Blade CP Pro vs TRex 450

[darkchiild]

I've been thinking about dropping a lot of cash on the whole setup for a Trex 450. currently own the BCPP, and was wondering... Is flying it really THAT big a difference?

When I brought it to the LHS yesterday about a gyro problem, the guy there that's supposedly been flying helis for years couldn't get it off the ground!

Right now I can hover tail in no problem, and get it moving around a little. Side on is a little sketchy and haven't tried nose in for real yet. Can do much better in the simulator, but in rl, I'm practicing in an underground parking garage with a very low ceiling, so I'm a bit nervous.

Anyway, if I get a TRex, is it really night and day? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the LHS guy couldn't get it up straight. Is a TRex really that much more stable?

[Pinecone]

ABSOLUTELY.

I could not believe how much better the Trex flew than the Blade when I first flew my 450.

[crabfu]

yup yup.... I agree with pinecone, and night and day is a good description :) I went from cpp to trex as well, and to tell you the truth, the first spin up scared the crap outa me. It makes cpp seem like a fragile dragonfly, just look at the shaft wrong and it bends. After getting used to the little twitchy cpp, the trex just sounded like a caged beast waiting to be unleashed. The hobby was no longer a cool little thing that I can try to fly around, but now an expensive flying lawn mower which I needed to give much more respect to. It took all of my will power to convince my fingers to work the tx on the first lift off hover. And yes it's stable in hover with good head speed and setup / equipment. Just don't stand nearly as close to it as you can with blade cp (don't worry, you'll subconsciously step back a few steps when you first spool it up)

Since I got the trex, I never flew the cpp again. If I could have gone back in time, I'd never gotten the ccp, instead just a good sim (I prefer phoenix over RF), then get a trex or mini titan when I can comfortably fly around in the sim :) My learning didn't really begin until after the cpp... I do owe the cpp though, I got hooked into the hobby because of it, so I am not really slamming it, it's just the trex is a totally different animal.

-Crabfu

[Skarn]

Like the other 2 said, Absolutely!!

I had a CP for a little over a year and am exactly where you are with it, still cannot do nose-in. Got a TREX 450 SE v2 at the end of December and OMG it's crazy! I can now hover in ALL orientations, figure 8's, fast forward flight and loop. Prob much more, but my pucker factor is still there. That's after only about 25 flights so far. And I've only crashed it 3 times...each crash under 20 bucks.

Do it man, you WON'T regret it!

Skarn

[Skiddz]

Blade CP is like driving a '72 Ford Pinto - an orange one with one brown door....

Trex450 is like driving a Lexus SC400.

That's a pretty accurate description of the difference in "ride quality" and "performance" between the two.

[istandalone]

the blade/axe type helis are toys compaired to a good 450 class heli. imho not even in the same league. if your even decent at hovering the blade, then with a 450 your skills will develop very fast.

[Pinecone]

But I must say I like flying my Balde more now. I have some spares, and I just flat don't care if I crash it. :)

[randerson07]

Ive never flown a CP I had one but never flew it. But I started just this Christmas in this hobby with a Blade 400. It took a week on the SIM but I can now fly the Blade 400. A couple weeks ago I sold off some RC car stuff and picked up a Thunder Tiger Mini Titan with a GY401, HS 56HB's, 9650 on the tail, and some Thunder Power batteries.

I test hovered it with the manual suggested curves, hadnt checked blade tracking, my swash wasnt quite level, and guessing on the rest. It still flew better than the B400. I now have it setup correctly and made some adjustments to the Thro and Pitch curves and I feel soooo much more confident with the Mini Titan than with the Blade 400.

Maybe with some better electronics the B400 would be ok, but I cant imagine what it would be like to fly a CP it must be crazy hard to keep it in control rather than having it control you.

[GilUriel]

Guys - especialy those of you that are expirianced:

I'm thinking about the same move.
Is the differance changes between the Trex450 types ? (that is the SE V2, S gf, etc...)
and How about copterX versions ?

[darkchiild]

Guys - especialy those of you that are expirianced:

I'm thinking about the same move.
Is the differance changes between the Trex450 types ? (that is the SE V2, S gf, etc...)
and How about copterX versions ?
For what it's worth, I considered the HDX450/CopterX route as well. CopterX looks like a half way decent choice until you realize that they're all being sold by the same guy on ebay, ehirobo.com and a couple other sites I don't recall. This makes me a little wary of how long these will be around. They seem to be gaining in popularity, but that's certainly no guarantee of longevity. They say most parts are compatible with TRex 450 parts, but just how "compatible" is compatible? Also, what about those parts that aren't compatible? At first glance they look cheap, but to build a copterx of equal quality to the Trex 450, the price seems to be off by only about $100 or so.

The HDX I looked at some too, but due to the lack of availability of parts at my LHS, and only a couple sites stock parts for these, I decided not to go with that one too.

For the difference in price, I think I'll just get the TRex for good or ill.

[ChasHeliCop]

For the difference in price, I think I'll just get the TRex for good or ill.


Went from CPP ~~~> Trex450seV2~~~~> Trex600~~~~~> Trex500

and I never looked back. Parts availability and support, key factors.

You will NOT regret it if you spend the extra hundred bucks.

[Pinecone]

Your Blade 400 would probably fly better if you went through a servo up setup ala Finless CCPM 1 and 2 and Throttle/Ptich Curve 101.

My progression:

BCP (upgraded to Pro) -> Trex 450 SE V1 -> Quick of Japan EP8v2 EX (same size as Trex 500) -> Hurricane 550

[randerson07]

I went through all that, thats how I finally was able to hover it. I need to go through it again and put on some new blades, but its just not as smooth as the Mini Titan. Maybe i need to add in some expo, I dont know. If I cant get it to where im completely comfortable flying it ill be selling it.

Your Blade 400 would probably fly better if you went through a servo up setup ala Finless CCPM 1 and 2 and Throttle/Ptich Curve 101.

My progression:

BCP (upgraded to Pro) -> Trex 450 SE V1 -> Quick of Japan EP8v2 EX (same size as Trex 500) -> Hurricane 550

[Pinecone]

Try some expo. Of course the servos aren't the best around.

[randerson07]

Well I revisited all the finless vids and setup both birds as close to each other as possible. What a difference. the Blade was much more in control although the gyro decided not to cooperate and I stuffed it into a snow bank. It was about 18 degrees outside which may have been the problem, but I broke both blades, one grip and the flybar sea saw thingy. I did let it sit outside for a good 15 min before I armed it but oh well Im proud of the little thing.

I was even more amazed at how much more stable the Mini Titan was, It would practically sit still, except I had the Elev servo trimmed just a hair off and it was drifting back too much, I let my guard down and the bird ended up behind me, meaning nose in and I freaked out and stuffed it pretty good. Blade parts went soaring through the sky. Only thing broke were the blades, landing gear, and a blade grip, I checked the feathering shaft, seems ok no movement in the grips when I rotate it.

Im pretty happy now, except both bird are going to be down till I can get some parts ordered up.

[darkchiild]

Sorry to hear it went so badly :(. I just got back from the park. It was a very calm and warm day here in Ottawa today, and probably the last one for a while, so I couldn't resist.

I'm getting tired of hovering in the garage day after day, so I thought I'd just "go for it". So I took it to the field. First time hovering above eye level. A gust of wind made it drop into the snow though, but no damage. So I took it up again. Another gust of wind and it was slowly headed toward a tree. I freaked out just a little, and figured the hell with it.

I flipped it around so it was nose in to me (never done that before either) and eased forward on the elevator. It started headed toward me. Didn't lose my cool though, I increased the throttle, and it flew about 10 feet over my head. Now it was really boogieing. Before I knew it I was doing circuits about 20 feet up.

I couldn't even get through the whole battery cuz my knees were knocking together. Flew it back near me, and landed without incident. It's still in one peice.

What a rush. It was about 5 minutes before I regained control of my limbs. Geez I just can't wait for spring.

[TGibe]

I've been thinking about dropping a lot of cash on the whole setup for a Trex 450. currently own the BCPP, and was wondering... Is flying it really THAT big a difference?

When I brought it to the LHS yesterday about a gyro problem, the guy there that's supposedly been flying helis for years couldn't get it off the ground!

Right now I can hover tail in no problem, and get it moving around a little. Side on is a little sketchy and haven't tried nose in for real yet. Can do much better in the simulator, but in rl, I'm practicing in an underground parking garage with a very low ceiling, so I'm a bit nervous.

Anyway, if I get a TRex, is it really night and day? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the LHS guy couldn't get it up straight. Is a TRex really that much more stable?

I can tell you with 100% confidence to buy the TRex! I went the same sort of route and like others here have mentioned if I had to do it again I would not have gotten a blade at all.

In a 3 month period I tried flying the blade and got where I could hover like you, but NEVER got the training gear off. Bought a SIM and a G90 gyro and still never felt like I could get it going. Ended up with a boom strike and more repair bills. Ended up buying a second blade used on ebay for more spares...

By comparison the 4th time out with the 450 the training gear was off and I was flying left to right circuits with stall turns at each end. The TRex IS absolutely that much more stable. Here is my lame video to prove it http://youtube.com/watch?v=cR-V-qYfJzw (2:30ish in there is some forward flight stuff).

Yes it is a lot of cash. No question. But you get what you pay for in this case.

Best of luck no matter what route you take, but I wish I had known before I got sorta' talked into the blade by the LHS (that doesn't really carry any other real eHelis).

Also, I went with the SEV2 because it got really good reviews and wasn't really that much more...

Sorry for the long post...

Allen

[kidphc]

Think Pinecone said it well in all his post.

I could get a stable hover with the CP pro. But it was a big fight. Especially, since the servo's never really liked to re-center, on mine at least. Couldn't put in any expo and I was either fighting the cyclic or the tail the entire time. Even with the upgrade dual tail mod it never ever felt locked it. After calculating the repair bills between the CP pro and the Trex I plunked money down on the Trex. Even though the only things I ever replaced where the blades.

Hovered the rex 450 for the first time, with in 15 seconds I understood why everyone said it was night and day difference. First words out of my mouth, "oh this is going to be fun! I'm in love." ;)

[diverjack]

Originally Posted by darkchiild http://www.helifreak.com/easyaction/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?p=540074#post540074)
I've been thinking about dropping a lot of cash on the whole setup for a Trex 450. currently own the BCPP, and was wondering... Is flying it really THAT big a difference?

When I brought it to the LHS yesterday about a gyro problem, the guy there that's supposedly been flying helis for years couldn't get it off the ground!

Right now I can hover tail in no problem, and get it moving around a little. Side on is a little sketchy and haven't tried nose in for real yet. Can do much better in the simulator, but in rl, I'm practicing in an underground parking garage with a very low ceiling, so I'm a bit nervous.

Anyway, if I get a TRex, is it really night and day? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the LHS guy couldn't get it up straight. Is a TRex really that much more stable?



Do yourself a favour........get the T-Rex! It really IS night and day!
I, too, started with the CP Pro. Now it sits collecting dust since I got the 450SA (converted to all metal, I might add) :thumbup:
I fly that rex all over the place now! It's an absolute pleasure to fly........once you have it set up right. Don't waste your time on the CP Pro........get the T-Rex with a great Rx like a DX7.......and you'll be one happy camper!

[Pinecone]

I have seen this for a while. People with Blades think they fly fine. People who own/owend Blades and got a better heli, like a Trex 450, know that they are marginal. :)

Trust us, we have BT, DT, Got the T shirt, the Trex is so far above a Blade.

[Shakes268]

Oh, you don't even need to fly a Trex 450 to know its better than a Blade CP. All you need to do is spool one up yourself. I made the switch...and my eyes just got bigger and bigger. I even took a few steps back :) Once in the air the difference is immediately apparent.

[stics]

I just moved from the cp-pro to the trex. My first trex flight was yesterday. All I can say is WOW!.

I flew the cpp for a while with a DX7. The expo and G90 did help, but the Trex is absolutely amazing. I haven't even finished trimming everything out and it still flies incredibly stable and responsive.

I agree: skip the blades. Get a simulator and 450. Put 40 hours on the sim first, then, go into your first hover.

[istandalone]

i'd just like to add that the copterx trex clone parts should be fully interchangable. i do believe they are almost an exact replica of the align parts, at least all of the pertinent specs should be the same. i've not heard a bad thing about copterx yet, and now that the mx450 is discontinued i'm pretty sure i'll be getting the copterx sev2 head and tail to update the mx450. but in the end, the trex (real, align brand) isn't too much more then the clones out there. maybe $100 on the kit. either way, next to a blade cp or axe cp type heli....it's like going from a plymouth K-car to a friggin lincoln town car.

[darkchiild]

I just moved from the cp-pro to the trex. My first trex flight was yesterday. All I can say is WOW!.

I flew the cpp for a while with a DX7. The expo and G90 did help, but the Trex is absolutely amazing. I haven't even finished trimming everything out and it still flies incredibly stable and responsive.

I agree: skip the blades. Get a simulator and 450. Put 40 hours on the sim first, then, go into your first hover.
Oh I'm well over 40 hrs on the sim. For over a month I've put in 1-5 hrs a day, but even a sim can't make me fly a bcpp with any noticable proficiency. The bcpp is sold, and I'm getting something better. Sounds like night and day is an understatement, so T-Rex.. Here I come.

[carlangas]

Hi

As everybody say: just buy a Trex, DO NOT BUY ANY CLONE, just the original, it is worth the extra bucks, clones are just clones.

I own a CP Pro and the tail motors are a real nightmare even with the GWS mod.

Best

JC