So I finally bought my E-Flite Blade CP...

[Celsian]

I've had my Blade for about 2 months now and have been doing my best to prep it in my spare time. Let me start by saying what a wonderful and forgiving heli, a great learning chopper and plenty of potential! Anyways, on to my question...

Since this is my first heli I've taken as much time as I can to really follow the manual to the T. I've performed all the "first flight" instructions several times, however, once I finally took her outside and lifted off I nearly lost my pants in amazement as she began to spin in circles! I immediately set her down and she took a beating to the main blades at very low RPMS. The blades are fine and after looking over the manual I realized my proportional must be off. I re-adjusted the main blades as they had gone "out of track" and began working on the proportional.

I've been working on the proportional for about a month and a half now and I can't get it right to save my life! I've tried everything! My question is: is it actually the proportional? or is there some other setting I should check?



Edit: Remember, since you have rev-mix turned off, in normal mode the model will react to changes in torque. Any time you add power the nose will want to go left and any time you reduce power, it will want to go right. Make your adjustments in a solid hover only.
How crucial is that last statement for an electric? Also, should I be in collective mode or normal mode? I prefer not to use Collective right now as I am an extremely noobie pilot and I like to be able to chop the throttle whenever I want. Is it better to practice in collective mode or normal mode?

[ProFlight]

Although I don't have a Blade - I have an Esky Honey Bee CP2 - you sound as if you are going through some things that I did when I first set mine up. One thing you might try, before you adjust your proportional setting is to make sure the little silicone retaining tube is tight against your tail rotor blade and that the tail rotor is pushed in to make a good tight fit in to the gear. If the tail rotor blade is not stuck in the gear tightly then you will a hard time setting your proportional.

Once you get the tail rotor set, try to get the heli light on its skids and notice which way the tail is pushing (with the tail facing you). If the tail pushes to the left, then the proportional needs to be decreased (-) because the tail rotor is spinning at too high RMP. If the tail is pushing to the right then increase (+) the proportional setting to increase the RPM of the tail rotor. This will counteract the torque produced by the main rotor. You may have to fine tune the proportional by setting your rudder trim to make small adjustments. Any time you strick the tail rotor on the ground, just stop the heli and push everything back in tight and you're good to go.

It is easiest, when starting out and just learning to hover, to not have the idle up switch engaged. Just practice in "normal" mode. I'm assuming that you are using the Tx that came with the heli and the idle up switch should be pushed back towards the radios back side. Always check this switch before plugging in your battery making sure it is in normal mode.

Hope this helps and good luck!

[Celsian]

Thanks a lot proflight, I'm heading over to my school's gym tomorrow, I'll let you know what happens!

[ProFlight]

It may take you several flights (getting the heli light on its skids) to get this set. Just be patient with it and it'll happen. It will be helpful to have more than one battery pack as one pack will deplete pretty quickly as it seems.

Another helpful suggestion is, at the beginning, do not try to get the heli too high off the ground (floor) or you will increase your chances of an unwanted mishap. You will get to hovering allot quicker (and keep your heli in one piece) if you'll just take your time and keep the heli light on the skids for a while until you are used to making the correct inputs. In time you will be able to get the heli up to where you are actually holding it in a hover. Even then try to keep it within a foot off the ground (floor) just in case you have to set it down.

The micro helis are a real blast to learn on. If you take your time with it, you will be able to learn a great deal on it and it will last for quite a while. But no matter how patient or careful, you will have your mishaps. It's a good idea to purchase extra parts and to have them on hand unless you can get them readily from you LHS. Parts like, extra set of skids, tail rotor gear and blade, main blades, flybar and paddles and maybe an extra main & tail motor, etc. Another thing that you will want to get, if you haven't already, is heat sinks for your main & tail motor. These are very inexpensive and will help you get longer life out of your motors. The nice thing about the extra parts is that they are generally pretty cheap and doesn't cost an arm and a leg to keep them on hand.

[Bayou Talker]

One other thing to check is the spindle shaft, the shaft connecting the two blade grips, to make sure it is not bent. You said that the blades had gone "out of track" and a bent spindle could account for this. I have bent mine twice now and it does make the heli hard to control. This shaft is very easy to bend and it does not take a very hard hit to bend it. To check it, remove one blade from the grip and using an allen wrench turn the spindle shaft slowly. If the remaining blade wobbles, then the spindle is bent and needs to be replaced. You should be able to turn the shaft and the other blade remain straight. After that, follow Proflight's advice to set the proportional.

Good luck.

[Celsian]

Well I've determined I need to replace the spindle shaft, I'm heading down to my local HS today to pick up a new one, however, I can't find any instructions online or otherwise on how to replace it. Keep in mind this heli is an RTF so I have no experience whatsoever past replacing the blades on taking this bad boy apart. Can anyone give me a link to a site that has instructions or suggestions on how to replace it? Thank you!

[Bayou Talker]

It is very easy.

1. Remove both blades.
2. Remove the screw holding the blade grips on to the spindle. (only one side will come off)
3 Remove the blade grip from that side.
4. Pull the other blade grip with the spindle attached out of the head. (watch for the 2 washers between the grip and the head. They only go on in one direction.)
5. Remove the other screw from the spindle and discard the bent spindle.
6. Re-install in the reverse order using a very small amount of blue locktite on the screws.

This should take about 15 minutes or so. After replacing the blades, make sure to re-set your blade tracking. Then take the other advise above on how to set your proportional.

Good luck

[Celsian]

Wow thank you everyone for your help. I realized I should start by replacing my blades... after a few crashes at my house they were in bad shape. I ran down to California Hobbies, the ONLY hobby shop near UCSB = ( and luckily they had the Blade CP blades. Installed them yesterday and headed over to the abandoned gym...

What a great time. After making a few minor adjustments and tracking the blades I was in the air for 5-10 minutes and felt IN control. Thanks to all of you for your help and thank you to whoever suggested I start with RealFlight G3!

While I'm still not sure if the spindle is bent or not I'll be checking that during my next flight.

[n5iln]

If you were able to get in the air and stay there for more than about 15 seconds, chances are your spindle shaft's still straight. It's amazing how badly one little ding in a main blade can affect the aircraft, isn't it?

I wonder if I can get main blades for my CP by the case...?

[Celsian]

haha! Seriously! Anyways, the Gym seems to be a very nice place to fly. There's plenty of room and nothing on that nice slick floor to flip your heli over! I was very timid before because I didnt want that to happen, but getting light on the skids doesn't teach you anything, you've gotta get off the ground!

[n5iln]

I wish I had a gym available to fly in...as it is I'm in a fairly large kitchen, tile floors so things slide nicely. And it's definitely teaching me to keep the excursions small! I'm rather satisfied at the moment, I flew two batteries' worth today and only took the covering off the tip of one blade. (It's an improvement, trust me!)

On the topic of the original post...the proportional mix seems to be very sensitive to adjustments, and will only be an approximation at best, since torque effects change with head speed and head speed slows as the battery depletes. That's how I know it's time to land and recharge, I have to add more and more right tail rotor to keep the bird steady.