blade 400 first impresions

[Boggy]

firstly thankyou chris and ade for the independant test flights.( im definatly biased).
today i set out to see if heli's can really fly as stated straight out of the box....quick answer is yes!
now the long one.!
first impresions of the blade is ,what a nice little heli, plastic frames look sturdy and solid.Ball links on all rods, everything cable tied neatly and securley.Even a nice bling metal blue swash centre.the canopy however a little dull, and not very neatly joined,but a nice shape.

so with the battery charged we connected up.(dx6i with the supplied AA batteries fitted) about three seconds and two nice loud beeps later it was good to go.
Chris (raptor50luvver) was first to fly. too get a feel for the heli and transmiter Chris lifted into a slightly wobbly hover, but after a couple of trim adjustments it settled down.there is a very small wag on the tail but nothing to worry about. into idle up and off for a few gentle fly pasts and circuits. in forward flight Chris thought it felt nose heavy, so applied more trim and continued on.
As a spectator i thought it looked smooth and sedate with just that very slight gentle wag.(hopefully Chris will elaborate with his thoughts later)after a few gentle eights and stall turns chris started to push a little harder, loops and rolls followed. which looked controled and neat, some backward flight, that worked but the tail did let go a couple of times resulting in 180 turns into ff.
so like i say as a specky it looks smooth and neat
Next was ade's ( ade law) flight so after a recharge off we went again. after connecting up ade's first comment was that the swash isn't perfectly set up. but we knew it flew so off to the flight line.i believe ade made an adjustment to the pitch curve(again im sure sure he'll elaborate) second comment NO timer. so we asked chris to shout after 3.5 mins. if you've seen ade fly im sure you'll understand i had a lump the size of an apple in my throat!!"if he only wants 3'n'half mins what the hell is coming next" i thought. Right heli on the ground and spool up. no pelimanarys idle up and into the air it went.(parrrp those bloody spouts!!!) a few piro's and away. to my suprise it looked gentle and smooth so i relaxed. phew!! ade flew a few circuits and fast forwards then a few gentle rolls,loops and i think a tic tok or two, and a nice big pie dish, and a bit of low inverted hovering.again it looked great and it also sounds nice, which i think is also important it adds to the buzz you get from flying! then to finish ade did a small auto which i think we'll all agree wasn't perfect!! but this is a 400 size and o.t.b

so in conclusion yes it will fly straight out of the box and very well... But it isn't setup perfectly, the swash and servo's could do with adjustments. which should make this one cracking little helicopter.

my thoughts for a beginner are. price wise this is a superb deal,it will be possible to fly without much help but adjustments may be neccasary so bear that in mind.its twitchy when in ground effect but settles nicely once up(its a 400)
also i am biased i LOVE this helicopter over to you Chris and Ade!!
video to follow shortly

[Made2Fade]

very intrested to see this video as i think im gonna purchase one.
Lee

[pxr5]

i think you all have balls the size of planets, you for being so generous letting others fly your new heli and them for taking the risk of crashing, not that they are bad pilots im sure they are kick arse.
if i crashed someones heli id probably throw up.

[Boggy]

not at all there are sevaral pilots at dmhc i would trust anyday. Chris,ade,richie,matt,trvo,phill. all outstanding to watch and extremly good at what they do!!

(thats my free membership for next year sorted)

[pxr5]

not at all there are sevaral pilots at dmhc i would trust anyday. Chris,ade,richie,matt,trvo,phill. all outstanding to watch and extremly good at what they do!!

(thats my free membership for next year sorted)

i'll have to join a club then, see some of these experts in action. ive never observed a good pilot in the flesh its something ive been longing to do.

[Boggy]

i hope ade is going to post a vid of one of his flights today. if you got good sound on your pc turn it up loud.
but when you stand three feet behind him.......****ing hell awesome!! you feel the heli in your chest! watch the take off ... it goes up freezes mid air then wham gone!

[pxr5]

sound wicked. looking forward to it. i got my pc hooked up to my marshall amp so no worries lol

[Boggy]

here is the video of the 400
http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/videos...aa353e27879133

Chris first then Ade at about 4m44s

sorry it took so long

[ChrisB]

I have been keen to see this model for a while,i have flown a couple of CX2`s and think EFlite have a great product for the price..

When Ron suggested we give the Blade 400 a little workout i was keen to see it and even more keen to have a stir of the sticks.

Ron brought it to the field in its box as he purchased it,although he had hovered it himself he made no adjustments so it was as it came from the factory.looking over the model i was very impressed with the quality and feel of the whole product,it has a very solid construction,all nicely laid out,a decent 3s Lipo and a balancing charger is supplied.I have used and love the DX7 for a year now and the DX6i seemed very familiar and comfortable,plenty of functionality and nice to see a proper trainer switch and a throttle cut switch,Ade later noticed that there was no timer function which is a bit of a shame.

When i started flying the model i needed to put some back elevator trim in as it wanted to nose forward slightly,after that i hovered around for a bit then went off into circuits,the model tracks well and picks up good speed,there is ample power for climbouts and loops were effortless,it was nice and stable in the inverted hover and when i flew it backwards i found that the tail needed a bit more input to hold it,whether this could be sorted with a bit of fine tuning or not i am unsure..

I am always very nervous flying other peoples models mainly because i am unfamiliar with them and dont want to stuff them but i soon got the feel of the blade 400..

To sum it up for now i would say that this is a very high quality product for the asking price,it needs no further `bling`,its mechanically perfect,the tail pitch fork is the same layout as the Knight and is slop free so no fancy metal bits needed for now,the head is nice and rigid also

The DX6i is brilliant,the 6100 Rx is also the same as sold over the counter,the servos and gyro are an unknown to me but the cyclic ones seem adequate..

It would possibly have a better tail feel with a better tail servo or a better gyro,that would be up to the owner to decide at some stage..

I see no reason why Eflite wouldnt sell truckloads of them

Its rated as Intermediate to advanced which i would agree with but also would make the perfect second heli after say a contra one

[Boggy]

nice one Chris
as we say ..!good out of the box. great with a little time and knowledge!fantastic with a few quid on a tail servo!!

[ChrisB]

Ron

I think the tail hold is fine as it is,its not until you start pushing the model that it starts to complain,i reckon the radio supplied with maybe a bit of end user fine tuning would perform better even so its not bloody bad at all

I dont see the point in blinging the airframe,the Tx is sound and superior to whats supplied with similar helis,the Rx and cyclic servos are good.


So if there was a need or desire to spend money on the model,the tail servo for starters is what i would do then see how it flies then..

[pxr5]

that was awesome guys excellent flying. you make me feel like giving up lol
see what you mean about the noise thats insane.

[Boggy]

agree completly Chris.

don't forget pxr it was out of the box and neither of these guys had seen it or the radio before ....impesive or what!!!!

[pxr5]

yea i was gonna say for out of the box thats impressive. looks a bit unsettled at the intro but then you go and take the **** and throw it all over the place

[Tim Procter]

Thanks Ron and Chris.

For the money that looks really nice and the video shows in the right hands lots of fun can be had with this kit.

For gawds sake a complete working kit for just over £250 isnt bad is it.