First REAL Blade 400 flight happened tonight! Hmmm...

[Huskyboy]

Hi y'all,

Well, I got home and it was still light enough, so I thought I'd take the plunge and get the Blade 400 out for it's maiden flight. Hmmm... well... It was very reactive - more so than the same D/R & Expo settings on Phoenix, or so it felt, and even though it was very still there was the ocasional slight breeze.

OK - I'm getting my excuses in early...

I got about 5 or 6 small hovers going and at one point it got away slightly (up to about 10-15 feet), but I pulled it back in to a 3' hover and landed it OK (although I did have training gear on!), but then I went up again to about 2', got swung nose in, started drifting... made a typical newbie 'over corection' error, caught the training gear in the grass and flipped it... which resulted in a not very pleasant noise and what looks like...

• Bent main rotor shaft
• Cracked rotor head
• Bent 45mm linkage rod
• Battered blades (I've got another set)
• Bent flybar

The whole flybar assembly is very loose due to the cracked rotor head (by the look of it), but all in all I don't think it's anything that can't be fixed with a couple of new bits and some patient tinkering.

All in all though... I FLEW IT

When it was just sitting nice and stable it felt awesome, so I can't wait to get out again. I did learn that it's not a good idea to try and rush - I should have waited until the morning really and got 'in the zone', but I didn't want to risk the weather!

So, I'm off to find some spares tomorrow so I can try and fix it for Sunday!

Any recommendations for places that hold spares in the West London area?

After making a few repairs to the CX3 this week and now having to work on the Blade I'm also going to invest in some workshop type accessories, like...

• A large magnification light (light seems to be the key!)
• An extra pair of hands - or a vice/bits holder of some sort
• Some small tubs to keep screws and other bits and bobs in
• A large plastic tray to work on (and catch stuff)

Thanks to everyone on here for all your help so far though!!! This is gonna be a long road...

[Mart61]

Glad to hear you got airborne! Bad luck on the crash tho but hey, stay positive!

[Brian Gifford]

Well, at least you got your maiden out of the way. Sorry about the crash. If you are buying workshop equipment and can afford one, get a Dremmel. Best tool in the world for helis and anything else in your house that needs a bit of fettling.

[Boggy]

crashes can dent pride and confidence. but stick with it mate we all go through it. first one's out of the way now you've learnt something

[est1976]

get the practise in on the sim, if you cant do it on phoenix you cant do it in real life ... I have learnt that, can you take off hover a bit and land in phoenix? just keep practising. I crashed every other time at the beginning and that was after learning how to hover on a small indoor heli for the first 3 months.

[jonnyg]

west london models hold loads of spares, think they have all you need in your list, even ally ones ask for graham he,ll sort you out mate.

post code is ub35ds

[Huskyboy]

Cheers Jonny, that's exactly what I wanted to hear coz I'm in Twickenham so West London Models is a short hop on the Blackbird! Lovely! I was heading up that way for some bearings anyway

Thanks to everyone else too.

est1976 - I've been practicing on Phoenix and could hover, fly around and land pretty consistently, but I think that flying my CX3 through the same transmitter has screwed me up a bit because the 2 helicopters react so differently.

I've just been back on Phoenix and TBH I simulated almost exactly what happened tonight in the park, despite having several really good sessions in the past week... It just all went to sh*t...

I reckon I need some dedicated Blade400 time on the sim before my next attempt... WITHOUT confusing my brain by flying the CX3 beforehand!



Cheers for the boost too Boggy! And hey, if it was easy it wouldn't be worth doing!!!

[Brian Gifford]

And hey, if it was easy it wouldn't be worth doing!!!

Well, I think that could be the slogan for RCHE

[jonnyg]

huskeyboy, im in hampton if you need any help mate let me know im no expert but had afew accidents and learned well from them

[Huskyboy]

huskeyboy, im in hampton if you need any help mate let me know im no expert but had afew accidents and learned well from them

Cheers mate, I might well give you a shout if I get stuck!

[Hangar-7]

HuskyBoy Hi!

Well done and am glad to hear your brief moment of thrill. I thought you're not going to try it till tomorrow morning. I know the feeling - I have done it myself many times. If you feel you're ready to have a go then just do it as you did.

Accidents are a part of steep learning curve. Hopefully there will be fewer accidents as you get better.
Cheers

[Huskyboy]

I'll either have fewer accidents or I'll get faster at repairing them...

It's win win either way...

[maderdog_1024]

hey
google the radd method of flight as it will help and it goes through all the basics.
ditch the training gear and learn on a tar/concrete surface so you can slide about on the skids.
if you can change the standard gyro as its murder to get it to hold and it drifts loads.

keep trying though you will get there

[heliTV]

Well done Huskyboy! The first flight is a major milestone, and you're certainly not alone in crashing - My B400's maiden lasted 10 seconds!

The 400 is fairly easy to fix and there's loads of help and advice available here and also at http://www.slyster.com/heli/b400bible.html which you may have seen.

Regarding tools, I find an old brightly coloured towel (mine's lime green - don't ask) is best to work on because if you drop something (and you will!!) it doesn't bounce and is easy to see.

All the best

Graham

[machasm]

Bad luck on the crash. Great that you managed a few hops though.
A word of advice is make sure your repairs are sound.
Often with noobs the repair leads to an immediate second crash as something wasn't right. Remember that the heli is only as good as its weakest point.
Try and can get someone else to check it over when your finished.
Adrian.