A new addition to the Dragon's Lair.

[lrogers]

Thanks to my mother-in-law and Santa stopping by a bit early, I have a new helicopter to share with you. This is a Blade MCX micro co-axial. This was a complete, ready-to-fly helo that came with EVERYTHING (even batteries for the transmitter/charger)!

The first picture shows everything that came in the box plus one extra flight battery that I bought (they are the little rectangle looking things). Total weight, ready to fly is 1 oz!!!! This is for indoor use only.

This, at last, is a small helicopter that I could and would recommed to anyone wanting to try r/c helicopters. It is very stable AND unlike a lot of the co-axial designs, very flyable. I was able to chase the cat (Slick now hates me) through the house, doorways and under a table.

The included transmitter is on the 2.4ghz band and uses spread spectrum technology. What this means is that you and a buddy could fly them at the same time without "shooting each other down".

This one is a bit more than some of the "toy" helicopters at $130, but there is a lot of really cool technology in a very small package. It is also plenty tough. I was flying one at the hobby shop and the guys there used an air cannon and shot me out of the air. It hit the floor from about 9 feet up and was back in the air as soon as it was set back up right.

Flight times are about 12-15 minutes with the included battery.

[Uncle Cracker]

What does it want to be when it grows up??

[milanuk]

I've been looking at those a little bit... always wanted to get started in r/c model planes & helicopters; w/ the electric flyers I might have to quit procrastinating and give it a go.

I can't believe you chased the cat with it. I thought I was the only one who'd do that

Tell me more about this 'air cannon' they used to knock it down with

[crokett]

That is cool Larry!. I almost bought one of the cheaper ones. I had my wife come over and look at your pictures. It only took 2 seconds for her to say 'No'.

[MilDoc]

OK Larry. More info please.

I bought one of the cheapies on the market and hate it.

Looked up "Blade MCX micro co-axial" and got many hits. Is this it:

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...rodID=EFLH2200 ?

If not, have a model number or other specific ID? Dying to try one!

[lrogers]

Yep, that's the one Paul. Be sure you get the RTF (more expensive) and not the BIND-AND-FLY one (less expensive). The bind-and-fly is designed for guys/ladies that have a Spectrum or JR transmitter all ready. This little beast is a blast! Until you get the hang of it, try to pick a big room or empty garage. Be gentle on the controls, especially the throttle. Be aware that if you get too close to the ceiling (say 6" or less), the helo will be "sucked up" into it and it will fall like a shot duck.

MILANUK- The air cannon looks like a big held megaphone with a membranein it. Pull the handle, let it go and a "cannon ball of air" is fired. Makes one heck of a noise. And no, you aren't the only one that would chase the cat. I posted a thread on www.helifreak.com and there a bunch over there that also said they chased the cats around the house!

David, your wife is a wise woman! Believe me, these things are as additive as crack and just as expensive. In the next month or so, I hope to get a larger helo (biggest one yet) that will be powered by a 26cc gasoline (weedwacker) engine. Where the little Blade has a flying weight of 1oz, the Mongoose will have a flying weight closer to 15 pounds!

Uncle- It wants to become an Apache attack chopper when it grows up!

[MilDoc]

Thanks Larry! Tried chasing my 2 cats but the cheapie was far too hard to control. Think I'll try one of these, unless you have a suggestion for a total newbie to RC anything.....

[Alex Franke]

But where do you plug in the co-ax cable?

I've seem commercials for little indoor r/c helicopters, but it seems like this one is more $ -- any idea what the difference is?

[cabinetman]

I was also amused at the indoor "choppers", and was wondering if those kids can fly it around the living room...how hard can it be?
.

[crokett]

Hey Larry,

No tail rotor so I guess the 2 blades counter rotate? Also, what is the thing on the shaft above the blades? Does it help stabilize it?

[lrogers]

Paul, this is the only one I would recommend. It flies well and is fairly easy to fly. I found out a little while ago how tuff it is too; Tigger swatted me right out of the air!

C-Man,- Don't be fooled the commercials you see. IF those kids were REALLY flying those things, they have MANY hours of practice and gone through MANY models. Read on.

Alex, the little Air Hoggs you see on TV are total junk. The radio link is infa red and they are barely controllable. They will hover okay, but that's about it. The commercials HAVE to be hundreds of shots edited to LOOK like it will fly. I have bought both the small and and the Havoc. I was VERY disappointed with both. Control-a-bility was nil.

David, you are correct, the rotors counter rotate to nuetralize torque. To yaw (swing the nose) one rotor will either speed up to over compensate for torque or slow down under compensating. The bar on top is called a fly bar or stabilizing bar. On the smaller helos, the tips have a weighted cap. On the larger ones that I have, there are "paddles" on the ends. The way it works on the larger models is thus:
the transmitter, through the receiver, control the servos
the servos, through push rods, control the swash plate
the swash plate, through push rods, controls the fly bar
the flybar, through push rods, controls the pitch of the main rotor blades
and helicopters (real or r/c) fly due to the manipulation of rotor head speed and blade pitch.

[leehljp]

Looks like it is time for me to get back to trying Helos. Thanks for the writeup. If I see one over here in a hobby store, I certainly will get one - after Christmas. Christmas has already been purchased for me. I need a hobby that I can take 10 minutes to do and then get back to work! Looks like just the ticket.

[gerti]

I always wanted one, but I knew the cheaper ones and even a lot of the more expensive ones were barely controllable toys.

Based on your recommendation I bought this one today, and I am having a blast with it! Trim seems to drift a bit from minute to minute, but all in all quite easy to learn. And the dual rate controls really help getting started (transmitter can be set to low control rates making it easier for beginners). To bad the charger does not come with a way to plug in a transformer.

Quick question: The transmitter can be switched between two layouts (Modes 1 and 2), which of these is the more traditional layout?

Thanks again for turning me on to this one!

[gerti]

One more question: when I pull the battery out of the charger, the LED in the charger starts blinking/flickering uncontrollably. The only way to stop that is to pull one of the batteries that power the charger for a few seconds.

Does yours do that too, or is my charger misbehaving?

Thanks

Gerd

[gerti]

Another thing: I had to adjust the trim to fully forward. And forward it goes the slowest. All other directions it goes much faster. Is there anything that can be mechanically adjusted to fix that?

Thanks!

Gerd