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Advantage Hobby . Revolution Models . CarbonXtreme

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Beginners Corner > Blade 400 First Hover
 
 
RyeGuy83
Senior Heliman
Location: Crest Hill, IL - United States

Well... I've had my Blade 400 (All stock parts - some replaced) for about 3 weeks now. After practicing around a little bit and learning how to adjust my heli (it's my first), I went out to a FunFly yesterday down in Joliet, IL and finally got my blade to hover. With some help from one of the local hobby shop guys, I was able to get my blade to hover without any Tx input whatsoever. it was great! I couldn't believe how easy it was once I had the balls to get it off the ground and some help doing some small tweaks to it.

I did buy a 3-pt (120 degree) swashplate leveler online for about $8, and man did that help a lot. Using some suggestions I've seen on this forum and a couple others, I was able to setup my heli so I only had to use some minor trim adjustments to get it to hover. I also needed to turn up my 0-1/2 stick gyro sensitivity from 50% up to 68%. It seems a little high for me, but it worked perfectly. After I run a few more exorcises on the field, and get used to actually flying my blade instead of hovering it, I think I'll shell out for some upgraded parts.

QUESTION TO THE READERS: Do you think it's worth it to change the connector to a Dean's Type? Anyone know of an adapter for it, instead of sodering it on?

I would've posted a pic of my blade hovering, but I was too busy actually flying it and paying attention to a Scale heli of a Raptor 90 wrapped in a Hues 500 fuselage. Man it was sweet!

If anyone lives in the Joliet / Bolingbrook area of Illinois, Please let me know. We have funfly's every monday and I could always use some more advice. Thanks and good luck!
07-29-2008 09:06 PM
 
 
Pistol_Pete
Elite Veteran
Location: Tampa Bay non-Buccaneer

Quote 
Do you think it's worth it to change the connector to a Dean's Type?

depends...

these are rated up to 40amps and not needed for your heli...so in that sense...no.

on the other hand...
its the most popular connector which allows you to borrow / lend among your group including chargers...so yes.

downside they need to be soldered.


congrats on hover.

<><>...the lunatic is in my head...<><>
07-29-2008 09:15 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
Jason Adamo
Senior Heliman
Location: Port Charlotte Fl

The eflight is fine. Deans are great but can be a pain to solder and and the wires can fall off but i use them on my 90.
07-30-2008 04:56 AM
 
 
Skarn
Senior Heliman
Location: Pasadena, MD

Dean's are very easy to solder IMO.

Check out the Finless Vid Soldering 101...he shows exactly how to solder a deans and it works great for me.

Skarn

It's better to burn out than to fade away...
07-30-2008 02:41 PM
 
 
Blade Bomber
Heliman
Location: Odessa, Missouri

Dean's are a great plug you can't go wrong with them but should you change them just to do it no I wouldn't.
Pistol Pete is correct on them being the most popular for most fliers so you can trde batteries and charging.
Hope this helps some and great job on the hover that is the scarest part that first lift off

" What goes up must come down"
07-31-2008 12:48 AM
 
 
pc-grafix
New Heliman
Location: Plainfield, IL

Hey! I live next door in Plainfield! I am BRAND new to this and I am not sure what most of the lingo means. I just got my first 4channel electric - Falcon 40. had it a week and broke the teeth off inside a servo, waiting for new parts now. I have been trying to learn to hover in my basement since it has been a bit too windy outside to try and learn anything so far. The room is small and this thing produces a considerable amount of turbulence to try and fly in, but I am getting a little better.

So where to you guys meet (in Joliet) and on what days? Is this only for nitro or can I come and learn about my electric heli too?

I have a few questions that I don't know where to go for answers, for instance, my Falcon40 came stock with a 8.4V Ni-MH battery. Can I up that to an 11V and do I have to change motor and/or electronics to do so? What kinds of batteries are best, longest lasting - I have those questions ... then about how to set up the heli .. are all my adjustments in thr form of trims on the transmitter or are there other adjustment on the heli that also need to be made? I was shocked at the lack of information/instruction that came with my heli!
08-02-2008 06:28 PM
 
 
Jason Adamo
Senior Heliman
Location: Port Charlotte Fl

I don't know allot about the falcon 40 but i just looked it up online and i really don't think you will need to run anything but the 650mah nimh pack. lipos are the best for their power to weight ratio but you wont need any more power for that fixed pitch heli.


I dont want to be mean but that heli looks a little cheap and unstable. If you really want to get good drop 2 bills on G4 and spend hours on it while you save for a better heli.
08-02-2008 07:46 PM
 
 
pc-grafix
New Heliman
Location: Plainfield, IL

Thanks for the imput Jason - no offense taken. Yes, I bought this to see if I can and want to get deeper into this hobby. 25 years ago when I bought my first off-road Tamiya for $120 it didn't take long at ALL to get that thing up in the $1000+ range!

This being my first ever heli, I just couldn't see spending tons of $$$ just to crash it and break it a lot. So it's just a learner. I can't wait to get into bigger and better! This one got a lot of good reviews for a beginner, that's how I ended up with it.

My sim should be here Monday according to the UPS tracker anyway! Can't wait for that either. Just hanging out here and trying to pick up the lingo and some tips.

Thanks for taking time to post back to me Jason.
08-02-2008 08:19 PM
 
 
Jason Adamo
Senior Heliman
Location: Port Charlotte Fl

The sim is a really nice thing to have for helis as well as the reset button.

Welcome to our world!
08-02-2008 08:30 PM
 
 
pc-grafix
New Heliman
Location: Plainfield, IL

It took a few days of trying to learn to hover before I could appreciate the need to the sim. Now I see that it is to make the controls second nature so I ordered one as soon as I figured that out!

He he, yes this thing is pretty cheap, I pop parts loose all the time, lost some tail rotor bearing of my very first "flight". I got interested in these things when my son-in-law got one of those little $29 jobs this past Christmas. Fun but not very usable - it only circles to the right. I have been reading about these beginners 4-channels ever since. Finally took the plunge - just not a very deep one! My hobbies have consumed tens of thousands over the years, toy cars, real cars, etc, so I have to be sensitive to the wife these days when it comes to plunkin' large amounts down for "toys" if you know what I mean.
08-02-2008 08:45 PM
 
 
Jason Adamo
Senior Heliman
Location: Port Charlotte Fl

HAHA i got one of them walmart jobs when they first came out as a joke kinda fun while watching tv and now i use to piss of the gf.
08-02-2008 10:04 PM
 
 
ruddernate
Veteran
Location: sulphur,Ok.

honestly they should only sell the smaller cheaper helis to pro's. they are so hard to fly. not so much the fixed pitch but i bought an eagle 50 for $110. it's the hardest to fly and the touchiest heli. it's 6 channel and ccpm but i bought a couple trex 450's and wow. the eagle got me hooked though but it's on the workbench as we speak. i had probably 300 bucks in this thing trying to learn heli's not counting the 110 i gave for it. that's 410 bucks in an unstable cheap bird that i should've spent more wisely. welcome to the addiction. tough it out and you'll get there. i'm a newbie but just got side in hovering down and it's as exciting as the first flight. still get crazy butterflies in my gut everytime. have fun and fly the piss out of that thing. crash it good and buy ya a bigger bird.

fly it like you stole it
08-03-2008 12:51 AM
 
 
Jason Adamo
Senior Heliman
Location: Port Charlotte Fl

Yes yes thats all true. Consider a crash an opporitunty to upgrade.
08-03-2008 02:18 AM
 
 
pc-grafix
New Heliman
Location: Plainfield, IL

This Falcon 40 seems to fly pretty well so far. I haven't had a non-windy day to get it outside yet, but in my basement, when I first lift off it seems very stable. After a short time and the air turbulance it generates catches up to it, it startes to get crazy (the room is only about 12x12 - you can imagine how tight it is in there!). But that first couple of second seems really smooth. It's over 20 inches long so it's not a terribly small bird. I read that a bigger heavier unit is easier to learn on, so I stayed away from the little 7 and 10 inch models that I could fly around in the house. But I seem to be getting hooked even after just a week. I find myself spending a surprising amout of time looking at all the more expensive ones out there and wondering which one and how long before I order one! But first things first, gotta learn to fly before I plunge into one like you guys all talk about. But I am thinking I will someday - maybe soon!
08-03-2008 03:08 AM
 
 
Jason Adamo
Senior Heliman
Location: Port Charlotte Fl

There is ALLOT of helis out there but to me its all about JR.
08-03-2008 03:13 AM
 
 
ruddernate
Veteran
Location: sulphur,Ok.

just don't get to frustrated and give up. i almost did. but something about these little heli's just called to me. i've alway worked on motorcycles and cars etc. love anything mechanical and these helicopters appealed to every sense i have. it's such a challenge to me and i don't think it ever stops being that. my eagle 50 is about the same size as yours and wind reaks havoc on it. if the washout inside an enclosed room gives you problems be careful going outside. watch for it to balloon up or down drastically. i have to get my eagle 50 up away from the ground 4 or 5 feet or any wind will trash me. good luck.

i almost forgot. hey Jason Spektrum Rocks!!!

fly it like you stole it
08-03-2008 03:18 AM
 
 
Jason Adamo
Senior Heliman
Location: Port Charlotte Fl

Yes it does!
08-03-2008 04:05 AM
 
 
RyeGuy83
Senior Heliman
Location: Crest Hill, IL - United States

Indoor Hover

I definitely know what you mean about those windy days. After successfully hovering my Blade at the field and getting used to the controls, I decided to take it out on one of those windy days. I was forcing myself to learn how to fly on an open field in Bolingbrook with the wind at approx. 15 mph with gusts up to about 22. It was definitely a tedious job! I only brought it off the ground maybe about 8 inches or so, and tried to hover it in one place.

I didn't crash it, luckily. I did find myself diving into the wind a lot though, and my heli kept getting further and further away from me. Also, the gusts at that speed are killer, so I had to bring it down when I saw the wind growing in the trees. So its still a work in progress. I am finding, however, that I have already replaced 2 out of 4 servos (stock) with more stock servos from e-flite (DS75s). Turns out they don't use the same output gear on them, so I was forced to make the holes larger for the old ball ends. I'm really thinking about just upgrading all 4 of them tomorrow before the funfly and see what happens. I've heard that Hi-Tec makes a really good replacement servo for the blade.

To Graphix: The guys will definitely be more than willing to help you learn and setup your chopper. The directions on many of them don't really help with setting it up and figuring out whats wrong. The only thing that they are really good for is giving you a picture (sometimes really small) of how to put the chopper back together (diagram) and explain how to troubleshoot it if your helicopter is turning the opposite direction (servo reversing). I have only been flying for 3 weeks now and I'm learning more and more everytime I go out to the field or just fly around the house. And i'm sure the battery you have is fine for your heli.
08-04-2008 03:20 AM
 
 
pc-grafix
New Heliman
Location: Plainfield, IL

RyeGuy83 --- So you live in Bolingbrook or Joliet? I worked for a few years in Bolingbrook at the Chevy Dealer there ... I was a Master Tech.

Where do you guys meet to fly and when? I would love to come out some time.

I think I am going to get myself a kit and build it. From reading here, looks like I will go with a T-Rex450 kit. I want to build one. Been watching the videos and reading all the stuff I can find about them. But it's all still so new, much of it I don't understand yet.

Let me know when and where - looking forward to it.
08-04-2008 03:28 AM
 
 
RyeGuy83
Senior Heliman
Location: Crest Hill, IL - United States

I live in Bolingbrook. I used to live in Joliet (my dad still lives there). I sent you a message with the directions and info on the Monday Funfly's. The TRex 450 is about the same size as my Blade 400 and most of the parts can be exchanged with slight modifications. check out www.leisurehours.com for more info on the track and field.
08-05-2008 03:25 AM
 
 
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Beginners Corner > Blade 400 First Hover
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