Blade Red Bull BO-105 (130x based)

[Bravedan 106]

Firstly, if anyone is fancying one of these just released in the UK, I suggest (at least for now) you cease to!

 

Read up on Heliaddict and elsewhere if you want detail, but briefly:-

 

If you thought 130x's MCPX's and Nano's prone to topple their gyros and roll over on spool up....................you ain't seen nuffin yet brother!!! (even the manual suggests its a "feature"!!!) Forget scale type take offs, this one needs rocket boosters.

 

and

 

They add more tail complexity, friction, weight and loading, yet do not fit a metal tail gear part they already have available as an "upgrade" which was actually introduced as a result of many many people having stripping/premature wear out issues with the standard plastic 130x product!

 

 

 

Looks 100%, flies perfectly OK once in air (but only briefly).

 

Two careful "circuits only" flights and mine is grounded waiting a metal gear replacement which will be harder to fit with the body than a std 130x. Two others I know of didn't even get airborne before gear failures!

 

NOT GOOD ENOUGH, HORIZON HOBBIES!!!

[Bravedan 106]

Well, the metal gear came quickly (Thanks to Midland Helicopters).

 

Removing and refitting the body wasn't too bad. Its actually quite well fitted and easy to relocate.

 

Extracting and replacing the gear from the 130x chassis was the usual awkward but OK job IF you know the trick to getting it past the jamming point and into alignment.

 

Went to an Indoor last night, to find THREE other pretty experienced heli flyers who bought pre-order have taken theirs back to the shop in disgust.

 

I flew mine four times, and they said mine was the oddity in that it does fly OK. This however is only once you have managed to get it past the extremely random direction violent strength gyro topple on spool up and lift off.

 

It survived last night purely as the floor was smooth and polished, and when it tipped over violently into unavoidable blade strike while getting it off the ground the blades skidded. On grass that would have been a grab and damage would have resulted!

 

Major issues are:-

 

1. Extreme AS3X Gyro induced topple while on ground.

2. Inadequate No1 tail gear strength forcing fitting metal gear they had available but didn't fit.

3. Power lead too short, extremely awkward to connect battery.

4. Hinged battery lid does not self sustain open, making battery changing even more difficult.

5. Moulded door handles and wiper blades do little for appearance yet get in the way of using it.

6. Battery duration with supplied product is too short.

 

 

Cannot recommend this product at all!!!! Mine will also now be returned to HH.

[Bravedan 106]

Updating this, HH sent another new BO-105.

 

Seems it was straight from stock and untested. My metal gear not fitted nor supplied back.

 

This one flies far worse that the first, the AS3X spool up toppling being just bad, and worse, this one even from first spin up hand held sounds like a bag of nails, in the air it is extremely rough. Sounds like tail drive failure is imminent, so no way have I attempted anything more than simple circuits and eights, and even that is while waiting for the bang and scattering bits......!

 

I am sending it back this week with a letter as per EMail already sent advising that I expect them to supply a properly working product, fitted with a metal No1 tail drive gear, test flown and approved by them as fit for purpose advertised (i.e. capable to reliably completing the full size red bull aerobatic schedule).

 

I and a couple of other experienced RC Heli pilots will then test and report to forums result.

[Bravedan 106]

Long time since I have posted re this Heli.

 

Facts are, its still going, is unbroken apart from the wiper blades that threw off and were lost on day one, and the atrocious "throwover" tendency has reduced with time flown. It is flown at least once per week, indoor and outdoor. No, its not me thats improved, its the Heli!!

 

Now? Well it sounds like a real bag of nails beign rattled when spooling up, but the gyros are not toppling it anything like as violently and sometimes for several flights it behaves in ground handling exactly as it should.

 

The bad news (coming?) is that the tail drive is now so loose that I can turn the tail rotor an enormous amount while holding the drive gear steady. Feels rough, too.

 

Do I strip it and repair, only I expect to get the "throwover" back, or continue till something fails and I probably lose the tail while in the air? Answers on a postcard please, to.................

[Martin 0]

Do you think that the sloppiness of the tail gear is the only thing preventing the gyro from crashing it for you?

 

Martin

[Bravedan 106]

Do you think that the sloppiness of the tail gear is the only thing preventing the gyro from crashing it for you?

 

Martin

 

Very good question.........

 

ALL the models I have had (this is the third replacement!) exhibited this violent gyro induced instability when at transition to lift off........except when (for some unknown reason) they would suddenly and randomly sound "rough", and behave totally stably through lift off. At all times the in air performance was unaffected and satisfactory.

 

Now its rough ALL the time, but for how long?

[Bravedan 106]

Well, the answer to the question above, was............quite a bit more flying really.

 

What eventually happened was that the tail authority went increasingly erratic. Finally stripping it down, I found that the large front tail drive gear had simply worn away, virtually no teeth left, only driving through friction really, and so was slipping.

 

Of course, I would not have left a bigger Heli that long before stripping it down.