete, good to see your participation here.

First ... I'm in the UK so no idea what the legal position is in the US, but intentionally flying that close to any manned aircraft in flight still seems crazy to me. A 7" quad is potentially going to slice through rigging lines etc. with no problem if anything goes wrong. Some years back we had a hang glider pilot die here after an r/c glider broke a wire on his aircraft. Our hobby is under huge media scrutiny at the moment so a well known corporate would surely want to be seen to be acting safely / legally / responsibly at all times?

Speaking of which. AFAIK (happy to be corrected) neither 600 mW (with no ham licence) on the VTx nor flight beyond LOS are legal in most places, so are you advising the beginners you're marketing this 'long range' quad to of this?

Finally, from a technical POV my regular 5" race/freestyle type quads cruise at about 10A. So I could stretch those to around 8 mins on their normal 1550 mAh packs, and maybe 11 mins on 2200s. That's using 4S, and hauling an HD camera. So 10 mins or so on 6S 2200 with no HD camera really isn't anything special in terms of efficiency. IMHO.

Its too late to change anything on this quad.
Its probably been planned 5-8months ago.
Why would they change it now and lose money.

I feel bad for anyone who buys this outdated quad....

Long Range my buttocks.....lolol

P.S.
Next time...just send out products to secret NDA
hobbyists (like what DJI does) to wring it out... and they all come
out with reviews the same day....duh!