CPPRO-I've had enough$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[joehelicopter]

OK My helifreak bros---here's what it has cost me since October 2006 to come back to the Hobby flying the CPPRO---


Kit-- $249.00
10 sets CF blades $390.00
10 main gears 70.00
10 tail booms 60.00
DX7 $349.00 (to replace the pos eflite radio)
15 ea. tail motors $ 135.00
Frames-3ea $ 20.00
Aluminum Swash $ 35.00
Servos-10 ea $ 130.00
Misc Carbon fibre $ 50.00
skids & legs $ 50.00
pinions $ 20.00
Canopys $ 52.00
Flybars & paddles $who knows:confused:
pitch links etc $who knows:arggg:
Batteries 5ea @$37 $ 185.00
370 motors 2ea $ 100.00
motor adaptors $12.00
woodie blades $ 40.00
esc 20 amp 2ea
6 3 in 1 units
freight and repair costs
Theres more but I am sick of typing this depressing crap:soapbox
MY ADVICE......stay away from it
400 flights
100 crashes
75% of crashes caused buy bad equipment
25% of crashes caused by dumb thumbs
I could have put two Trex 600s in the air for this money-:arggg:

[DebianDog]

:lolol

[borocouncilman]

I feel your pain.
(see my trail of tears post: http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=42820)

That said, per your numbers...
When you look at your total expenses over the number of crashes, you're running under $20 crash. That's not abnormally high and you've managed to do some serious upgrades along the way. Yes, the numbers add up, but you've gotten the thing in the air 400 times.

This is a brutally expensive hobby when you're in the crash-repair-repeat cycle. It doesn't matter whether you're crashing the Blade CP or a T-Rex. There's no magic.

Folks should also be aware that some upgrades, like Carbon Fiber blades and the aluminum swash, are more likely to damage other parts of the helicopter during a crash. The wooden blades splinter before they can do any real damage and the plastic swash will fail before breaking servos. If you make one part of the helicopter stronger, another part can/will break. Advice from personal experience -- hold off on some of the bling upgrades until you get a handle on flying the Blade CP.

Tips:
-Save up $85 and buy a heading hold gyro like the G90 -- especially if you're learning the ropes
-If your Blade CP didn't come with heatsinks for the tail motor and main, buy and install with grease
-If you're tired of bending main shafts, replace the retaining pin with a section of paper clip -- it will break instead of bending the shaft in a crash. Not recommended for hard-core 3D.
-Invest in a good LiPo setup and a balancing charger that you can use on other models. The longer flight time will go a long way in helping you learn to fly.

[joehelicopter]

I have 2 heading hold gyros-it aint me-I have 40 years of RC experience-since the late 60's--so I don't need advice or scolding-all parts will be for sale for one price-keep your eyes on the for sale stuff-I'll make a good deal for a CPPRO freak who wants the stuff..............:arggg:
By the way---
AMA 63199------been there-done it! Planks and Choppers
Dubro whirly bird
Dubro Shark'
Dubro Hughes 300
Shleuter Heli Baby
Shleuter HeliBoy
Concept 30
Concept 60
MinAir Excell 60 PRO-version

[borocouncilman]

I have 40 years of RC experience-since the late 60's--so I don't need advice or scolding-all parts will be for sale for one price

Not scolding, just trying to be optimistic. This hobby kind of demands a "glass half-full" disposition. Haha

[rabidguineapig]

Dude, 10 sets of carbon blades, what are you doing, plowing it into concrete?

[Oldboy]

Yea, when i saw how many blades, my eyes got wide and pictured it, lol.

[ChasHeliCop]

Here's the point, and I am lucky it took me less than a month to learn it. The 3n1 goes bad, mine came with a bad gyro in the 3n1..... caused many crashes and I learned to fly with the &*%%$&^ heli chasing me around the yard. Maybe that's a good thing, I haven't crashed my Rex. I ordered the Trex while I was waiting to get a replacement 3n1 from Horizon. It's an expensive sim..... I sold $549 worth of heli and parts for $200..... lesson learned.... now, who has a 600 for sale ?

[borocouncilman]

Dude, 10 sets of carbon blades, what are you doing, plowing it into concrete?

You can't question his determination.

[rabidguineapig]

yeah, but you might as well use woodies if ur crashing that much, I did for a while and barely dammaged any head parts in the first 4 or 5 crashes I had, the woodies just broke

[Mortificate]

I have been flying my CPP for just about the same time with Im guessing only 200ish flights on it but the amount of cash I have put into mine because of crashes isn't even close to that amount. Why so many CF blades? I haven't even gone through that many sets of woodies..close though.
It is cool to see your accurate numbers and all the breakdown of them.
I may be an exception but I wouldn't say your # are even close to typical. There a lot of the things on your list I havent even gone through one.
Cool list though, sorry you have had to spend a small fortune to keep that little bugger alive

[DebianDog]

I think it is the fact he flies it 10-20 times a day too ;)

[outoffocus]

hehe, I'm a newbie and I crash often, but 100 crash in 400 battery pack recharge it's really hight :)

Maybe you should try to return to a simulator :D

[borocouncilman]

I may be an exception but I wouldn't say your # are even close to typical. There a lot of the things on your list I havent even gone through one.

I concur. As a person who augered in his Blade CP regularly while learning to fly, the list includes parts that I've never managed to break. Please understand, for practical purposes, I am an expert in killing the Blade CP -- "I crash in 4D".

.. 13 Servos @#$!

100 crashes...
Yet, only 10 main gears and no spindles in the list. The most frequently broken items are under-represented. Only 12-13 sets of blades? Take out a crash for each woodie and you've got each set of CF blades surviving almost 10 crashes. Miraculously, only 10 sets of skids and 10 tail booms. What's he breaking in these 100 "crashes"? The manifest of parts just doesn't add up.

While I do respect our "hobby elders", you can call me a little skeptical.

[Mortificate]

Hahaha I think we are bordering S**t talk now. LOL. I'm not saying his parts list is BS. There are just a lot of things on there that seem crazy high and others that seem really low for 100 crashes.
LOL, guess it is just fun to analyse the data and compare it to our own experiances.

[txflyer]

my cf blades lasted me just a hair over 20 crashes and stil were in awsome shape, then i crash in the drive way and well i had to get a new set.

[joehelicopter]

And by the way I am capable enough to fly the piece of crap in a 15kt crosswind-nose in hover.
I have had the thing Blow itself apart right in front of me many times
I didn't break many head parts or feathering shafts because I figured a way to stop that problem-including the fact that in all those crashes I only lost 1 flybar and 1 paddle.
Like I said in my post earlier,the problem is EQUIPMENT FAILURES-UNRELIABLE COMPONENTS-I SUSPECT THE WHOLE THING IS MADE OF CHINESE LEAD>.......Maybe Mr EFLITE should hang himself like that toy factory guy in China:soapbox
It said "PRO" on the box.....
There ain't nuthin "PRO" about it......
My Trex 600 is sitting on the bench-now that's a Machine worthy of RESPECT-like Aretha said:smokin:
All the components have recently come back from Horizons Repair Center-they will be for sale cheap
I'm lookin to get good Batts for the Trex and MOVE ON ,Baby!

[joehelicopter]

The pick in my Avatar is me hovering it in Debian Dog's front yard-just for verification(now there's a fiddy cent word!)

[DebianDog]

Sound like these guys do not BRING IT with Mad 3Dz like you do :banana

[joehelicopter]

Hey Dog-we know I don't three dee it-:whipjust Whip it a LiL'
any way,I grow tired of the rant
Anybody who needs to re-stock their components and carry on the CPPRO crusade will want this stuff since it just came back from the repair shop-I just can't fight it any more-I fly so much that I just need a more durable Heli-It worked to get my skills back but takes too muck work to keep the lil'bastard in the air-the hobby shop is a 2 hour round trip in the BIG DIESEL TRUCK and fuel is $3buks a US Gallon-so I think I need to RE-FOCUS MY EFFORTS:alcohol
ANNNNDDDDDD!
I have talked to people who have fried more of their money in it than me-and they still can't HOVER-so maybe I'm just FrigginLUCKY !:banana

[rdlohr]

You will love the 600. I've been flying mine since Christmas without a crash!

The 450 is great too. Bye bye CP trash!!! Sorry guys, but do yourselves a huge favor and buy a REX!

Rick

[joehelicopter]

Rant so far!
Yes I will love the Trex-Debian let me hover his one day and that was all I needed to know!
Now it's a matter of gettin the good power set up and some good servos and I'm THERE!!
Gettin pissed at the CP seems to draw a Crowd:hug::nanabobo

[borocouncilman]

The Blade CP has introduced a lot of people to the hobby. Most of the folks that responded to your post own more than one helicopter. Truth be told, the Blade CP has sold so many Align T-Rex's that E-Flite's been compelled to offer their own 400 so as not to lose the business.

Yes, the Align T-Rex is a machine superior in quality of parts and engineering, but the entry price (in the air and flying price) is nearly four times higher than a Blade CP. Comparing the two is like comparing an BMW M5 to a Hyundai. You get what you pay for with Align. They make a great a helicopter. I love my T-Rex 450SA.

With your experience, you know that a 50-size heli like the 600 is going to be more stable and easier to hover. That doesn't make the Blade CP an unflyable PC of crap. With the bell hiller mixing and those stubby symmetrical blades, the "PRO" label on the box isn't for the helicopter -- it's for the pilot.

You may indeed be a better pilot than all of us combined. Your experiences with the Blade CP don't reflect it.

[DebianDog]

I have flown 4 or 5 Blade CPs and Helicopters Johns is the fastest, best flying, locked in tail CP I have ever flown. I was still not very impressed with it. I think your time and money would be better spent elsewhere myself but it is "flyable".

[Mortificate]

Please don't think that your comments about the CPP are upsetting. Your opinion about the heli is fine and not uncommon. The thing that has me supprised and why I posted in the first place is the amount of stuff you have gone through of certain parts. We are all buying the same EFlight stuff of the same quality.
I also own a Rex450se and love it but I also still like to fly my cpp too. Truth be told I like flying them about the same. Now my CPP is nothing close to stock (belt mod that's running the Rex tail, and a 401) but it is still a little CPP and still fun as hell.
It sucks that it has cost you so much to keep your heli in the air.