What heli after Blade CX

[55recce]

I am now starting to get some control over my newly acquired BLADE CX. I will continue to fly for a while to improve my skills but am wondering where to go next.

Some threads seem to suggest the Honey Bee King 2 is a great deal and not a bad way to go.

Most threads suggest the Blade CP is better to stay away from.

The BLADE 400 looks good and seems to be a reasonable as it comes ready to fly and with a DX6 radio. However, I have not found much information on how good it is.

The high end solution seems to be a TREX 450 and DX7. I am a little concerened about getting the build right and its not cheap. However, I can buy extra RX, servos etc to allow me to fly aircraft if I wish.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

[TheBum]

I went from a Blade CX2 to an RC-Tek Diablo and have never looked back. If you can handle that CX well, you may be as amazed as I was how easy it is to get a good -- and well set up -- 450 class electric into a reasonable hover. Finless's videos are the key to setting it up right because he points out things that may not be obvious from the manual.

I love my Diablo and RC-Tek support is second to none, but the only qualm I would have about recommending it to a newbie is that there's no manual except for an ambitious PDF with animations, which requires a pretty hefty computer to run reasonably. However, since it shares many of the same design concepts as a T-Rex 450SE V1, including interchangeable parts in many cases, a T-Rex manual may be useful for that purpose. Or, if you're good at figuring things out via disassembly, the Diablo and its sibling the Sky-Shark come ARF.

[darkchiild]

I recently started with a Blade CP Pro, just to get my feet wet and see if I liked the hobby. For what it's worth, I find it's pretty twitchy (unstable) compared with any other heli in G4. I'm also a little frustrated that I can't fly outside most days. A fart will knock this thing off course because it's so light.

On the upside it's pretty easy to drop an HH gyro into it, so you get the benefit of being able to upgrade your current heli with parts that you'll ultimately put on the good heli... Err.. not much of an upside.

My advice? If you know in 1 month's time your heli won't be gathering dust, and you're going to stick with it, just get a good heli. Spend the cash, and you'll be happier/richer in the long run. I'm already looking to offload my BCPP and it hasn't been a month yet. That being said, I'm pretty new to this hobby too, so take it with a grain of salt.

[gdbontly]

I can only speak to the Blade CP and the T-Rex 450 (since I've owned both). Definitely stay away from the Blade CP. The T-Rex 450 is awesome. I also was concerned about the cost, but I have no regrets. I built my T-Rex 450 and 600N using Finless Bob's videos. I can almost guarantee that your build will come out perfect if you follow Bob's advice! When I brought my 600N to the Heli Expert in my club, he didn't change anything! I felt pretty proud!

[CagedVR6]

450 xl

[KROM]

I started with the Blade cx2 , and was thrilled. I went out and bought the next eflight, the blade cp+. Cannot hover that thing at all, but instead of quitting I bought the Trex 450 se v2.

OMG, Huge difference, I was able to hover it from the first flight. I am also sure there are other 450 size helis out there that also fly well.

Also I would look at buying a sim, using finless's videos for setup, and radds school of flight.

Good luck

Krom

[ZipZap]

I went from the CX2 to the TREX 500. Other than the pucker factor the first time it came off the ground, the 500 has been stable and easy to handle.

[Zac_Attack]

I have the Lama4 (simular to the Blade) and then moved up to the Guai Hurricane 550. It is electric and close in size to a 600 heli. Much larger than the 450. The larger heli's are much much easier to learn on as they are more stable. The larger you can afford the better off you are.
Get a Sim and practice. Then move up to a larger heli. I reccomend the Hurricane and finless has all the videos you could ever want on it. The T-Rex 600 is good also.
I have seen the Blade 400 fly. It is nice, smaller than the 600 (550) class, thus not as easy, but way better than the CP. Well priced.

[FLA Flyer]

I too am a newb. I feel I am quite proficient at flying my CX2; endless figure 8's, basically flying it the way I want. I have since practiced on a sim and have purchased a DX7 and a Trex 450 S CF. Having the experience in building and setting up the heli, you get very intimate with the workings of a heli. Have an experienced pilot check your set-up, and you should have no problem hovering and progressing step by step. My advice is to take it slow and get proficient at the BASICS, hovering in all orientations, then advance to slow figure 8's to get a solid feel on your heli. That's what I'm doing and I love my bird!

[TheBum]

And don't expect to get it overnight. It look me about a month to get proficient flying my CX2. I've been flying my Diablo for 5 months and only last weekend started to do figure-8s. Of course, I've gotten very little sim time, so for all intents and purposes, all my practice has been with the real thing.

[viper0173]

I am new to the rc heli world and currently fly a cx2. i have pretty much mastered it and am ready to go on. I am having trouble deciding between the trex 450se or the 500. I like the idea of the 500 size and eventually i want a 600n. Is it a good move to skip the 450 and go to the 500? any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanx

[mcnabbwr]

I also started with the CX2, now I have two Trex 450's and love them. I am in the process of building a Trex 600E. The key is proper setup and the Finless videos are priceless. He deserves a golden globe award. I allow my 3 yr old grandson to fly the CX2 with help and by the time he is 5 he will be ready for a bigger one also.