Well, I picked up a 400 today..

[Johnnyv44]

Well, seems I've gone heli-crazy here lately. I've had a HBKII for 2 months and have never gotten to fly it! It broke right out of the box....Seems at my age,I'm still going to the "School of Hard Knocks". Hobby shop repaired it the first time. Then I got it home and had a small mishap. Waiting for parts and happened to see the Blade 400 at the hobby shop and then found you guys here. After doing some investigating I decided to buy the B400...

After reading here and dealing with the HBKII I know there are alot of things I need to check. Is the 400 going to be harder to learn on than the HBK? I've been flying a Lama-similar to the CX2 for a month or so. I've been flying the G3.5 flight sim for over a year. I can't seem to find anyone local flying Heli's.

Can someone tell me if I stand a chance with this bird? Should I wait for the parts for the HBK and destroy it first? ( not that I want to destroy it). I've been flying fixed wing for about 8 years and Heli's always interested me.

Thanks In Advance
JohnnyV

[Heli Jim]

You need a plan..........go find RADD's school of rotory flight on the net.

Follow this plan and you will finally be able to get the heli off the ground without
crashing right away. These helicopters are NOT stable like the co-axial helis are
and require constant input. The input will become automatic to a certain extent after
lots of practice but this all takes time. Best advise I ever got when starting helis was
to move in "baby steps"

The Blade is a bigger heli and more powerful than the HB
I would suggest that you learn on the HB and then go thru the
procedures with the Blade. You also get a much better radio
with the Blade 400 than you get with the HB

One thing that I have read about the 400 is that the servos are the
weakest link on this heli and although I have not crashed because
of it, I now believe it.

I spent yesterday afternoon changing out the servos for some JR servos.
You can buy a "heli performance pack" that has 3 DS285's and a 3400G
for the tail. Cost.....about $160.......change in performance.....priceless!

The cyclic servos fit perfectly but the tail servo took some work. I ended up
mounting the 3400G on the tail boom with another mount and had to shorten
the pushrod by 3/4" or so. I also had to use an extension for the elevator servo
because the cords are shorter on these servos.

They are much more solid feeling and they are much faster than the stock servos.
The 3400G is a real digital tail servo so you can use the gyro in "DS" mode, too.

If you make the change, you will need to reverse direction on the servos to get them to
move in the right direction and I also had to reverse the gyro.

This is the BEST imporvement you could do to this heli.

For you, I would fly it as it is for now but consider changing the servos out at some
point once you get better.

[ualdrivr]

Heli Jim,
Where did you purchase the servo pack from?

What about the futaba G401 gyro with S9253 servo package for tail stability? Can JR servos work with the stock receiver on the B400?

Oh man, that was a lot of moding in order to fit those servos on the Heli ha? :confused:Also what do you mean by reversing the servos? Can you post some pics of the mod if able?

I am also a new Heli flyer so I' take all the advise you can give.

thanks

[Heli Jim]

I bought my servo pack from my LHS, who is a Horizon Hobby dealer.

It wasn't a lot of work for the cyclic servos, they just drop right in.

Yes, you can use JR servos with the Spektrum receiver. Just remember to plug them
in with the signal wire UP.....on JR servos, it's the yellow wire.

I have no experience with the futaba gyro but I have read that it's pretty good. I decided
to use the stock gyro for now and upgrade that later on.

If you look at a lot of other heli setups you'll see what I meant about the mount on the
boom. The stock servo bolts to the heli frame on one end and a boom mounting bracket
on the back of the servo and the 3400G servo is bigger so it wouldn't fit in the same way
so I had to mount it the other way. Just a $2.50 part and I was all set.

I did have to shorten the CF rod pushrod to the tail but that wasn't so bad. All in all it took
me about 3 hours to do all the work and then go out and fly.

As to reversing.....some servos go clockwise when you give a command (like "up" elevator) and some go counter clockwise. Long ago, you had to have a different servo to have it go the other way....now there are switches on the transmitter or programming in the transmitter that will allow you to make the servo go the other direction. One of the screens on most computer radios, like the DX6i, is "servo reversing" so you just change it there. Evidentially the Stock servos and these new ones are set up the opposite of each other so I had to reverse direction for all 4 servos to get the controls to move the right direction. I also had to reverse the direction of the gyro because it would have given changes in the WRONG direction had I not done that. Again, not a big deal....there's a switch on the side of the gyro for that and also directions in the owner's manual on how to check it.

This is not a project for an absolute beginner to tackle but if you have somebody to help you with some experience with R/C, it's not impossible.

Sure is more stable and "locked in" feeling now. I'm looking forward to summer!!

[sokal]

as far as i know people say the futaba servo doesnt fit
just what iv read befor
the 3400G fits in stock location with no mods
as do the ds285
all 4 come in a pack called heli performance pack for 150 or so
the 401 is about 120-130
i bought my 401 from tower hobby
and my servo set from horizon

[Pleasum]

HeliJim, have you heard anything about the Hitech HS65 servos for the Blade 400? I hear they can be used as a direct replacement. Also, you are obviously very knowledgeable. Do you have any ideas about where a guy can go to learn (in simple language) about how to program a DX6I? I am pretty new at this. It is true the EFlite servos on the 400 are not very good. I have stripped them and can't get direct replacements!

[Wolfpackin]

JMO, but I think the stock servos are fine for hovering and basic flight.
I have over 65 flights on my B400 and the only time the servos stripped was as a result of a crash, never in flight.
Servo gears are only $3 and very easy to replace.

That said, as my flying progresses and I get into direction reversals and harder stick inputs I will probably change them.


I have stripped them and can't get direct replacements!


Not sure what you mean by that. You should be able to find them all over the internet.
But, if you are talking about stock servos I would replace the gears as opposed to buying new servos.

[Heli Jim]

Hi Pleasum

I don't have first hand knowledge on the HS65's I replaced my servos with JR DS285's and those dropped right in.....perfect fit.

I bought the JR Mini Heli Performance Pack which includes 3 DS 285 servos and a 3400G for the tail rotor. This is a true digital servo and the gyro can be switched over to "DS" mode (Digital Servo)

I think the HS 65;s are close. Maybe you can find the dimentions of the HS 65 servos and compare that to the DS285 servos.

Programming the DX6i isn't that tough after you figure out what each setting does. The basic setup right from the box is good to start and the only thing you might start changing would be the throttle curves.....

RC Heli magazine had a great article on programming the DX7 a few months ago and that is pretty close to the DX6

[ericm7030]

I have the HS65 servos in mine. They are a very snug fit, but they will go in. I bought mine out of necessity. The DS75 gearsets were or still are on national backorder. I couldn't find them locally or online. It is true that they are not a necessary upgrade, but they do have a better feel to them.

[Heli Jim]

Hey Pleasum, here's a link to a forum topic on programming the DX 6 & 7

I think you might find it helpful...........

http://bladecprepair.com/smf/index.php?topic=1609.0

C-ya................jim

[Pleasum]

Thanks guys, I'm just muddling my way through all of this. I picked up those servos today and they will definitely fit. I will let you all know how they work. I can see already this site is going to help me immensely. Take care!!!

[Pleasum]

You're awesome man! Thanks so much. This is probably one of the only things that has ever made me feel truly stupid at times, but I love it! Take care HeliJim.