Trex or E-Flite

[Boggy]

How soon we all forget! a few months ago the blade was one of the best now its a plastic toy again!

http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/videos...hie-clark.html

The blade 450x is one of the best things since sliced bread.
I just cannot belive how good it is, I love mine to bits.
No it is not full of carbon and bling, but I don't care, it flies light nimble and the tail is rock solid. I can't fault it at all.
If I wanted to be really picky, I would of like to see metal geared cyclics, not because they are weak in flight but the gears strip easy in crashes

People seem to be getting the wrong idea about the 450 X
Yes it's cheep & cheerful it has no carbon or blingy alluminium in it. All it's parts are designed to be functional & hold up well to inflight loads. It does however crash very well, over maybe 30 autos held at Phoenix yesterday at least half of them resulted in two blade 450's being involved in a very hard coming together with the ground some were over longish grass but at least 5 were over a very hard & rolled patch. Not one failure of gears blades booms or indeed anything broken during this mayhem. The only time one wrote itself off was when one pilot decided at two foot above the patch whilst the heli wason its side that he might try to save it by flicking out of hold, he never & it stripped 3 gears & demolished it's blades but apart from that the heli was still in one peice I then tweaked my throttle curves & managed several bailed out autos.
Were now waiting for a better day so Ross can practice bailed out inverted autos on it. The heli is a bit like the mcpx it's a learning tool that crashes rather well when flown over grass as long as the hold switch is hit early damage is normaly light to non existent.

you would be far better off using the search facility and gaining your own opinions,because as a newbie looking in reading this thread you would be lead into thinking the blade is an over priced toy which it is actually a long way off the truth! (I'm sure i dont need to post a vid of Stu flying one! )

[Mike00top]

As i see it,

Eflite make great little screw together choppers, dead simple, and easy to rebuild, and fly really well, for what they are


Align do much the same but use alloy and carbon and hold it together with cheese screws


JR use high quality Alloys, carbons and steels to make great models, but not always so easy to build


Hirobo use fair materials and nice castings, nearer the top


Others use plastics carbons alloys etc of varying quality some good some very good


The Bottom line is if you like it, Buy it ! only you will know if its worth it.

[The Jim]

Re: Trex or E-Flite

Cheers Boggy, searching the forum is not a problem but I would rather get up to date possible opinions of several different manufacturers.

Besides its a good talking point

Jim

[KevDavies]

How soon we all forget! a few months ago the blade was one of the best now its a plastic toy again!

http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/videos...hie-clark.html

you would be far better off using the search facility and gaining your own opinions,because as a newbie looking in reading this thread you would be lead into thinking the blade is an over priced toy which it is actually a long way off the truth! (I'm sure i dont need to post a vid of Stu flying one! )

I agree with you 100% Boggy, You will always get the fanbois saying my heli is better because x,y,z and the others are shit. I have no allegience to any brand. If it flies well and is well constructed It goes in my hangar.

[450man]

I have just gone through this assessment myself having just (yesterday!) bought my first 450 after the MCPX... I got a Blade 450X.

It is not an easy decision to make. There are so many people saying one is better or the other and visa versa. In the end it came down to what I wanted and whether I wanted a kit to build or a BNF.

People say that Align is better build and I have never owned one so I can't really argue but what I would say is just because there is more plastic it doesn't necessarily mean it is not as good. The right kind of plastic in the right places can be very durable and strong. Plastic can also mean cheaper replacements which for a heli like the 450X, which is going to get a lot of abuse from budding 3D flyers, that is no bad thing.

I wanted something that was cheap and chearful to learn on after my MCPX and as my first bigger heli and I decided that the 450X was BNF, simpler and cheaper to repair and half of the purchase price was the AR7200BX and if I decided that the 450X was not for me then the AR7200BX could just transfer to my next heli. In that sense the heli was just £150 for the model, servos, motor, ESC and a half decent battery - not bad value if you ask me when compared to the Align 450's. OK, I am prepared to accept that the Align might be better quality but for me I'd just be crashing something of better quality... it didn't make sense.

It is a very personal choice and what is right for me might not be for you. They both look like a great choice to me.

[Rob O]

Re: Trex or E-Flite

Rons (boggy) post is bang on if you look at the guys in that thread that liked & flew the 450x ie moonmanflyer , richie clarke , rcslopesurfer . They are all very experienced pilots that have been arround for a long time & what Ron doesnt know about Blade helis especially the 400 size probably is not worth knowing . You wont go far wrong listening to what these guys have to say rather than guys that have been arround for 2 mins

[hedge]

For a beginner the Blade package is excellent. The instructions walk you through in some detail all the confusing terminology you need to get your head around. The support from Horizon Hobby is legendary in this world.

Align IMHO a slightly better heli but as a new flier you won't see this for many many months maybe even years. ALIGN manuals will tell you where screw x goes but won't tell you - at least not in English- what a swash mix is or how to properly pre-flight check your heli.

once you get through the 450 stage then you will have learned all you need to know so that you will buy your next heli with confidence,

[450man]

Rons (boggy) post is bang on if you look at the guys in that thread that liked & flew the 450x ie moonmanflyer , richie clarke , rcslopesurfer . They are all very experienced pilots that have been arround for a long time & what Ron doesnt know about Blade helis especially the 400 size probably is not worth knowing . You wont go far wrong listening to what these guys have to say rather than guys that have been arround for 2 mins

Well, I wouldn't disagree that experienced voices carry more weight than newcomers but sometimes the newcomers have an angle that is not always seen by the experienced flyer as it is the newcomer who is learning now... the experienced flyer may not have gone through what a newbie is going through for many years!

As a newbie myself I too have done my homework, as he is doing now, and I have made a decision that is based on my assessment of what will suit me based on my investigations. It doesn't make me an expert, I am still just a beginner, but the reasons for the decision I made might still be of interest to someone doing the same investigation. Just because I am new at heli flying it doesn't make my opinions wrong, it just means people should take into account my experience when considering what I say.

If you think I am wrong in what I say then by all means disagree and tell me why but please don't just dismiss a newcomers views just because they are new... they may well be perfectly sound.

[The Jim]

Re: Trex or E-Flite

Well whilst my research goes on my next port of call will be phoenix training SIM and probably a upgraded tx such as a dx6i.

[Rob O]

Re: Trex or E-Flite

Hi Paulchurchley , im certainly not dismissing what you have to say , im reading the thread experienced pilots dont stop learning about the hobby its evolving all the time . By all means listen to whatever by whoever you please & some newbies have very valid & interesting views as well & are certainly entitled to post them . Ive also seen some newcomers fed very misleading info at times as well which can end up very costly & worse become dissolusioned and leave the hobby , so all im really saying is be carefull . Trust me just because ive been arround for a while i know very little but i have learned which guys to listen to .

[Boggy]

lol just dont ask the Spektrum v futaba question Jim

Paul you are indeed correct everyone's opinion is valid whether they are experienced or just starting out.After all a new guy that has just been to his LHS and only looked will almost certainly form some sort of opinion and is perfectly entitled to air that.I deliberately quoted some of the more experienced pilots views and I think Rob was just trying to point that out.I'm sure no disrespect to you newer guys was intended.
infact it was your very "got it" thread that prompted me to join this discussion,there is nothing worse than making your choice just to see your model bashed elsewhere.

the original blade 400 got absolutely slated to death after its release back in 2008. the same comments about cheap plastic rubbish kept cropping up again and again" its a toy" " it won't last" " the gyro is sh123" Well I was one of the very first purchasers of this model (its the actual one photographed for phoenix,it was that new and rare) after all this time,countless crashes,I can tell you it still flies my son is now using it as his "beater"
I have only just replaced the original servo's with hitec's and the gyro is now a 401 with a hitec tail servo. the frame and bearings are all original still.

The blade is also a victim of its own success if that makes sense!

Many beginners start with it knowing nothing, they crash it,rebuild it,slowly learn how to tweak it,then feel its time to upgrade.So off to the internet/local shop they go and buy themselves a trex 450.which is lets be honest a totaly different style of model ..carbon fibre frames better spec electrics etc! They build it set it up with their new found knowledge and bingo it flies great...now my point...they immediately forget that they learnt everything they know upto that point was on the blade,they wished they had started with the trex.On the forums they shout out loud "yes i started with a blade but compared to my trex its rubbish!"

Well the truth is A trex built and set up by a newbie is every bit as "rubbish" as the blade series of model.

In all honesty if I were starting over, I would first think about

1/ what is my budget?
2/ what size of model do I want?
3/ do I want to build it myself from a kit?
.......Am I capable of building it?
.......Do I have the knowledge to sort it should I encounter a problem?
4/ Should i buy BNF?
5/ Are the models I'm looking at suitable for me as a learner?
....can it be made into a stable learning platform?
....are the repair costs reasonable?
...are spares cheap and readily available?
...is it upgrade-able as i progress?(buying the best straight away is not always best! )
6/ Should I encounter problem where can I get help?
....is it a common model with a large user base?

make a score sheet for each model you like, do your research,and most of all enjoy what you buy it will be a stepping stone to a fabulously rewarding hobby

[Boggy]

sorry Rob, I didn't mean to speak for you we've cross posted! But thank god i was right! I knew you would not have been dissing the newer guys

[450man]

Boggy and Rob, Thanks for explaining

I reread my post and I may have appeared as though I was getting into a bit of a tizzy over what you said. Sorry. That wasn't at all how I felt!

My point was a general one really that experience counts more than anything in this hobby, that I totally agree with, but sometimes how a newbie feels about something may also throw some light on the topic but your points regarding placing too much reliance on a newbies ideas is very valid and well made.

[The Jim]

lol just dont ask the Spektrum v futaba question Jim

LOL I've already seen that debate lots of times in years gone by on other forums Ron.

Jim

[Liam B.]

If you do go for a Blade you might find one going with a few alloy upgrades on BMFA classifieds and on here!
Liam