Sorry guys, gone to the Darkside.

[Montana_Reefer]

You good decision me bad .......... I think .......... I went for the 450 se v2 ........... blindly ........... who knows i may love it ...... I HOPE :confused:

Good Choice on the V2, upgrade the lg to gorilla gear as the stock break easy and end in a tipover! Also a good upgrade is the cf boom it will flex in a hard landing and not bend like the aluminum! Don't forget if you run all digital servos to use an external bec!

[sparx-]

I have a 450Scf same as yours but carbon frame. First good crash was $116.00 in parts all the plastic in the head broke as well as many other parts. Replaced it w/ all metal for an extra $60.00 now average crash cost is down around $15.00. As for the SEv2 just saved money w/ all the upgrades in the box. And yes the V2 swash sucks! With the right amount of money they become " bullet proof " also no more bent fethering shafts as they are 4mm now!

First good crash and you totalled the head and you are questioning the quality of the B400? I drove my B400 in Inverted, under power and at a very high rate of speed and not a single part in the head broke. This is the crash when I snapped an Align Feathering shaft in half. If that doesn't say it all, I do not know what else to say.

Personally, the 4mm Feathering shaft is one of the reason I did not go to a V2 head on my CopterX/Trex. Too many people crashing and bending Main Rotor Blocks because the feathering shaft did not bend. I would rather bend a $1 feathering shaft then bend a $33 Rotor Head Block.

SPaRX

[misterg74]

Thanks montana ..... I appreciate the input and yeah i do have a sport bec I will be putting on the trex. Ugh gettin a headache i'll let ya'll know how i make out:thumbup: I only wish i read this thread BEFORE I sprung for another heli.

[Montana_Reefer]

First good crash and you totalled the head and you are questioning the quality of the B400? I drove my B400 in Inverted, under power and at a very high rate of speed and not a single part in the head broke. This is the crash when I snapped an Align Feathering shaft in half. If that doesn't say it all, I do not know what else to say.

Personally, the 4mm Feathering shaft is one of the reason I did not go to a V2 head on my CopterX/Trex. Too many people crashing and bending Main Rotor Blocks because the feathering shaft did not bend. I would rather bend a $1 feathering shaft then bend a $33 Rotor Head Block.

SPaRX

Well I guess it depends on what you call a good crash :dontknowI define it as burrying a 325mm blade 4" into the ground! :wow2: As for the blade, your's it must have super powers, cause I watched a friend of mine send one down nose first and broke the entire head also, as well as the tail, the lg, boom, blades, frame, and don't forget the servo gears!
I think they both crash very competitivly! And until the aluminum is availible for the b400 you can't reduce your crash costs unless you replace w/ other brands.

No bent rotor blocks here!:banana

[Montana_Reefer]

Thanks montana ..... I appreciate the input and yeah i do have a sport bec I will be putting on the trex. Ugh gettin a headache i'll let ya'll know how i make out:thumbup: I only wish i read this thread BEFORE I sprung for another heli.

Pm any questions you have! You'll love this heli it really dose fly smoother than the 450S series.

[Montana_Reefer]

Here's an old thread that just came back to life read post #181 & 182

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=56303

[sd0]

First good crash and you totalled the head and you are questioning the quality of the B400? I drove my B400 in Inverted, under power and at a very high rate of speed and not a single part in the head broke. This is the crash when I snapped an Align Feathering shaft in half. If that doesn't say it all, I do not know what else to say.

Personally, the 4mm Feathering shaft is one of the reason I did not go to a V2 head on my CopterX/Trex. Too many people crashing and bending Main Rotor Blocks because the feathering shaft did not bend. I would rather bend a $1 feathering shaft then bend a $33 Rotor Head Block.

SPaRX

Well SPaRX, you know what they say, "Your Mileage May Vary". I also had a hard inverted crash with my B400, and it popped a bunch of links, broke both blade grips, broke mixing arms, and bent every servo link, and broke the frame, along with all the other usual suspects. I was frozen at the time and did not hit throttle hold, so that might have something to do with the extent of my damages. Also my inexperience, and the fact that I was flying WAY BEYOND my capabilities.

It seems to me you got lucky, or maybe your crash just wasn't as bad as mine. I really enjoy reading your input and comments. We all have different ideas and goals, that is what makes this so much fun. And we can even disagree without things turning bad, this is really the best forum I have ever joined.

And also, just because I won't be flying a B400 anymore, or at least for a while, I still like reading and participating in the B400 forum, and if I can help someone with theirs, I will. It was a great heli, and it taught me a lot and got me so far into this hobby that I can never go back.

[mupchu]

I'd suggest you repair the blade and fly the trex . . . well at least I am going to be flying a blade 400 and a trex 450se-v2.

The V2 seems to have better parts support at the moment, but I still believe the blade 400 is a great heli. I am sure the trex won't disappoint either however it's like comparing apples to oranges. Maybe when I get my blade blinged out with a metal head it'll be a better comparison.

I also am in the camp that doesn't believe this bird needs the new gyro and tail servo's. Even the collective servo's were not to bad until after my first crash. I don;t think my first efforts repairing the servo's went as planned and I did swap them for the HS-65's and loved those. The tail just had the weight mod done to grips, and with a properly setup gyro it holds solid. I wouldn't say it's a 401 but it's not half bad either. I've had a 201 in another bird (hummingbird 3d pro) and the tail holds better than that one.

Good luck with the trex I am sure you will enjoy it. I am enjoying the 450se-v2 build myself can;t wait to get this up.

[Montana_Reefer]

The tail just had the weight mod done to grips, and with a properly setup gyro it holds solid.

So is that w/ the plastic grips? Or are you using another brand tail? Or was it the longer bolt w/ nuts version? Now I want to try it on one of my buddy's blade 400! It's not that the gyro won't hold it's the constant re-setting of the trim every time you fly it w/ the stock tail servo :arggg: it won't center!

[mupchu]

I replaced it with trex tail grips, I did this mostly because I could never find the silly blade 400 tail blades and my local shops all have trex and KB tail blades. I got the KB's becasue I have heard great things about them. I used longer bolts with some weights on them.

I am not sure what you are refering to when you are talking about the servo's lack of centering ability. You checked that the servo centers in rate mode, not HH mode right?

Here's the steps i went through on my tail:

1. replaced hub&grips with trex metal so that I could run a greater variety of tail blades without having to sand down the blades.

2. move the tail linkage on the tail servo in one hole.

3. in rate mode make sure the tail servo arm is at 90, then adjust the linkage so that the pitch slider is in the ceter on the tail.

4. added weight to the blade grips on the tail (both sides). Used a longer 2mm screw and put weight on both sides.

5. replaced stock tail blades with KB dream blades.

6. adjusted gain on gyro to eliminate wag, but still hold the tail (@73% currently).

7. made custom tail fin out of lexan so that my tail is higher off the ground.

I live in california so tempature is typically not an issue, but have heard of others wrapping the gyro in foam to minimize temp changes.

[Redfire SVT]

How much is the average repair cost of a Blade 400 vs. a Trex 450 SA or V2? My average crash cost about $30 for the Blade 400. I hear the Trex is more, but how much more?

[Montana_Reefer]

I am not sure what you are refering to when you are talking about the servo's lack of centering ability. You checked that the servo centers in rate mode, not HH mode right?

I've done most of the same things aside from the weight mod and the foam. Two of the three gyro's set up fine but the third, I wouldn't want it if it were mine! As far as the servo not returning to the same center from either direction ( it will center the first time but the next may come short or long) flip a coin it's about that random! Once you put a little better servo on, it at least centers every time. And yes it is in rate mode. I'll be setting up another B400 at the end of the month, so we'll see if this last gyro was a fluke!

Bryce

[Montana_Reefer]

How much is the average repair cost of a Blade 400 vs. a Trex 450 SA or V2? My average crash cost about $30 for the Blade 400. I hear the Trex is more, but how much more?

Most of the parts for the SA are very similar to price of B400 parts + or - $1.00 here and there. As for the SE v2 because so much of what's plastic on the SA is metal on the SE you break less parts. Normal crash woodies $13.00, main shaft $2.50, flybar $2.00, maybe an antirotation bracket $3.50. My landing gear is gorilla so no more breaks there, and I'm using the CF boom, not that it won't break but it takes alot more abuse!

[sd0]

Hey guys, just flew it again, and did some backflips and rolls, I know I shouldn't be doing those yet, but it is so much fun. Anyway, compared to my B400, it flipped and rolled a lot more steady, much less unwanted direction change. I'm not sure if it is setup, but it probably is. I really took my time and setup the SA correctly, including getting rid of as much CCPM interaction as I could. I never did that with the B400. Also the Trex SA seems to bog a lot less. When I flipped the B400 it would bog almost everytime, and the Trex did not, some of this was probably due to me, I was a lot more calm this time for some reason. This is all with the E-Flite battery, I suspect that once I get a 2200mAh/25C pack it will fly even better.

Anyway, I wish you guys all the luck in the world with your Blade 400's, I really enjoyed mine, and talking to all of you about it.

[LockMD]

I know this is the 400's forum but I dont think most will mind, got vids?

[sd0]

I know this is the 400's forum but I dont think most will mind, got vids?


Sorry no vids yet, probably this weekend. If it is cool with all of you I will post them here. If not I will post them in the T450 forum.

[LockMD]

Sorry no vids yet, probably this weekend. If it is cool with all of you I will post them here. If not I will post them in the T450 forum.


well to not step on any toes, do like I did my 600 vids.....I posted them in the proper forum but then you could post a link here for all your B400 buddies.

[sd0]

well to not step on any toes, do like I did my 600 vids.....I posted them in the proper forum but then you could post a link here for all your B400 buddies.


This is exactly what I will do, hopefully I will have some on Sunday.