Under Appreciated and Extinct already

[ShaneJourdan]

So for the past three years plus I have been developing my flavor / concoction of the Blade 450X.

It was a great bind and fly heli out of the box. with only a few problems... like a BAD motor, cyclic servos, esc, tail servo, tail grips and a funky FBL controller.

Other than that it had a great flexible $7.00 plastic frame that flexed to all get out and if you crashed would break the tangs off so you had to replace frame to have landing gear again.

It was also a bit short; needed a stretch to run a decent set of blades, that required some stiff bracing courtesy of KDE.

However it was Luca over at Lynx that had the best innovations for real performance gains rather than bling.

But just as I get this heli working so great it unreal, Luca drops out moving where the money is and now this is a obsolete heli, next few crashes and all the parts will be gone.

So sad, just love this heli

[907Heli]

Cool heli bud. I too started with the blade line and thought I had a bad ass heli until I got a Warp 360, and now an X3L.

[ShaneJourdan]

I totally get what you're saying, the crazy thing is. I have tons of exposure to lots of great high end helis and yes they work great, I have some too

But what I'm saying is, once you get the geometry perfect and spend silly money, and it all about the controller anyway.... on a throw away bird you can come dang close to the performance of a high end bird like yours.

but I get it for sure... lol

[BrokeDad]

I don't mind end of life stuff. It lets us new folks pick up stuff super cheap. I just got a 450X and have been enjoying it. It's not modified a lot or stretched but a good flyer and beater. Funny some of the things you mentioned it needing are what has been changed. I will be trying some new electronics on it even though it flies fine with the old stuff just to learn FBL's. I can always move them to something else.
For the price of one crash repair on something newer it was well worth the investment.

[TheBum]

I have the same feelings about the DT helis, particularly the 520. There was nothing like it. I have yet to find a heli in the same class that can succeed it, so I'll keep flying mine until the parts are no longer available.

[Heli.Maniac]

I still sport my good old 450X and enjoy every flight, although mine is far from stock. All electronics have been upgraded and I also have an RJX head on it along with Align's upgraded spindle that uses bigger bolts to prevent snapping (it happened 2 times on me on stock Blade head). Thing with this heli is that it is so light that it can really move very fast even on 3S and 325mm blades. Unfortunately it is discontinued and Lynx has stopped producing upgrades. As long as I can find parts for it though, I will continue to enjoy smacking it around

[ShaneJourdan]

That is one of the great features... even though mine is not as lite as some it's still extremely lite and powerful on 3S. It's a screamer!! for sure with 360mm blades.

[Mark Ball]

A lot of parts for the 450x will live on thru the 360 and 270cfx.

[crashcopterman]

Originally Posted by TheBum

I have the same feelings about the DT helis, particularly the 520. There was nothing like it. I have yet to find a heli in the same class that can succeed it, so I'll keep flying mine until the parts are no longer available.

Sounds like my 550X, still the favorite in my fleet!!

Steve

[Solmanbandit]

To be honest, what I see here is that you are spending a lot of time and money into something that isn't great. As the saying goes, you can polish a turd, but still a turd. Been there, done that! I have done the same thing to a 130X that I won in a raffle and in the end, still a turd. Get yourself a good heli and you will have one better out of the box than a highly upgraded cheap heli. I did the same thing with a 600 clone. I also had a blade 400 and when I switched to the Trex 450 Pro, out of the box, it was so much better than my upgraded blade 400.

[PTFlyer]

I think what he was getting at was he put all these Lynx upgrades on a heli and now lynx is not supporting them with replacement parts...so once he damages something on one of those parts the part will become useless...


It's a lynx thing

[ShaneJourdan]

Originally Posted by Mark Ball

A lot of parts for the 450x will live on thru the 360 and 270cfx.

Interesting, i just googled blade 360... I had no idea, will my tail and landing gear fit?

be kind of worth buying just a frame?

[ShaneJourdan]

Originally Posted by Solmanbandit

To be honest, what I see here is that you are spending a lot of time and money into something that isn't great. As the saying goes, you can polish a turd, but still a turd. Been there, done that! I have done the same thing to a 130X that I won in a raffle and in the end, still a turd. Get yourself a good heli and you will have one better out of the box than a highly upgraded cheap heli. I did the same thing with a 600 clone. I also had a blade 400 and when I switched to the Trex 450 Pro, out of the box, it was so much better than my upgraded blade 400.

the difference is it is GREAT!! I have been through all the bling micros...lol

that's the whole point, it actually is great brother. and just to be fair, your statement is SO TRUE for most everything but once in a while one sticks out.

[Mike680]

Originally Posted by ShaneJourdan

But just as I get this heli working so great it unreal, Luca drops out moving where the money is and now this is a obsolete heli, next few crashes and all the parts will be gone.

You just noticed this? Lynx parts for the 450X have been gone for a long time. Shame as I like my Lynx framed 450X, but it's getting stripped of electronics and going in the trash after a crash takes out the frame. No way am I rebuilding it back up on a crappy stock plastic frame.

[Mike680]

Originally Posted by PTFlyer

I think what he was getting at was he put all these Lynx upgrades on a heli and now lynx is not supporting them with replacement parts...so once he damages something on one of those parts the part will become useless...


It's a lynx thing

Exactly and it has me really sketchy buying any more Lynx parts for helis they don't make. I loved their parts, but I don't want to get "hooked" on them anymore only to find out I can't get them in the future. I had a hell of a time finding a simple Lynx boom clamp for my X3 and that heli isn't even discontinued. I finally found one from a shop in Hong Kong it was the last one they had and in red, which is not the color I wanted but, oh well. All of Lynx's efforts now appear to be going into their own homegrown OXY helis and, now, their ZAP quads. I understand it, but I still don't like it. I'll stick with quality helis in the future where the stock parts don't need upgrading.

[ShaneJourdan]

Originally Posted by Mike680

You just noticed this? Lynx parts for the 450X have been gone for a long time. Shame as I like my Lynx framed 450X, but it's getting stripped of electronics and going in the trash after a crash takes out the frame. No way am I rebuilding it back up on a crappy stock plastic frame.

I buy extras...lol

[Mike680]

Originally Posted by ShaneJourdan

Interesting, i just googled blade 360... I had no idea, will my tail and landing gear fit?

be kind of worth buying just a frame?

You'd need other tail parts, too, like the front pulley which requires the associated maingear/auto hub, longer boom, belt, tail pushrod, etc. But, yes, the stock tail grips, bearings, hub, etc and tail gear box is all the same as the 450X. The landing skids are a direct fit and the same exact part number. As for the tail, the tail fin (carbon) and tail blades are different on the 360CFX. Oh, and you might need a new mainshaft, too, which would require a new swash/head if the 360CFX mainshaft is larger in diameter, which I think it is. It's not as simple as only a frame swap.

[ShaneJourdan]

Originally Posted by Mike680

Exactly and it has me really sketchy buying any more Lynx parts for helis they don't make. I loved their parts, but I don't want to get "hooked" on them anymore only to find out I can't get them in the future. I had a hell of a time finding a simple Lynx boom clamp for my X3 and that heli isn't even discontinued. I finally found one from a shop in Hong Kong it was the last one they had and in red, which is not the color I wanted but, oh well. All of Lynx's efforts now appear to be going into their own homegrown OXY helis and, now, their ZAP quads. I understand it, but I still don't like it. I'll stick with quality helis in the future where the stock parts don't need upgrading.

I feel exactly the same way. I think this holds true at some point for all helicopter models regardless, just lynx has changed their business focus and left a few people hanging.

[Mike680]

Originally Posted by ShaneJourdan

I feel exactly the same way. I think this holds true at some point for all helicopter models regardless, just lynx has changed their business focus and left a few people hanging.

Definitely. Had I known this, I would have bought three Lynx frames. The one I have is like night and day compared to flying the stock frame. It's that much better. But, a great heli will earn its place in Valhalla once the Lynx frame gets killed because you can't find a Lynx frame anywhere and it's been like that for a long time. I'll drink to its honor when it's gone.

[ShaneJourdan]

Originally Posted by Mike680

You'd need other tail parts, too, like the front pulley which requires the associated maingear/auto hub, longer boom, belt, tail pushrod, etc. But, yes, the stock tail grips, bearings, hub, etc and tail gear box is all the same as the 450X. The landing skids are a direct fit and the same exact part number. As for the tail, the tail fin (carbon) and tail blades are different on the 360CFX. Oh, and you might need a new mainshaft, too, which would require a new swash/head if the 360CFX mainshaft is larger in diameter, which I think it is. It's not as simple as only a frame swap.

Yeah, turns into another money pit, so after this a "REAL" 360mm in my future I guess.