Blade 400 arrive at Horizon Hobby

[jetpilot]

Hi guys

The blade 400 arrive at Horizon Hobby today! will be days before the dealers received!


cheers

[psindrup]

Hi guys
The blade 400 arrive at Horizon Hobby today! will be days before the dealers received!
cheers

Interesting to see when mine will hit Europe. ;)

Peter

[LockMD]

mine shipped today says estimated delivery 12/27 :YeaBaby:

[samnapper]

I just came from Hobby Town USA in Kennesaw GA and they have them in stock. The salesman said they came in today. It looks like they had about 6 to 8 on the shelf. I'm new to rc helis and I was thinking about getting one for my first heli. The salesman said it would be a lot easier to fly than the blade and the parts are about the same price. What do you guys think.

[ATLProfessor]

hahaha.... I was probably the salesman...We got 4 in this morning and we have 2 left in stock. I got a chance to fly one that a customer bought today, it flies very well. It was pretty gusty out, but it seemed to be pretty stable. I can't wait to get a store demo and RING IT OUT!!

[rdlohr]

Can't wait to hear the reviews from the pros!

Rick

[LockMD]

I enjoy the reviews from us common folks better

[rdlohr]

I enjoy the reviews from us common folks better
No offense meant. I haven't seen real reviews from anyone yet. It's been all hype up until now. I want to hear what anyone has to say about it so I know whether I can recommend it to my friends that would like to join the club, but not drop $1000.

I referenced the pros since they will be able to judge this heli compared to many other helis. Finless Bob for instance ...

Rick

[LockMD]

No offense taken, I know what you mean. I think we can consider this guy a pro:

Originally Posted by Jim Robertson from RR
Here are my personal thoughts on the Blade 400.

My son Jamie has had the opportunity to fly the Blade 400 in it's bone stock form and he flew it hard. He actually likes it better than his T-Rex 450. He tick - tocked it, piro flipped it, caosed it, you name it he did it. His thoughts after the flight was that it felt locked in, had plenty of power and stayed where he put it. His only complaint was that he could not take it home with him yet because it was the prototype. The tail was slightly underpowered for fast backwards flight or ballistic tail slides but the gyro held extremely well and is a big improvement over the G90. Horizon is working on a set of speed up pulleys right now to give it more tail authority and is most likely why there has been a delay in it's release. The 400 is not at all twitchy like the 450 and feels very solid. They will have all the usual bling parts to hop it up and I would think that eventually they might release a fully blinged version. I have looked the machine over at length and would choose only a couple of option items for Jamie's style of flying and those would be a metal head block and blade grips. The rest of the machine is capable of handling any thing he could throw at it longevity wise. The main frames look bullet proof and I don't know it for fact yet but, I don't think they can be hurt crash wise. The main shaft also utilizes 3 bearings instead of the usual 2. The mechanics in general are laid out very well and every thing looks to be easily accessible.

The DX6I is a very sweet radio and well balanced. It is comfortable to hold and the switches are well laid out. I did not go into the programming but think it is laid out much like the DX7 but easier to navigate and has the roll selector like the 9303. I personally love the roll selector over the buttons and eveytime I do something programming wise to our DX7 I have to think momentarily because I am use to our 9303. I would imagine the 6I will get more use then our 7 now because of the roll selector and it's easy back and forth navigation. The stock servos seemed to have plenty of power and he had no issues with them at all. Time will tell what kind of longevity they will have but they are digital and center very well.

He also flew it with the stock battery that it will come with and it had plenty of power to do what he wanted. Just installing a Thunder Power V2 pack would really wake the machine up and unleash it's full potential 3D wise. I know nothing about the included charger but it most likely will not be very fast so another type of fast charger might be in order like a 1010 & 105 balancer later on.

All in all I personally think it is going to be one very sweet package for the money. You are getting allot of quality equipment for $470.00 including a heli that fly's extremely well plus a radio you grow into and not out of. IMHO I feel this bird will be able to take you from beginner to 3D or any where in between you want to go. Will it sale in the numbers that the 450 has, only time will tell but I personally think it is going to be a very hot item with excellent Horizon support. I also know that this machine has been very well tested unlike some of the other machines out there.

Jim Robertson

Jamie Robertson; TeamJR/Horizon,CurtisYougblood.com,ThunderPower,AceHelis, Advantage Hobby,Xero-G

[rdlohr]

Hmmm, seems a bit too biased to me. Seems too good to be true. I'll withhold my judgement for a bit. Thanks for the info though! I hope this baby pans out!

Rick

[th3tick]

Jamie Robertson; TeamJR/Horizon,CurtisYougblood.com,ThunderPower,AceHelis, Advantage Hobby,Xero-G

I see that bit, and think I've got to take his opinion with a grain of salt.

[psindrup]

I see that bit, and think I've got to take his opinion with a grain of salt.

Exactly my thought too.

Pete

[LockMD]

Don't get me wrong I agree with you all.......he is prob employed by e flight. I only posted this cause someone wanted a 'pros' opinion.

I prefer to hear from common folks is all

[rdlohr]

Exactly my thought too.

Pete
yep

[kf3cw]

Got my 400 today. I'm and ole' boy of 67 so don't have the "computer game hands" nor skill of you young guys. But I've got 2-Trex 600's & a Trex 450. In my humble opinion, the E400 was pretty darn good out of the box. Blade tracking was right on; all nuts & bolts were tight; radio programming pretty good. Here is what I observed on my first flight:
1. Cyclic was pretty sensistive - I toned it down with Expo
2. Tail drifted slightly to the left - should be an easy fix. Though I don't see how the gyro could be as good as a 401.
3. Radio was solid and looks easy to program. (my first Spectrum radio)
4. Battery had plenty of power charged for first time on balance charger included.
5. All in all seemed pretty solid.
NOW IN MY OPINION NONE OF THESE "MINI HELIS" ARE FOR A TRUE BEGINNER. A BEGINNER NEEDS TO GET A FLIGHT SIMULATOR AND PRACTICE-PRACTICE-PRACTICE UNTIL THEY BECOME FAMILIAR WITH HOW THE CONTROLS WORK AND INTERACT. THEN WHEN YOU CAN CONSISTENTLY HOVER YOU MAY BE READY FOR ONE OF THESE WITH TRAINING GEAR AND AN INSTRUCTOR TO HELP CHECK THINGS OUT FOR YOU.
Again, this is just my opinion. Would I recommend buying one? Yes, considering the cost and what is included. Is it as good as my Trex 450 that cost more than twice as much (without a radio). NO - but it was mean't to be an all inclusive good heli with 3D capabilities. You young guys can report on that aspect of the machine. Have a great holiday!

[th3tick]

Got my 400 today...

:thumbup: Thanks for the report!

[rdlohr]

Got my 400 today. I'm and ole' boy of 67 so don't have the "computer game hands" nor skill of you young guys. But I've got 2-Trex 600's & a Trex 450. In my humble opinion, the E400 was pretty darn good out of the box. Blade tracking was right on; all nuts & bolts were tight; radio programming pretty good. Here is what I observed on my first flight:
1. Cyclic was pretty sensistive - I toned it down with Expo
2. Tail drifted slightly to the left - should be an easy fix. Though I don't see how the gyro could be as good as a 401.
3. Radio was solid and looks easy to program. (my first Spectrum radio)
4. Battery had plenty of power charged for first time on balance charger included.
5. All in all seemed pretty solid.
NOW IN MY OPINION NONE OF THESE "MINI HELIS" ARE FOR A TRUE BEGINNER. A BEGINNER NEEDS TO GET A FLIGHT SIMULATOR AND PRACTICE-PRACTICE-PRACTICE UNTIL THEY BECOME FAMILIAR WITH HOW THE CONTROLS WORK AND INTERACT. THEN WHEN YOU CAN CONSISTENTLY HOVER YOU MAY BE READY FOR ONE OF THESE WITH TRAINING GEAR AND AN INSTRUCTOR TO HELP CHECK THINGS OUT FOR YOU.
Again, this is just my opinion. Would I recommend buying one? Yes, considering the cost and what is included. Is it as good as my Trex 450 that cost more than twice as much (without a radio). NO - but it was mean't to be an all inclusive good heli with 3D capabilities. You young guys can report on that aspect of the machine. Have a great holiday!

Nice input. So it would seem to be a perfect starter heli. Great!

Rick

[skigolfmike]

Got my 400 today. I'm and ole' boy of 67 so don't have the "computer game hands" nor skill of you young guys.
... good info ...
NOW IN MY OPINION NONE OF THESE "MINI HELIS" ARE FOR A TRUE BEGINNER. A BEGINNER NEEDS TO GET A FLIGHT SIMULATOR AND PRACTICE-PRACTICE-PRACTICE UNTIL THEY BECOME FAMILIAR WITH HOW THE CONTROLS WORK AND INTERACT. THEN WHEN YOU CAN CONSISTENTLY HOVER YOU MAY BE READY FOR ONE OF THESE WITH TRAINING GEAR AND AN INSTRUCTOR TO HELP CHECK THINGS OUT FOR YOU.

Good info, I'm seriously looking into getting one of these.

By comparison, I'm a kid of 54 who is thinking of getting back into RC. I had a 30 sized heli in the 90s that I played around with when I was competing in Pattern. I was looking at this heli because I liked the capability and it comes with a nice radio. I'm looking at the mini electrics since I'd rather not have to mess with any fuel or the goo that glow fuel leaves behind and I want to be able to fly without going to flying field. i.e. park, backyard, golf course.

Oh yeah, I got the lecture from the hobby shop about the 400 not being a beginner heli. That was until I jumped on their Real flight G4 simulator in the store and started flying a similar heli with no problem. It's been a while, but it came back pretty quick.

I started pricing what I would take to get a Trex 450 flying and that was going to be in the $800-1K range. I'm not nieve enough to believe you just plunk down you $470 for the Blade and just go fly, but it's not going to take $400 more to initially get setup they way you want it. Let's just say, I'm currently leaning towards the Blade 400.

While I'm waiting to get the heli, I might go ahead and get a Real Flight G4 simulator. I figure a little more practice on the stick won't hurt and it might save a few $$s in the long run. In the meantime, please keep the info coming.