Hey everyone, I just thought I'd share a tracking tip for anyone that may be interested. I have read in many posts and also experienced myself the sometimes finicky blade tracking of the mx 400 line of helicopters, especially the mx 450. Some nights I would spend hours trying to get the blades to track by hovering it in my basement, only to find out next morning that the blades are out of track again. very frustrating.
I think I figured out a simple way to do a quick blade tracking flight check before the heli is in the air. It's worked for me so far.

1. connect the battery to the heli to make sure servos are in proper position.
After they align to their position, I disconnect the battery so the motor doesnt start suddenly while I do the following.

2. in the first picture, looking at the heli from top down, rotate the blades in their blade holders towards the side their leading edge goes, so it looks like the second picture(rotating them in this direction makes them pull on the linkages as they would in normal flight, making it easier to take a more accurate pitch measurement). make sure the blades are over the paddles.

3. then in the third pic, put the heli on a table on its skids and look at it from the side, compare the distance between the blade and paddle on both sides, I just eyeball it. Then, rotate head 180 degrees to check if gaps are the same still. if gaps are the same I fly the heli and blades track good. if gaps are off, I adjust linkages, and I am able to see the effect of those changes almost instantly, before I even connect the battery to the heli again.

hope someone found this helpful, it is by no means a replacement for a pitch gauge but it works for me for a quick pre flight check.

How do you set the paddles? What if they are a little off?

Hey Bower, I do need a pitch gauge for the paddles, and will get one, so far I've been eyeballing them, and it seems to be ok. Better to be sure tho.