blade cp pro as first r/c heli for my brother

[dm_hawk]

i've read all over the internet that the blade cp and cp pro are difficult (yet possible) to master for beginners. my brother has about 16 yrs experience with r/c cars and boats, he's also EXTREMELY mechanically inclined (like, rebuilt-a-vw-engine-by-himself-in-24hrs-at-the-age-of-15 mechanically-inclined). i think he'll be up to the task, but as i have zero experience with r/c's, any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

also, i notice there is a crash kit sold for the blade cp - can this also be used by the cp pro, or is there a different one for the cp pro, if at all? if there isn't a pre-packaged crash kit available for the cp pro, which spare parts should i include to ready him for his first crash (or 2, or 5)?

thanks in advance for your help...

[Danyboy]

howdy, Hawk!

I happen to have started my *real* Heli-carreer with the Blade...
(I had some battery-charges of hovering with the Zoom under the belt, but could not move on to ff due to interference from within the transmitter...)

I can recommend it indeed, maybe I can give you some tips:

For beginners, I recommend to remove the symmetrical blades and get an additional pair of profiled ones, the Blade's handling will get smoother, less agile.

For the first step, move the z-bend-rod on the Servos from the outermost position to the middle one. If you attach the training-gear then, it's perfect to start to learn how to hover. Though keep in mind, with the Servo's in that positions, it is almost no good to do anything else than hover... So keep patient, learn to hover before attempting to do anything else.
If hover is ok, say you can stay easely within a square of 3x3feet, you can put the rods again in the original position (outermost), and learn again, how to hover. You will need to, because it will be much more agile in that (original) configuration...
If you're fine again with the square, you're good to do some slow forward-flight and then continue further on.
The good thing on the profiled blades for fff is not the handling-characteristics (though its a welcomed side-effect for a beginner), but the sound... Do some sharp turns with the symetrics and profiled, and you know, what I'm getting excited about on the profiled ones... :glasses2:

A word of warning:
Do *not* try any aerobatic stuff that requires inverted flight while still on the asymetric blades. If you're at that point where you want to go ballistic, switch over to the symmetrical blades, get aquanted with the somewhat crisper handling, and then go do what you gotta do... ;)

I personally recommend to keep the training-gear on for the first forward-flights even if you feel that you don't need them: They will add further stability and help greatly to see the model's orientation...

The good thing on the blade: It's not so much money to invest, compared with bigger babies, and when getting fed up with it - you won't... ;) - it is easily sold on ebay for what's still going as a "ok price", so not everything is lost...
Another good thing: If you want to grow further in your abilities, but feel inhibited by the model, you can pimp it... It is designed to do that... ;)

In other words: Considering what I've heard about Dragonflyers and other "rotorcraft" of that size, the blade IMHO is the best thing money buys RTF...

Many happy landings! :)

[dm_hawk]

Thanks for your response - it 's very helpful

a few questions...


For beginners, I recommend to remove the symmetrical blades and get an additional pair of profiled ones, the Blade's handling will get smoother, less agile.


how do i know which ones to get? do i go by brand, measurement, model, or ??


For the first step, move the z-bend-rod on the Servos from the outermost position to the middle one. If you attach the training-gear then, it's perfect to start to learn how to hover.

Will the training gear for the blade cp work? It's Product Code: EFLH1128

[Danyboy]

On topic of the blades (for the blade :cool: ) ...

EFlite has them in their product lineup, but only under the "normal" Blade...
Difference that you can see is the blade tip. While the symetrical is nicely rounded, the profiled one looks like just sawed off a longer profile and then sanded flush..
Description: "Flat Bottom Main Blade Set: BCP"
Product Code: "EFLH1147A"
Price: $14.99

Talking on the training gear, I think it's safe to say, that almost every training gear works... ;)
The bigger the safer, the lighter the better...
As long as it's made of carbon (and most likely attached ping-pong-balls), and the rods are at least the same size than the rotor diameter - or bigger - , than you should be a happy camper...
My hobbyshop has the ones from EFlite and some custom made without any fancy plastic-clips or some colorized logo: The custom ones are same size, but cheaper (not much though)...
Custom ones have to be installed with cable-ties, EFlites can be cliped on...
Since the landing-skids are the same on Blade and BladePro, the ones from EFlite that you mention should work...

Sincerely,

Daniel

[dm_hawk]

ok, cool... so it looks like i could get the Blade CP PRO with

-Blade CP training gear Product Code: EFLH1128
-2 Blade CP crash kits: Product Code: EFLH1169 (Includes Flat Bottom Main Blade Set, Flybar, Tail Rotor Blade and Landing Skid Set)

and these will fit on the Blade CP PRO, correct?

[Danyboy]

I cannot confirm on the flybar and landing skid, but the rest should definitely work.

Flybar most likely as well, Landing-Skid I'm not sure... Friend of mine has the Blade, and I remember his skids being somewhat different in installation...

Anyone got further/preciser information?

Cheers,

Daniel

[tonyxcom]

the flybar and landing skids are the same between the Blade and Blade Pro.

Having just gone down this road a few weeks ago with my first copter being the Pro, ill share my insite.

Just get one crash kit. It has the flatbottom blades in it already. ( I haven't used anything from mine except the blades.)
Then get him the training gear.
Then get him a main shaft and gear, its like 6 bux.
Then get him an extra battery (30-40 bux)
And ANOTHER set of flatbottoms wont hurt either.

For the first few battery packs, dont even try to get off the ground.
Just spool it up until it wants to slide, then practice keeping it in one spot with the tail facing you.
Then try moving in squares.
Then slowly increase throttle so it's barely off the ground.
Do the same thing.
Just repeat the process, and you should be hovering a foot or so off the ground after 5-10 charges and hopefully not even have broken anything.

I broke 2 sets of blades on my first charge because I tried to do too much too soon.

[dm_hawk]

Thanks again for the help! I bought one (w/ training gear) from readyheli.com today. I spoke to John on the phone - he's really cool. It was a great deal, too - $240 w/ free priority shipping.

I think my brother will pick it up quickly, assuming he doesn't start his training with inverted stalls, or try to mount a miniature flamethrower on it. I'm sure you all will be hearing from him soon.

[zooland1]

Check out "Radd's school of rotary flight". It takes you very slowly through ten battery charges one step at a time. By the time he gets through the training, he will be able to fly without worrying about crashes unless he does something by accident (which we all do from time to time). Another thing that will help emensely is a good simulator.

Patience is key. Also pump into his head that very little stick movement is required. And I mean very little. With planes and boats, if you want to turn left, you throw the stick left until you make your turn. With heli's, you move the stick 1/8th inch or less, then back to the right immediately. Also, heli's are "flown" with constant minor correction all the time you're flying, very different from anything else. But once you learn to fly this thing, everything else is boring..