Is the Blade SR the right choice?

[Rochmel]

I am reasonably new to the hobby and have a dream to fly a Huey. I have the conversion body kit that EFlight make (made?) for the SR.

Most of the comments I see on forums concerning the SR are a couple of years old and in truth aren't that complimentary. Can anyone advise whether there is now a better option? Is there a heli that is around the same size which the body would fit (with a bit of alteration) and that may be is not CP as I guess for a model of a Huey CP is not a requirement (?) but I stand to be corrected on this.
I am reasonably proficient on the MSRX and do use the Phoenix simulator.

Many thanks

[nameci]

Wrong forum to post the question. This is For Sale forum.

My recommendation is: Stay away from Blade SR.

It may be a better idea to get micro collective pitch model, like Blade MCPX BL, and eventually build the 450 scale.

[canadien007]

+1 to the above post.

Stay FAAAAAR FAAAR away from the blade SR. You are better off getting either the Mcpx BL, blade 130x, or better yet thr 300x.

If were you, I would get the 130x or the 300x. Log some hours on that and then eventually move to a Trex 500 or Trex 550. They bigger they are the more stable and visible they are.

[Jurbin]

Blade Sr was the most expensive receiver I ever purchased. Get a mcpx bl instead.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

[heliwreck]

The Blade 300x is very close to the same size as the SR. Get that one instead, i have one and it is a fun little heli!!!. I never have any issues with it.

[pixeltim]

Blade SR should NEVER be flown.
If you have one, use it as a pretty conversation piece on a shelf or above the fireplace.

[hoofenshnoz]

The Blade SR was my first collective helicopter. It almost drove me out of the hobby. DO NOT BUY ONE!!!!!!!

[nameci]

If you already have the Huey fuse for SR already, 300X may be an option. 300X is same size as SR but flybarless with BeastX(AR7200BX). Not sure if Huey Fuse will fit directly and may require some modification.

[Rochmel]

Thanks for all the replies.

My apologies for posting in the wrong place. I am new to HeliFreak. I think it's a great resource but coming to it cold it is a bit confusing.

[MagV4]

I see you have received good advice here to stay away from the SR. Was also my first heli I learned on and every heli I have flown since then is way better. The SR is trash.

I would buy a used Trex 450 to progress to and then put a scale body on that. A better choice is to put a scale body on a Trex 500. That class of heli has many scale bodies to chose from and it is a stable flying heli.

Good luck...

[nbells]

The SR if set up correctly will fly just as good as any other similar sized heli.

Its not meant for hard 3D action but will perform moderate loops, rolls, fly inverted if done correctly.

The problem with the SR is that's its old now and has been overtaken by other helis out there.

I still use my SR daily for practice as its so easy to fix and setup if things go wrong.
If you can get one cheap enough, then go for it but I would tend to advise you to try the 300x or similar.

[Kelvin S]

I just acquired an SR myself. After messing around with the mixing and gain pots I got it so it would fly OK. It's my first collective-pitch helicopter and I didn't find it to be all that different to fly than my little MSR that I've had for a few months.

I practiced hovering it in the basement and I've been outside with it a couple of times doing big right-hand circuits, it's about all I really have the nerve for at the moment. I don't think I have enough experience with helicopters to be able to tell a good one from a bad one, but the SR goes up and down and left and right and so on.

I think I would have been just as horrible at flying any other helicopter. It's so hard to tell when you're a beginner.

I put the belt-driven tail kit on it, which I suppose you won't be able to do if you convert it to a Huey.

I think that kit turns it into a reasonable helicopter. For me the advantage is that through crashing it a couple of times I've figured out how helicopters work and through installing the belt-driven tail I've learned all about how that part works too.

I'm not sure I wouldn't recommend it. If you're just learning you'll probably crash the heck out of whatever helicopter you get, so I wouldn't bother putting a nice body on it. If you already know how to fly pretty well, then I don't see why an SR wouldn't work if you want to put the Huey body on it, you'll probably just be doing scale type flying anyway, so I don't see why an SR with a decent pilot wouldn't do a good job. The low head speed and mushy controls might make it look more real in the air than it would zipping around like a 3d copter anyways.

The tail motor is kind of corny but I think they work out OK on the huey because they are mounted in a way that they are cooled by the rotor wash from the tail rotor.

There are plenty of people who like the SR. I would recommend if you want to use that body, put it on an SR but if you need to learn to fly helicopters first get another helicopter to practice on.

[fliermike]

The SR was my first CP heli. It taught be a lot........about fixing helis because it flew so poorly! As others have said, stay away from the SR. A nano is a great first CP heli, very crash resitant.

[nighttrain06]

The SR has it's good and bad points, it's all in what you want
out of it. But whatever you get just remember CP birds
Are more involved. If I were you I'd listen to what others have to
Say about any bird your thinking about. Research them all.
Learn how to fix it before you even buy one, or at least have a good
Idea how to. You know you better than anyone, know if you
Don't enjoy tinkering or do. Your patients level, just keep asking
yourself what would be right for you, as you get advise on different birds

[jcmors]

RC Heli technology has certainly come a very long way in a short period of time. I own 2 Blade SR UH-1 Hueys as I couldn't resist the second one when they went down to $99. I will say that ANY scale heli make for a bad first CP. The bodys are fragile to keep the weight down and inevitably you will likely crash. I learned CP flight on micros, Genius CP and MCPX. I still enjoy flying my Hueys. I don't think the SR is as horrible as it would appear.

That being said there are many newer, more capable and stable options available these days, though not for $129 RTF which seems to be the going price.

If you do decide to go with the SR fly it until you master it as an SR BEFORE installing the Huey body kit.

I am not aware of any heli that would make a good base for the SR Huey modification kit. Motor driven tails on a heli this size can be problematic. The 300x is roughly the same size but with a belt driven tail I'm not sure how you would handle the raised rotor mount.

If you like scale, there are great prices on the red bull version of the 130x.

All good options.

Jim

[Varc]

The SR was the bird that started the Blade series if I'm not mistaken, back then they were part of Eflite. It was a joke of a helicopter at the time and my Dad and I never liked it, we're both very impressed with how far Blade has come now. Yea, I'd stay away from the SR as well.
MCPX, NCPX, or even a 130x will be great beginners. 130x just sometimes can be finicky with the gear driven tails.

[Unsafeatanyspeed]

Heck yes stick with it. It's a fine bird. Any CP heli is hard to fly if youve never done it. One thing that helped me was a DX6i TX with negative expo. Yes, negative. It makes it far more responsive and you don't chase it around, you control it. Most of the SR haters are heavy 3D pilots. I really enjoy my SR and my SR Huey UH-1. Stick with it.

[Bladecpnitro]

I have over 450 flights on an SR and learned a lot on it but it doesn't fly well inverted and to be honest it needs the expensive all metal head and a belted tail with a good rudder servo and a good gyro to even put it in the ball park of being a decent dependable heli. By the time you do all that you could easily get the 300X and a DX6i.

Failing tail motors eventually cause uncontrolled piroing all the way to the crash site where you can expect to find broken blade grips, blades or center hub or rotor head or FB cage or bell hillers.

The reason I parked mine for good was because when I upped the head speed for better flipping I couldn't get the pitch to stop sticking even with new center hubs and rotor heads. The last time I flew mine it wouldn't lift then all the sudden sprung in the air 20 feet. Then when I finally got it to head back down it slammed into the ground breaking all my brand new head parts and that wrapped it up for me with the SR.

I use its ESC and RX to test motors with now.

Get the 300X its FBL and FBL rocks. It don't come with a TX but the stock SR radio is nothing to write home about.

Id get the 300x over the micros because micros have tail motors. You can learn a lot with micros though that you can't learn on sim because its real time flying.
You can hit throttle hold quick enough and let the Micro settlle to the grass, pick it up and go again. The 300 won't do that.

Good luck!

[nighttrain06]

Originally Posted by Bladecpnitro

I have over 450 flights on an SR and learned a lot on it but it doesn't fly well inverted and to be honest it needs the expensive all metal head and a belted tail with a good rudder servo and a good gyro to even put it in the ball park of being a decent dependable heli. By the time you do all that you could easily get the 300X and a DX6i.

Failing tail motors eventually cause uncontrolled piroing all the way to the crash site where you can expect to find broken blade grips, blades or center hub or rotor head or FB cage or bell hillers.

The reason I parked mine for good was because when I upped the head speed for better flipping I couldn't get the pitch to stop sticking even with new center hubs and rotor heads. The last time I flew mine it wouldn't lift then all the sudden sprung in the air 20 feet. Then when I finally got it to head back down it slammed into the ground breaking all my brand new head parts and that wrapped it up for me with the SR.

I use its ESC and RX to test motors with now.

Get the 300X its FBL and FBL rocks. It don't come with a TX but the stock SR radio is nothing to write home about.

Id get the 300x over the micros because micros have tail motors. You can learn a lot with micros though that you can't learn on sim because its real time flying.
You can hit throttle hold quick enough and let the Micro settlle to the grass, pick it up and go again. The 300 won't do that.

Good luck!

I have two SR's, the first one I bought brand new, burnt a tail motor out within 5 flights,
did a belt conversion, flies great now!
The second one I bought used, the guy I got it from had gotten it from a trade deal and
didn't know anything about em, when I got it, it had all metal head, and was I could tell crashed a lot....bound it to my DX6i. and right off throttle hold it would power up about 5%.
Had it hoover one time, then all the sudden it wouldn't lift off....you could hear the blades
making that sound they make (when flying past you) then after about the second try of getting it to lift off, it sure did....bang right into the ceiling of my garage! No warning, just
shot like a rocket straight up....

Do I hate the SR? no....but it can be quirky, like I said, belted one smooth as silk...
So the second one I am going through completely, and flipping the tail motor, have another
esc coming for the weird throttle off idle....put it back together see how it does.
Recommend to someone new, no....I wouldn't even recommend a 300, or the 200SRX
because if you have no experience at all, any heli is gonna cost you because your gonna
crash it. A sim or one of the cheap 4 ch heli's is what I'd say. because one should get their
orientations down pat before getting into anything that moves with any speed.