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| E-Flite Blade CX |
Average Rating: 7.25 |
Oct 21, 2006
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Reviewed By: Rc_HeliPilot
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Join Date: Oct 21, 2006
Location:
Total Reviews: 5
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Rating: 5 out of 10
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I've owned the Blade CX for several months. It's an okay heli, but it could really use improvement.
First, the gyro is nearly impossible to set perfectly. No matter what, the heli's yaw will drift right or left while in a stable hover. The adjustment to the gyro is located in a "pot" on the side of the heli. The slightest adjustment to the screw (and I mean an adjustment left or right that is almost imperceptible) can have a dramatic impact on the gyro's behavior. I've NEVER been able to get it to hold the heli straight - it ALWAYS drifts. Plus, the screw is buried too deeply in the adjustment hole. You can't see the screw while you have a driver on it, so you can't be certain of where you started and ended with your adjustment - PAIN IN THE NECK.
I've read that heat affects gyros, and I've seen this in the CX. I set the gyro adjustment where it seems best then, as I fly, the behavior changes - undoubtedly due to heat build-up in the motor during flight.
Second, and by far worst, I've gone through rotor blades in unbelievable numbers. This isn't from crashing; it's from clacking them together. Any quick inputs to change the heli's direction while flying can cause the blades to contact one-another and break. I've seen a promotion on the web for a modification that eliminates this. It was a link to a third-party site that I saw in another forum, but I don't recall the name.
My hobby shop seems to think this is rare and unlikely but, from my experience, it is common and highly likely. In my opinion it is purely a defect in design and/or materials - nothing else - definitely not user error. You shouldn't be able to do this just by flying the heli more aggressively.
This is a beginner's heli, so over controlling it by the user should be expected. This blade breaking problem really gets annoying, and E-Flite should resolve it.
On the plus side, the CX serves well for helping me learn my nose-in skills. Also, the parts are very inexpensive - which is particularly important considering the volume of blades I've gone through. Luckily, the blades are quick and easy to replace too. Plus, I'm learning to tone down my inputs to avoid the problem. |
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• Good flight duration with standard batteries
• Good for training nose-in skills
• Safe for in-house flying
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• Gyro setting is extremely difficult and unreliable during flight
• Poor design allows rotor blades to make contact frequently
• EXTREMELY susceptible to the slightest breeze
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Nov 28, 2006
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Reviewed By: kquinlan
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Join Date: Nov 28, 2006
Location: K-town, Oregon
Total Reviews: 1
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Rating: 9 out of 10
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I have been a proud owner of my Blade CX for several months.
This is honestly the BEST first-time heli for anyone who has ever been curious about r/c helicopters. The instructions are thorough, and easy to read. All you have to do is charge the battery, and plug it in. Then you are good to go!
Just one piece of advice: Don't make your first flight in the kitchen...
I really haven't had the kinds of problems that Rc_HeliPilot has had. It took me a battery pack or two to get used to the basic control and to get the trims settled down. In the time I've owned the CX, I've adjusted the mixing pot twice. ~1/10 of a turn. If you over-adjust, you will be chasing it all over. I've only clacked the blades a couple of times, and you really have to try to get them to hit.
It seems to be pretty responsive during maneuvers, doing backwards yaw spins with ease. It is so stable and controlled that you can fly it around from room to room, with some practice.
When you buy the CX, you should pick up a spare set of blades. They are cheap, and you will end up breaking blades. Trust me, they don't like cabinets.
The replacement parts are quite cheap, and installation is a breeze on almost all of the parts.
The upgrade aluminum parts are killer. I've even wired up a custom-made flashing led light set to make it look like a true helicopter at night.
It truly is an awesome helicopter, just don't expect to do a inverted roll. I am giving it my full support and reccomendation. |
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• Very stable in flight
• Long flight time
• Superb first heli
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• Very susceptible to a slight breeze
• You will break parts eventually
• Body design limits motor cooling
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Feb 14, 2007
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Reviewed By: superyota05
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Join Date: Feb 14, 2007
Location: i live in western mass
Total Reviews: 1
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Rating: 8 out of 10
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| i purchased the blade cx about two months ago used on ebay and ended up completely rebuilding it after learning the the mixer was fried, i guess that happens semi-often. the problem is that is winter and i havnt had a chance to really fly it outside succesfully, i understand that when plastic gets cold enough it becomes brittle and after purchasing a better looking "marines" body, putting it on, taking it outside in the cold (telling myself to becareful) catching the slight breeze and needless to say they dont handle wind too well, and now the body is at the city dump...bummer...all in all i have to say after flying it inside my favorite hobby shop (R/C MADNESS in enfield, conn.) the blade cx is easy considering all i had to practise on was a picoo-z micro heli, so at this point i am certainly a begin er and doing quite well...i strongly recomend the blade cx to any beginer that wants to learn and have fun...also ive found that the blade is easy to work on and modify, but you might find that you will be doing so frequently considering how easy it is to break, so you might want to get as much alluminum as you can find...ive found that the landing trainers are a must when starting off, while your ordering those, i suggest the boom kit also, it comes with thicker landing ski's ... |
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• easy to learn on, great for beginers like me
• easy to fix or modify
• flies smooth
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• flimsy blades
• inpossable to trim
• cant handle even the slightest breeze
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Feb 18, 2007
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Reviewed By: makatron
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Join Date: Feb 18, 2007
Location:
Total Reviews: 1
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Rating: 7 out of 10
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First at all E-Flite did such a great job with this little helicopter cause doesnt have much moving parts, its simple and it does fly great in indoors.
What i really find annoying about this helicopter is the fact that if it was made as a begginer heli why in the world they used such a weak landing skids that break after almost any hard landing, first time heli pilots will have hard landings all the time so why dont put stronger skids?? i dont blame them cause most of the factories are looking forward to sell spare parts.
Stock battery, it flies decent but nothing more than that, it gets so hot after a minute or two so it force you to land your helicopter and wait few seconds for the battery pack to chill out. Third party batteries are more powerful and in most of the cases cheaper.
Motors, they get way too hot and that transfer temperature to the receiver and then the gyro starts acting crazy and thats when the tail driff comes. They do sell heat sink as upgrade parts, i rather prefer pay a little more and have it as stock set.
Blades, we all know that the weight its an issue and specially for micro size helicopters but these blades are way to weak and they will break with anything they touch, and why dont make them as folding blades like most of the helicopters, including E-Flite's other helis, that can help to avoid this annoying problem.
Shafts, its been proven that longer inner and outer shaft help to keep the blades in a decent distance to stop the contact between upper and lower blades which can make your helicopter to fall after an aggressive move.
As mentioned before the gyro setting its way too deep in the receiver case and its not possible to have non drift setting with this equipment, maybe they have solved this with the cx2, but you have to keep changing the trimming depending of the battery charge (my own case). |
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• Easy to fly
• Nose-in trainer
• Flawless steady hover
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• Weak landing skids
• Poor quality blades
• Gyro glitchy
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