Does 130x give you a false sense of security ?

[Snowsurfer]

Im trying to work out is a 130x over stabilised?

I can whiz my 130x around my garden or fly it nice and slowly trying to be precise pop into a inverted hover etc.

When i try to do this with any of my other heli's they just dont feel at locked in and get away from me quickly. Which is why i wonder if the 130x is over stabilised as seeing as it my smallest heli surly this should be the one that disappears into the distance quickly and is hard to control ???

[dillwhacker]

Yep, mee too.
I can do stuff confidently on my 130 that I cannot do happily on 450 / 500.
It may be a confidence / crash-proof thing, but I just seem to be able to throw it about with a big smile that I cannot do even on a good stable 450 or 500.
Something magic about a well-sorted 130 I think. Love it.

[tomatwalden]

Are your other helis flybarless or flybarred ?

[expensivhobby]

I find the same. I think a lot is down to the pucker factor and the rest down to practice. The false security comes with the fact 95% of the time you can stand it up and off you go again.

[Snowsurfer]

Are your other helis flybarless or flybarred ?

I have a mixture. My trex 250 in FBL with an AR7200bx, The Beam is flybared and so is my Blade 400.
It could be partly the fear factor for the 130x costing peanuts or nothing at all after a crash but sometimes it feels like a MSR its so stable!

[gilb]

I find the same. I think a lot is down to the pucker factor and the rest down to practice. The false security comes with the fact 95% of the time you can stand it up and off you go again.

I agree, I have a lot more confidence flying the 130x and think its mainly down to the crash cost. I had to spend a bit on my 130x recently (not a lot relative to other heli costs by a long way, but it still felt like quite a bit for a heli id previously spent very little on) and i definitely didn't feel as confident chucking it around as much as I used to today because I kept thinking I don't want to have to buy parts/sort it out again. Couple of flights though and I was back to normal... its what I've got that heli for its supposed to be crashed lol

[tomatwalden]

Does 130x give you a false sense of security ?

I have a mixture. My trex 250 in FBL with an AR7200bx, The Beam is flybared and so is my Blade 400.
It could be partly the fear factor for the 130x costing peanuts or nothing at all after a crash but sometimes it feels like a MSR its so stable!

Certainly the flybarless unit makes a difference to the stability, especially in windy conditions where it compensates a lot compared to a flybar.

As you rightly say though, the confidence it gives due to its crash resistance and cheap nature plays a big part too. I originally bought my 450x off the back of getting a 130x as I wanted something bigger but with that same locked in feel. My 450-3D being flybarred just didn't give me the same feel good factor.

[Si_B]

Hasn't the 130 got the stabilisation built into the board?

[tomatwalden]

Does 130x give you a false sense of security ?

It's got a flybarless unit (AS3X). Similar in nature to the ar7200BX or any other 3 axis gyro. If anything, the 130x system is less advanced than the big helis as it doesn't have advanced features like piro compensation.

[gilb]

It has the AS3X as the FBL system built into the board. How much the AS3X is like a standard FBL controller or whether it offers a bit of stabilisation as well has always been a bit of a mystery to me. I know when then describe the AS3X being in in there planes they refer to it more as a stabilisation unit but that I assume is because planks dont tend to usually have 3 gyros

[tomatwalden]

As far as I'm aware - all FBL units are examples of SAS (Software Assisted Stabilisation). The flybar is a mechanical stabilisation unit by contrast. By the nature of their design (using 3-axis MEMS gyros mostly and having digital precision), they are more precise than flybars, and better able to counteract external forces (ie. the wind!).

With inputs from the MEMS gyros, and increasingly other inputs too (eg. accelerometers) the software is also able to do more and more than a traditional flybar. An example would be piro-optimisation where the FBL keeps the swash in the same attitude throughout a pirouette. Rescue systems such as in the HeliCommand and other units are taking this stabilisation to the extreme.

In contrast, the AS3X software within the 130X is relatively basic. It doesn't have piro-optimisation and it certainly doesn't have rescue mode.

It is however a stabilisation unit - as is the flybar ... it's just a more advanced stabilisation (albeit a relatively basic SAS) which therefore gives a more locked-in feel to the heli.

T

[tomatwalden]

Final point to the OP. You can change the gain on all three gyros to increase/decrease the stabilisation. It's a hidden menu in the AS3X software.

[gilb]

Yep I think you're right there tom I was getting myself confused thinking about planes.. I think another reason why the 130x feels so good is because its a fairly decent FBL that has been tuned/ setup well with the airframe that its in (because its obviously designed/ tweaked around the 130x)

Tom I have a question that I've been wanting to ask someone whose flown the bigger blades and seeing from your sig you have - its kind of related to the topic.

With the larger Blade helis, how do they compare to other helis like the align or goblin of there size? Do they feel like a larger 130x? or do they feel more like a large heli that just happens to be made by the same people who make the 130x?

[tomatwalden]

Yep I think you're right there tom I was getting myself confused thinking about planes.. I think another reason why the 130x feels so good is because its a fairly decent FBL that has been tuned/ setup well with the airframe that its in (because its obviously designed/ tweaked around the 130x)

Tom I have a question that I've been wanting to ask someone whose flown the bigger blades and seeing from your sig you have - its kind of related to the topic.

With the larger Blade helis, how do they compare to other helis like the align or goblin of there size? Do they feel like a larger 130x? or do they feel more like a large heli that just happens to be made by the same people who make the 130x?

I'm probably going to write a proper end-user review of my 550X and I'll link to that when I'm done. However, briefly ... compared to a 130X, the short answer is "they feel more like a large heli that just happens to be made by the same people who make the 130x"

For starters, all the larger Blade helis use the BeastX derived AR7200BX, rather than the in-house AS3X SAS.

The 450X is nothing like a 130X in terms of its build. It's pretty much accepted as being one of the best 450's out there I believe. It has more power than you can shake a stick at, and mechanically it's solid. Very little goes wrong with it out of the box, and out of the box, it flies amazingly well. The 300X I believe is very similar although top 3D pilots did complain about frame stiffness which requires a very simple after-market mod. Overally, I don't think many would disagree that it is one of Blade's better products. The only thing that people tend to change (and even then, only after a crash) is the servos. They're fine, but better ones are out there.

I've never flown a 500X, but I've seen one "in the flesh" so to speak. It's a move on from the 450X, and has carbon frames I believe. By all accounts, flies extremely well and is not lacking power either. However, having a 500-class pre-built as a Bind-n-Fly isn't everyone's cup of tea, and you do pay for it. £ for £, an Align Trex 500 (EFL or DFC) is cheaper and better overall (with the exception of the 3GX, which isn't as good as the AR7200BX IMO). HOWEVER, you have to build the Align from kit, which isn't a problem, but not everyone wants to. If you factor in the build costs (eg. from UBF at Midland), the Blade 500X is, I believe cheaper than the Align when everything is factored in.

The 550X is nothing like a 130X in any shape or form. For starters, it comes as a build-it-yourself only kit/combo. It's all Carbon Fibre where it needs to be, and CNC'ed Aluminium for the main rotor components. It goes together extremely well and has the feeling of being built like a tank. It is a direct competitor to the Align 550 and/or 600. At least, that's where I believe Blade are aiming for, and it has similar qualities to those helis. Price and established position in the market is the problem for Blade however in my view. They haven't priced it particularly aggressively (well, not at all TBH). I got mine from "rcheliguru" who are doing a very good deal at the moment (£639, which comes down 5% more if you have a BMFA discount code) - so I paid £607 all-in (ie. including ESC, BEC, motor, Servos, FBL unit). For that price, it made sense to me as I wanted something bigger than 500, that could still run on 6S packs.

As a general comment however, they are all "medium/big" helis, that just happen to be produced by the same people as the 130X. From a construction viewpoint, all are very different from the sub-micros.

[heathy]

Tom.

It's pretty much accepted as being one of the best 450's out there I believe.

Bold statement. I thought it was the worse 450 out there with the exception of a mini pred.