Blade 180 CFX (a Helicopter)

[Bravedan 106]

As distinct from the Blade 180 QX (a Multicopter)................... OOOOHH, there's going to be some disappointed people at Christmas getting the wrong one (I'd like a Blade 180 please) !!

 

This is the Blade 130x replacement. A phone call from TJD, and one has been added to the ever more bulging hangar (good job its small!!)

 

Its a little bigger (and only a little bigger!), has the new trend in servo placement (and they are "real" servos), and a round boom with shaft drive. The design looks basically good, but there's an extra pair of gears on the tail drive which any engineer will tell you is against basic principles of minimising fail/wear/friction points.

 

First thing that strikes on sight is that the twerp that thought silver and white on the canopy looked good and contrasted well should be shot. However, he should be hung upside down from some sensitive body part for a few days first after choosing a bright plain "grass" green to "go" with the silver/white. Boy is there ever going to be sales of after market canopies for this little beast! The "option" canopy Blade offer is not really any better either, only substituting orange for green.

 

I disliked it so much that I had to attack it even before I flew it!! Luckily I had some matching green and some orange vinyl to give some better and more easily orientated shape/tone, so for now it'll be perfectly at home in Ireland till I get a replacement that comes from someone who isn't colour blind and lives in an area with no grass.

 

Second thing is that the canopy comes FAR too close to the cyclic servo rods, right at the point where the ball joints end in a step to the smaller rod section...................you can see where this is going, can't you.............yes, the canopy can catch on the rod and stop smooth action...........excellent for a small fast responding 3D machine, that!! This DOES need doing BEFORE you crash it!! I used a hot soldering iron to mould two semi-circular recesses in the canopy edge, job done!

 

Thirdly, the EFlite batteries (one supplied, so that's 3 mins flying) are between £20-£25 each. They MUST be joking!!

Luckily, I already had some equivalent sized and proportioned HobbyKing Nano-Tech packs, bought for around £5 each.

 

This rip off first party pricing is the model equivalent of buying a printer and then the manufacturer stinging you for the ink cartridges!!

 

So, not up to much then, is it?? Well, wrong...................once you do put it into the air its immediately obvious its basically a great little flyer. Gave it a good first and second flight in my garden, which had a light but swirling breeze across it, and it flew well. This was with everything maxed and no expo, BTW.

 

The parakeets that inhabit my feeders seemed to approve, too, maybe its the matching green........I'd better change it before breeding season though.........

 

Is it worth replacing a 130X with it? That's to be determined..................more later as schools closed so no access to sports hall, its raining, and my dining room is a little small for 3D flight, esp with two fish tanks to burst!

[Gerard 10]

Dave,

 

As ever, thanks for the comprehensive information.

 

Although I am presently not a helicopter flyer I am always interested in learning more about any type of flying machines!

 

[Bravedan 106]

 

OK, so if you read the above, you will remember that I was less than complimentary about the std colour scheme chosen by Blade, and that I quickly applied some more colour, albeit grass green, so ultimately no good for outdoors.

 

Its been flown a few times now, Indoors and in my back garden, have not had the conditions available to me to bother taking it to the field. Even in the garden at relatively slow speed and no aeros it was obvious that the scheme was not helpful.

 

This is how it looked:-

 

 

And this is how it looks now:-

 

 

MicroHeli Canopy, U/c red metal supports, carbon legs, red metal boom grip, Carbon vertical fin and horizontal fin (the latter not fitted to a std 180CFX. Red is flouro, so its significantly more visible, now all I need is the weather.

 

[Bravedan 106]

 

Long interval, but as I'm sitting here with the chargers "battery watching"..............

 

There is no doubt at all that the 180CFX is a step up from the 130X. It's only a trifle bigger as the numbering suggests but just about every component is that little bit better made, from the short link "proper" servos to the meatier more accurately made tail drive.

 

Being more accurately made with less slop in all the actions, initially at least it may appear more nervous, a "bigger challenge" to fly.

 

It requires more careful set up as a result, as no slop and small size means the null control area is, at the supplied gyro strength, tiny and harder to find.

 

The 130X acted bigger than its actual size as its various control inks gave a measure of stability though "damping". The 180CFX acts its size! Yes, you can reduce rates and damp out the most "active" actions, but IMO that's defeating the object, and persistence in handling it "as is" will pay off.

 

Have to admit that owning far too many Heli's than is sensible, from large 90 powered through to the tiny "nano", it took me longer than expected to find its sweet spot. Its there though, and once found, it's a very nice little machine that at its higher rates gives your reactions a good workout, making it fun to fly and very satisfying to fly well.