Blade 300 CFX Review Coming Soon

[KiloXray]

Originally Posted by Metroart

$400 will get you several 450 size helis.

Huh? Are we talking Walkeras? Where can I get "several 450 size helis" of any sort of quality for $400?

[thruster]

Originally Posted by KiloXray

Huh? Are we talking Walkeras? Where can I get "several 450 size helis" of any sort of quality for $400?

There are two t-rex FBL 450 Plus dfc B-N-F models and the blade 450x for less than $400 at Amain Hobbies. Anyone with an account gets these prices. The account is free....just sign up and log in. Otherwise you will see a slightly higher price.

[KiloXray]

I understand that that $400 will get you one of several different 450 class helis.

It won't get you several 450 class helis.

Thanks for the Amain pricing tip. Not exactly news.

If Amain sells this 300CFX at the same $250 price tag, THAT would be news. And maybe even worth a new 300X customer getting into.

[Uriah]

Originally Posted by KiloXray

Huh? Are we talking Walkeras? Where can I get "several 450 size helis" of any sort of quality for $400?

I have a flying buddy in the area that recently bought a brand-new Esky D700 3G for $200. It came with a battery, charger, and was pre-assembled in the box with everything but a FBL system. He stuck a used 3GX he paid $50 for in it and let me set everything up. So he basically got a 450 size bird for $250. A lot of the parts on the D700 3G are apparently interchangeable with the 450X (grips, feathering shaft, tail parts, etc.). It has a better frame and better servo options/placement than the 450X. Sadly, the servos are about the same quality as the E-flight DS76 servos, and his aileron servo took a dump somewhere around his 20th flight, but with only minor damage to the bird. I would consider the D700 3G a better bird than the 450X, but it's a pity that parts for it are hard to get.

Edit: You can now get the D700 3G for $159.

[thruster]

Originally Posted by Uriah

Edit: You can now get the D700 3G for $159.

I've seen that one on X-heli. Thought of trying it with a cheap FBL controller. If Helidirect had it and parts it would interest me.....but not impressed with x-heli.

[Metroart]

Originally Posted by KiloXray

Huh? Are we talking Walkeras? Where can I get "several 450 size helis" of any sort of quality for $400?

The Blade 450Xs can be purchased from A Main and Ultimate for under $400. Have been available for over a year at that price.

[KiloXray]

Originally Posted by Metroart

The Blade 450Xs can be purchased from A Main and Ultimate for under $400. Have been available for over a year at that price.

Guess you missed the point. And the following posts.

[Metroart]

Originally Posted by KiloXray

Guess you missed the point. And the following posts.

Guess I did.

[Uriah]

Originally Posted by Metroart

Guess I did.

The goal of the posts was to see if we could build at least TWO complete collective pitch 450s for under $400. We came out $50-$100 over budget, so ultimately it's not possible at this time without buying used.

[Chris Reibert]

Originally Posted by Uriah

The second photo of those last 3 you posted is the best reflection one (even better than the one you posted before that), because the rotor disk isn't square with the tail boom, the reflection is complete, and you can see the ripples in the water from the blade wash. So if your magazine review has lots of pics in it and you want a water reflection one, I recommend you use the second one from your last post.

I agree!

[ToddMcF2002]

I'm buying it - but I don't own a 300x today so I can appreciate others not buying it due to the marginal difference. The LHS support for it makes it a no brainer for me. The tail components look like they will need an upgrade and I wonder if the stiffer frame will keep the main shaft from developing slop in the bolt holes (and snapping). The servos should be fine for an intermediate pilot like myself. If I get better and stress the 300 more I'll upgrade to DFC and metal gear servos.

I think Blade realizes there is a relatively constant stream of pilots progressing throughout the product line. Those who already progressed to the 300x or 450x probably aren't the target market.

[Chris Reibert]

Yes for the present 300 X owners spending $400 on the same Heli with some upgrades may be goofy.
For a new guy getting into their first collective pitch 3D Heli I highly recommend it. The electronics are entry level but I've had 7 300's now if you count the CFX and I've never had an issue. I fly pretty hard and fly in all types of temps and climates.

Would have been nice though to see metal servo gears and an included battery though...!

[Uriah]

Holy poopie I didn't realize the CFX wouldn't even include a battery like the X model did! That makes that $400 price point even less alluring...

It looks like the CFX is perfect little bird when it comes to the overall design and engineering, but Blade desperately needs to improve on their servos and motor selection. The 25A ESC is fine - I've never had an issue with the ESC. I swear by the TGY-211 and TGY-212 servos, but I'm going to venture out into some of the cheaper servos that other companies offer (such as the actual $5 HK servos), to see if I can find some really cheap $5-10 alternatives for future 300X/CFX buyers to consider that will be an improvement in the reliability department. Maybe one of these days E-flight will come out with a new mini servo selection. I honestly don't mind the plastic gears in the DS76 servos, I just hate having a servo lock up and die on me for no reason.

[Chris Reibert]

Ya I know it's stinky...
Seems Horizon is going the "basic" with all their planes and helis now.
It makes sense as we all have are own favorite batteries and chargers we use but you would think the cost would come down a bit.

[DoubleCH]

Originally Posted by Uriah

but I'm going to venture out into some of the cheaper servos that other companies offer (such as the actual $5 HK servos), to see if I can find some really cheap $5-10 alternatives for future 300X/CFX buyers to consider that will be an improvement in the reliability department.

Exactly! No need to search. Corona 918MP if you don't mind plastic gear and Corona 919MG if you want metal gear. They both run the exact same fast gear ratios you can even swap broken plastic gear in 918 with metal counterpart in 919. They are digital servos and can run the highest frequency with BeastX. It's all well documented in my flight log thread. If HK can sell Corona 918MP servo for $4.45 to the public, I don't see why Blade cannot use the same cheap servos and make the same crazy markup, unless like I said if Blade has already signed up crappy deals with the supplier of the crappy stock servos for life.

I honestly don't mind the plastic gears in the DS76 servos, I just hate having a servo lock up and die on me for no reason.

Exactly! I didn't mind plastic gear at 1st thinking I could just keep replacing stripped gears for $4 a set. As I've said many times, that is not the problem. The problem is bad servos out of the box, bad servos that will cause BX to freak out, bad servos that will lock up no fault of your own. It doesn't matter you're a beginner pilot or not. A crappy servo bad out of the box treats every pilot the same way. Same goes for the crappy stock motor bad out of the box.

I have no problem Blade try to make the 300X a professional version and jack up the price even though I still enjoy all my home-made mods. I have problem with Blade trying to sell that with time-bomb electronics and still no OWB (which I think greatly helps prevent mainshaft snap issue which I've never had over 1500+ flights on stock frame and only home-made frame stiffener). Would you go buy a Ferrari with bicycle tires?

[Chris Reibert]

Getting in some chilly spring flights! Batteries discharged.... Fun times with the backyard basher!
28 flawless flights to date. I know some people have issues or dislikes for the 300 but I love it!
It's my stress reliever and let's me just unwind and try new stuff. It's my real life Sim!



11 Flights today!



Having some fun in my parents backyard

[ame]http://youtu.be/CDvjiZBwm4E[/ame]

[Chris Reibert]

After almost 30 flawless flights on the upcoming Blade 300 CFX I put her in inverted and stripped out all of the cyclic servos. As a student training machine I'm not looking to rebuild servo gears all season so I searched and found a great 1 for 1 metal geared servo replacement. The Hitec HS5055's are the perfect MG drop in. Plus you can buy them from HH for $18 each

Here are all the pictures from the servo install on my Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...4005812&type=3

[Uriah]

It's a pity that the stock 300 CFX doesn't come with the Hitecs. That'd be awesome to see Hitec and Horizon Hobby in some sort of simple partnership (like "Hey! We'd like to use your servos; cut us a deal"). The blue servo cases of the Hitecs do look kind of cool on the CFX. The CNC aluminum and blue just have a spiffy high tech look (pun intended).

[HeliAxe]

Nice servos Chris. Did you replace the stock tail servo while you were at it. If so what model servo did you or would you go for?

[chris-nc]

Also, the nice part about those servos (5055mg's) is that if you have the digital servo tester/programmer (HP-21 if I remember correctly), you can change the direction, and program them to a perfect center right from your computer. I had them on a previous heli and really liked them.