I just picked up a Bladerunner Extreme Indoor heli

[michaeld]

http://www.peta-sucks.com/heli.wmv

I went to Radio Shack to get the small Picasso and the manager said to get this instead. I'm uploading ther movie right now. I could use tips, this thing doesn't seem to control very good besides going up and down.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g291/three_60/IMG_1756-1.jpg

[z-man280]

unfortunately, you are right, up down, and let the "wind" take it....i played with a demo in there, i suck at teh flying, and it took me about 2 minutes to get it to hover perfect. Go get your money back.

[michaeld]

I am tomorrow. Any recommendations over this?

[z-man280]

well, i dont think i am the guy to answer that ,as i am a car guy. I am however looking into micro flight as well, so anyone have suggestiosn for TWO guys??:D

[michaelh4670]

hey guys,
i have the blade cx (bcx as it is referred to in many forums) and still fly it several times a day although i have since gotten its big brother the cp. it is super stable and a blast to fly. there are tons of things you can do to make it more stable/ less responsive or less stable/ more responsive. parts are cheap and readily available (2sets of either top or botom blades: $3.99). though it is great out of the box, i would definitely recommend the motor heat sinks (to improve their life) and the training gear (will save you $ while learning) to start with. the next mod is the aluminum upper rotor head- replaces a minor weak point in the design. you can find them at your local H.S. in true rtf form for under $200 & less on ebay...
there are tons of opinions on this site to explore on the bcx- happy reading

mike

P.S. Here is one of the many opinions out there,

rocknbil
x<<16|y<<8|z

Join Date: 09-05-2002
Location: Boregon, USA
Posts: 11,790
The -Flite Blade CX - One User's Review
I'm new to this section of the site and probably should have posted this information in this forum because the Blade CX is really an indoor micro.

MAN I love this thing now! Very frustrating at first, the above link shows why. Here's some tips for all you newbies, like myself, at helis.

Coaxial heli: The biggest thing that separates the CX from most 'copters is the coaxial blade design. Basically this means that the two sets of blades spin in opposite directions to counteract the spin that is normally controlled by the tail rotor on most helis. The upside is this makes the CX MUCH easier to fly for a newbie; the downside is that you cannot fly inverted. Not a big deal if you just want to keep airborne without crashing!

The other bad thing about the CX is a one of the small problems in overall design: It's pretty hard to "dial out" the tendency for the 'copter to rotate to the right. HINT: getting it to not rotate is a fundamental key to successfully flying without crashing. You can move the trim to full left, and there is a pot adjustment on the 4-in-1 unit that you can adjust (rotate it full counterclockwise, but CAREFULLY, its a fragile unit,) and even so, sometimes it will still rotate right a little.

I'm on my THIRD 4-in-1 unit since I began "training" (that's THREE, at $49.99 a pop) and the amount of rotation at hover indeed varies from unit to unit. Some units you can dial out the rotation completely, some it will still rotate. This is apparently because the rotating mass of the UPPER blades combined with the counterbalance is still a little heavy for the craft. A solution I found is to CAREFULLY trim NO MORE than 1/4" off the ends of the upper blades. This does sacrifice a little lift but it is a good trade-off if you simply can't dial out the rotation. Trim the blades with scissors, and PLEASE take some sandpaper and round off the edges of your trims - these blades will cut you.

Do this ONLY if you have managed to get a set of spare blades - you WILL need them!

4-in-1 control unit: This is a miracle of micro flight that has made coaxial micro helis possible. The 4-in-1 is a dual speed control, receiver, and gyro all in one, but it is not without some design limitations. While doing a few simple hover-hops, at an altitude of about 3 feet the 'copter lost all power and dropped like a stone. This happened to me TWICE. See the results in this thread. Normally this is caused by a blade strike and jammed blades while under power, so learn this and remember it well: if you crash or are close to the ground and get into trouble, power down! Pull that throttle stick BACK. If you don't it will blow the ESC chip right off the board.

Like I said my problems occurred while in hover, so in my case the best I can figure is that the motors were overheating. I bought the heat sink and also trimmed out the cowling around the motors and heat sink to facilitate better cooling and the problem, so far, has not returned. I suggest you do the same if you get a CX.

Each time I knew it would take time to get the problem resolved so I ordered spares. So far, Horizon Hobby has been very helpful and receptive to replacing the damage, it's just that they're all out of stock (see below.)

Fragile Upper Rotor Shaft: The other problem I found in the design is the plastic upper rotor shaft is unnecessarily fragile. On several occasions I got into trouble, dropped the 'copter on GRASS from about 2 feet, and it bounced over on it's lid. The plastic upper rotor shaft will snap right off on you, even when powered down. On other occasions, it was better to drop it than go where it was going (not tellin! ) and had to drop it from as high as 3-4 feet. Even though it landed level, the bounce was enough to snap off the rotor shaft. Since the plastic, shaft, and gear all come as one unit, this is an expensive repair at $8.95.

YOU CAN, however, perfectly align the broken part and EPOXY it back into place. DO NOT use CA/super glue and DO NOT try to fly the 'copter sooner than 24 hours after making such a repair - those blades spin very fast and injury can result - or, it can snap off under power and burn out your 4-in-1. I've got several epoxied shafts and they are very flight worthy.

USE A MAGNIFYING GLASS to assure perfect alignment - if you don't get the broken pieces perfectly aligned this WILL NOT WORK! Buy a new one if there is any doubt at all.

COG (Center of Gravity): Key to controlling the CX is getting it to lift off and hover with all controls released except throttle. Try though I did, with the battery in "stock position" I could not get the CX to not be "nose-heavy" (i.e., wanted to move forward immediately on take-off.) SOLUTION: Cut a small cube of dense foam, approximately 3/4" X 1/2" X 1/2", put double sided tape on one side, and replace the velcro in the chassis (not on the battery) that holds the battery in place with this cube. (SEE PIC.) Then put the velcro on the back side of the foam. This acts as a "spacer" to move the battery back just enough to re-center the COG. You can try to dial it out with the trims and control linkage as below, but this reduces the amount of control you'll have on the stick, so re-center the COG first.

Trimming Servos: As with any other RC's, it's always best to adjust your linkage so your control trims are dead center. (Again, you want a dead center hover on takeoff.) While you can usually get this by adjusting the trims, it's a good idea to note how far they are off and gently slide off the servo control links and adjust the linkage to get your trims to dead center. Before powering down, move the right stick left/right up/down and note what direction the servos are moving so you know whether to tighten or loosen the control arm links and which one does what (left servo is right/left, right is forward/reverse).

Li-PO BATTERY: For those of you that have never used Li-Po's, it is VERY IMPORTANT YOU READ THIS THREAD: Complete Guide to Lithium Polymer Batteries. Do not compromise on this! These things are awesome lightweight batteries that make micro helis possible and if used correctly are 100% safe, but people have burned houses and cars up with them. This thread is a testimony to that fact.

I charge my lipo's OUTSIDE, using my starter box as a power supply, and suggest you do the same. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, I cannot stress this enough - read this thread and be careful with Li-Po's, they are unlike any other battery you've charged.

I had only one pack out of three fail. Basically on a full charge the 'copter would rise, and at full throttle immediately begin to descend. I could do this for up to 10 minutes - rise and drop - but it would never generate enough power to hover. Again, Horizon Hobby was very receptive to support and said "send it back." Be sure to call them first so they know it's coming.

Generally you will get between 10-15 minutes of sustained flight per battery. As soon as it won't stay airborne, shut it down or you'll damage the pack.

Parts Availability: Both Horizon Hobby and E-Flite grossly underestimated the popularity of the CX for this holiday sales season. All through Dec. and Jan, nearly all of the critical replacement parts below are out of stock EVERYWHERE. This includes blades, upper rotor shafts, and 4-in-1 units. I imagine this will level out around February or so as some of the out-of-stock items are just beginning to appear, but if you have anything broken now - I feel your pain!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: Do yourself a favor and procure these parts at the same time you buy your first CX. You WILL crash. It's OKAY. But these will keep you flying. In order of importance:

Training Gear: Put your large huevos away and buy these. No, you'll never survive without them no matter how brave you are. I don't have the price handy, I think they're only eight bucks or so.

Blades: These come in sets of two full sets per pack - that is, 2 uppers per pack, two lowers per pack - get both uppers and lowers. $3.99. That's four hard crashes.

CX Heat Sink: Helps disperse the heat from these little motors, I suspect this was my problem with th 4-in-1's so I strongly suggest getting one. $3.99 (I think)

Upper Rotor Shaft: Due to the fragility mentioned above, have at least one of these on hand so you can repair one and have it cure while you go break the other. I now have four, two new ones I'm saving for when I learn to stop crashing and two repaired ones.

4-in-1 Control Unit: If you can get your hands on one and can afford it, I STRONGLY suggest having a spare on hand. It may take you up to two weeks to get a warranty refurb/repair/replace, even after the holiday rush is over. The CX is painfully addicting, if you can't handle the cold turkey (as I cannot now!) have one of these on hand. $49.99


E-Flite Li-Po Packs: At least two.

That should keep you flying enough to stop crashing. Outside of the design flaws mentioned, which I imagine E-Flite may modify in the future, the E-Flite CX is AWESOME! Happy hovering and have fun!




If anyone appreciates this post and you are into ground RC, all I ask is you please visit my non-profit site, RC-Resources.com and join up.

[michaeld]

I bought a CP from my uncle and it was to much for me to handle!

[singingperry]

I flew my bcx outside the first time today, no wind except for an almost imperceptible occasional breeze, and sure enough away goes my heli downwind towards the fence below and the trees above. Fortunately I managed to keep the nose into the wind (a similar velocity that comes out of my nostrils) and leaned the right stick fully forward without any observable effect, so I cut back on the juice until it plopped on the grass and cut the throttle altogether as it tumbled over. The main blades hit the grass while still winding down and HOSANA! No busted inner anything, whew! Back inside, still flustered and nostrils still flaring I let my bcx drift into the refridgerator. My fear-factor reflexes gave priority to the throttle once again and I cut the power just as the top blades hit the fridge chipping an eighth-inch notch into one blade. (Actually I didn't let the heli hit the fridge, I think it and mother nature was in cahoots to suck my hard earned money into the ether) WHALAAAAAH! Still no busted parts except for the notch which I lined with a smear of crazy glue. Maybe E-flite is reading this forum and making adjustments. Hey! How about an outdoor (big) version,cheap to fix?

[dancooper]

Hey! How about an outdoor (big) version,cheap to fix?

Probably never going to happen, outdoor and big will lead you into the "real" rc helicopters, having a tailrotor.
Last year, while I was on sickleaf (I couldn't leave the house) I sent my wife to the lhs to get some paint for another modeling project, and when she came back she had bought the Helixx (same system as the bcx, which does not exist here in Belgium) we had such a blast with the little bugger (even though the flightcharacterestics of the helixx aren't great) that my wife decided (the same afternoon) to get a Carboon FP, still an indoor heli but with tailrotor.
The transition from helixx to FP was NOT an easy one, however, what I'm trying to tell with this story is that lots of practice with a coaxial heli does help learning to fly a non-coaxial, the priciple is the same, once flying the coaxial means nothing to you anymore, once you practically do it with your eyes closed, you should not fear the transition to a T-Rex of similar 400-size helicopter. You don't need the in-between micro helicopters like carboon or hummingbird, since these are strictly indoor, requiring a lot more space than your bcx and the 400-size helis are a lot more stable than the nervous micro's.

[singingperry]

Doesn't the military have coaxials in their arsenal? I've seen videos of rpv recon coaxials that look just like flying trash cans. Just ad a king sized cx fuselage and whammo-bammo! Tickle me Elmos have nowhere to hide!

[dancooper]

I don't know about the US military, but indeed there are military coax helis, the Kamov helicopters, like the Hokum and Havoc.
But those coax helis are not te be compared with the rc coax jobs that are easy to fly and cheap to repair.