MY Blade 400 Experience

[dieselracer]

I have had the chance to fly two blade 400's Today. Two local guys at the field picked some up yesturday. and took them to me to check them out and have me fly it before they did. They did not mess with anything just handed the heli over. I checked the pitch. ON the First one it was +11/-10. I changed it to +11/-11. The second one was at +7/-12. I changed it to +11/-11. I then spun the head. Noticed that the belt was very Tight. Both had the belt very tight. I loosened the belt. I then checked the swash plate. On the First one it was not level. the second one was level. I also wen't ahead and added an S- pitch curve. It was then time to hover it. I tached it before i flew it. tached in at 2800 RPM in idle up. Then i brought it to a hover. The piro rate was pretty quick. and the owner's wanted the piro rate slower. so i slowed it down to about 1 piro per second.

The tail did feel a little loose and on the second CP it creeped. SO i raised the gain, untill i got a little tail wag. Then decreased it a little bit. The tail was then SOlID and no longer creeped on the second one. I did some pitch pumping and the tail did not kick out. At 2800 RPM and +11 pitch and an S-curve, the heli was pretty good. The cp400 is very stable. Also i checked the swash and it was already maxed out. SO i could not give it any more swash. The Blade does not respond very fast. its very slow responding. Which is okay for people that are moving up from a CX or CP. The roll rate is also not very fast. Very SLow IMHO. (i am used to 3400 RPM, full swash before binding and helimax, axe cp paddles =fastest paddle's, on my 450) SO for other's it might be okay. It did not stop me from doing flips and roll's. flips with piros, and tic toc's. i didnt feel comfortable doing chaos or funnels on a heli thats not mine, and that i am not used to. I am used to a very responsive Machine. The tail felt good. Soild. It didnt feel as solid as my 450 with the 401, K and B's, and tail weight's. But i felt very comfortable with it.

It is very capable of doing every move it the book with the right pilot. I really liked the CP. I even purchased a CP400 Canopy for my 450. If it would have been mine, i would raise the RPM. slap some carbons, raise the pitch +13/-13 maybe more, and put some Helimax CP paddles on it.

I really Like the DX6I. The timer could be louder. And every minute that goes by, it give you a little beep. Programing/making change's was very easy. I did not have the manual for it. but i didnt need it. I figured it out instantly. I am a thumb flyer, and i really like the way my handed fit around it. and the way my thumb's fit on the stick's. I currently use a JR 6102 (the case is identical to the DX7). And like the feel more and i was very impressed with the DX6I. A friend of mine is a pinch flyer with no neck strap.He said it felt akward, becuase of the thickness of the transmitter. I would have liked for it to be a little heavyier. But it was okay. When the Dx6I is avalible on it's own. I will be getting one for my 450. Another guy i fly with, uses a neck strap and he said the balance was perfect. If the CP400 was out last year when i got My 450. I would have purchased the CP400. Great bang for Buck.

One more thing. The Gyro's had DS mode off. I left it off but know the servo is suposed to be digital, but can it handle DS mode on the Gyro? I didnt want to try it on a Heli that is not mine. That just might make the tail feel a little more solid.


EDIT: Check your BOOM supports. one of the Two 400 i flew did not have the rod's glued to the end. so when i hovered it. I noticed a little vibration. Then the two rods slipped out and the vibration got worste. It forced me to do a reverse sliding landing the keep the heli from tipping over. The other 400 was fine.

[Wolfpackin]

Thanks for the info. Regarding the gyro, the manual states that the servos do not accept the digital pulse so it should be left on standard mode or the servos will burn out prematurely or immediately. So you did the right thing not changing that.

Can you explain what you mean by adding an S curve, and how you slowed the piro rate?

Also did you just raise the gain settings on the DX6i to correct tail drift? I think they come preset at around 65%.

FYI, the manual states you can quicken the response by adding shim dampeners.

[dieselracer]

I didnt have the Manual. I figured they came like that for a reason. The helis were not mine. so i didnt want to make too many change's. I wanted to fly it out of the box. I would have taken off the weight's. But i know it will probably still not be fast enough for my personal liking, BUt it will be good for the owners. I Slowed down the Piro rate. under Expo and Dual Rate. I changed the Dual rate to i think 80 or 85 % if i rememer correctly. Thats where the owner's wanted it. I Changed the Pitch linear curve to an S-curve. The stock setting on the pitch curve was in Idle up was 0-25-50-75-100. I change it to 0-15-50-85-100. it brings in the Pitch sooner. makes it faster. For thottle hold and normal mode. i just changed the 75 to 85. and left the others along. I beleve the thottle hold and normal mode curve was something like 45-48-50-75-100. So i changed it to 45-48-50-85-100. When i raised the Gyro gain. the Drift went away on the cp400 that did drift.

[psindrup]

Thank you for a very detailed initial rapport. :-)

I noticed that the pitch curve in normal mode is zero degrees at half stick.

Does that mean that you will have to go to approx. 2/3 stick to lift off into hover?
(And is that "normal")

Thanks

Peter

[dieselracer]

Yes at center stick the pitch should be zero. and full stick at 10 or 11.

[dieselracer]

OKay. we ran into a problem today. One of the two 400's came up with a problem. When he was hoving about 60 ft in the air. the heli started to jerk forward and back. and he would lose control of it for a second then come back.I ran up and took the transmitter. And landed it for him. It was not easy. But thanks to throttle hold. i was able to land it safley. When the heli would spool up. the front servo would start "gitching" Moving up and down rapidly. I would put a load in it with my hand. and it was fine. SO we are not sure what the problem is. BUt we are replacing the servo to see what's up. Since the servos are not out yet. we are moving the rear tail servo to the front. and replacing the tail with a Futaba s3153. I think. Hes going to the local hobby store to pick one up tonight. ANd will be on tomarrow for a test flight. That servo should be able to take digital mode on the gyro. will see if it holds better.

[LockMD]

I may be way of here but have read the beld will build static electricity causing glitchiness in ther servos (mainly the tail) but the solution was lubing the belt with a teflon product.

[malcolmm]

Thanks for the great info on the Blade 400.

So far I haven't seen any info on the lipo battery connector - is it a standard connector, such as a Deans Ultra. I'm not keen on the Eflight lipos, I would rather buy a Flightpower or Thunderpower. What would be involved with this? I assume that the balancing charger would no longer work, is this correct?

Thanks
Malcolm

[dieselracer]

The Conector it comes with. Is an eflite connector. ANd it charges of the balance lead. We cut them off. and put deans on one of the heli's I checked the VOltage of the lipo after the owner charged it with the stock charger it came with. and the reading were. 4.01-4.10-4.08. I also checked his two thunder powers. and they were the same. He charged the thunder powers with an adapter. But for some reason the stock charger is not charging the lipos very well. we topped them off with my Poly4 and blinkey.The the VOltage was at 4.20 for all 3 cells. I dont think i trust the charger it comes with.


"I may be way of here but have read the beld will build static electricity causing glitchiness in ther servos (mainly the tail) but the solution was lubing the belt with a teflon product"


The servo that was doing that was the one under the Lipo. in the very front. not the tail servo. Since the servos are not avaliable yet. we just moved the tail servo to the front. and put a futaba s3153 on the tail. will post results tomarrow with pictures. I liked the 3153 :)

[dieselracer]

I flew the heli with the Futaba s3153 digital tail servo. It took a little grinding to get it to fit. But it was well worth it. I turned the GYro into DS mode. and adjusted the Gyro. The tail held very Solid! i was about to pitch pump it with the tail not even moving! I was able to get the tail to move a few degrees when i gave it full collective, but you could hear the motor slow down for a second and so did the tail causing it the to move a little bit. The tail Felt alot more Locked in. when it came to flips and roll's. I was able to do some pretty QUick/short (Harder on collective) tic toc's with out having to hold the tail! When pyroing the tail did have a small delay when stopping(response between stick and heli). but stopped pretty snappy with no tail wag. I think the tail may need more RPM for more tail authority. I could feel a good difference between the stock servo and the 3153 servo. Next it would be nice it some K&B would work on it. I know I love them on my 450.

Since the servo was a little shorter. Space between the wires and the mounting tabs was shorter. we needed to grind about 2mm from the inside frame mount. WE probably could have just flipped the servo and use a shorter tail rod. but we were on the field and was easyier just the grind the frame.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/mr.zombie/DSC00783w-1.jpg
We needed to grind the little steps on the top part of the servo to get a nice flat surface for mounting the servo. You can also see where the distance was shorter. and why the frame needed to be grinded a little bit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/mr.zombie/DSC00784q-2.jpg
Servo installed
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/mr.zombie/DSC00786.jpg
Frame Pic
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/mr.zombie/DSC00785.jpg
Head Pic. Very easy to adjust.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/mr.zombie/DSC00788.jpg
My Trex next to Blade 400
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/mr.zombie/DSC00790.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/mr.zombie/DSC00794.jpg
After we Adjusted the Blade. We went ahead and slapped on a set of heli max Axe CP paddles. They made a big difference. It made the heli alot more responsive. I actually added some expo. I liked it at about +15. The owner liked it at +40. BUt the important thing was that it made the Blade 400 Roll and Flip twice as fast at it did originally. It allowed me to do even faster Tic TOC's and felt more comfortable flipping it lower to the ground. Still a little slow for my liking. I Think it needs more RPM BUt the heli is not Mine. BUT it better Then stock . Heres a pic of the Paddles
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/mr.zombie/DSC00796.jpg
We also found if you have a blade cp. YOu can take the plastic spacer off o the woodies. and with a little shaving. You can glue them on blades such as hyperions. and then they fit perfect on the 400. I have yet to fly it on Carbons.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/mr.zombie/DSC00797.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/mr.zombie/DSC00798.jpg

I hope this is useful.

[emeraldheli]

dieselracer,

Thanks, excellent review and pics. I am one disappointed big boy at Christmas. Plugged in the battery for charging and the balancing charger resembled our Christmas with its flashing lights. Every configuration except the hoped for yellow. Immediately my thoughts turned to your comments about your lack of trust in the said charger. Mine died shortly after. A bad batch or bad luck? Anyone else?

[dieselracer]

Yeah. i think it's a bad batch. They are the first ones out you know. Theres alwasy problems when things first come out. I would send the charger the address in the manual for it to be replaced or repaired.

[johnfarmer]

I see one blade 400 has aluminum parts and one has plastic. Is one a hopped up version?

[R1R 7humbs]

I see one blade 400 has aluminum parts and one has plastic. Is one a hopped up version?
I think the one with the aluminum parts is his TREX 450 with a blade 400 canopy on it.

[dieselracer]

Yes one is my 450 with the 400 canopy.

[HeatSurge]

I hope this is useful.

You're kidding, right?

This is the most detailed information posted on the net about the Blade 400. This is GREAT for people who don't have one near. Very detailed and great pics. It would've been perfect with vids, but the quality of the pics more than makes up for that.

If you're going to make a vid, please do it on the one with hopped-up parts. (I don't mean the trex, I mean the Blade 400 out of the two with better parts).

Keep it coming!

:thumbup:

[Heli Jim]

I wish to thank you, also.

I just received my 400 last week and I have put three packs thru it.

There isn't anybody around here that could do what you have done
for these two people and they are very fortunate to have you around
to test fly the bird.

Mine flew fine out of the box....I just added in some Expo.

I prefer 20% for Ail and Elev and 10% for the tail.

I look forward to improving my skills and moving on from the "hover" stage
to the actual "flying" stage.

Thanks for your inputs.....

jr

[dieselracer]

The First heli i flew. Just had another servo problem. The owner called me. The servo will work. then stop responding. And it cause him a crash. SO he will be upgrading to hs65mg's The second on is still going on fine.

[zen]

dieselracer—

I am intrigued by your mention of AxeCP flybar paddles. Do you use them on your Trex 450? I am not in pressing need of super-quick response since I am just learning to fly around normally, but every little bit of info helps.

Regards,

Glen

[LockMD]

dieselracer—

I am intrigued by your mention of AxeCP flybar paddles. Do you use them on your Trex 450? I am not in pressing need of super-quick response since I am just learning to fly around normally, but every little bit of info helps.

Regards,

Glen


Hey Glen from Berkely -- I'm in Concord, maybe see you around some time. I am learning too.....

Larry

[dieselracer]

dieselracer—

I am intrigued by your mention of AxeCP flybar paddles. Do you use them on your Trex 450? I am not in pressing need of super-quick response since I am just learning to fly around normally, but every little bit of info helps.

Regards,

Glen

yss i really like the axe Cp paddles. They are really fast. I use them with the stock weights. If you go back the the pictures. you can see them on my trex on one of the pictures. I like them because they are very fast if you want them to be. I use the stock weights about 1 inch from the fly bar cage. I like them because i can adjust them with the weights by moving them in or farther out from the center. I also run 35% expo so that its not too twitchy around center stick. but it sill roll's fast. I also run 3450 RPM headspeed. Oh yeah they are only 4 dollars :thumbup: I used to run the 16 dollar carbon fiber ones from Helidirect. But they would break in crashed and somtimes they would never screw in properly.