Blade Helicopters - What happend or am I stupid?

[SaneAdam]

Also Blade are improving while Align are more or less static.

Static? They can't sit still lol. They will have another model revision soon lol…. which will be heavily used at major competitions across the world, just like they always are. Whereas Blade, are not. Although they tried. Im sure with the right team of pilots behind things it might have gone a different way as they are proven to be just as reliable and as solid a platform as the next air frame.

But they operate in different sectors of the market. Obviously they cross over on the "360" 450 size or whatever it is now lol. But Blade have stepped firmly back into developing smaller stuff. Which i happen to think is a great product all round.

So, IMO, i don't think you could call either of them static really. They both seem to be evolving along there chosen paths. Unless i have missed your point? Although i suppose you could argue that by following other companies developments and "trends" it makes them stagnant of their own pioneering ideas so to speak. I could see that point of view. Although i think its a bit tenuous. I think both companies bring an awful lot to this hobby either way.

[james_2k]

Agreed 100%

[bill rob]

Yep and as usual in the U.K. we get ripped.

Well said but putting it lightly,,we get shafted on everything,just look at our petrol and diesel prices.Helis are quite reasonable compared to other hobbies,I must have around 4k worth in fishing tackle for specialised fishing,,I have golf clubs a shade under £400,,I got into mountain biking cos I live beside a forest.another £500 not including extras like clothing,helmet etc,,£180 for a 180 heli is decent in my view,considering the work that has gone into developing and designing the thing.

[Peteski]

Well said but putting it lightly,,we get shafted on everything,just look at our petrol and diesel prices.Helis are quite reasonable compared to other hobbies,I must have around 4k worth in fishing tackle for specialised fishing,,I have golf clubs a shade under £400,,I got into mountain biking cos I live beside a forest.another £500 not including extras like clothing,helmet etc,,£180 for a 180 heli is decent in my view,considering the work that has gone into developing and designing the thing.

First world problem alert!

Seriously, we have life easy compared to most of the world.

I think RC helis are actually great value compared to many other hobbies. Take mountain bikes for example. You can budget £4-5K easily for a decent full suspension trail bike these days and the pro level gear is £6K+ with a top end carbon frame, XTR/XX1 groupset etc. Even a budget full suspension bike is around £1,500 and entry level hardtails are £500. Skiing is expensive too with £400 skis, £400 boots, etc, etc.

If we tend to get shafted on anything, it's things like energy, insurance, banking, communications. Basically anything contract related, especially in business.

[trexamanic]

look what the postie just brought

[james_2k]

First world problem alert!

Seriously, we have life easy compared to most of the world.

I think RC helis are actually great value compared to many other hobbies. Take mountain bikes for example. You can budget £4-5K easily for a decent full suspension trail bike these days and the pro level gear is £6K+ with a top end carbon frame, XTR/XX1 groupset etc. Even a budget full suspension bike is around £1,500 and entry level hardtails are £500. Skiing is expensive too with £400 skis, £400 boots, etc, etc.

If we tend to get shafted on anything, it's things like energy, insurance, banking, communications. Basically anything contract related, especially in business.

of course its first world problems but they are still problems, its all perspective. and completely valid to say.

[Peteski]

Also price for the 300cfx in the us on horizon hobbys site = 400 dollars. Uk = 500 dollars (at the re-hero cheapest price!) We get so screwed over here

Okay, so let's discuss it then. So $400 in the US. For a start that price isn't going to include local sales tax, so you need to add that on. Uk prices always include VAT. Then there is the import duty to add on i.e. it costs HH more to sell the product in the UK. Plus of course the market economy is completely different over here. How many units do you think they will sell in the UK v US for example?

Basically market price is determined by supply and demand. Any perception of being ripped off is really just a mindset in this case. The RRP is a bit irrelevant anyway, as it's not necessarily what they will actually sell for. They will soon find their true market level.

[Varelco]

I dont know why people are getting beat up about the cost of helis over here compared to the US.

Have you ever bought anything from the states? Electrical goods? Clothes? Its exactly the same, helis are no different at all.

[Peteski]

Me neither, the US is a huge market compared to the UK, so economies of scale are always going to work in their favour. But then again their food is shit compared to ours, so who cares?

[james_2k]

regardless of the reasons why its more expensive here, doesn't mean we cant moan about it.

[Peteski]

regardless of the reasons why its more expensive here, doesn't mean we cant moan about it.

That, I can't argue with!

[mahbouni]

And if you smoke a packet of cigarettes a day @ £9 per packet then that's £3,285 per year. Most people can easily manage this hobby for that amount.

First world problem alert!

Seriously, we have life easy compared to most of the world.

I think RC helis are actually great value compared to many other hobbies. Take mountain bikes for example. You can budget £4-5K easily for a decent full suspension trail bike these days and the pro level gear is £6K+ with a top end carbon frame, XTR/XX1 groupset etc. Even a budget full suspension bike is around £1,500 and entry level hardtails are £500. Skiing is expensive too with £400 skis, £400 boots, etc, etc.

If we tend to get shafted on anything, it's things like energy, insurance, banking, communications. Basically anything contract related, especially in business.

[scallybert]

To be honest, my beef with DFC on small helis is just how damned fiddly it is. Trying to fix the tracking on my Trex250 was a complete ball-ache, largely because of those blasted DFC pitch links! [...]

Ah, not the drawback I was thinking of. I've got DFC heads on T-Rex 500s, but I use the Heli Option DFC arms with integral turnbuckles; so adjustment is easy. [I use turnbuckles on the RJX (non-DFC) heads on my 450s].

I was thinking more of the problem with teetering.

[tomatwalden]

...
I was thinking more of the problem with teetering.

Which is just as bad in my book!

[bill rob]

Static? They can't sit still lol. They will have another model revision soon lol…. which will be heavily used at major competitions across the world, just like they always are. Whereas Blade, are not. Although they tried. Im sure with the right team of pilots behind things it might have gone a different way as they are proven to be just as reliable and as solid a platform as the next air frame.

But they operate in different sectors of the market. Obviously they cross over on the "360" 450 size or whatever it is now lol. But Blade have stepped firmly back into developing smaller stuff. Which i happen to think is a great product all round.

So, IMO, i don't think you could call either of them static really. They both seem to be evolving along there chosen paths. Unless i have missed your point? Although i suppose you could argue that by following other companies developments and "trends" it makes them stagnant of their own pioneering ideas so to speak. I could see that point of view. Although i think its a bit tenuous. I think both companies bring an awful lot to this hobby either way.

Hi Adam,,yes you more or less get my point,,I just meant that Blade keep churning out new stuff,,but we must remember that horizon are behind blade so lots of resource there,,but align seem to take ages to bring new stuff out.They are different markets,but all the old heli makers like Align Mikado,and all the others must look at blade with envy cos they could have done what Blade did at any time but didn't.So compared with Blade Align are pretty static as far as development of new products or helis is concerned.
Its a tangled web the heli market,some will go down this year and some will not,Align are better than blade at the moment but that might change in the near future.I actually quite liked the Bigger Blade helis,,500x etc,,shame they didn't catch on with heli flyers.Look at the rise of quads,,every tom dick and harry seems to have one!!